Ardis

If I could choose the most challenging piece I created, that would be this one. Gods! I reworked it like four or five times, day after day finding things to fix or improve. Starting in greyscale was a miss for my process, and because I'm not experienced enough, it quickly became dull and gloomy. And after I tried to save it with overlay color layers, it turned into gloomy and radioactive at once. 🥲

On day three of fighting it, something finally clicked. And it would be mostly okay, if the silly me hadn't messed up display settings in my Huion. What a disaster. I realised only after exporting everything that the piece was dark af. So the next day I fixed color levels. I still see things to improve, but I think I don't have enough patience in me to grind through it.

"The Statue of Solitude" was in my head when I started creating this piece. Now I'm renaming it.

"The Statue of Frustration" it is.

Second portrait for my friends' ongoing Call Of Cthulhu campaign.

This pretty boy is none other than Lawrence O'Neill, young, ambitious writer who ended up in the wrong place and time with a group of weirdos hunting for mythical creatures and trying to solve the out-of-this-world murder mystery.

Another day, another challenge. This time the topic was folds and wrinkles. This time I was playing around with gouache brush and oh boy... 🥰 I love how organic and painterly it looks. 💜

"You offer up memories of your strength. You feel less capable, less experienced than you were mere moments ago."

One of my best artworks so far 🫧

Another illustration I made for #loishmonthlychallenge

This month the topic was underwater lighting and I couldn't help but add some whimsy to it! 💜

Allow me to introduce you to my husband's original character, Julian C. Jones, a golden retriever archeologist who finds himself tangled in a messy, out-of-this-world investigation! I'm currently on my way to paint the rest of the characters for our Call of Cthulhu - Masks of Nyarlathotep RPG campaign!

I didn’t think I’d rescue this painting, honestly.

This magpie started as a messy “trust the process” situation and turned into a lesson in structure, light, and knowing when to stop polishing. It’s not perfect - rendering choices and color logic all fought me a little - but I’m keeping the lesson visible.

A small thief with a stolen jewel.

Recently I was taking part in #LoishPatreonChallenge, again, this time stepping out of my comfort zone and tried to paint some shiny crystals. And the challenge may look easy but for me it wasn't. I had a pretty hard time figuring out the logic behind the light refraction so the crystal would look believable. And as you can see, I went too soon into rendering, not thinking too much about the structure underneath and... end up ditching half of my work to trash. Lesson learned 😅

What you can see is the third version. I was ambitious at first and tried to draw more complex crystal. Failed miserably. 😂

One of my favourite characters from the Twin Peaks - strong, independent and uncompromising. We get to know only glimpses of her through the Dale Cooper's tapes but seeing her in person in "The Return" was something unforgettable. I love how Laura Dern portraited Diane Evans 💜

Finished my Pride and Prejudice movie study at last.

I started this piece wanting to capture the softness of the original frame rather than copy it exactly. The light, the expression, the quiet mood - that was the real challenge for me.

Studies like this remind me that I’m not trying to become a human printer. I want to learn how to observe, simplify, and translate what I see into something that still feels like mine.

I think this digital painting is by far the most complex piece I've made since university.

While finishing it, I started seeing echoes of Thetis — the sea nymph, mother of Achilles.

Probably not a coincidence. I finished reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller yesterday… and once again cried like a baby.

The mood of this piece reflects where my head has been all week — anxious, but somehow hopeful.

I kept the palette limited: mostly blues and desaturated yellows to create that stormy sky and sea. Though I couldn't resist adding a few small pops of color. Below you can find a few glimpses of early stages, as well as the timelapse. Enjoy!

Drapery studies update:

I hate fabric. Fabric hates me. And somehow… these turned out vibrant as hell.

This little exercise did more than I expected — cleaner folds, better light, and way more confidence with color.

Not every study is pretty, but every study teaches. Even the “why does this look like a wet sack” one.

Will you believe me if I say I had a week so rough and busy I forgot to post that froggy gentleman? 😅

So here he is, Alexander Kingsley from "Assistant to the Villain" by Hannah Nicole Meacher.

I love how the whole piece turned out - I always imagined Rennedawn as magical, fairytale land full of bright colors and I think I captured it quite well. 

I'm already looking forward to capturing more characters and scenes from this beautiful universe.

My second attempt on January's #loishpatreonchallenge

This time I went for simplicity. Raw sketches, almost no rendering, vibrant and pastel colors.

I like how it turned out. I thought it's way better than the previous one, but now I think it's just totally different, more abstract. I did that artwork in the end of January. Two months later I have a feeling I'm on totally different level. I'm impressed on how quickly I can develop my skills when drawing and painting almost every day, but in short sessions.

Oh, that one was tricky. I started it as a challenge study. I said to myself “Keep it simple, A.”. And in the middle of the process I have a thought “Something’s not right. They looked like they were cropped out of cardboard". And they did. Because once again, I couldn’t keep myself from overrendering.

What would I do differently if I could redraw this? Well, first, I would check the composition. Even for a study piece, even before drawing the first figure. Why? Because right now I can see the problem is mostly here - lacking focal point, correct figures but not working as one illustration.

But guess what? I like my rendering here. I really enjoyed sculpting with bright colors and I’m so, so proud of the way I made those.

Another attempt on portrait drawing.

I made it... one month ago, I guess? And I can already see my skills improved drastically. Not in that "woow, that's two different artists!" way. But I grew more familiar with the tools I use, I stopped struggling with brushes, learnt processes that fit my style more.

And if I'm seeing progress right now, I wonder how far will I get till the end of '26?

Some of the studies I did on January, both digitally and with pencil.