The Problem

I wanted to work on a personal project. It had been sometime since I had tried to do something on my own, without any deadlines, and just to see how it turned out. I needed to find a project that would be both challenging, but also doable, as a way to practice my skills in adobe illustrator. 

The Solution

After many hours of research for an idea, I came up with the idea for doing some sort of digital art/painting. I had never tried doing something like this before, and felt it would be a fun challenge. I looked up some examples and tutorials for basic digital painting, then needed a them for this. I ultimately decided on some sort of fantasy art, and then spent some time doing some sketching in order to come up with the outline for the project. 

The Approach

My sketches focused on either mountains or a space scene. I decided to go with the mountains, and after spending lots of time doing different variants and looking up additional tutorials on how to do good depth perception and shading for distant scenery, I settled on this scene. The character standing into the sunset reminds me of how much I like to look at sunsets myself. It helped me want to do the project justice, while also realizing that I didn't want it to be super hyperrealistic. I was able to receive some feedback on my project from some friends before finishing the final project. 

What I've learned

If anything, I have learned that I can in-fact make something entirely from scratch, even without someone telling me to. Being able to practice using Illustrator has helped keep up my skills in the program, and has also help me to learn new ones. I had a ton of fun making this, and am exited for the next bout of inspiration and motivation to hit for my next personal project. What will it be? Only time will tell.