Drawabox.com | Drawing Prompts | As Seen Through Fresh Eyes
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Having trouble coming up with something to draw? No worries - while you'll eventually learn how to start from a tiny seed of a thought and gradually nurture it into a complex concept to explore through design and illustration, it's perfectly fine not to be there just yet.

For now though, here's an idea that might interest you.

As Seen Through Fresh Eyes

Dwarves, Gnomes, Goblins, Orcs. For decades we've had a pretty solid idea of what these tend to look like, what kinds of features they hold in common, and people can generally recognize them for what they are.

But that's not always the case. Kobolds, for instance, are culturally specific - they originate from the Germanic House Spirit of the same name, but different cultures approach them differently. While in Western cultures it's more common to see them depicted as lizard-based creatures, Eastern cultures often depict them as more dog-like. Not to mention my web comic, which goes off the rails and depicts them as pangolins.

Setting aside all of your predisposed notions of what a given fantasy race should look like, take another look at the kinds of behaviours and traits they exhibit, and try and take them in a different direction. Personally I like using animals for this kind of thing - choosing one that generally lines up with the traits you're aiming to capture, then using the animal's design language as fodder for fleshing out the rest. But that's just a suggestion - feel free to take them in whatever direction feels best.

This one isn't doing it for you? How about this one instead: Cryptid Employment >>>
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Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Like the Staedtlers, these also come in a set of multiple weights - the ones we use are F. One useful thing in these sets however (if you can't find the pens individually) is that some of the sets come with a brush pen (the B size). These can be helpful in filling out big black areas.

Still, I'd recommend buying these in person if you can, at a proper art supply store. They'll generally let you buy them individually, and also test them out beforehand to weed out any duds.

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