Okay, that’s it. I’ve had enough of trying to make nice things. Today, I will write an ugly article about the ugliest things I’ve made. Fart, and puke. Guts and brains. Let’s get it started. And yes this is a reference to the Black Eyed Peas. Told you it was going to get ugly…
# 1 – Wolverine
Let’s start off with one of my least ugly among my ugly creations. Featuring the will to draw a badass and dynamic posture, and the disillusion before how hard it actually is.
# 2 – Alien
We’re diving slightly deeper into ugliness. Hang on to your pants and retina, it’s only getting worse. This one is featuring the famous, the classic, the renowned “Guy who hides his hand because it is too fucking hard to draw”. Sense of space, anatomy and composition are still hurting to this day. But they don’t take the main role. Just look at this hand you can’t see. Seriously, give it a try.
#3 – Lumberjack
You still there? Good. This one is a bit abstract, but if your imagination is not completely obliterated by the images you watched above, you can probably see a sort of lumberjack. Kind of. Created by my will to explore new photoshop brushes. The legend has it that it was inspired by a puddle of puke…
# 4 – Dog_ugly.jpeg
(Yes that’s the actual name I gave this file)
Do I really need to comment this shit? I wish I could forget this image, but in the end I don’t and it’s probably for the best, otherwise my eyes would bleed every time I discover it again.
# 5 – Waterfal
(Yes the spelling is intentional, shut up, it’s art)
Actually I dare you not to shut up and to find the words to describe this piece of… Art. I’ll give it a go “Hello, I’m 6 years young and I like the drawings and the colours blue. Yesterday I ate sand”
# 6 – Pixart
I’m sorry for the people working at Pixar, you didn’t deserve this pun. This may be a low point in your carrier if you’re reading this, but I promise I meant no harm. Also, it pains me that the title of this includes the word “Art”. Featuring the ugliest of the ugly Photoshop effects, I name “Pattern Overlay”
# 7 – Poor Kid
He is supposed to be a kid. Hey kid, I don’t know if images have souls, but if they do, I’m really sorry for yours buddy. Why do you have an old man’s face? Why do you have such a weird butt? Those questions will sadly remain unanswered. Oh wait, a little bird told that was because I couldn’t draw either faces or butts back then. That clears it all up!
# 8 – Chick Duck
Didn’t know where I was going when I started this masterpiece. Turns out it was into the uncharted realm of the vast ugliness. It went that far thanks to the trusty “Pattern Overlay”, but couldn’t have done it without gross colours and a poor composition.
# 9 – Rose
I have no excuse for this one. I used the blending mode “Disolve”. This is unforgivable.
# 10 – Swords
Fun fact : This was actually done by the exact same team than the first picture. I asked Flashy Ugly O’Colors to give them a hand.
# 11 – Face
What. Just look at these eyebrows.
# Bonus – Bunny Geek
This one is intentionally ugly and it cracks me up every time I see it so I thought I should share.
Okay that’s enough. I’ve beaten my past self up more than I probably should. That said, I feel that it’s important to see where you’re coming from. I’m still not satisfied by the work I do, and I still have a long way to go. But when I see the pictures above, it puts everything into perspective. It’s hard to realise the amount of work that is necessary to acquire the skills to just be able to create descent images. I thought that, besides being somewhat funny, this article would help both of us realise what kind of path I’ve been walking for the past few years. And sincerely, I think most artists would tell you the same : if you saw my first works, you’d laugh. I feel it’s important to look at this painful truth : you won’t stop sucking until you’ve sucked for a very long time.
Case in point :
Now you might think this is actually allright. But what you don’t know is that it took me hours to do this. I erased so much that I used up a significant chunk of my eraser, and this piece of paper has become thinner and changed colour. I didn’t want to put it in the ugly category, because it is the first drawing I did when I decided I wanted to improve my skills. On the first page of my first sketch book. So it’s a tiny bit too meaningful for me to laugh at it.
If you’re working on improving any skill, I hope it gave you the reassurance that we’re all struggling, we all fail, and that it’s important to keep going in spite of that. Let it be your drive, your source of learning and inspiration. So now go. Look at how you’ve failed in the past and don’t let it define you.
Mr Owl just had a coffee. He’s feeling hyper. “I am feeling hyper”, he thinks.
Mr Owl is trying to read some road sign. Unfortunately, it has come to his attention that his sight has been dwindling lately. “I’ll raise some fund to afford a monocle”, he thinks.
Mr Owl is reading the papers, there’s been an incident in the Ottoman empire. 74 soldiers were killed during a rebellion. “I hope history doesn’t repeat itself”, thinks Mr Owl, concerned.
Mr Owl is standing in front of the door. He’s ready to start his new job. He takes a badass posture to give himself confidence. “I’m the best”, he thinks.
Mr Owl had a bit of time before beginning his first day at work. So he popped by the hat shop to get a new one.
Mr Owl has lost some time with all these shenanigans, now he is afraid to be late on his first day at work. “A bad way to start”, he thinks…
Mr Owl arrived just on time in front of his new work place. He smells a bit like sweat but it’s okay. “At least I’m not late”, he thinks..
Mr Owl has been waiting for half an hour now, and his coworkers are still not here. He’s a bit peckish so he thought he would have a bite of the lunch bag he prepared himself. The nice sandwich makes him forget the waiting. “Nothing infelicitous has happened to me yet” he thinks…
Mr Owl had forgotten that he was an owl, and that owls work at night. He mixed up 7am and 7pm… again. “Hope no one saw me” he thinks…
Mr Owl went home to sleep. In the end, his previous mistake will allow him to rest a little longer. “I’m proud of being an early bird”, he thinks before he falls asleep.
