Justin Tadlock

February 1, 2022

Diary Girl

This was the drawing that nearly done me in. Day 1 started off horribly. It was almost as if I had forgotten how to sketch anything at all. Nothing seemed to work out, and I was ready to throw in the towel and start something new the next day.

But, I dug my heels in and moved onto Day 2. It was slightly better, but everything was just off. I was having trouble with the angles and perspective. However, I had something I could at least work with. Something I could fix.

I continued sketching into Day 3 and finally got something I was happy with. I inked it and colored for the remaining six days.

I once again pulled a template from The Master Guide to Drawing Anime: How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates. The book is still not particularly helpful in technique, but it does have plenty of source material to practice with.

The following is a reverse-chronological gallery of all nine days of work on this drawing:

  • Girl with red blazer and a brown skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary.
    Day 9: Finished
  • Girl with red blazer and a brown skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Grass in front of her not fully colored.
    Day 8: Bushes and Eye Color
  • Girl with red blazer and a brown skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Tree is not fully colored.
    Day 7: Tree Color
  • Girl with red blazer and a brown skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Only the girl is fully colored.
    Day 6: Base Color
  • Girl with red blazer and a brown skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Background is uncolored.
    Day 5: Skirt and Diary Color
  • Girl with red blazer and skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Only her hair and blazer are colored.
    Day 4: Hair and Blazer Color
  • Girl with blazer and a skirt sitting in front of bushes and a fence. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Black and white.
    Day 3: Sketched and Inked
  • Girl with blazer and skirt sitting down. A tree is next to her. She is reading a diary. Penciled
    Day 2: More Sketching
  • Initial rough sketch of a girl sitting.
    Day 1: Rough Sketch

The tools I used were:

Overall, I am happy with the end result. I wish I would’ve added in more background scenery, but I was already behind just getting out of the gates on this one. I’m glad I stuck this one out.