Category: 10k Art Project

I have been doing a lot of work on my art studies and I feel like I’m getting to a point where I can draw things reasonably well. I’m especially good at copying a lot of the artists that I like, especially in a doodle-comic style. I feel like I have a grasp on the fundamentals.

So now, the question becomes: What do I want to draw and how do I want to draw it? And then, I can start focusing on that.

For example, if I wanted to paint realistic portraits of people (I don’t), I would follow a path doing master studies of other portrait artists in a given medium and really dig into how to use paint to show light and shadow. Or if I wanted to get good at realistic rendering of cars (again, I don’t), I would study from books that get into very technical details of perspective, how to draw wheels in perspective and how to render materials such as painted metal.

Instead, I have been trying to identify what styles and mediums and subjects that I really like. I love a more doodle and comic style of art rather than realistic. I really love ink and watercolor, but I’m also trying to find a similar style in digital art. And for a subject, I really love fantasy art. It’s why I love Minecraft too: there’s adventuring, potions, magic, along with a simple life style of farming, mining and exploring. That’s why I initially had the idea of combining Minecraft and art.

From a practical standpoint, this means that I need to start drilling down into the style I want to pursue for my ‘world’ and how things will be represented in that world. What do plants and flowers look like, how detailed are birds, etc. I can look to the artists that I like and get ideas of how to represent common things like potions bottles, then pull together some practice cards to work on those things. This will help me develop a visual library of objects that I can use in my art.

Andy from Creative Pep Talk podcast has talked about this. Once you decide what things look like in the world of your creative project, then you don’t have to think about every single object. You can make those decisions before you start your project, then it makes it much easier to start drawing.

When I was making Minecraft videos, it was always easy to do something with the videos, or in the game. Minecraft is geared toward always having some fun easy little task to do. But learning art is hard. So when facing a challenging art lesson, or grinding through drawing drills, I would often take the easy way out and do something with Minecraft. Minecraft is easy! 🙂

It’s been 6 months since I stopped making Minecraft videos and used that time to focus on my art instead. And it’s really paying off. My art is improving and getting easier. But it’s still very hard to sit down and work on my art. The improvements are so small over time and it’s frustrating when your taste is higher than your current ability to produce.

What’s changed over the last 6 months? I moved away from the 10k Hours theory of things. The method of using small lessons and drilling on them daily just wasn’t working for me. I enjoy project based learning instead where I have something I want to work on, and find lessons to help me toward that goal. So I stopped tracking my time that way. Also, I often spend several hours on one piece, and then other times just do some quick sketches of things from a class, so my process isn’t working with the ‘one hour per day only’ mindset.

So what am I doing? What’s working for me now is to have some weekly and monthly goals. I’m not strict about it, it’s more along the lines of having a list available of things I would like to do in a week or month, and then when I have time and I’m ready to work on something, I can grab something from the list.

One thing I’m fairly consistent with is a weekly Master Study and companion work. I take a small watercolor work from an artist I like, and I try to copy it as best as I can. Then I also make a companion work influenced by the master work. This has been really fun and pushed me harder on my skills in composition, color, and techniques.

Other than Master studies, I’m trying to keep up with SVS classes and other tutorials that I have purchased. I want to try doing a weekly tutorial in gouache. I’m subscribed to Clo Louise’s Patreon and trying to get to those tutorials, but it’s hard to make time. She’s also much more advanced in gouache, so it’s hard to keep up. Color mixing in gouache is a whole new thing for me. I also want to try doing a small study in Procreate, but again, it’s hard to fit in and quite challenging.

I started a new Minecraft world to have fun with the new changes coming into the game with the Sulfur caves and Dappled Forest. I’m not doing any filming and this will just be a fun play world for me, so I’m having fun playing slow. I do have some projects I’m working on with a crossover art and Minecraft idea. But I’m chipping away at the idea slowly.

I still don’t know if I’ll ever get back to Minecraft videos. I’m going to wait the full year and see where I’m at. If I start again, it won’t be a typical SMP or Let’s Play type of video, it will be more art focused. I’ll see later.

It was a great decision to step away from videos. I have so much more time now and it’s really helping me work on my art. I’m excited for the next 6 months to see how things go before I make a decision on my Minecraft channel.

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Artists mentioned in this post:

https://www.instagram.com/lazarus_lore

https://www.instagram.com/yahyarushdan

https://www.instagram.com/clolouiseart

This lesson is for Master Studies.

As part of my 2026 goals, I want to try to finish a Master Study each week. These are making copies of art that I love from contemporary artists that I follow and want to learn from. Master Studies are amazing because you are already working with a piece that has composition, subjects, color and linework that you already love. Instead of trying to create a new piece and do all that from scratch, you are doing a deep analysis of the choices that another artist has made. It means you can follow those good choices and just focus on the techniques involved to recreate the piece.

I am still learning about composition, color, style, etc. So when I make pieces of my own, I’m often disappointed in the results. There’s just too many issues with my work. Doing Master Studies really helps give me confidence that these are things I will learn eventually. It’s an excellent way to learn.

However, I can’t post my copies publicly! I feel it would be wrong to post work that isn’t my own. So, as a workaround, I’m going to make a small piece of my own composition influenced by the master work. That gives me practice with applying the lessons from the Master Study, and also gives me a test piece to try out the linework and colors that I’m using.

So, this piece is a little test piece of my own of a potion bottle. I really love the idea of potion bottles. I think I’ll work on other pieces like this for practice

Next time, I need to give myself more time to complete these. Even small pieces take more than an hour. I can also make my test piece a little bigger, just to have more to work with.

Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen and watercolors in a Moleskin Art sketchbook.

The master study and companion piece took about 2.5 hours.

This lesson is from 21Draw Learn to draw in 21 days, Flowing flags.

What’s funny is that I have drawn flags before but didn’t make the connection that this eventually leads to drawing scrolls and fabric folds. It’s all the same concept, but I never saw that before. The lesson is basic, but I can see how it builds, it’s a good program.

I wanted to do something more special or grand for the 100th hour, but in reality, it’s all about just putting the hours in. It’s more important to get the hour done than to try to plan something special, then get stuck when the art I did for hour 100 wasn’t ‘special’ enough. So, a simple lesson and that’s fine

Next time I will look at more examples of shading to make sure I’m doing things right. I want to be able to draw fabric folds, so this is a great place to understand the concept better before moving on.

pencil on letter size copy paper.

I did about 60 minutes doing the lesson and then completing this image.