‘Draw this again’challenge..again! Mermay edition

In May 2019, I wanted to draw one of my Mermay illustrations again. Putting the two illustrations side by side, I could see how much I’ve progressed. At that time, I was also trying to practice my digital illustration skills. It was very rewarding to see how much faster I had gotten with my Wacom. Although it still didn’t entirely feel like me, I was happy to see how much I had improved.

A few digital illustration clients later, I realized that I had fallen out of love with digital. Since I was transitioning from graphic and digital design, my new illustration clients were people who wanted digital illustration for website banners, illustrations for apps, etc. I was lost. My style felt too cutesy for corporate clients who wanted sleek, flat vectors that looked sophisticated and grown up. Since that wasn’t the direction I wanted to work in, I went back to the drawing board to see what I truly wanted to do and where I could fit in. What came out after a lot of deliberation and hard work was that the picture book industry fit my needs perfectly. The five year old me who wanted to draw for the rest of her life was ecstatic. I was home!

Flash forward to Dec 2020, I looked at my old art and wondered how it would look in my current art style. I work mostly traditionally now with a little bit of digital help at the end for lighting and cleaning up. I’m glad I tried my Mermay art again, never mind the month; coz I’m extremely happy with the results. It finally feels like me!

Have you tried redrawing your old art? Did the results surprise you?