[Updated March 2024]

Hi!

I'm sharkinthepark (or sharkint) and I paint as a hobby.

My goals are to improve my art skills and develop a loose painterly style. I'm still learning the art fundamentals, so bear with me. I'm inspired by artists like Taran Fiddler and DarkGem and many others.

The main reason I upload is to give back to the community for all the amazing art they've shared freely.

How often do you post?
Erratically, maybe once a month. I make a lot of ugly practice stuff that I don't post. Sometimes it accidentally looks good and I share it.

Why the name?
Sharks are cool. I wanted a unique name without trailing numbers that I can use across websites, so just "shark" is out of the question. I also wanted it to roll off the tongue, so I think that's where "Shark in the park" came from.

What is your art journey?
I'm self-taught. I bought a wacom tablet in my teens and had difficulty with the hand-eye coordination for about 10+ years, but it's ok now, I guess lol. A regular tablet works for me, and I'm not looking to upgrade at the moment.

I almost exclusively draw furry art because that's what interests me.

Art advice
I gained some insight from these people :

• [Youtube] Marco Bucci
  • Has some excellent videos on light, color and shape, like his "10 minutes to better painting" series. Taught me that value (darkness) is more important than color, and you can mix wild colors together (See his video "Color notes").
• [Youtube] Sinyx
  • Has many tutorials on specific anatomy (hands, abs, feet, etc.). Very loose and organic style. Taught me that head shapes can be weird and exaggerated.
• [Youtube] Teoh Yi Chie (Traditional watercolor artist)
  • Taught me that you can make very good art even though the lineart is wobbly and the perspective isn't ruler-straight.

These ideas help me :

• Start rough (like a thumbnail) and then gradually add detail. That way, you can stop at any point and still have something nice to show. Also, it's easier to fix problems early.
• Learn to let go and use randomness and noise to your advantage. It's hard to design every pixel of an image. But sometimes using textured brushes and laying unpredictable shapes can lead to good surprises and flukes. I find it's easier to judge what we see than to imagine something out of thin air.