Azel sounds like “Hazel” without the H.

I dunno really, I’ve always liked them and thought they’d make interesting characters! They’re cute and the vibe just felt right. Donks don’t give af- I aspire for that level of chill.

Recently I’ve started to find other donkey ocs out there, as well as some new folks joining the donk squad. 👊

These days I do most of my digital art in Procreate on an iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 4th gen) with an Apple Pencil (2nd gen).

For rough sketches, I like the Disney Style Brushes by Dave Reed. For more detailed sketching, this brush set by Jinxpawz. For lineart, I use this Marshmallow Brush. I’ve made a few custom brushes for lineart and writing. I also sometimes use brushes by Loish and Devin Elle Kurtz. Otherwise I just use the default Procreate brushes.

I’d say I’m about 80% a self taught artist, the other 20% is from school and university. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed and I spent a lot of time studying and working on my skills. I took extra art classes in junior high and high school whenever possible, and studied drawing and painting in college. My experience with university art education was that it was less focused on technical training, and more about how to be an artist, if that makes sense? Everything I know about digital art was learned slowly over time by studying tutorials, and trial and error.

Draw from life as much as possible, whether that’s sitting in a studio with a model, or just sitting in a park. I used to be obsessed with the sketchbooks of Renaissance masters. Spend some time looking at how the “ninja turtles” construct a body through line and form.

It’s something that evolved naturally over time. While studying and copying various techniques you start to decide what works and what you like. We are all conglomerations of our biggest inspirations. Study and draw stuff you like to draw and eventually it congeals into your style!

Carry a sketchbook everywhere! I do a lot of pages of studies- from life, references, or copying other artists. Pay attention to larger forms and shapes and then breakdown the details, and look at the negative space to help with proportion. I only share a percentage of the actual drawing I do- a lot of it is just practice that’s not for public consumption.

It’s also ok to trace as a learning tool, everyone does it at some point! But do it with intention and notice how the artist constructed their forms. Don’t post traced work or claim traced stuff as your own work- this is a learning exercise that lives in your sketchbook.

Lookin’ at stuff! Going to museums, flipping through books, hanging out and observing. I spend a lot of time online checking out other artists. Social media is great for finding new artists and getting inspired by their work! Pinterest is a fantastic resources for clothing, poses, props, and scenery as well.

Yeah dude, I don’t bite. Don’t be afraid to message me! Shoot me a question, send me a funny meme. I try to respond to all messages I receive, please be patient with me.