Week 49: “Glaciesclover”
“Young Aluce” (2016)

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This week’s An Artist a Week feature is over Glaciesclover (“Glacies” for short, also occasionally known as “kurobadansuu“). Their drawings–typically done in pencils but occasionally with watercolors or digital drawing tools–are simple, flowing, captivating portraits.

This might not make the most sense but looking at their drawings makes me feel like I’m falling, happy and content through the clouds. Maybe it’s the softness of their original characters’ (OCs’) faces, the gentle features and serene faces. A key feature of many of their portraits are these soft features, combined with simple lines and effective shading. Their lines have that “sketchy” quality that I’ve mentioned before is my favorite, the effortless feeling of something so put together and haphazard all at once. 

They do not use much for fancy equipment or materials–simple printer paper and a mismatch of different colored and mechanical pencils typically–and their line work is similarly casual and minimal to me; there is an understated elegance to it all, even in their 5-10 minute quick sketches.

What stands out to me the most, however, is their astoundingly beautiful use of color shading and the simplicity that layers so well into a gradient that feels technical yet effortless. Consider the featured piece, or the ones below.

The different colors are so well blended, complementary yet distinct. It adds emotion and depth while still holding onto simplicity and light. Every line has a very distinct job of showing motion, depth, curvature. It looks so casual and yet none of it is accidental. 

 It’s rich and elegant. Seeing the grain of the paper, the distinct singular strokes of the pencil does not deter from this but in many ways, to me, adds to it. These pieces feel so elegant and flowing, so gentle waving in the breeze, so dynamic and calm and planned and casual all at once. Every piece of tousled hair, every fold of cloth or crinkled flower petal adds to this. Glacies’ art is visually stunning and calming to see, the definition of making perfection look easy.