Hey, guys. I recently downloaded Medibang to try my hand at digital art. I missed drawing a whole lot, especially since I gathered up a lot of ideas over the years, but gave up 3 years ago because I simply got frustrated with how slow my improvement was, as well as life kicking my butt in general.
Now that I've gotten myself interested in art again, I want to ask for tips on how to improve on my art, as well as some tips on digital drawing. I want to share my ideas to the world, but expressing them in writing is boring for me, and I like more visual representations of my ideas.
Hey, guys. I recently downloaded Medibang to try my hand at digital art. I missed drawing a whole lot, especially since I gathered up a lot of ideas over the years, but gave up 3 years ago because I simply got frustrated with how slow my improvement was, as well as life kicking my butt in general.
Now that I've gotten myself interested in art again, I want to ask for tips on how to improve on my art, as well as some tips on digital drawing. I want to share my ideas to the world, but expressing them in writing is boring for me, and I like more visual representations of my ideas.
@
Daiko
Tutorials and references are 100% your friend.
What I do is look up tutorials for everything from coloring to shading to even basic line art. Poses, expressions, everything. I suggest you look at some of your favorite artists and try and see what they do. Slow down speedpaints or just zoom in close at their art.
Also to keep yourself from falling out, draw every day. It doesn't have to be anything big, but even tiny sketches in a notebook or on a napkin will keep your skills up.
Also just try a bunch of different styles and things. Try digital painting, bold line art, thin line art, line-less, just throw stuff out and see what works best for you. Experimenting is a great way to both learn how you like to do things as well as learning your program.
Don't give up! You may not get immediate results, but if you stick with it, you will improve.
@
Daiko
Tutorials and references are 100% your friend.
What I do is look up tutorials for everything from coloring to shading to even basic line art. Poses, expressions, everything. I suggest you look at some of your favorite artists and try and see what they do. Slow down speedpaints or just zoom in close at their art.
Also to keep yourself from falling out, draw every day. It doesn't have to be anything big, but even tiny sketches in a notebook or on a napkin will keep your skills up.
Also just try a bunch of different styles and things. Try digital painting, bold line art, thin line art, line-less, just throw stuff out and see what works best for you. Experimenting is a great way to both learn how you like to do things as well as learning your program.
Don't give up! You may not get immediate results, but if you stick with it, you will improve.
Morgan
She | Her
Tumblr | DeviantArt
"What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" -Paarthurnax
@
Daiko I improve slowly too, though that's partially because I rarely have the motivation to draw so I don't do art often. I'm personally not happy with how my art looks now, but perhaps I can offer a few pointers?
Practice is the best way to improve. Ask for constructive criticism on your art. Look at your favorite artists' work - what makes it appealing, and would you be able to apply that to your art? (of course don't copy/trace/steal any art)
Use plenty of references too. Figure out the shapes of the body and how they relate to one another.
Do you have any art examples right now? It's easier to give advice when you know someone's skill level and can see what they need to focus on improving.
Heck, it's completely plausible that your skill level is way above mine anyways.
And yes, I definitely agree with the person above. Don't give up on your art. It's okay if you're slower than others. Not everything you make is going to look good, but you'll get better. Everyone has the potential to be amazing at art :)
@
Daiko I improve slowly too, though that's partially because I rarely have the motivation to draw so I don't do art often. I'm personally not happy with how my art looks now, but perhaps I can offer a few pointers?
Practice is the best way to improve. Ask for constructive criticism on your art. Look at your favorite artists' work - what makes it appealing, and would you be able to apply that to your art? (of course don't copy/trace/steal any art)
Use plenty of references too. Figure out the shapes of the body and how they relate to one another.
Do you have any art examples right now? It's easier to give advice when you know someone's skill level and can see what they need to focus on improving.
Heck, it's completely plausible that your skill level is way above mine anyways.
And yes, I definitely agree with the person above. Don't give up on your art. It's okay if you're slower than others. Not everything you make is going to look good, but you'll get better. Everyone has the potential to be amazing at art :)
@
Daiko
I personally started out drawing a lot from reference (usually with grids over the image), then I tried to apply shapes to different parts of the referenced drawing and replicated those a bunch. Improvement was slow for me as well, but over the years it began to show.
I'd say to try mimicking artists whose styles you like while paying attention to how they create illusions (since everything in art is just that) within their work. Focus on how they start their sketches. Do they begin with a line and take it from there, or do they prefer simply using circles? Try to understand why they start the way that they do and see if it works for you.
Keep in mind that you'll never be able to copy other artists perfectly, but by studying and attempting to replicate the techniques they use, you'll improve in your own way, regardless of how gradual and miniscule that improvement may seem. Art takes dedication above all else, so the best thing you can do is keep at it.
@
Daiko
I personally started out drawing a lot from reference (usually with grids over the image), then I tried to apply shapes to different parts of the referenced drawing and replicated those a bunch. Improvement was slow for me as well, but over the years it began to show.
I'd say to try mimicking artists whose styles you like while paying attention to how they create illusions (since everything in art is just that) within their work. Focus on how they start their sketches. Do they begin with a line and take it from there, or do they prefer simply using circles? Try to understand why they start the way that they do and see if it works for you.
Keep in mind that you'll never be able to copy other artists perfectly, but by studying and attempting to replicate the techniques they use, you'll improve in your own way, regardless of how gradual and miniscule that improvement may seem. Art takes dedication above all else, so the best thing you can do is keep at it.
@
Daiko You should have seen my very first drawings. They were absolutely awful. XD I improved slowly over 20 years. Throughout those years, I've been through a lot. However, I never let myself stop drawing or finding motivation. Motivation and practice are two keys to improving more than you could ever imagine. In other words: don't be sad over your art because we all have our way of improving.
@
Daiko You should have seen my very first drawings. They were absolutely awful. XD I improved slowly over 20 years. Throughout those years, I've been through a lot. However, I never let myself stop drawing or finding motivation. Motivation and practice are two keys to improving more than you could ever imagine. In other words: don't be sad over your art because we all have our way of improving.
@
Daiko
The more time you put into your art, the more you will get out of art and the faster you improve.
@
Daiko
The more time you put into your art, the more you will get out of art and the faster you improve.
Even if you don't want to draw realistic I'd strongly suggest learning anatomy. When I was starting I only drew anime and threw the "it's my style!" excuse for wonky anatomy a lot I'm still paying for it 10 years later. I'm getting better with that now I've sat down and started learning anatomy but it's slow going and would've been easier if I hadn't decided I didn't need to know anatomy because I was drawing stylized art anyway.
If you're drawing humans/humanoids, I'd recommend
this youtube channel. Proko is a fantastic resource for learning anatomy (
here's a link to the anatomy for artists series), he teaches it in a fun way and the videos are in small sections the longest tend to be 12 mins or so. I've only spent 2 weeks studying his videos and even without doing the assignments I've noticed small improvements already.
Even if you don't want to draw realistic I'd strongly suggest learning anatomy. When I was starting I only drew anime and threw the "it's my style!" excuse for wonky anatomy a lot I'm still paying for it 10 years later. I'm getting better with that now I've sat down and started learning anatomy but it's slow going and would've been easier if I hadn't decided I didn't need to know anatomy because I was drawing stylized art anyway.
If you're drawing humans/humanoids, I'd recommend
this youtube channel. Proko is a fantastic resource for learning anatomy (
here's a link to the anatomy for artists series), he teaches it in a fun way and the videos are in small sections the longest tend to be 12 mins or so. I've only spent 2 weeks studying his videos and even without doing the assignments I've noticed small improvements already.
I use a lot of references, both for poses and anatomy. I draw apes, but it could easily be applied to other species also -- look for photos of hairless, healthy examples of the animal(s) or well toned humans that show muscles easily and try to get a feel for where muscles are and how they work, even if you end up putting hair or fur over them at some point in the process. Looking at skeletons can help also to get a better feel for where joints are and how they work. In school we were taught to draw a complete skeleton first, then muscles over it, and then skin; this process doesn't work for me personally, I find much more success if I skip the skeleton and start with muscles, but everybody works differently. Apes have very little body fat so fat deposits aren't really something I need to focus on, but they might help you depending on what you draw!
That said, I know the feeling of feeling like you're not improving, or improving slowly. I felt like I had hit a wall for a long time and almost gave up on art altogether. Sometimes taking a break until the frustration and discouragement isn't as fresh helps (I go months between drawing a lot of the time) but what I've found helps the most is comparing similar drawings a year or two apart. It can be harder to notice improvement if you just look at your newer work, but compared directly with older art can be like taking blinders off. I was actually very surprised at how much I had improved, and it renewed the spark!
I really hope you're able to get back into the groove of it and make art that you're proud of!
Edit: Pasting a photo of your subject over your drawings at low opacity is also a very good way to see where your mistakes are and what you're already doing well!
I use a lot of references, both for poses and anatomy. I draw apes, but it could easily be applied to other species also -- look for photos of hairless, healthy examples of the animal(s) or well toned humans that show muscles easily and try to get a feel for where muscles are and how they work, even if you end up putting hair or fur over them at some point in the process. Looking at skeletons can help also to get a better feel for where joints are and how they work. In school we were taught to draw a complete skeleton first, then muscles over it, and then skin; this process doesn't work for me personally, I find much more success if I skip the skeleton and start with muscles, but everybody works differently. Apes have very little body fat so fat deposits aren't really something I need to focus on, but they might help you depending on what you draw!
That said, I know the feeling of feeling like you're not improving, or improving slowly. I felt like I had hit a wall for a long time and almost gave up on art altogether. Sometimes taking a break until the frustration and discouragement isn't as fresh helps (I go months between drawing a lot of the time) but what I've found helps the most is comparing similar drawings a year or two apart. It can be harder to notice improvement if you just look at your newer work, but compared directly with older art can be like taking blinders off. I was actually very surprised at how much I had improved, and it renewed the spark!
I really hope you're able to get back into the groove of it and make art that you're proud of!
Edit: Pasting a photo of your subject over your drawings at low opacity is also a very good way to see where your mistakes are and what you're already doing well!
I barely have motivation or anything so I’m gonna lurk here to see what others say.
But yes references do indeed help a bunch and little tutorials. Even for tiny stuff helps.
I barely have motivation or anything so I’m gonna lurk here to see what others say.
But yes references do indeed help a bunch and little tutorials. Even for tiny stuff helps.
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Rai
• it's in the refrigerator
• overwatch/bg3 trash
• she/they | FR +1
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(still bad at art oof)
Just like others above said, I usually watch tutorials and practice anatomy (human and animal) and try a more variety of things,. (like non-living objects or landscapes) so u dont just draw one thing xD
alsoooo, time! over time you keep practicing every once in a while, is it doodling on your notes or drawing in ur sketchbook it doesnt matter! it helps XD
im still an amateur artist and still have a long way to go so good luck on ur art journey !!
(still bad at art oof)
Just like others above said, I usually watch tutorials and practice anatomy (human and animal) and try a more variety of things,. (like non-living objects or landscapes) so u dont just draw one thing xD
alsoooo, time! over time you keep practicing every once in a while, is it doodling on your notes or drawing in ur sketchbook it doesnt matter! it helps XD
im still an amateur artist and still have a long way to go so good luck on ur art journey !!
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