things i think upcoming artists should hear

BenJepheneT

Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
5,344
Points
233
  • use references, for god's sake. use them. just fucking use them. go to Pinterest/Instagram/Danbooru and slap tags on whatever the fuck you want to draw. copy forms, trace over them, and then imitate them yourself. don't worry about duplicating someone's art style. when the time comes, you'd have mastered the basics enough to translate them to your own flavour.

  • progress isn't something you can see. it's something you compare. it takes months for anything relatively noticeable to come to fruition. as you get better, progress becomes harder to see; taking years before you even feel a slight improvement on your part.

2020 Feb


2021 June

  • be hard on yourself, not harsh. instead of "yeah i fucking suck" go with "yeah i need to work on this shit". it's the same thing in different words but the latter gives you an objective to work on: it's a step 2 to a 2-step program. "yeah i fucking suck" is acknowledgement. "yeah i need to work on this shit" is knowing what to do with that acknowledgement.

  • in lieu of the above, ego is a sandtrap to stagnation. to an artist, the word "good" should never be paired with the pronoun "I'm". they should only be uttered by spectators in the phrase "you're good" as source of encouragement. of course, I'm not saying you can't feel good about yourself, but what I'm saying is that you should never treat that feeling as a conclusion, but a milestone. this coincides with "being hard on yourself". even when you felt like you've done something absolutely flawless, be your own pessimist. "good job" is a great encouragement when paired with "but it can be better", but by itself is the two of the worst words an artist can say to themselves.

  • at times you'll feel like you're in a rut; that you can't make something worthy of your own tastes. don't worry; it's not your skills deteriorating, but your tastes expanding. it's like a guy feeling sick after spending a month with twinks; you're not turning straight, you just prefer beefier men now. also yes, this is where i state muscles are king. get fit, lads.

  • you spend too much time watching youtube tutorials than actually putting them to practice.

  • don't wait until you "reach the right skillset" before attempting a composition. just do it, then do it, and then do it again. believe me when i say that most artworks aren't products of satisfaction, but of compromise, no matter how big or small the compromise may be. you can never make that hypothetical magnum opus that prompts your retirement, you can only shorten the compromise between your ideals and the end result. just do it, or you'll regret not doing it.

  • it's completely valid to feel inferior from better stuff by your peers. you can even idolize them. never treat them like an unreachable platform. if that guy can make it there, so can you.

  • get the fuck out of your comfort zone. no, i see you drawing ikamen portraits again. aha, i see you with your 3/4 angle again. stop drawing women and practice some pectorals. fucking hell, quit it with the cat ears and practice some real fucking ears. I'm not telling you to stop drawing what you like. what I'm saying is you can draw your favourite thing better IF you practice some other stuff. everything is interconnected one way or another; poses are enhanced by a better understanding of anatomy, and anatomy can be further stylised by studying and experimenting with different poses. you suck at tomboys because you keep drawing feminine chicks. your composition sucks because you never studied depth.

  • sometimes, just observe. watch the world. i mean, not now, but when this whole phenomenon blows over. there are many things a search engine can't find. it just comes to you naturally. be it a scene at a coffee shop, or a landscape etched into your head at a road trip with your best mates. fucking hell, i sketched an entire series of gritty fight scenes just because i vibed with an underground car park once.

feel free to share yours. these are just what i feel like people should know for now.
 

Mysticant

Resident Ant
Joined
Jun 17, 2021
Messages
274
Points
58
1-go and actually learn some actual anatomy before drawing, maybe you will stop drawing dwarfs by then
2-references are great but if you cannot find any then make one. Taking photos/selfies and translating to images is a good method to get good poses and camera positions
3-beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, all things you draw would be viable so take your creativity out there and draw what ever proportions you want if you think it would fit your style (this is in converse to 1 where one is already trying to draw things to scale but not know of the actual scale and shapes)
 
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