Some Tried And Tested Art Tips

Some tried and tested art tips <3

1. Don’t force inspiration, just immerse yourself in things you enjoy and it’ll come to you naturally.

2. Experimentation in different art techniques is a good way to find a style and medium you are comfortable working in. Be brave and try out stuff!

3. Every artist has a file/drawer/bin full of failed or embarrassing attempts. However much you want to destroy them, it’s good to keep a few of them so you can look back and see how far you’ve come! Or better yet, something you once hated could reveal itself in a new light and turn into something you love.

4. If you’ve hit a ‘block’ whilst working on something and you start feeling frustrated with it, either work on a completely different area of your artwork, or put it down and have a break from it. You’ll come back to the part you were struggling with and see it with a clearer head, and be ready to tackle it again. At least overnight is how long I give it.

5. Ever wanted to try out charcoal? Or pencil? Or markers? Or polymer clay? There is nothing stopping you getting some supplies and giving it a go! It’s recommended that you buy a cheaper version of whatever you want to play with, so you save money if you decide it’s not for you. But! You can also buy a small amount of a decent quality medium. Just one grayscale Promarker, for example, could be used to add shadows to your existing drawing technique and give you a feel for it. Or just one block of light colour Fimo clay will go a surprisingly long way and if you have paints at home, you can try those out in your finished piece. Then you haven’t spent LOADS of money, but still have quality items to play around with.

6. Every artist feels intimidated by other people’s art, but instead of feeling put off, remember that person had to start somewhere, and most likely also has insecurities about their own work.

7. If you’re having a bad day, or are suffering with depression, or going through something awful in your life, absolutely use art as a way to channel your emotions. People think that this means “I’m feeling sad, so I have to paint something sad, then it will help me feel less sad because the sad is on the canvas”. Creating something happy, or some fanart of something you love, or something indulgent will have the same therapeutic effect, and you may even find it more helpful, just let yourself get lost in whatever it is.

8. Putting artwork online for exposure is always daunting. You’ll usually get different “vibes” from different platforms, so it’s worth posting your work in various places. If you are happy and proud of a piece, never let anyone else make you believe otherwise. 99% of interactions you get will be positive or constructive, and that other 1% are usually from people just trying to get a reaction, or have no talent themselves.

9. Don’t let anyone tell you that art is a waste of your time, or that it won’t get you anywhere in life, or that it’s pointless. That’s what’s so nice about art, it doesn’t have to have a point! It can have so many different applications, and comes in so many different forms, and there’s no time limit or pressure if you’re just creating stuff for the fun of it, so it’s always there when you need it.

10. 9 tips didn’t feel like a full list, so this is just an extra point to tell you you’re an awesome person and that you can do it <3

i got bored so i thought i’d share some art tips ‘cause why not!!

- start with a sketch. seriously no artist i’ve ever met starts a drawing with lineart

- construction lines like boxes and circles are a godsend and the more you use them the more you’re able to make different body types that are proportional. eventually you’ll be using them less and less as you commit different body types to memory

- study some realism first because it’s a good way to build skills in lighting and proportions. this doesn’t mean you can only draw realism obviously, but having that knowledge does help for future reference

- anime is a valid style and fuck anyone who says otherwise

- originality is a myth. take ideas and inspiration from other artists, movies, whatever and build your own style from that. it’s gonna take time but it’ll come i promise

- use references if you don’t know how to draw something. as long as you don’t trace it or claim it as your own, you are totally valid if you look at other poses online for how to draw something. if it’s heavily referenced just mention + credit where you got the pose from

- don’t be afraid to ask artists for tips and tricks. personally whenever someone asks me about brushes n stuff i get super excited and am like “yes here and here and here” and i’m p sure other artists feel the same

- flip!!! your canvas!!!!! you’ll hate it at first but it really does make your drawings 1000x better i promise

- try not to shade too much with black ‘cause it looks muddy. there are some exceptions, like light diffusion and differences in lighting, but if the object is colorful or around something colorful try to shade in a darker color similar to that one

- don’t be like @staff. learn basic color theory

- watch!! tutorials!! and speedpaints!!

- color dodge is so good for glowing. seriously. those glowy effects i use? all color dodge. it highlights the saturated colors while casting the rest in shadow

- overlay is your best friend

- use multiply for shading if you’re not sure what colors to use

- use many many layers, there is nothing worse than doing something wrong and messing up the whole thing trying to fix it because you don’t have a different layer for it

- draw what you want. no rush. no pain. it’s for you. it doesn’t have to be perfect

- practice practice practice!!! drawing is a skill, anyone can learn. y’all should see my drawings three years ago. it’s all practice.

- there’s this weird culture around filling up your sketchbook with only clean drawings and stuff which is, uh. bullshit. your sketchbooks can have whatever mess you want. that’s why it’s called a sketchbook and not a masterpiece book. do whatever you want

- don’t feel discouraged if your art doesn’t get as much attention. time zones + filters + a lot of things may be a factor and it doesn’t mean you’re not good

- don’t compare yourself to other artists unless you’re looking to learn from them because everyone’s style and level is different and you won’t get anywhere if you feel bad because you think you’re “not good enough”

- “not good enough” is also bullshit btw, art is fluid and creative and the standard is whatever you want it to be

- ignore cringe culture that should be abolished immediately anyways

- you don’t owe anyone anything. you do you.

- if someone tells you you can’t draw something, that’s a perfect motivation to draw lots of that thing to spite them

- drawing is supposed to be fun. if it’s super stressful for you, it’s okay to take a break

- experiment!!! there’s so much you can do for art, don’t be afraid to try new things!!

- ily you’re valid

- keep drawing, i believe in you

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forcefulwildcat

5 years ago