gothyprospit

Talk to me about homestuck and murder

Hi there! My name is Dia, I'm an artist, or at least pretend to be. I like Sewing, Drawing, Writing and a whole bunch of fandom things. I'm 25 and live in Canada

738 posts

I Got Bored So I Thought Id Share Some Art Tips Cause Why Not!!

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