I thought I’d interrupt the queue to add some progress shots of my painting “in Arcadia”.
This style is a lot of work, and it doesn’t even start to look good until after lines are added. In the early stages of painting, I am perpetually dismayed and horrified by every new color I add, and a majority of work is actually harmonizing everything. I spend the most time making sure colors are just right.
I used tiny brushes and acrylic ink (in black, blue, and umber) to outline everything. The brush makes a very versatile line that you can’t get with a regular pen. The entire process, from beginning to end, can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. This piece took just one month!
The characters are Eugene (skullface) and Joss.
it’s easy to draw a shitty leg or whatever and think ‘dang, this seems so simple, someone else could have drawn this same thing right in eight seconds, i should know how to do this it’s only a leg i’ve got two jammed onto my own ass’ but no matter who you compare yourself to i guarantee they’ve sat around thinking to themselves, ‘dang this is a shitty ______ i just did, everyone makes it look so easy’ and they’ve made piles of shitty drawings too, ones that took them hours and hours and still looked massively shitty, even. don’t get so MAD when you do it, stop sweating all over your tablet with your meaty anger fists. you want to make something and uh oh you can’t? well you’re going to learn how a lot faster if you aren’t sticking your thumb up your ass in protest simmer down” does the space cold make your nipples go pointy: more advice mostly to myself (via heysawbones)
ugh, exactly. that’s why i draw with my eyes shut. just to keep out all those horrid outside influences, you know?
and when i get jury summons. i make sure i’ve got my mp3 player in with me to drown out all that relevant information so i can make my judgement based on absolutely nothing at all. same thing when i’m voting. i just drop my pen onto the ballot paper and hope it makes a tick in one of the boxes. heck, i’m reblogging this post with commentary and i didn’t even read it. i have no respect for people who put any research into what they’re doing whatsoever. they’re just gross.
Reblogging for amazing comment.
OP, how…. how do you think master painters work? Illustrators? Do you think professionals at Disney or Pixar or Ghibli work without references? That they’re just magically able to accurately draw architecture and animals and natural looking movement without references?
Using a reference doesn’t mean copying an existing piece of art; that’s just copying. It means researching your subject matter and using your research (often visual) to create stronger, more accurate work. It’s not just “okay,” it’s necessary to attain the level of skill the artists you admire exhibit. These artists don’t generally rely heavily on references for every piece, either. They look up what they need, learn from using it, and are able to absorb that knowledge for use in future work.
This may not change how you and those who share your sentiment feel about it, but I urge you to look a little deeper into what using references really means, as it would appear your understanding of the subject is fairly shallow.
(Source: artist-confessions)
SOPA is on the Senate floor RIGHT NOW
When PIPA reared its ugly head, I, along with countless American denizens of the web, wrote an appeal to my representatives to reject it. If you value net neutrality, it’s time to write and call your representatives again.
Like PIPA (Protect IP Act), SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is a vaguely written bill that poses a much greater threat to individuals, artists, small businesses, and tech entrepreneurs than to the actual perpetrators of online piracy. It would, in perhaps oversimplified terms, enable corporations and ISPs to control what websites we can and cannot visit based on perceived threats or shortcomings they present under a piece of legislature that is simply too broad, and was written without sufficient expert consultation. Although amendments are being proposed to diffuse some of this oversight, they are only serving to convolute and destabilize a bill whose foundation is poorly constructed.
You can follow the debate live as it takes place at http://keepthewebopen.com/sopa. For those who don’t want to wade through pages of convoluted legislative language or listen to politicians bullshit each other, this article covers some of the basics as well as the sort of collateral damage they would cause and why they are ineffective, and this article approaches the issue from a free speech vs copyright perspective.
However you decide to educate yourself on the matter, please consider raising your concerns directly with your representatives. Regardless of how likely or unlikely it is to pass, they need to hear from us, and they need to know that such propositions are unacceptable.
Discord Appreciation Life 2k11: How dare this artist draw a _____ you don't like
I know a lot of artists here on tumblr. I know a handful of musicians here as well. While I can’t speak for all of them I can speak for myself.
If somebody draws something, writes something, or composes something it is not your job to say “Oh…
I have a couple things to say on this subject that might help clear things up a little?
1) It is technically a backhanded compliment. What you’re actually doing by saying, “I don’t normally like ___…” is distancing yourself from the subject or genre so you aren’t associated with it. If the person you’re complimenting is REALLY INTO THAT subject or genre, it might make them feel awkward about their excitement, or that their interests have been marginalized.
2) Most people genuinely mean it as a compliment. If the sentences that follow are absolutely overflowing with emphatic praise, I guarantee the person using this speech pattern didn’t think for a second that anything they were saying carried any negativity. They’re not trying to belittle the things you like. They’re just trying to say that your work is literally exceptional to them, which is pretty nice!
3) Some people, however, are snide sons of bitches. If someone says something like, “I don’t normally like anime, but this is alright” or “I don’t really care for fantasy, but this is pretty good,” it’s pretty obvious they’re taking this opportunity to take you down a peg. The impression that gives is that their tastes are clearly superior, and your work would somehow be better if it catered to them, but heck it’s “pretty good” so why not throw you a bone.
Regardless of your intentions, the first point remains; it’s a way of distancing yourself from the subject matter, which will lessen the compliment to those who notice and are sensitive to it. So, if you really want to pay someone a nice compliment about their work, just compliment them!
Gonna post this here too I guess. It doesn’t explore every angle, but I think it gets the point across.
Sprite Haven: How to Improve your drawing skills. REBLOG THIS
Not something I’d get asked as often as one might think, but I do get asked this nevertheless. Every other artist that maybe skilled, talented, experienced, etc. get asked this all too often from what I see. The best me or any other artist that isn’t a teacher can give you is just advice. Here’s…
This is everything I am too verbose and incoherent to say. Draw what you want.
Makes Me Wanna Crey… ; ~ ; <3
You actually answered your own question, but I suppose I will also clarify some things, since this question is becoming a little more frequent! I might as well take some time to address it more broadly.
Consistency comes with practice. I draw every single day! But if that sounds discouraging, I should also add that not everything I draw is substantial; sometimes it is just a weird half-finished sketch, or an experimental speed paint with horrible vomit colors that I will never show to anyone, or a hand-written chart mapping out the political structure of the Alternian Empire. I have off-days where the only thing I accomplish is a single, wobbly line and breathing. This is not a bad thing! In fact, breathing is a great thing and everybody should take a day off and try it. Breathe all day. Seriously, it’s amazing.
The point is, draw! Draw a lot! Even if you don’t feel like you’re making anything great, or making any improvements, you’re still drawing! That in itself is more than helpful. Think of it as exercising a muscle; the more you use it, the stronger it gets, and the more you’re able to do with it. Unfortunately, this is also a long, slow process - much like building physical muscle - and a lot of people quit because they don’t think they’re making any progress.
I will give you an example of progress and consistency using Darkleer’s face.
This chronological line-up proves three things. 1) I have a Problem and its name is Darkleer. 2) I draw Darkleer differently in almost every picture. The only consistent Darkleers are the ones on the bottom row, which I drew one after the other in rapid succession. 3) I had to draw a lot of Darkleers to even start to make him look consistent. What you are not seeing are all of the Darkleers I drew and then erased before making the Darkleers you see here.
THAT’S A LOT OF DARKLEER.
(I was going to make an example consisting entirely of lesbians, but that was around the time I dislocated my shoulder, so there was sort of a sine curve of quality throwing off the sample group. :c )
((I have a broader progress chart here, if you’re interesting in glimpsing the ridiculous things I drew when I was 9. Hint: COMICS.))
As for art school… well.
Art school did not teach me anything about technique. Their teaching method was pretty much to sit you in front of a canvas with some paint and see what happened, then they would tell you if what you did worked or not. Not really the best method, honestly.
Not that I regret going to art school! Far from it. Changing my major from computer science to art (I know, right???) was the best thing I ever did.
What art school really gave me was a support system. You need support - be it parents, professors, peers, some form of consistent structure, if not in a classroom then in your work space, or just a part-time job - to be able to create art in the first place. You need someone who will have your back and keep you alive when you’re not selling anything (even if those someones are Mrs. Pocket Change and Mr. Ramen), to encourage you to keep honing your skills, and it helps to have someone to tell you when you’re slacking or when your quality or ideas aren’t as good as they could be.
The other thing an artist needs is time. Everything I learned about the process of making art, I taught myself through doing, because school gave me the time and the opportunity to do so. I sat in front of a canvas and put paint on it. I drew and painted nudes. I drew people I saw in class. I painted some landscapes. I wasted a semester on a stupid idea that I hated. I drew oversized comics on huge pieces of paper with charcoal. I learned something from all of those experiences. The trick is to give yourself the opportunity to try new things, to make time. I know you probably get home from work super tired, but it’s important to draw anyway. Ignore tumblr for a bit and use your art to unwind instead (100% fewer hilarious .gifs but 100% more skill improvement - I think this is a fair trade-off). Draw something silly and make yourself laugh!
If you need more structured homework, try filling out one of those 25 Essential Expressions charts, a little every day; it’s meant to help you develop consistency when drawing a character. Heck, try a 30-day challenge and draw some things you wouldn’t normally draw. You might find something you really enjoy drawing!
The last thing that an artist needs is work ethic, which is also something I did not learn in school. Largely, my ethic comes from my own drive to make the image I see in my head. Structured classes and due dates just helped me reconsider the way I was managing my time. You learn really fast how quickly you can make a five page comic, without sacrificing quality, when it’s due in two days.
All in all, art school is nonessential. It helps with a lot of different things, and provides good venues for developing your ideas, but you don’t have to go to an art school to be an artist. An artist is just a person with the passion and drive to create things. Your support system could be your part-time job and your best friend. As long as you’re putting aside time to work on drawing, and actually drawing, you’re already doing better than all the kids who quit drawing when they were ten (to which my reaction is always :c ).
I can’t tell you how to get better faster, but I will tell you a few things that I always keep in the back of my mind:
- When brainstorming, discard the first three to five ideas that occur to you. The first ten, even. They are usually super obvious; they are the things that everyone else thinks of first, too. Getting rid of those ideas immediately gives you room to think of all the things no one else considers because they stop at two.
- Never make a line that doesn’t matter. Lines that don’t do anything are just cluttering up your picture, so get rid of them. It will keep your picture clean and efficient. My style gets a little gritty sometimes and throws around a lot of tiny lines, but I can guarantee you that every line I make is placed with forethought. Those lines need to be there.
- Go for it. Taking the first step on a big project, and you’re scared it won’t turn out the way you want it to? Do it anyway. Do the best you can. Maybe it won’t be the best thing ever, but at least you’ll learn something that you can carry over to your next project. You can always try again later, and go about it a different way. Your next project will always be better than the last.
- Finish something. This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised! It’s not enough to sketch. Every once in a while, you need to try something bigger and more elaborate than usual. It can be anything! But starting and finishing something of greater complexity gives you a greater feeling of completion, and that feeling is really, really encouraging. And then you should do something nice for yourself, because you finished something and you deserve it. Start small; reward yourself for filling a page in your sketchbook, and work your way up from there. Positively reinforce the behavior of drawing (not punish yourself for not drawing). This is science and it works. I nearly threw myself a fricking party when I finished For You. I’m pretty sure I baked myself some cookies.
And finally, I suppose, if you really, really wanted, you could commission me for art. That’s a lot like paying me for these, and everybody involved wins. Just throwing that out there. :)
I hope that this was somewhat helpful? Sorry this turned into a lecture!
Hey Guys.
