- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is good for getting over the initial conceptual difficulty of actually drawing what you see.
Drawing Tips For Newbies
- Thread starter Remilia
- Start date
Kartoffel
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2016
Learn to properly sketch. Don't just draw right on like Chris-chan would do, but try to construct your paintings so that the anatomy and perspective will be right. Show your pictures to other peoples and ask for constructive critic. If they say something sucks be happy that means you know what you can improve 
Also when drawing your magnum opus consider doing several studies, for example for background composition, for the colors, for the values. Just a quick guide if something will look good, before you invested 20 hours into the real thing to notice that something looks undesireable.
Also a nice way to improve oneself is too pick something to actively improve and then concentrate on it for a while, till you feel you got the hang of it. Want to draw better birds? Then draw them, copy some better drawings untill you understand how it's done and then repeat and try to use that stuff you learned. And when you feel like you have substantially gotten better than you could move on to the next subject. Concentrating on one thing can enable you to make progress fast and in the end independently of what you draw you'll get better at everything because you'll have kind of a toolbox. E.g. you drew many, many birds and suddenly see, that drawing angels got easier and overlapping features like scales. You should choose your subjects by what you want to be able to draw but also what you find cool to draw.
Also when drawing your magnum opus consider doing several studies, for example for background composition, for the colors, for the values. Just a quick guide if something will look good, before you invested 20 hours into the real thing to notice that something looks undesireable.
Also a nice way to improve oneself is too pick something to actively improve and then concentrate on it for a while, till you feel you got the hang of it. Want to draw better birds? Then draw them, copy some better drawings untill you understand how it's done and then repeat and try to use that stuff you learned. And when you feel like you have substantially gotten better than you could move on to the next subject. Concentrating on one thing can enable you to make progress fast and in the end independently of what you draw you'll get better at everything because you'll have kind of a toolbox. E.g. you drew many, many birds and suddenly see, that drawing angels got easier and overlapping features like scales. You should choose your subjects by what you want to be able to draw but also what you find cool to draw.
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2014
Learn to draw from what tools you have, rather than be held back by what tools you use.
Also a tip that isn't about drawing but related to drawing:
Also a tip that isn't about drawing but related to drawing:
Regardless of how much you love an artist's work, it's a dick move not only to repost their work without asking them for permission first but to also refuse taking images down when they personally ask you to. For newbies this is especially important to remember when trying to form bonds with other artists.
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2016
DON'T DO IT, IT'S NOT WORTH IT.
There's no shame in referencing things! That being said, it's also fun to challenge yourself to sketch something from memory as a warm-up, before comparing the sketch to the original object/reference.
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2015
I have no patience for the "no references ever" crowd. You need references to teach yourself how to see correctly. All the techniques and tricks in the world won't help you if you genuinely can't see what's wrong. Taking some time to work on realism is also useful, and not just realism in figure drawing. Basically, you have to learn how something is realistically put together in order to make your own decision as to what sort of visual shorthand you will use. Copying someone else's style tends to include copying their flaws. I'm not saying never do that- fanart is fun. But it's important for improvement to learn to see why an artist made a particular decision to stylize something in this way or that.
Oh yeah, also turn your paper (or image if you're working digitally). It's so much easier to move the paper and o with the natural arc of wrist movement instead of keeping the paper still and fighting with awkward lines. I believe it was said earlier to flip your art and look for any distortion- sometimes you'll get the feeling something is off, and it won't be apparent until you see it flipped.
Oh yeah, and the other "advice" I see on tumblr that drives me nuts is line shaming. If you draw with short sketchy lines, the Art Mob isn't going to jump in your window and break your arm. Nobody puts down perfectly smooth lines in one fluid motion.
Oh yeah, also turn your paper (or image if you're working digitally). It's so much easier to move the paper and o with the natural arc of wrist movement instead of keeping the paper still and fighting with awkward lines. I believe it was said earlier to flip your art and look for any distortion- sometimes you'll get the feeling something is off, and it won't be apparent until you see it flipped.
Oh yeah, and the other "advice" I see on tumblr that drives me nuts is line shaming. If you draw with short sketchy lines, the Art Mob isn't going to jump in your window and break your arm. Nobody puts down perfectly smooth lines in one fluid motion.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2013
I've always found reference pretty valuable when it comes to trying to draw complex things or for trying to figure out what a character looks like for fanart. I don't support fully copying off, or tracing, the picture directly.
The whole "ONE LINE BEST" argument gets to me too. Especially since I do sketchy lines all the time when I draw.
- Joined
- Jun 10, 2016
References are important, as is building up your visual library. You can look at a hundred pictures of crabs, but it won't do you any good as an artist. But if you take 10 minutes, one photo of a crab and really work towards understanding it (which includes tracing its form, measuring proportions and generally trying to capture its likeness) you are now a better artist than you were 10 minutes ago. And that new knowledge is transferable to other things, like mechs or fantasy creatures, so it's not like it will only help you with drawing crabs.
I think this is what people generally meant when they said "don't always draw from reference" and it kinda got corrupted into "never use reference" by beginners who want to speak with borrowed authority.
In this example, you ideally won't need reference to draw a crab because you have drawn at least a few dozen crabs before and it just comes natural to you at this point. It's the difference between drawing from experience and drawing from imagination, but you only get to this point by drawing a lot from reference in the first place.
I think this is what people generally meant when they said "don't always draw from reference" and it kinda got corrupted into "never use reference" by beginners who want to speak with borrowed authority.
In this example, you ideally won't need reference to draw a crab because you have drawn at least a few dozen crabs before and it just comes natural to you at this point. It's the difference between drawing from experience and drawing from imagination, but you only get to this point by drawing a lot from reference in the first place.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2015
Depends on the type of art, of course
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2016
All of this is good!
-It also helps to "get away" from your work by viewing it from a distance/zooming out before and after it has been flipped.
WEEDle
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2016
The advice in this thread has actually been very helpful. My favorite piece of advice so far has been to not draw like Chris.
But seriously though I will take this advice on board and I will focus on drawing things I currently find tricky, like hands for example, lots of hands. I'm also going to try drawing naked people in various positions. Not necessarily just for perverted reasons but it actually seems like a good way to improve on drawing anatomy, body proportions, perspective etc.
I'm pretty useless at shading so I'm going to try and work on that too, but one thing at a time. I have absolutely no formal art training and I haven't really drawn since I was young, so I'm trying to get into this based on intuition.
I lightly sketch down whatever I'm drawing first, a rough outline really, and I have to look at it with an objective and critical eye. Does this look okay? If not, what is wrong with it? What needs to be changed? Have an eraser handy because if you're anything like me you will make a bunch of mistakes you will kick yourself for, so I would definitely say avoid starting your drawing with pen. Might seem super obvious and basic but if you've never had ANY drawing advice like myself, it is helpful.
I use many references when drawing something like a horse or a building, but I never copy directly, I just use it to give me an idea of what I'm drawing. I find this incredibly helpful and anyone who tells you this is cheating can go fuck themselves. We all have to start somewhere.
I'm really only interested in working on paper with pencils, pens and coloring pens, digital art doesn't really interest me yet but I can't say that will always be the case. I would recommend mechanical pencils and fine line pens, I have a set of pens where the tips range from 0.1mm to 0.8mm. I imagine it would be frustrating to try drawing with a ball point pen.
One piece of advice I can offer which I haven't seen mentioned, and may be highly idiosyncratic but I have no idea (art noob) is that I have found it helpful to have a small area of the paper to work on instead of trying to have a drawing fill a whole page. For example, on an A4 sheet of paper I will split the page into boxes of 7cm width by 6cm height, with a small 1cm high box with 7cm width for any writing you wish to do above it, perhaps relating to the drawing or your interpretation of it.
I find that working on a smaller space gives me a lot less room to mess up, I'm not sure if I can really describe it well, but it's definitely something that has helped me get into drawing more.
Finally, I want to echo that you will probably suck for a long time if you're new to drawing and you don't have some kind of natural talent or intuition for it. It's like anything, you learn and improve, and if you have an interest in it and it feels rewarding for you it's only natural to continue and progress. I would advise against showing other people your art though unless you really trust them and/or don't really care what they think.
When I look back at some of my drawings from last year I cringe at some of the obvious perspective mistakes I make, and hopefully a year from now I will look at my current work and feel the same, at least that way I know I'm making some progress.
But seriously though I will take this advice on board and I will focus on drawing things I currently find tricky, like hands for example, lots of hands. I'm also going to try drawing naked people in various positions. Not necessarily just for perverted reasons but it actually seems like a good way to improve on drawing anatomy, body proportions, perspective etc.
I'm pretty useless at shading so I'm going to try and work on that too, but one thing at a time. I have absolutely no formal art training and I haven't really drawn since I was young, so I'm trying to get into this based on intuition.
I lightly sketch down whatever I'm drawing first, a rough outline really, and I have to look at it with an objective and critical eye. Does this look okay? If not, what is wrong with it? What needs to be changed? Have an eraser handy because if you're anything like me you will make a bunch of mistakes you will kick yourself for, so I would definitely say avoid starting your drawing with pen. Might seem super obvious and basic but if you've never had ANY drawing advice like myself, it is helpful.
I use many references when drawing something like a horse or a building, but I never copy directly, I just use it to give me an idea of what I'm drawing. I find this incredibly helpful and anyone who tells you this is cheating can go fuck themselves. We all have to start somewhere.
I'm really only interested in working on paper with pencils, pens and coloring pens, digital art doesn't really interest me yet but I can't say that will always be the case. I would recommend mechanical pencils and fine line pens, I have a set of pens where the tips range from 0.1mm to 0.8mm. I imagine it would be frustrating to try drawing with a ball point pen.
One piece of advice I can offer which I haven't seen mentioned, and may be highly idiosyncratic but I have no idea (art noob) is that I have found it helpful to have a small area of the paper to work on instead of trying to have a drawing fill a whole page. For example, on an A4 sheet of paper I will split the page into boxes of 7cm width by 6cm height, with a small 1cm high box with 7cm width for any writing you wish to do above it, perhaps relating to the drawing or your interpretation of it.
I find that working on a smaller space gives me a lot less room to mess up, I'm not sure if I can really describe it well, but it's definitely something that has helped me get into drawing more.
Finally, I want to echo that you will probably suck for a long time if you're new to drawing and you don't have some kind of natural talent or intuition for it. It's like anything, you learn and improve, and if you have an interest in it and it feels rewarding for you it's only natural to continue and progress. I would advise against showing other people your art though unless you really trust them and/or don't really care what they think.
When I look back at some of my drawings from last year I cringe at some of the obvious perspective mistakes I make, and hopefully a year from now I will look at my current work and feel the same, at least that way I know I'm making some progress.
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2013
IIRC, with phones/tablets being touchscreen, it's probably easier to find a stylus than a tablet for one. It would also help if you gave us some more information on what exactly you're looking for.
If it's desktop, your best bet is something along the lines of an Intuos or similar.
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2014
I think what I am looking for is just something to sketch on. Preferably mobile, so I can see what I am doing. Sorry I can't really provide more info. But I will look into the intuos
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2016
Pick up a refurbished samsung tablet. The galaxy series isn't bad, and they're pretty cheap when you get 'em used. They also typically come with a copy of Sketchbook Pro by default and have pressure sensitivity. Just be aware the default stylus is a little... drag-y? Its very different to working with pencils or even digital tablets like wacom/huion.
Speaking of Huion, they're about a third the price of a wacom and aren't bad at all for entry level graphics tablets.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2013
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2015
If you really want to hate yourself and artwork, try to teach yourself to be competent with your non-dominant hand.
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2014
You will suck and even when you don't suck as much you will still feel like you suck.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2013
Also, progressing in art takes a long time. By long, I mean really, really long. Don't even expect to reach professional levels in 5 years or less, especially if you're studying by yourself. There are people who make spectacular jumps in 2-3 years or so, but they likely learned art before, have exceptional talent, access to good education or are simply very dedicated. Sometimes... all of that at once.
Besides, people advance at their own pace, and obviously there are those who can and will do it quicker than you. For example, one artist I follow didn't know how to paint landscapes digitally and then decided to figure it out. She made greater progress in 1 year of on-and-off work than I did in 4 years.
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2016
I use reference pics and usually do sketches on paper before doing the final parts with a digital art program
Zababa
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2016
When you're first learning how to draw a particular thing it can be helpful to find reference images and trace the basic shapes that make it up for study. Then move on to drawing from reference.
A lot of artists will tell you never to shade with black and this is usually good advice, but in high contrast pictures a black or near-black depending on the lighting and style can work really well.
For art programs just speaking on ones I've used:
Medibang is good for cel-shaded lineart, comic pages, and tones.
Krita is great for digital painting. I honestly wouldn't use it for anything else though.
ignoring how terrible this piece is since it was just a test piece, the tools are heavily geared towards this type of drawing. You can use it for other types of art but it's a high learning curve with this program and they didn't think the shortcuts through, so I prefer to do everything else in medibang.
Sai is another good program for cel-shaded lineart, not so good for comic pages or tones. The vector line tool is great for mouse users and people with unsteady hands.
i used a few filters to get the colors here and the black lines separating the colors were done with a filter, but the linework itself was done entirely with a mouse
Photoshop is good for filters and it can be good for digital painting, although it's hard to blend or smooth things so I don't use it exclusively.
Gimp belongs in the fucking garbage. It has some cool filters but there's nothing else it can do that other programs can't do better.
Manga Studio is great for coloring. I prefer to do my linework in medibang or sai though.
To get colors like the example I used for sai, just take a photograph of a piece of paper, import it and turn the saturation and contrast way up, then use it as an overlay on your colors. Play with blending options if you'd like, sometimes for one picture a different blending option will work better. Different lighting when you take the photo can change the effect quite a bit. Don't take a high-res photo, use a shitty phone camera. For the lines I used some filter in gimp, I believe it was something along the lines of cartoonization.
A lot of artists will tell you never to shade with black and this is usually good advice, but in high contrast pictures a black or near-black depending on the lighting and style can work really well.
Medibang is good for cel-shaded lineart, comic pages, and tones.
Krita is great for digital painting. I honestly wouldn't use it for anything else though.
ignoring how terrible this piece is since it was just a test piece, the tools are heavily geared towards this type of drawing. You can use it for other types of art but it's a high learning curve with this program and they didn't think the shortcuts through, so I prefer to do everything else in medibang.
i used a few filters to get the colors here and the black lines separating the colors were done with a filter, but the linework itself was done entirely with a mouse
Gimp belongs in the fucking garbage. It has some cool filters but there's nothing else it can do that other programs can't do better.
Manga Studio is great for coloring. I prefer to do my linework in medibang or sai though.
blur is useful for textures like blending red into skin but otherwise this is generally a good idea
To get colors like the example I used for sai, just take a photograph of a piece of paper, import it and turn the saturation and contrast way up, then use it as an overlay on your colors. Play with blending options if you'd like, sometimes for one picture a different blending option will work better. Different lighting when you take the photo can change the effect quite a bit. Don't take a high-res photo, use a shitty phone camera. For the lines I used some filter in gimp, I believe it was something along the lines of cartoonization.