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No. 547112
>>547092If you're going to use acrylic seriously you have to invest in the pricier brands and avoid cheap crafty paints. Liquitex professional and Golden are good to learn with. I prefer oil because I like to work wet on wet really slowly and acrylics dry way too fast. You can buy a fancy stay wet palette to keep paints wet longer but I just have a palette with a lid and I put a wet paper towel over my paints when I'm not using them.
I only use primaries and I can get some good colors but sometimes it's hard or impossible to mix certain colors especially good greens so you might want to invest in green too.
No. 547116
>>547112Thanks! I did already invest in good paints so I dodged that bullet.
Do you have any tips for wet on wet painting? I have both standard quick-drying acrylics and a set of Golden 'open' acrylics which take a couple of days to dry, so I can try wet on wet as well. I normally paint with watercolor and gouache, so I'm used to color mixing but not using thick paint.
No. 547117
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Which one of this anatomy drawing method is the most beginner friendly? Planned to study after finished proko figure drawing course. Pic related
No. 547162
>>547116Just wanted to second getting good quality to start. Some of the lower end brands will lift back up with water.
I don't have any tips for wet on wet, but since you're working with Golden, just know that their customer service is amazing. You can call them up with all sorts of technical questions if you're unsure of specific differences between some of their more closely related mediums.
I think they have a youtube channel or just videos on their site (don't remember) that also demonstrate different products and techniques, but some of it will look a little more on the crafty side with the final product since they're just super-quick demos of what something is or how-to.
No. 547889
>>547626Sure I'll try to critique you.
If you want to get commissions it mostly depends on getting a fanbase/showing a lot of people.
No. 548748
>>548720It's worth trying to figure out what the barrier stopping you really is, because then you can find the best way round it.
Personally, I suffer pretty badly from inertia and it's hardest for me to just get started, so I try to draw at least every other day (every day tends to burn me out but YMMV) and set a 6-minute timer to start with. If I really just DO NOT want to draw that day, I can stop after the 6 minutes are up, but normally I keep going because I was just having trouble sitting down and starting. It's also only 6 minutes so I can fit it in whenever if I'm busy. They key is to treat the 6 minutes as 'enough' if that's genuinely all you do that day. It doesn't work if you feel bad for doing 'only' 6 minutes, that tiny bit has to let you stop for the day with no guilt.
Depending on your personal situation, it might also be that you need to pick the right time of day, or the right workspace or something. What is it that makes you want to give up?
No. 548883
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>>547626>>547889Thank you! I know I need to work on clothing folds for sure. Still trying to figure this program out. I was lazy by not shading.
No. 548905
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>>548883I'm not the anon you replied to, but her left forearm is way too short. The way it's drawn makes it look like if her arm was straight it would only hang down to her hip-bone, when it should go to her mid-thigh, pic related.
Also idk if this is a little nitpicky, but the milk jug is very 2 dimensional. We see lolcow-tan at a 3/4 view, so we should be able to see a little bit of the bottom of the milk jug.
No. 548913
>>548905>>548906Thank you both for your critiques! I don't think of it as nitpicking at all. I appreciate it and understand the mistakes I made. The milk jug and cow need touch-ups.
I'll try to study proportions and drawing objects more in the future.
No. 549351
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I'm a self taught artist. I usually draw for fun and as a hobby. But lately I've noticed that my art skill has been stagnating for a few years. I can't seem to improve anymore. I hate my early 2000s chibi anime artstyle and I want to change it but I can't seem to do it since I've been drawing cute chibi anime artstyle for years. I've compared my artstyle with popular artists on IG and sad to say, my artstyle looks so outdated and stale. I tried copying different artists' artstyle as practice but somehow I always end up drawing a finish artwork in my style in the end. I wish I can draw a more western cartoonish style (ala Disney or Calart style) or a semi realistic style (think of the beautiful girls and handsome men headshots most IG artists draw) which I think is more popular artstyle on social media. How do you break free from your own artstyle that you've been drawing with for years?
Should I try enrolling in an online art class and learn basic anatomy? Is it worth the money? I think I really need a class room structure and a teacher to help me improve my art skill because I can't seem to learn anything by myself. I tend to get too overwhelmed with all the different info and sources on how to improve your art skill. Can some kind Anons recommend a good and affordable online art class or maybe a good free vid tutorial that's easy for a hobbyist to learn from? Thanks in advance!
No. 549402
>>549351Speaking from experience, the classroom structure can be totally worthwhile. Really, just having a good art mentor who supports your growth and is there to answer your questions is beneficial.
If it weren't for the current times, I'd recommend a live class over an online one. But with either kind of class, having a dedicated learning environment and someone you can talk to 1 on 1 will help a whole lot.
No. 549434
>>549360Hmm, that's tricky. I guess the first thing to do would be to make sure you don't look at other artists before you start working? Like make sure you already finished drawing for the day before you go on instagram or whatever. 'Comparison is the thief of joy' and etc.
Maybe another anon has a better idea, but if you like seeing your own progress it might help to choose a specific thing to practice? If you sit down with the intention of practicing a particular skill (anatomy, perspective, inking, color theory etc.) then you'll get to see how you improve, and it'll be harder to compare yourself to others because you're not doing complete pieces. If you see someone else's art and get discouraged, you can practice something you think they do really well, and congratulate yourself on working hard to improve. Do you think that could help?
No. 549467
>>549351I don't have any specific recs at the moment, but I just wanted to say that learning how to draw is like building muscle, the results don't show up immediately. I always leave a study session feeling overwhelmed and frustrated that my work isn't good enough, but later on I'll notice the thing I was studying isn't as difficult as it once was. Effort applied consistently over time is what yields results. It doesn't even have to be a huge amount, the consistency is what's key. That and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. You don't have to produce a nice finished piece to get better, you just have to try something uncomfortable. You will get so much more out of the attempt.
If you want to study a different style, go ahead and gather a bunch of references and really dig into them. Try to replicate an image you like, first on your own. Then pretend you're a scientist and really tear it apart. Trace the lines to get a feel for them, color pick the colors to analyze them, try and figure out what kind of brushes can achieve a similar look. Then afterwards try copying it again, and compare it to the first attempt. You will definitely see improvement. Alternatively, you can find a "speedpaint" of an artist you like and slow it down and paint along. Literally pause the video and copy what they are doing. Its slow and painful, but it doesn't have to be an all day thing. You could do 1 minute of the video a day. Again, effort applied over time. Good luck anon, I know you can do it.
No. 549785
>>549351You can find a lot of resources for free online. Andrew Loomis is good for a more realistic style, and there's at least one Preston Blair book running around for a more animation-based style. The best way to break free from a style you're stuck in is to work on your base building blocks first. Work on proportions and shapes; don't even finish the image, just get a hang of the basic workings of a style you're interested in. Break down images into their base forms to see how everything goes together. Trace over them to help you find those basic shapes.
As far as getting overwhelmed with too much info, if you're learning with a book, don't read it all at once. Just work on one exercise/page at a time. Then either don't move on until you're comfortable and confident with what you've learned or treat it like a class: one to two exercises a week depending on your free time. Set a specific day and time for working on those exercises and stick to it.
Art improvement is always going to be a series of inclines and plateaus. During your plateau, you'll start to see more of the flaws in your own work and be better able to address them. You work on and fix them, get more adept, and plateau again.
No. 550361
>>549402Yeah, that's what I was thinking as well. At least with a mentor someone can guide me on the right path and can give useful feedbacks. I wish I can go to a live class but sadly I live in a small town that doesn't have live art class for adults. So online is the only option for me. But I might try googling again just in case there are private art tutors out there that can teach me basic anatomy skills.
>>549467Thanks for the art tips Anon. I'll try to push myself and do more basic anatomy studies. I've never learned proper anatomy studies before, it feels a bit daunting. I do like the idea of copying speedpaint artist and do a paint along. I've never tried that. I'll try and give it ago. Now I just need to create a set schedule to practice drawing.
>>549351Andrew Loomis? I think I saw several books made by him. Which book is the best one to learn basic anatomy? Or should I just follow all the books?
No. 550526
>>550361Loomis wrote one called "Figure Drawing for All it's Worth" which focuses on the human body, there's a download link at the top of one of the old artist salt threads.
I'd also recommend online life drawing, Croquis Cafe on Vimeo have videos of life models doing timed poses like you'd get in a proper life drawing class. It's good for learning to draw what you see and getting a feel for how bodies actually look IRL.
No. 551708
>>551674It's not a problem as such, but I would say part of the work in IRL life drawing is translating the 3D body onto a 2D plane, whereas watching a video the screen has sort of done that for you. Whether that makes it easier or not probably depends on the person.
I'd say IRL life drawing is always the best if you can access/afford it, but online is good enough if you can't. You'll still be able to learn a lot about anatomy and the figure.
No. 645373
>>645341I feel you. Is investing in a better chair/desk set up an option? That might help with the pain.
As far as finding motivation to draw and creating habits goes, just MAKE yourself do it. 20 minutes of drawing a day is always better than not drawing at all. When I don't know what to draw, I do studies of other people's art i admire. Just keep your pencil moving anon! You'll get there.
No. 645636
>>645341Doodle a lot. Draw whatever's around you. Go through a shopping site and draw things from there. Don't pressure yourself to draw daily because chances are you'll quit, aim to doodle three or four times a week and soon it'll be a habit.
Watching videos on values, perspective and shading would be a good idea too. Once you start incorporating these into your art it becomes much better, since a lot of beginners struggle with these concepts.
If you're out of ideas or your back hurts too much to sit down and draw, do drawing exercises from Drawabox or practice shading. At least then you get better at making smooth lines and don't have to sit for hours.