Share your art tips here!

I know there's many great artists here on FF, so here's a place to share your art tips with others.

Meh I don't have much to share, but I get I can pull together some things.

1. Sketch lightly first. Sketch. Sketches can be messy, don't be afraid to do that. Here's something I quickly made to explain it better. But I'm still bad at explaining.

Open:

Afterwards just outline the sketch darkly or with a new layer (for digital).

2. Keep references at hand and anatomy in mind. If you're drawing chibis or cartoon things just try to make some kind of anatomy, I mean, you don't want one arm longer than the other or in an unnatural pose (unless it's an octupus chibi the heck they can squeeze themselves into a tiny cube if they want to).

3. Practice makes perfect. I know you're going to be like "But that's what everyone sez all the time and I'm getting nowhere!". If you really enjoying drawing, you're going to do it often. Drawing often is practicing. After 6 months or so you are going to get better.

More evidence to this is that something you draw often, like cats, well over time you're going to get better at drawing cats. But not something that you almost never draw, like monkeys or shoes. You are going to get a little better at drawing monkeys and shoes because of your experience in art, but not that much because you didn't practice monkey and shoe anatomy as much as cat anatomy.


I guess that's it. What I'm looking for help in is coloring and shading. Any good brushes to do that with?

Hrmm...

1) Draw lightly, don't instantly draw a super thick line. Draw short light lines in pencil (if you're drawing on paper) and keep sketching until you like the drawing as a whole then trace over it darker, or with a pen or something.

2) Practice IS perfect, I DEFINITELY agree with you there, you can not draw a picture of a face and INSTANTLY know how to draw all the details and shading perfectly. You have to practice, maybe even try drawing everyday. Look up some youtube videos, get cool books out of the library, work hard on it and you will like the results.

COLORING:

1) If you are drawing something with lots of colors sketch something with those colors beforehand to see if the colors go well together.


mfffff I think those are all the tips I can think of right now ... maybe I will add more later ...

Drawing:

1) When drawing, it's best to use guidelines. They always help draw heads and place facial features, so you don't end up with the nose where the eyes are suppose to be, and eyes where the nose is suppose to be.

2) Sketch lightly first. Don't keep erasing. iT'S A SKETCH! When you go over with it, you won't see the basic sketch, anyways.

Colouring:

1) If you do ink, its best to use a think inking marker so your lines don't end up looking too think.

That's all I got x3

Hope~ wrote:

Drawing:

1) When drawing, it's best to use guidelines. They always help draw heads and place facial features, so you don't end up with the nose where the eyes are suppose to be, and eyes where the nose is suppose to be.

2) Sketch lightly first. Don't keep erasing. iT'S A SKETCH! When you go over with it, you won't see the basic sketch, anyways.

Colouring:

1) If you do ink, its best to use a think inking marker so your lines don't end up looking too think.

That's all I got x3

Yep, guidelines are another tip I forgot. >.>

Also, for one-color backgrounds or simple non-scenery ones pick a color that is lighter and less saturated than the colors of the main image.

1). Make sure to practice different body types and facial features. If not, all your characters will look boring.
Here's a good tutorial for body types: http://myartrefs.tumblr.com/post/25346284031/varying-your-body-types (theres some nsfw in there, so yeah)

And for facial features: http://phobs.deviantart.com/art/face-tutorial-177059553

2). It's okay to use references. Just do not copy the whole picture. Also, when you copy a certain part of a picture, I recommend you use realistic photos. That way, you can put it in your own style.

3). Practice "nudies" first. It's just like using bases, except it's your own art. It will help you with your anatomy and your style.

Don't spend over $100 on art supplies then forget where you put them/never use them...etc...
TnT)

A t e l i e r wrote:

Don't spend over $100 on art supplies then forget where you put them/never use them...etc...
TnT)

Goodness gracious, we must be twins.

Anyway:

1. Take your drawing and face at a mirror. Sometimes you'll be able to spot what part is bigger than the other, which part is bent, etc etc.

2. When people critique you, try to not excuse yourself by saying, "but it's /supposed/ to be that way." I found myself in this situation a lot, and sometimes I ended up making the same mistakes because I never tried it a way that a "critiquer" explained.

Yeah that's it really, I feel like I need to share more, but I don't know what to share. ;-;