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Post by thelucky7th on Nov 30, 2021 22:23:11 GMT -6
Recently, I decided to push myself to work a little more on improving my skills, so I've been doing a lot of daily practice using traditional media. I started out doing figure studies, and have since moved on to an online lesson series intended to improve your fundamentals. It's a bit grueling, but I'm pushing through it. And part of the lesson plan is making sure to do art for fun as well as practice, so I've also been doing some sketches on the side. I thought I might post some of them I'm happy with, though they're a lot messier than my usual fare since they are just sketches, after all. That's a lot of squids! (Hopefully not too many...) Mostly Pyrite and Mercury because they're my favorite and the most developed out of everyone... but Soda also makes an appearance! I've been at this for over a month now (though November is my first full month), but it's kind of nice doing low pressure sketches regularly.
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Post by Sharon on Dec 1, 2021 19:47:10 GMT -6
Recently, I decided to push myself to work a little more on improving my skills, so I've been doing a lot of daily practice using traditional media. I started out doing figure studies, and have since moved on to an online lesson series intended to improve your fundamentals. It's a bit grueling, but I'm pushing through it. And part of the lesson plan is making sure to do art for fun as well as practice, so I've also been doing some sketches on the side. I thought I might post some of them I'm happy with, though they're a lot messier than my usual fare since they are just sketches, after all. That's a lot of squids! (Hopefully not too many...) Mostly Pyrite and Mercury because they're my favorite and the most developed out of everyone... but Soda also makes an appearance! I've been at this for over a month now (though November is my first full month), but it's kind of nice doing low pressure sketches regularly. I'd love to be able to sketch... I've just been afraid to just do it. These are great even as you explained that it's just practice. Where would you advise a beginner to start at?
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Post by Isabela on Dec 1, 2021 22:50:50 GMT -6
I am always envious of people who can draw! I think pencil sketches are one of my favorite, such endless creativity with pencil and paper. I like how all your drawings have different array of emotion, you’re really good at showing their expressions.
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Post by thelucky7th on Dec 4, 2021 23:01:05 GMT -6
I'd love to be able to sketch... I've just been afraid to just do it. These are great even as you explained that it's just practice. Where would you advise a beginner to start at? It can be very difficult! Even drawing as long as I have, this is the first time I've ever really sketched as much as I have. It's overwhelming because there's the nagging worry about "ruining" your page/sketchbook by putting something you're not satisfied with down on the page... But! As part of my push to expand my abilities, I decided to grit my teeth and do it anyway. Because even when I have bad days and draw things I'm not happy with, I'm still drawing something, and that is part of how you progress! It's not just "knowing" how to draw. A lot of it is muscle memory, which you have to train yourself into by doing it as much as you can. If something happened to my hand and I suddenly had to try and draw right handed, you can bet it would look like a mess because even knowing what I do about art, I never use that hand/arm in that way, so I wouldn't have the muscle memory like I do with my left. If you'd like to start, I'd suggest just trying to draw things you like! It may not be pretty, and it may be frustrating, but if you dedicate a little bit of time to it every day or every week, you will find yourself improving. Trace things you want to draw to help yourself get a feel for the sort of movements you need to make when you're drawing them! Draw while looking at references! Let yourself be messy and experiment with different things to see what you like best.
Two sites I use a lot lately are Line of Action, which is a figure study tool that automatically cycles through images at set intervals. There's a tutorial that introduces the idea of gesture drawing on there if you're not familiar, and I filled up half a sketchbook with 30 minute class sessions. Of course, this sort of thing can be intimidating and difficult if you're not familiar, but I like it as a "prompt" generator when I'm not sure what I want to draw. And then there's Draw A Box which is. A very comprehensive introduction to fundamental skills. It's been a very good tool, though it is also a lot. It's recommended for beginners as well as self-taught artists who want to improve with a sort of free art school-style course, but it requires a lot of work and dedication. If you're just getting into it, though, I really do recommend just doing things that make you happy, or at least giving yourself a decent split between practice and fun. Because only focusing on improvement is a very quick way to burn yourself out on it.
I am always envious of people who can draw! I think pencil sketches are one of my favorite, such endless creativity with pencil and paper. I like how all your drawings have different array of emotion, you’re really good at showing their expressions. It's pretty fun now that I've started doing it and let myself be okay with making mistakes and being messy. I think it adds a certain "charm" to things. Thank you! I enjoy trying to add different expressions into my art. It's a lot of fun, though I do want to try and work on them some more and expand my abilities even further.
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Post by lammchen on Dec 12, 2021 8:56:22 GMT -6
You have a nice style. I especially love the way you do fabrics and get them to look natural with the folds and how they lay. Well done.
The comment you made about not wanting to ruin a page with something messy or not well done really hits home. I think that perfectly describes why I haven't drawn in the sketchbook I received a few years ago. I'm a portrait artist and my style leans toward likenesses and when I can't achieve that they I don't feel like I've done my job. If I can't make a chair look like a chair than I feel like a failure. I shouldn't feel that way because I know I just need more practice and to "see" what's there.
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Post by thelucky7th on Dec 12, 2021 13:35:27 GMT -6
You have a nice style. I especially love the way you do fabrics and get them to look natural with the folds and how they lay. Well done. The comment you made about not wanting to ruin a page with something messy or not well done really hits home. I think that perfectly describes why I haven't drawn in the sketchbook I received a few years ago. I'm a portrait artist and my style leans toward likenesses and when I can't achieve that they I don't feel like I've done my job. If I can't make a chair look like a chair than I feel like a failure. I shouldn't feel that way because I know I just need more practice and to "see" what's there. Thank you! Fabric is very hard to figure out, no matter how many tips and tutorials and references I look at! I just do my best, haha.
And I feel like that is a common thread for a lot of people who draw, so you're definitely not alone. I've got so many sketchbooks that were given to me as gifts or what have you that are still empty, or only have a few pages with one or two things on them just because... when it doesn't come out "right" like I see it in my head, or how I see it in the image I'm referencing, it feels like a failure or a waste of space that could have been filled by something "better". But that's why I've committed to doing at least one sketch every day. Some days they look awful! But I'm still drawing and I can look at the sketches and see what looks wrong and it's something I can keep in mind for the future. It's slow, but it's still improvement, in both my art and my acceptance of the things that aren't quite perfect with it.
I hope that you can start working in your sketchbook, as well! I'd love to see what might come from that.
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Post by lammchen on Dec 13, 2021 14:25:02 GMT -6
You have a nice style. I especially love the way you do fabrics and get them to look natural with the folds and how they lay. Well done. The comment you made about not wanting to ruin a page with something messy or not well done really hits home. I think that perfectly describes why I haven't drawn in the sketchbook I received a few years ago. I'm a portrait artist and my style leans toward likenesses and when I can't achieve that they I don't feel like I've done my job. If I can't make a chair look like a chair than I feel like a failure. I shouldn't feel that way because I know I just need more practice and to "see" what's there. Thank you! Fabric is very hard to figure out, no matter how many tips and tutorials and references I look at! I just do my best, haha.
And I feel like that is a common thread for a lot of people who draw, so you're definitely not alone. I've got so many sketchbooks that were given to me as gifts or what have you that are still empty, or only have a few pages with one or two things on them just because... when it doesn't come out "right" like I see it in my head, or how I see it in the image I'm referencing, it feels like a failure or a waste of space that could have been filled by something "better". But that's why I've committed to doing at least one sketch every day. Some days they look awful! But I'm still drawing and I can look at the sketches and see what looks wrong and it's something I can keep in mind for the future. It's slow, but it's still improvement, in both my art and my acceptance of the things that aren't quite perfect with it.
I hope that you can start working in your sketchbook, as well! I'd love to see what might come from that.
Seeing what's wrong is sometimes a curse and a blessing. A curse because you're never satisfied. A blessing because you know why the image doesn't look right and needs fixing. It's when you get too confident that forget to see properly that there is always room for improvement (general you, not you personally).
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