So, I Heard You Wanted To Get Better At Art. [Harrie]

[ChibiMaestro]

Created by Harrie

This is not a step by step.

This is not a 'How I draw'.

This is what you, yourself, can do to improve.

If any of you admins or moderators feel this isn't appropriate for the tutorials board, feel free to move it elsewhere.

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So, you want to improve your artistic skills?

Great! You're already well on your way down the path of improvement!

Now, the thing I can't emphasise enough is research. Look at tutorials. Read them, look at your favourite artist's art, and don't ever think that you'll never be as good as them.

Trust me, it'll help you.

Admire the artists you love, but also strive to become a better artist than them.
You will get there with that mindset.
Do not settle into the 'My art sucks, I'm never going to get anywhere' trend.

If you think like that, you won't improve.

Change your thought process. If you don't think you're very good at the moment, then think this way instead:
'Sure, I suck now, but I'll get there one day.'


Improvement is gradual, it doesn't happen over night. You won't notice it yourself, but if you look at old stuff, you'll see you've improved greatly C:


Take a look at one of my old works, for example.



It is, quite frankly, absolute utter crubbish. I drew this back in '08. But when I drew it, I thought it was great.
Because I knew I'd get where I wanted eventually.


Look at something from '09



It'd been a year, it's not great, but there's a definite improvement, no?


Well, now let's look at something from last year in June


It's still, quite frankly, horrible.
But the anatomy is somewhat there, and it's a massive improvement over the stuff two years before.



Now, something from October


Not much time has passed, but I certainly improved on head structure, anatomy, etc.

And now, look at my latest.


There's a big improvement, no?
At least, I think that there's a big improvement >:C

Why do you think that is?

Some srs researching, my friend.

I got a bit more serious.

I began to read ten times as many tuts during October, on a regular basis.

I began to pay closer attention to people's art, looked at what they emphasised, what they didn't, etc.

I changed my thought process.

Infact, I now watch three tutorial groups. #Tutorial-Heaven, #TutorialsClub and #tutorialsgroup

Along with those tut groups, I watch various animal groups (BirdsClub, Animal Anatomy, etc.) so as to improve my animals (which I rather enjoy drawing C:).


I also follow this blog, as it has many beautiful photos, which I[s], after I admire for about five minutes,[/s] pay close attention to anatomy and such like.


But research isn't everything!

Along side research is con-crit (constructive criticism). Critique should aid you in your studies, so don't take it as an insult.

Did the critiquer say something you worked so hard on was off?

Then strive to improve, don't be insulted. Prove to them that you can get things right. All those amazing artists you love have worked their butts off to get where they are, and so should you! C:


Post your art everywhere.
I am a member of an Animal Crossing forum, though I no longer play the games, I still go on there regularly.

Why?

Because I post my art there. I ask for crits, for them to point out the errors I missed. The forum might be made up mostly of people aged between eight and twelve, but age doesn't matter. They can still see what's wrong, and they can still tell me.


In my sketch, 'A Boy and His Dragon', someone from said forum pointed out that the wings don't look right. The angles were wrong.
I worked hard on that sketch.
But they didn't upset me.

I improved the wings when I began to paint it, and it does look a lot better (although if it still looks wrong, please point it out people! It's still a WIP, so now's as good a time as any C:)

Remember that critique is said to help you in your art. The critiquer isn't pointing the errors out to upset you, they're pointing them out to help you


A lot of people I see have very similar styles (I'm no saint here. In fact, I'm working on differentiating my style at the moment).

Is your style like someone else's? Is it something really common, like manga?

Look at your favourite artists. I'm sure they're not all manga artists, or cartoonists. If they are cartoonists, they won't all be the same. Perhaps they're a realism artist, or a semi-realism artist.

Perhaps you don't watch many artists, or maybe you don't have dA.

So, have a look around art sites, such as deviantART. What artwork strikes you most? What do you like about it?

Whatever you like most is something you should also study.

I found myself liking drawings with more muscle definition, semi-realism, and a painted style.

So what did I do?
Researched anatomy.
Researched colour theory. (You should do this no matter what your style is. Colour Theory is a very important part of art, and you should soak up every last little scrap of it you can. With a bit of colour theory under your belt, you can begin to add a whole new dimension to your art.)
Watched livestreams, speedpaints, and read walkthroughs.

I incorporated it into my current style (If I told you that the male character in that October picture I showed you was Sokaru, would you be able to see what I changed? Take a look at this, try spot what I changed in his design.)

I began experimenting more. That digital painting WIP I showed you? Never painted before.
But I read tuts, so I knew what to do. I watched artists, and I picked things up.

Experiment my friends. You'll get where you want to be one day.

I'm not even 'there' yet.

I want to one day create a comic for my two main OCs, but I do not feel ready yet. So I research, I improve. I'll get there soon enough. And once I'm there, I shall strive to go even further.

As the Happy Mask Salesman put it, 'Believe in your strengths, believe.'


Some Resketches
Because I'm cool like that.