Hey! You can call me Skye! She/her! You should also know, I hyper fixate and jump around in my content posting a ton! Have fun! Ask me anything! Requests are open! Fandoms include; Percy Jackson, Gravity Falls, SVTFOE, Marvel, VLD, Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, TOA, Sanders Sides, and Cobra Kai!
What are some of your tips for a beginner for doing storyboard?
First and foremost---- keep things ROUGH!!
A lot of the boards I've been posting are overly clean because they're just done for fun! On the day to day, my work is a lot more gestural because we gotta draw quick! Get your ideas down as fast as possible!
Storyboards are like handwriting, ya know? You can have the most scribbly, ugly-lookin' handwriting but if you're writing beautiful poetry then who really cares what the words look like on the page? It's much easier to cross out and change sections of it when you're not writing in calligraphy. You only need to make sure it's legible and the rest can slide!
I think that's what's really wonderful about storyboarding! You don't necessarily have to be the best drawer to be a stellar board artist! First and foremost, always focus on the story and how you want to tell it!
Some other tips off the top of my head:
- you can start boarding in ANY drawing program!!
- learn the basic types of shots (close, medium, wide, etc)
- learn the basics about how to cut between shots
- learn the 180 rule in screen direction (where to place your camera so people don't get confused where things are)
- learn basic perspective drawing (1-point, 2-point, 3-point) for backgrounds
- always thumbnail things before jumping in straight to boards (will save you a lot of work/pain in the long run)
- don't get too attached to your boards, and don't be afraid to scrap a bunch of drawings to make big story changes--- that's what boards are for in the end!
tips/resources that taught me how to Art as an Adult - a masterlist
Four years ago I decided that “I’m too old to learn how to draw” is a pointless lie I’d believed for too long and you’re never too old to learn something new. I still definitely consider myself a novice and a learner but I’m at a very happy place with my art and I’m having a ton of fun so I thought I’d pass along the tips/resources that helped me get started and kept me motivated.
I’ll get into resources under the cut, but here are personal tips I lined up for myself that helped during the early stages of frustration and wanting to give up. obviously they won’t work for everyone, but they really kept me going
fill 14 sketchbooks. if you still want to give up after that you can (I’m currently at 13 sketchbooks and could not imagine ever letting it go)
what specifically do you want to be able to draw? For me my goal has always been characters and cats. I’ve added things to it here and there, but starting out overwhelmed with how much you don’t know isn’t great. find a handful of things you really want to draw and see where it takes you.
get yourself a sketchbook fancy enough that you feel cool as heck but cheap enough that you don’t mind absolutely destroying it. Personally, I love EXCEED bullet journals. the dotted paper keeps me from being too picky but are less intrusive than lined paper. From my experience, EXCEED bullet journals takes acrylic and ink like a champ, and they’ve got nice covers that just make you “feel” cool. confidence is important!
acrylic paint and post-it notes are great ways to cover mistakes. I personally love anything that makes my sketchbooks feel “sketchbooky” so this is super fun.
it is okay to “waste”/”ruin” pages. one time I was in “I’m a failure” artblock and so I poured black coffee onto my sketchbook. (it was gonna get dumped out anyway and I was Very frustrated with my art.) then when the pages dried I just kept right along using it. taught me a lot about not being perfect. sketchbooks are about learning and love, not about perfection.
try drawing in pen. seriously, draw in pen. it’s scary as frick to not be able to go back on mistakes but that’s what the post-it acrylic-paint tip is for, and it’ll help with all sorts of stuff like lineweight and line confidence. it takes some of the stress off too because, you screw up? oh well! Try again! it encourages “try again” over “meticulously nitpick until it’s perfect” and has done wonders for me. I started out my first two sketchbooks in pencil before making the switch and I’ve never gone back.
(also sketching in highlighter and lining with pen is super fun and cool and satisfying!)
the first page doesn’t matter. I usually just use the first page of the sketchbook to write my favorite songs at the time and then do the same thing on the last page. first page jitters begone.
(starting in the middle of the sketchbook also gets rid of those jitters pretty nicely. I tried this a couple times and personally still prefer the linear front-to-back but it was fun for a while.)
picking a color theme for your sketchbook can make it feel more “sketchbooky” too. I usually go with blue or orange- blue acrylic paint, blue post-it notes, those cheap blue BIC pens, etc. I like this bc it makes the sketchbook feel like a sketchbook and is very satisfying.
And figure out why you’re doing it. I did it because I always wanted to make cool art and draw my characters, but if you’re doing it for a career then obviously the path to that looks much different. Don’t compare yourself to others. Be inspired by people who are better than you. Acknowledge where you need to grow and where you’re strongest. Lean into those strengths. Adapt to those weaknesses. Be proud of being a beginner- you won’t be one for long.
So do you have any tips for new artists starting out? Cuz I'm brand new and idk what to start on first 🥲👍
hmmmm well, usually it's best you set a goal of what you want to draw, try to sketch it out and realize all the skills you lack for drawing and then try to practice the specific skill you need to make your idea come to life
or thats what ive been doing for the longest time because what you want to be able to draw is your motivator for anything
do you want to make cool illustrations? you will probably need to check how to make cool compositions and how the size of shapes work or the placement of shapes work and then color values if you wanna make dramatic art
do you wanna make cool characters in badass poses? you'll probably need to learn basic shapes of human body and anatomy and the stylisation of human anatomy, expressions, how clothes work and how to make cool designs etc.
do you wanna make comics, animations etc? you probably need to learn how compositions and the flow of movements work and how to make storytelling legible and how to place characters in shots to make the story work
and if you want to make cool backgrounds or environment you probably need basic perspective and understanding of 3d objects and shapes and placement
now this all sounds like a lot but once you start you will definetly find something you enjoy creating
if you want cool tutorials i always recommend these 3 dudes who have really cool tutorials:
Ethan becker
don't be fooled by his titles, he is not shitting on other artists, he is just breaking down their tips to beginners and how to properly use their tips
Proko
he has proper anatomy tips that helped me more than trying to ask my art school teachers, bless this man, also he has interviews with a lot of artists that actually work in the field and you can see their comments
Sinix Design
he has shorter anatomy quick tips but he gives you that one information that will make you scream OH THATS HOW IT WORKS HOW DIDNT I SEE THAT BEFORE OMG WHAT
bonus:
Pear Fleur
not a tutorial channel but i watch her when i wanna do sth completely different than usual and log off my brain and sketch with her
Spent a long time on this art resource/reference masterpost! Finally starting to edit to add more. This will be REGULARLY updated so it’s gonna get huge. If you have a request for resources for me to find OR have a resource you want me to add, just send me an ask :D
General Anatomy/Human stuff:
body quick tips
painting/drawing straight hair
how to draw eyes
arm squish/bend tip
chest/pecks with raised arms tip
long hair how to
male torso anatomy (back)
learn manga male anatomy (torso & arm)
male torso anatomy (front)
head and hair tips (scroll a bit, it’s in one of the images!)
okok i feel like theres too much “smol uwu bean” and not enough “tall lanky” virgil, like think about it. he could be slouching a lot because he doesnt like to stand out. literally.
I wonder where the break happened that such wide swaths of younger fans don’t grasp fandom things that used to be unspoken understandings. That fic readers are expected to know fiction from reality, that views expressed in fic are not necessarily those of the author, that the labels, tags and warnings on various kinkfics are also the indication that they were created for titillation and not much more, please use responsibly as per all pornography. The ‘problem’ isn’t that so-called ‘problematic’ fic exists but that some of the audience is being stupid, irresponsible, at worst criminal, at best not old enough to be in the audience to begin with. And that’s on the consumer, not the author who told you via labels, tags, ratings, warnings and venues what their fic was about and what it was for.