skelinor - Tumblr blog

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popipopipo pyramid head!

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assorted bernies

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If I don't post anything else before the end of 2023 then my last post of this year will have been a family guy x studio ghibli crossover

I wouldn't have it any other way tbh

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Wapeach! 🪓👸

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hubert doobert

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saaaataaa andagiiii 😎😎😎👍👍👍👍👍

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nya~ rawr~ !

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futabaaaaa

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Didn’t realize I never shared this on here! Back in 2020 I tried designing what a South Asian inspired Zelda and Link would look like–it was a really fun project that I still hold dear to me.

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It's me again, sorry if this is a dumb question but I believe you said that it's important to know how and what to practice in order to improve at drawing, correct?

If I wanted to be completely self-taught like you (no videos, books, classes, anything) how would I know whether I'm practicing correctly or not? Am I just supposed to know? Again, sorry if this is a stupid question

Hope you like reading >:)

I wouldn't say I'm completely self-taught. I've taken classes before, read books, watched videos, etc. I haven't done any actual professional training, though, if that's what you're asking.

It's a little nebulous, but- in my own amatuer opinion- you'll know if you're practicing correctly if your method makes sense to you, you feel like you're learning, and if you can see visible improvement after a lot of practice (you need to compare your new art to your old art in order to really see if you're improving. Just guessing won't give you a good understanding. It's incredibly easy to kick yourself for thinking you aren't improving when you're not actually looking at your older stuff and seeing how far you've come.)

Maybe this answer is frustrating, but there's really no right way to practice- this is the reason why it's so hard to find a definitive answer on this subject. The things I mentioned above are what work for me, but they might not work for you- your brain is, fortunately, wired completely different from mine. I feel like no one ever talks about this, but learning how to draw isn't just about understanding color, shapes, 3D space, etc etc etc. It's about understanding how you learn. In order to understand ANYTHING- whether it be art-related or not, you have to first recognize and understand what causes your brain to be the most receptive to learning and storing information. Do you feel random bursts of curiosity and creativity at 1 AM? Then capitalize on that and recognize that you feel most like learning when it's quiet, dark, and there are no expectations. Do you notice that you learn better from teachers who are passionate, bubbly, and excitable rather than serious, stoic, and businesslike, or vice versa? Then seek out the information you need from those kinds of sources and go into it with the same kind of mindset. You have to work with your brain, not force it. That being said, though, don't be afraid to experiment with things that you may not think will work for you. You may find that the most learning comes from unexpected sources or methods.

A huge, massive part of my method is just messing around. I never have a set idea in mind of exactly what I'm going to do before I do it- I just make what I want to make and follow any little ideas I have, even if they're stupid. I think this mindset may be helpful for you in creating your own personal method of practice. Don't take it too seriously just yet. Mess around, find what works for you, make some purposefully ugly art, have fun, whatever. Understand you're not going to find the right method right off the bat and you'll feel like you're getting nowhere- which is okay! Because now you know what doesn't work for you. Finding your method is going to take some time. And you might find something that works for a little while, but needs to either be adjusted or changed completely as you progress and understand yourself better.

As an example of what I do, if I have a random idea in mind of something I'd like to draw, I find it extremely helpful to do studies beforehand so I can gain more of an understanding of how the things I want to appear in the drawing work. So, if I wanted to draw a fish skateboarding, I'd take time to practice how to draw both a fish and a skateboard- using many different photo references or real life references if I had any. I'd also quickly read some wikipedia articles on how they both work, watch some videos, and come up with some questions- like would the fish's gills flare at the exhiliration of a jump? Are his fins whipping behind him to show how fast he's going? How would a fish even ride a skateboard? Stuff like that. Once I'm done, I would then compare my sketches from the beginning of the session to the ones at the end to see how I improved, what I can still do better, the concepts I like best, and anything that needs adjusting before I start on the actual drawing.

I'm going to end this before I bore you to death. Hope this helped. Go make something cool.

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Ghost/Water type shrimp pokemon (No official names yet)

They inhabit deep dark waters and can be found inside sunken ships, some people believe they are born from the bones of drown sailors possesed by their own spirits

They are based on the Ghost Shrimp and the Skeleton Shrimp

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A snake story, based on an experience I had while I was in Florida.

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it rain

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Ah, gotcha! Sorry I misunderstood ;o;

Honestly that's tough to answer because most of my information comes from observation and master studies- I study an artist's work, their process, their color choices, their composition, etc. I guess I like figuring things out on my own? Even though that's the harder path. I feel that I could improve faster if I chose not to do that, and instead read books teaching me the same things, but I guess it's not as fun to me as just figuring things out on my own.

When observing things, I see how they appear in their relative space. I look at how colors mix together, how light affects an object, etc. And then I try to translate that into a drawing.

I mean, I have taken the occasional in-person art class. I watch Proko on YT sometimes. I've skimmed over art books before. But the vast majority of what I know is just from simple observation. I wish I could give you more information or resources, but I really don't have much x(

I think you'd be better off asking someone who knows what they're doing better :'D I'm by no means a professional. And I still have a loooong way to go. Thanks for taking the time to ask me though!

Love your art! Also, this may a dumb or too personal of a question, but where did you learn to draw so well? I've been trying to teach myself for the past couple years and it hasn't been working out

Hey thanks! :)

When I think about it, there are a few different things that I believe are important when learning how to draw.

In random order:

Passion. You need to really want to become better. You will only see your greatest improvement happen if you have the right mindset and truly believe you can get to where you want to be. It sounds cheesy, I know, but having this mindset really helped me. You just have to be passionate not only about drawing, but also about improving yourself and being the best version of yourself. If I'm being honest, this is something I'm struggling with right now. It's difficult. So don't be afraid to take breaks and rediscover what drives you forward.

Practice. You've probably heard this a million times. But it's stated over and over for a reason. It may be discouraging, though, when you spend hours upon hours a day practicing only to see little to no improvement. So I would say it's important to learn WHAT and HOW to practice. What I would do is set some time aside- however long you want but short enough that you can really make the most of your attention span- and practice one specific thing. Learn how it works, draw it from different angles, draw its components, etc. If it's a muscle, learn how it fits in in relation to the muscles around it. Study what happens when it bends or contracts. What does it look like when it's small, like on a child? Or big, when it's on a bodybuilder? Really take the time to learn about and love the world around you, and everything else will fall into place.

Learn from your mistakes. This one is difficult, but extremely important. You need to recognize what you did wrong in order to improve. If you don't, you will keep making the same mistakes over and over again. You will most likely need a second opinion, as it can be hard to know what you did wrong by yourself. Don't be afraid to message artists you like and ask for a critique. Some may be too busy to respond, but others may take time out of their day to answer.

Emulate art you like. Now I want to preface this by saying in no way do I condone copying or stealing. You shouldn't be completely copying what others do. What you can do, though, is take bits and pieces of art you like and translate it into your own style. My own art style is an amalgamation of a bunch of different styles I like. It's important to learn from people who know what they're doing, especially if you don't have a teacher yourself. You can learn a lot from studying what others do.

Have faith in yourself. This ties into what I said in the passion category, but I think it's important enough that I'm putting it here too. You need to believe you have the ability to push yourself to improve. Self-confidence is important. I assume it's different for everyone, but I've found that the less self-confidence I have, the worse I do. And my passion snuffs itself out. It's really cheesy, but I can't stress enough the importance of loving yourself. It's hard- I get it, believe me. I'm still working on it myself. But you have to be patient with yourself and love who you are as a person.

Okay, that's it. Sorry for the whole entire essay. I hope this helped you ;u;

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hi! the response about improving your art was so so inspiring for me. especially because ive only recently discovered your art and keep thinking, WOW!! SO AMAZING!! and ofc i fell into the mindset that youre just impossibly talented, when in reality you just love art and have worked hard like anyone else needs to!! its nice to be reminded that we all start somewhere!! thank you!!!

Thank you, I appreciate it :)

I'm glad my response could help you in some way! I think there were a few things I could have worded better but I'm glad I got my main points across :D