#and theyre all based on the ref sheets so yes i know some of them will be outdated

[triforce-of-mischief]

Bonus Mage drawn in the ALBW painting style! I'm excited to see the pretty man in action in the @bonus-links comic by @ezdotjpg! Go check them out if you haven't already!

Traditional sketches under the cut:

[brinytrolls]

Hey there! I need some help! I really want to be an animator in the future. I just rurned 18. But i havent improved on my drawings. Ive stopped drawing for 2 years. And just recently started getting back at it. And its hard to get back at it. i feel like i have creative block! I only draw faces! Do you have anything or resources or ANYTHING to help me??

i mean im not a pro but buckle in im gonna compile a list of tips to try and help you the best i can-this could get lengthy! 

this is so cliche i can hear u groaning already but-practice! practice every day if u can. even the smallest thing is good! draw as much as you can every day. 

the biggest thing thats helped me in the past couple of years: make an inspiration folder. save everything. anything that inspires you in any way. like the colours of one? the way another artist draws hands? eyes? save it. 

separate the folder into sub-folders. make a folder for tutorials you see around tumblr that look useful. a folder for interesting poses-mine has a lot of stock photos in it. if theres a particular type of art that inspires you a lot [mine is concept art + character designs] make a folder for that. 

this is long enough that it needs its own tip-but i have a folder called “interesting expressions” that has helped me a lot. ill have huge sai files full of screenshots from episodes of cartoons with expressions that are interesting to me-take an episode of a cartoon you like and screenshot it when something interesting comes up. save it. it might be useful one day. i do a lot of sketch sheets just drawing expressions in my own style. 

don’t subscribe to the weird internet attitude that refs are bad. theyre the best friend u will ever have. use them! if u rly cant find a ref for smth-try taking a photo. i take shitty webcam photos of my hands when i cant get a pose right 

take inspiration from other artists. this isn’t by any means telling you to steal an artists entire art style-but if you like the way a certain artist draws eyelids or how they ink fur or how they colour eyes or how they....put a weird amount of detail into their characters teeth?? try it! most art styles are just a mangled mishmash of inspiration from other art sources. 

it doesn’t matter if you have a “consistent art style” or not. i know it can be frustrating for things to look different every time, but tbh its ok!! drawing in different styles is super fun. try different styles! 

try different things in general. different colouring styles, brushes, anything. i went through a phase of shading everything in eyeburningly neon colours. it was fun! 

draw things you’re scared to draw. yes, even hands. don’t try and hide them in the drawing. you’ll feel so much more accomplished if you draw them.

draw new things! something im awfully rusty at is animals. i find the easiest way to learn new things is separating them into shapes. i trace over photos of the subject from different angles, then use the shapes as my construction for when i draw them without tracing. the shapes help if you want to exaggerate features later on. 

speaking of construction drawing! heres a tutorial that explains it better than i could: http://lackadaisy.foxprints.com/exhibit.php?exhibitid=356 it helps keep characters consistent. 

watch youtube videos-art tips & speedpaints i find to be v useful. watching videos about basics geared to animators will help a lot-gesture sketching is very useful topic to learn. 

heres a site for online figure drawing. they have a class mode which can help a lot! 

just fuckin indulge urself. do it. make characters solely based around things u enjoy drawing. draw that thing u like. draw what makes u happy.art is fun dont make it a chore-and if it feels like a chore to learn new things, try something new and then reward yourself with drawing something you enjoy. 

im sorry these are all kinda generic sounding but i hope they can help at least a bit?? i can be more specific if theres a particular topic you want tips for!! im by no means any kind of professional but if u want advice on smth specific like character design or anything just send me another ask! hope these help at least a bit