#how to improve

[bricktoygrapher]

Now ☝️ vs Then 👇

I'm scrolling through posts on my Instagram page and can't believe how much I've grown and progressed compared to when I first started the toy photography hobby.

Here are a few tips on how to improve your photography skills:

Practice, practice and only practice.

Make sure the lighting is good.

Avoid pictures of minifigures standing around doing nothing, the picture should tell a story.

Make sure you have something interesting in the background, but not distracting, and preferably also have something in front to achieve a 3D effect and a sense of depth.

Look at what other toy photographers are doing and learn from them. Try to recreate what they're doing in your own way.

[farihahqaisari]

some weird writing advice i would give to new writers (that i still use).

(part one of? part two)

☆ how to start/improve:

you have a whole world in your mind, characters and plot and all that, but how can you make it into a story your reader wouldn't walk away from? sure, anyone can write, it's just putting one word after another, storytelling is something entirely different. it takes a hell lot of patience and staring at your blank screen. the main thing in storytelling is making a reader live the things your character is going through. your reader isn't supposed to be on the other side of the book, your words should pull them in. you've probably heard tons of people saying to 'put your writing out there' and 'no one's gonna judge', but here's the truth: people judge and people judge hard. no matter what. one small mistake and your book is now a turn off for hundreds of people. so what now? there must be someone or some way you can improve your writing without being judged harshly, right? right. you know who wouldn't criticize your every single mistake?

fandoms.

(n. a group of unhinged people who go crazy over small and random things.)

writing a fanfiction is probably and definitely the best way to improve your writing. as long as your plot is good and/or your characters aren't mary sue, people would read the hell out of it. it's a great way to get constructive criticizm* and improve your writing. i've read countless fanfictions with zero plot and they still have hundreds (or more) views and comments (i kid you not, i can count on my fingers how many times i've read dumbledore call his students 'guys'). some characters didn't even have a proper personality but people were still supportive and were screaming in the comments.

so yeah, write fanfictions, doesn't matter if it doesn't make any sense or if it's full of plot holes, you can always come back and edit it later. plus, it's a great and fun way to connect with people who share the same interest! and when you publish your actual book, you might already have a small audience waiting for it. it takes off the pressure of building a universe from scratch and you could experiment with different writing styles as you please. you can make your own oc (own character) or just use the already existing ones. you can tweak the original plot a bit or make something of your own. you can mix two (or more) fandoms together and it would be a fun read to see characters from different universes interacting, people love crossovers!

*what i meant by this is that people would always criticize, however, i've noticed that a lot of people either ignore the mistakes in fanfictions or point them out with a single comment, nothing too dramatic.

[basement-bird]

Guys i’m trying something new. The hard outline is just looking so ugly??? So im trying it without outlines. Also ✨blending✨. Hows it looking?

[jandoesart]

How to Improve in Art

Improving in art is not something you do overnight. A lot of the time it can take years to get to the more advanced levels. I'm still learning and improving and I've been drawing for over 5 years. However, it is a very rewarding process as you can look back and see how much you've improved each year. I 100 percent recommend trying art and seeing if you like it. Here are 3 basic tips on how to improve.

Don't compare your skill to others.

My biggest tip for aspiring artists is to not compare yourself to others. There's this saying "comparison is the theft of joy" and it's so true. A lot of the time when we scroll Instagram or Tumblr we see very talented artists and may feel we aren't good enough at our craft. A lot of the time though, we fail to realize that those artists we look up to have been practicing and learning for years. They probably started off just like you. You just have to be consistent in your craft and one day you can get there too! You've got it! Let these great artist artworks inspire you, not tear you down. :)

Practice.

Practice practice practice. I know people always say this but never tell you how. I'd advise learning basic anatomy first. Try this video and branch out from there. Once you know how to construct the human body then you'll improve so fast, trust me. Another thing you could do is try line-of-action.com. They have sections for facial expressions, figure drawings and a lot more! Also, drawing characters you're passionate about can make it more fun to practice. These exercises will help with your art journey.

Study your favorites.

If you have a favorite artist, it can benefit a lot to study their art style and how they go about drawing. Maybe pick one of their artworks and try and copy the techniques. Don't trace it but simply have the reference to the side and focus on how they vary their lines, how they use colors and texture, or whatever really captivates you about their style. Then try and apply these things to your art. If they do speed paints that's even better. It will allow you to get an in depth view of their process.

Anyway, these are just a few tips to get you started. I'm sure there are a lot of more in depth guides out there but they can be quite overwhelming so I tried to just highlight a few. Hope this helped. :)

[bogwaterparasite]

I have been trying to draw one of my ocs that’s been in my head lately, but I’m having some troubles with the color and sketch

Shes SUPPOSED to be gyaru, as you can kinda tell, but I think she looks kinda bland. Another problem that I’m having is her hair, her whole thing is the fact that her hair is plant like. The ponytails are big leaves, the lose strands are grass leaves, but it’s GREEN.

I haven’t been able to find a shade of green that goes well with the color pallets I’m trying to go for, and it’s kind of PISSING ME OFF. Any help/tips would be appreciated

[mo-gxn]

hey so like🤭🤭

i feel like i need to work on my composition and stuff for my art- like i like what i do but i need to figure out what my style is, figure out how to color better, and just like play around with stuff more- my art has changed a lot since joining the dndads fandom last march but it’s still not quite how i want it to be.

so any tips on how to improve would be wonderful!!

[blueeecatwuawua]

I'm tired of trying to write. Why doesn't my mind work like everyone else's? What am I doing wrong? Why are the words just not coming to my brain?

I try again and again, and it's always the same. I can spend hours trying to write something, but the result is the same, a blank page.

How can I perfectly understand a whole book but not know how to write more than 7 lines?

I keep complaining about the same thing over and over again, and I don't make any progress. It's horrible feeling to not being able to move forward even if you want to 😭

I told my mom to take me to do neuropsychological tests because I really think there's something wrong with my brain, but what if there isn't? What if they're right and I'm just lazy? I don't want that D:

Or maybe i'm depressed ?? Idk idk..

[md3artjournal]

Bettina Tumblrina: Art Wisdom by Bettina Levi

[arabicfornerds]

How to become fluent in Arabic

Online dictionaries are great - but there i a price: your memory is not really trained. Here is how the use of dictionaries can boost your Arabic.

[madbard]

[farihahqaisari]

some weird writing advice that i would give to new writers (that i still use).

(part two of ?/part one)

✩ being stuck

being stuck is another thing a lot of writers struggle with, and this problem has a tendency to pop out in the most random times. you could've written the most amazing scene you had ever written in your life but when you reread it to edit it, you realize that it's actually as flat as a burnt pancake. it's frustrating as hell, makes me want to punch the words then myself if i'm being honest, but then i started using this techniques and it actually helped me a lot:

forget you're writing a scene. imagine it in your head as a movie scene playing. jot down everything you can imagine; what expression does the character have? where are they standing? what sounds can be heard in the background? you're not writing a scene, you're watching a movie.

summarize. what happens next in the story? summarize it in brackets, like this:

' (they both started running and skidded under the closing door.) ’

‘ ( she pulled out a gun and pointed at them. blood was flowing from the side of her forehead.) ’

‘ (they fought. BAM BAM BAM BAM. then silence. someone screamed. the walls started closing.) ’

summarize p.2. this is the same thing as the above one, but in reverse. instead of summarising the situations in brackets, we're gonna be writing just dialogues. sometimes it happens that when you're writing, you can actually hear the characters speak in your mind but don't know how to describe the scene.

change perspectives. if your story is written in first person pov, change it to third person pov. if it's in third, change it to first. or, to spice things up, write from a side character's pov and how they see the mc (main character) deal with the situation.

being random. now, you'll see a lot of people saying to ‘kill one of your characters if you‘re stuck’ and it might work, but not every time and definitely not when it's not needed. throwing a plot twist in your book is one thing and breaking your reader's trust is another and there's a thin line between it. however, you can be random in some other aspects, like switching the narrator. or changing the weather (this one is so helpful!!). or adding in a small but fun and interesting side quest.

try something different. this could be something just for timepass but it would be fun. write a character sketch. build up backstories for your side characters. take buzzfed quizzes as your characters (this is honestly so fun). make a satire AITAH post inspired by something unhinged your character did, let the other characters decide if they're TAH or NTA.

read some fanfics. trust me on this, reading some poorly written fanfics is the best way to get out of a writing slump! the worse it is, the better chance you have of writing.

[verflares]

just how long is forever? // not long enough, with you

pssst. check this out on inprnt :]

[clearlydusty]

Tell me you can hear me.

(Og I Redrew under cut!!!!)

[blueskittlesart]

redraw!!! look everyone i actually know how to draw now pay no attention to the 100k note post from 5 years ago

[jadequarze]

*beams old woman Ammy*

Sketching gijinka Ammy because I'm still giddy with the Okami announcement