#im so happy with my new tablet and drawing software though im

[archonanqi]

rex lapis give me the strength to finish this animatic, 

[same-side]

hiiii! i just wanna say, i adore your art. second, im teaching myself to draw and while i can draw simple basics (mouths and sometimes eyes if im lucky), im still a beginner. ive watched many art videos and im still a bit confused on wtf im doing. so i just came here to ask if you had any words of wisdom for beginners? could be anything from what tablets to buy to simple mistakes to avoid. ive read some of the other posts here and have found it all extremely helpful so far! Thx for all you do!!

Hey there! Thank you so much!

I would put a read more but tumblr is broken. I’m trying to cover a lot of varied thoughts in little points, so if there’s anything you would like me to elaborate on or otherwise have questions on, feel free to shoot me an ask or dm me!

General

I think the biggest thing to remember is not to compare yourself extensively to others. A little bit of comparison is healthy... But too much will destroy your confidence, motivation, and take the fun out of art. Particularly if you are comparing yourself to someone older than you (life experience and coordination come into play here) or that has been drawing much longer (practice). 

Additionally... If you’re not having fun (and you’re not getting paid to do it), don’t force yourself. If you find yourself being frustrated or bored with art, don’t force yourself to do it. That’s how you burn out and get art block! This applies to parts of a peice, too! If you don’t feel like drawing a face or a hand today? don’t force yourself to finish it. Come back to it later when you aren’t as frustrated or are getting better results. Even if its a week or a month from now. Honestly, at any given time I have probably ten headless bodies in my drafts. That’s okay! I just come back to them when I’m ready to do the face. And don’t be afraid to abandon something if it doesn’t feel right!

Something that also doesn’t get said enough.... take care of your body! I never knew when I started art, but artists are supposed to do warmup sketches and stretches and muscle exercises! I didn’t do any of this, and i went through a period of a few months where I was drawing for 5ish hours every single day. I developed carpal tunnel from it! So remember to take care of yourself. Take breaks, stretch, remember to eat.

Practice

Practice!!!! Even if its just for fifteen minutes every day. Or twice a week. But if art is something you really want to get good at, you have to put in the time and effort!! You can’t expect to draw an hour per month and be on the same level as someone who draws an hour a day!

I know I say this a lot but I think the biggest thing is just reference! If you don’t know what something looks like, look at a picture of it when you draw it! To go hand in hand with that, though, don’t just copy what you see! Learn from it and apply it! So take, for example, a shoe! pay attention to the way the heel is shaped, the location of the eyelets for the laces... how large the toe is, how steep the top! While you’re at it, look at other styles of shoes as well, and compare them! See what makes it look like a boot versus a trainer! And then the next time you draw it, hopefully you’ll remember all the things you learned the first time around!

I do lots of studies that serve no purpose other than to teach me things! I use referencing/studies to learn about color theory, shapes, and anatomy in a real environment. For example, hands or fabric folds! Oftentimes I’ll do them timed (20 or 45 minutes) so that I don’t fixate on perfecting things, just on the process itself and what I can learn from it. This also helps with getting better acclimated to your software and more coordinated with what you’re doing. Repetitive learning, like with playing sports. 

I’ve realized a lot of people don’t quite understand what a study is? Basically you just look at a photo and try to replicate it so that you can learn about lighting or color theory or textures or anatomy or whatnot. So here’s an example of a timed study.

Additionally, don’t avoid!! We, as humans, have a tendency to avoid things that make us uncomfortable or are difficult. But it will make you a better artist in then end. When I first started, I absolutely hated doing fabric. I felt like I wasn’t good at it. So instead of avoiding drawing clothing, I sat down and did studies and sketches of different kinds of fabric. By the end of this learning period, I became comfortable with it and grew to enjoy it. These days, I adore sketching clothes, and it’s why my pants and shirts and things tend to be detailed instead of stylized in line art. If you don’t like drawing hands because you feel like you aren’t good at it? Sit down, look at a bunch of pictures of different hands, and practice it. By the end, you’ll be more comfortable, you’ll have learned something. Even if you feel like the drawings you ended up with aren’t good, you’ll still have learned, and that’s what matters!

Style

I worked on basics before I tried to develop a style. I made sure to start with a very realistic method at first, so that I could be sure I understood how fabric folds, anatomy, and realistic expressions worked before I tried to stylize them. I think in the long run this approach really paid off for me. It also allowed me to be conscientious of what elements I was absorbing into my artwork. I hear from so many artists that they started drawing when they were younger and into anime or cartoons or things like that, and tried to emulate it. Because those styles became so ingrained into their artistic skillset, it becomes near impossible to iron out those influences and get rid of them later. So starting with realism is a way to ingrain proper anatomy and other good practice into your artwork.

One way to develop style is to take a look at the artwork of someone you admire, and try to list out the things you like form their style - perhaps the thickness of their lines, or the way they do eyes. Do this with several artists, take all those little details you like and try them out! See if you enjoy using them in your own drawing process! Think of it like a grab bag or a pick-n-mix, sprinkling in the elements you like here and there to create something new and your own - not just copying another artists style word for word.

Don’t worry too much about it though; don’t allow yourself to become anxious or fixated on “achieving a style”. Its a natural ever evolving process that comes with time and practice. I know a lot of people get hung up on style, but just take it one day at a time!

Also try to keep in mind what style you’re going for as you begin drawing. And I don’t mean that like sailor moon vs. ghibli. I mean that as in, is this piece going to be a painting, a lineart, a lined painting, cell shading...? It will help you in the longrun if you narrow down the broad kind of style you use, and refine from there. 

Workflow

My workflow for paintings is very different from my workflow for lineart and cell shading. A full tutorial on how I do paintings can be found here! A process video for how I cell shade can be found here!

Everyone is going to have a different method that works for them! You just have to experiment and find out how you like to draw! For me, personally, I use color blocking for painting (see the tutorial above) and a spine method for lineart. How the spine method works is that I will draw lines that represent the legs, arms, back, etc. so that I can determine the placement, length, and composition. From there, I’ll add a dark outline that actually shows the shapes of the body. Then, I’ll use thinner lines to add details. This is the method I’ve found that works for me. Another commonly used method that I’m sure you’ve seen is representing body parts with cylinders and cubes. There are lots of good tutorials out there on breaking down bodies into shapes like this!

Something that I do is if I’m not quite happy with a part of a drawing, I don’t just erase it. I duplicate the layer so that I always have the original copy, and then I make changes from there. Sometimes I can end up with five or six different versions of the same arm or face that i’ve made minor changes to. And then I compare and pick the one I like best, or condense all the parts I like from each version to make a “best” version.

Tools

Currently I use Procreate and the standard Ipad with Apple Pencil. Prior to March I was using a Wacom Bamboo Touch and Photoshop Elements 2008. I find its harder for me to do full paintings in procreate, but its made my life a million times easier for lineart and cell shading. The pen pressure is phenomenal, and I also adore that its wireless / active screen instead of plug in like the wacom. The programme itself is intuitive and easy to get the hang of; it simply lacks a lot of the neat tricks that photoshop has, like rendering (lens flares, for example), gradients, and gradient maps. Try testing out different trials of programmes... firealpaca, photoshop, autodesk, whatever it may be! What works for me may not work for you!

[goldkirk]

hi, first off, happy new years :) im an artist who's been doing traditional art for a long time. I want to start digital art and I'm wondering if u could recommend any drawing software/tablets? something affordable and not too complicated lol :P

Hi hello!!!! Fair warning that I’m no artist, I just dabble like, twice a year, but I’ll give you the recs I can!

I’m a poor 20 something with no money to spend on software, and the best free alternative I’ve found for Photoshop, etc., is Krita. It’s free, open source, and downloadable for Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems, and I’ve been quite happy with it while using it for the past few years.

My school provided us with iPads, and then I was tech support so I got upgraded to a (small size) iPad Pro, and my two favorite art programs for it are Procreate and Sketches Pro. Procreate is pretty much, like, THE artist app for painting and stuff on the iPad, it’s hard to do better than that. Neither are free, though, and obviously this is a moot point if you have no iPad. But the iPad + Apple Pencil combo is AMAZING if you can afford it, like WOW.

When I was younger I had one of the tiny Wacom tablets that someone handed down to me, and it was good. Wacom and Cintiq are both solid brands. But they’re SO EXPENSIVE. I found a tablet a couple years ago that was REALLY good for the price, an underrated gem. It’s from Turcom, is 30 bucks now, and while it’s not as good as top of the line models, it’s at least as good if not better than the lower-price-bracket Wacoms and stuff.

I hope that helps a little!!! Best of luck, yo, I’m really excited for you! 💛

[rainystripe]

HEY MARI!!! i LOVE your artwork and i truly admire them so much, i get so excited when you post new ones. thankyou for being an angel and sharing your artwork with the fandom. it inspires me to take up digital art as well! i just wanted to ask as well, what software and tools you use for your drawings? im sorry if you've gotten this question before, i was just curious! and what kind of advice do you have for artists who wants to take up digital art?

First of all, this is SO NICE OF YOU TO SEND TO ME?! I was NOT expecting to EVER receive a sweet message like this omgggg.THANK YOU NONNIE!!!!!!! YOURE SO SWEET 💕I try to share what I end up liking with you guys!! Being part of this fandom has been such a great experience so far and I wouldn’t change it for the world. You guys have been so welcoming to my little fan artist-self. Love coming up with things and letting the bugfam see!! I haven’t been drawing much up until I watched this dang show and here I am now..all I can draw is them ;)) I’m glad you’re liking the stuff that I post!!Second of all! I’m so HAPPY that I can inspire you and anyone else out there to want to take up my favorite hobby and medium of art: digital. It’s new and different, but it’s honestly SO convenient. Tools: Clip Studio Paint (the site has sales here and there ESPECIALLY during Black Friday and Christmas. I got my program for $18 dollars USD, and it usually runs for about $60 USD)Wacom Bamboo Graphic Tablet (I got it way back in ‘09, it’s old but it still works fine!! I’m looking to upgrade to a screen tablet soon though~)Lastly, I know for a fact that digital isn’t easy to figure out. If you’re someone who’s used to editing on Photoshop and are familiar with the workings of that program, then CSP should be easy to maneuver through as it looks the same-ish. Getting used to figuring out how to draw while looking at a screen is also a trip, but the more that you draw and doodle, the more that you get used to working with a tablet. TRUST ME when I say that it’s FRUSTRATING, but the more that you work with it, the less of a hassle that it becomes. I find that working traditionally is difficult for me now as I’m too used to my tablet and easy access of the tools that come with CSP. That isn’t to say that you’re going to suck at either, but it takes time to get to used to digital. You can’t expect to be awesome in a weeks time, so DRAW DRAW DRAW!!! I LOVE digital, it’s so refreshing to me to work with, I’m still learning as I go, you never stop figuring out how to work programs :)) Another thing is the tablet itself, name brand or not (ex. Wacom vs Huion) both are good! You don’t have to spend hundreds on a tablet just because of its name. You can always start off with something small like the Bamboo series from Wacom like I did. I love mine, but I’m looking to upgrade soon to a screen tablet from Huion! So don’t worry too much about that!! You can also get those touch screen laptops (or you might already have one! Who knows!) but don’t rely on the expensive stuff!! Start off with something under 100 bucks and experiment from there on, especially if you end up doing digital for years (like me) Digital is complex when you first start off, but with programs like Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop (most confusing to me tbh) or Paint Tool SAI (old program that I used to use, GREAT for beginners) they’re all great and have their own learning curves, but it’s fun :D I hope that you get to do digital, I’d LOVE to see what art you come up with💕