#theres a minecraft skeleton and creeper in the backgroun

[bigmammallama5]

Dear ms llama,

How do draw?

How do learn draw?

Sincerely, the gayest mess who wishes to draw all the things

Dear Pizzarolls,

I'm sorry this sat in my ask box for two months, life has been very hectic and it slipped off my radar. D:

How do draw: get a pencil and paper, set your self critiques and harsh expectations to the side, and draw your favorite character or otp. It's intimidating still even for me, but just being in the moment and creating something that makes you happy is worth it.

How do learn draw:

draw. get used to the motions, problem solving, and repetitiveness. make sure you stretch and take care of your hands. also drawing with friends is very fun!

look for references and resources and tutorials! looking at what you want to draw will help you understand how to draw. wanna draw a skelly boi? look at lots of skeleton pictures. using a reference is not cheating, so dont let people tell you that. i would also suggest taking your own reference pictures if you can using yourself/your friends/or those little wooden bendy dudes you can get at the craft store. i didnt really use those but i have friends who swore by them. worth a try!

trace. yes, im saying this. tracing for the purpose of learning is not inherently bad. if looking at a picture of a skeleton and following a tutorial are just not clicking, print that sucker out and tape it to a window and trace him. focus on the part that you arent understanding and see if it clicks then. if it does then yay! you have successfully learned. now draw him again without tracing and see how you do!

***an addendum to tracing: i would suggest not tracing other people's artwork without asking first. a fair amount of artists are okay with you using their work as inspiration, though the topic of tracing has always been polarized. use caution and err on the side of screenshots and stock imagery!

draw for yourself. the lure of popularity and "clout" for notes and likes is really pervasive in a lot of online spaces now, and ive seen it destroy artists and fic writers. ive seen how it can negatively impact individuals to the point of hatred and jealousy and while it is extremely easy to want to get notes and recognition and we as humans thrive on feedback and community... draw for yourself. you will find your community and people who genuinely enjoy what you make. your worth is not measured by likes or algorithms.

On a more academic note some actual resources I and other artists do recommend are the Morpho books. I'm sorry for the am*zon link but that should give you an idea of what to look for. They're affordable, well illustrated, and cleanly put together. I would also look at those fun stock image packs of dynamic poses! Like the ones you find on deviant art. Those are super great for drawing your oc's and otps. I'm also a big advocate of live drawing, which i know isn't always available for some people. Drawing a Real Body right in front of you with an instructor is invaluable, but also asking to draw your friends sitting at the lunch table is just as good.

Um yeah. That how draw. And disco music. here's a skelly boi for your troubles

hes doing the marge simpson dance

sincerely a very tired and gay llama