Call me sensitive, there’s no surprise there, but I’ve just been having a lot of trouble going back into art after hearing that from someone who was supposed to be my “friend”. I know focusing on the approval of others shouldn’t be something I care about over something I love to do, but it really hurts hearing stuff like that and I’m unsure on how to get over this and do what I like again

I have been told that by drawing and copying a drawing you can improve, but I have also been told that if I want to improve I have to study the drawing, and then I ask myself, what is the procedure?

Sorry If I used the wrong flair or even wrong sub but I want to try to get better at art (I was going to take art as a subject but was discouraged because I think I was inadequate) If I remember I used to be better at it before but I think thats due to a lack of practice. Anyway the title kind of speaks for itself. For example the character I was planning to draw is Choso from JJK because I want to learn that art style and also I just like him in general. I just want to know if this will benefit me much

hello! i don’t know if this is the right flair or even subreddit to ask this, but i’m looking to start busking at a weekly festival in my area by doing live portraits. however, i am unhappy with my portraits that are under 15 minutes. is this too long? i know at Montmarte i sat for about 25 minutes, but then again you’re in Paris on vacation so its different. i was thinking of offering a 10 minute, a 15 minute, and a 20 minute or something but i just cannot do a 10 minute portrait that im content with. yes, this is a skill issue. lol. any thoughts or opinions? or even redirections to different subreddits? thanks!!!

Hello Everyone! So I've decided that one way I'd like to preserve my drawings, especially pen drawings is by laminating them. But based on what I understood, the heat and glues of the lamination can distort the color and drawing itself and cause all sorts of issues. So I'm curious if my way is OK. I use the non-heat version of lamination papers where I have to manual stick the two sides together and it self-seals. I also ensure that I add a an blank piece of paper in between the sticky side and the actual draw so no adhesive or glue will be on the actual art piece. So if any thing, I can simply take the drawing out with worries of it being ripped or anything.

But I'm still curious as to whether or not this is a good idea. I'm not to knowledgeable when it comes to preserving one's art, and heard of people mentioning things such as drawings losing color and such. So I'm curious on opinions on the method I did or if there's better approaches. Thanks in advance!

I’m curious about how other artists approach deliberate practice.

Do you ever sit down specifically to practice one narrow thing — for example, hands, eyes, poses, perspective, values, or gesture drawing — rather than working on a complete piece?

If you do, how do you structure those sessions? Do you use references, set a timer, repeat the same subject several times, or just practice until you feel done?

I’m also curious about tracking progress over a longer period. I like the idea of having a visual calendar where each day shows what I practiced, so after a few weeks or months I can actually see the work accumulating rather than relying on a streak number.

Do any of you track your practice this way? If so, what do you currently use — sketchbooks, folders, Notion, an app, or nothing at all?

I’m working on a small tool around these ideas, but before talking much about it, I’d genuinely like to understand how artists already practice and whether this is even a workflow other people care about.

Hello, everyone!

Apologies if this is the wrong sub to ask. If it is, can someone guide me as to where to ask this question?

I'm trying to decide whether to learn 3D modeling or drawing. My background is computer science, network engineering, and mathematics. I never really drew growing up beyond stick figures and a few school assignments. I can only commit to one discipline right now, since I have about 1-2 hours(max) a day and want to focus.

I have a gaming desktop that handles renders and sculpting, a drawing tablet, and plenty of paper and sketchbooks, so resources for either medium aren't the constraint.

I'm inspired by Dispatch, Overwatch, Marvel Rivals, and Tron Uprising.

**Goal**: I want to make comics or stories (not animation, at least for now). I'm fine with a 3D-rendered look, but I'm open to a hand-drawn one.

I've tried both. I started Drawabox's 250 Box Challenge + drawing faces every day with loomis method and posing with boxes but burned out. I then moved to Blender and have been following Bransculpt's Zelda sculpting playlist, which I'm enjoying so far. Sculpting is challenging, but I like that perspective is no longer a problem once the model is done. Although texturing I think I might need drawing skills(?).

Perhaps my learning approach on drawing was flawed. I am open to suggestions to how to learn.

Even so, I worry I'm missing something crucial by learning 3D before drawing, though I don't know enough about either to tell. Some friends tell me to just start 3d modeling and others tell me no start drawing first!

**Am I missing something essential by skipping traditional drawing first? And if I stick with 3D, what drawing fundamentals should I pick up along the way?**

As a background, I'm a very by the book, obey the rules kind of person and somewhat perfectionistic as well. I have almost zero creativity and 99% of the drawings I do I just copy using grid and copy the colors from the reference.

Lately however, I've gotten super interested in what they seem to call whimsical art and whimsical coloring or hyperpop. My instagram and tiktok feeds are filled with them, people draw everyday objects such as different foods and then color them super colorfully, like the base colors might be following the irl example but all the lights and shadows are very colorful, the colors are unrealistic and exaggerated but they still just work because the values are correct and they look absolutely amazing and magical to me. Seeing these constantly I then noticed that I too want to learn this style, I want to be able to color this way too, I want to learn the logic behind this whimsical coloring style. So I got to work and started analyzing all these drawings one by one, learning more color theory and found some tutorials as well.

Despite all this I don't seem to find the complete logic behind this all. There are some things and rules that the artists seem to follow, for example using cool tones for shadows and warm tones for light if they imagine the lighting is warm and if the lighting is cool this is swapped. They also seem to be using analogous, complementary and split complementary colors all in the same drawing and it seems to come very naturally to them and they seem to know exactly in which parts to use them so it looks good. For example they might draw a glass bottle of coca cola and as the addition for the regular colors a coca cola bottle has, there seem to be all the colors of rainbow present in the light and darks parts but in a way that it just works, so the result is a super colorful, hyperpop-ish coca cola bottle that somehow still looks exactly what it's supposed to look like, a coca cola bottle.

But my problem comes here: they freely select the rest of the colors for their drawings just based on what they personally think look good together and by their favorite colors. I also finally found a tutorial that said you can use ANY colors you like as long as the values are correct.

This is where I fail. I mean I have learned everything else needed but this is something where the logic doesn't apply, this is the part where you actually need to have the eye for things and where you need to be purely creative. I have a general idea what looks good but when I actually try to select them it then just doesn't, despite checking that the values are correct. So I'm still desperately trying to find some logic behind this all and do it all by logical choices but it doesn't seem to be enough, the whimsical part of it all seems to be missing if I go purely using color theory, because exactly their creative use of color is what seems to make this specific art style. I'm actually very scared that all these people just naturally see all the colors in their special way and they just know what looks together, that it's purely their artistic and creative eye for color with just an ounce of color theory sprinkled in and that I lack that ablity completely and that it's just something you either have or not.

Sorry for the super long post, I hope someone has time to read and discuss this topic with me!

I am looking for recommendations for brands of oil pastels to get as a gift for someone who usually works in watercolor. They have asked for some, I just want to make sure I get a quality set.
Thanks!

So I was planning to make a drawing in which a 2D character interact with 3D (real world) And my biggest struggle is to make the character look natural, by that I mean matching the lightning of the character with the real world, is it a filter or a color theory? either way is there a good way to learn this? I can't never figure it out.

I don’t know if medium tooth is the right term but I’m looking for a sketch book with rough textured paper and like ROUGH not like smooth bumpy but like ROUGH thank you

I do mostly normal drawings, but recently I made an erotic / half-naked drawing of a girl as a birthday card for a friend.

Turns out I'm actually decent at this style and I kinda enjoyed drawing it, but I'd be too embarrassed to post it on my main account.

For those of you who have an anonymous page for this kind of art, what platform did you use to start? I'm looking for something other than Instagram/Threads.

Any advice is appreciated.

Here is an example for context: I am making an album and I recently took a compelling photo that fits as a cover. I showed it to my friends and they all said it's way too offputting to work as a cover. The problem is, the photo is of a dead rabbit in the grass with its head clean off. What am I supposed to do, put it back on? Blur the rabbit until it's just a silhouette? Distort the whole thing beyond recognition? How do I make it presentable without ruining the photo?

quick question on brush snap and load capacity for heavy body acrylics. so i’ve been using standard synthetic flats (mostly princeton velvetouch and royal & langnickel), but i find they flex a bit too much when i’m trying to lay down thick, buttery impasto strokes,, they drag instead of leaving that crisp edge. on the flip side, pure chungking natural hog bristle feels a little too scratchy and leaves deeper grooves than i want when working on stretched canvas.
someone recommended trying synthetic mongoose (like the princeton aspen 6500 series or rosemary & co. ivory line) for that middleground snap and smoother release, especially in filberts (sizes 4–8)
for those who do textured or layered work,, do synthetic mongoose/imitation squirrel brushes hold up well against heavy acrylics without fraying at the ferrule, or should i just stick to stiffer synthetic hog like the nova/catalyst lines? would love to hear what series you swear by

What do you think is the best way to make a digital drawing style more painterly/loose while still making it appear finished/polished?

I know that this is a very hard thing to achieve and needs lots of practice, but I can't tell exactly what type of practice to go with for maximum efficiency.

I would also love it if you have recommendations of artists who are able to do this so that I can study their work! (I already know about Nekojira, WLOP, and Irisii)

How do you justify the use of references in your work? When, if ever, does using a reference diminish your art? To be clear, when I say "diminish art's value" I don't mean monetary value. I mean it's legitimacy as a creative work.

For context of you want it: I showed a friend a painting of a bird I was very proud of and also showed them the reference I used. They looked between the two and kind of shrugged and said, "yeah well, it's kind of cheating isn't it?" They also said something else that I don't remember verbatim, but kind of implied it wasn't real art because I looked up the reference online instead of taking it myself. This is something I've struggled with myself and feeling like a cheater and not an artist, but I hadn't let it stop me from making art. Hearing it from someone else hurt though, and now I feel like maybe it's true?

The background is different but the bird's pose is pretty one-to-one with the reference. I only used the reference for the bird's anatomy, not the colors or lighting. I'm not using other people's photography for profit or anything. I'm not a professional. I'm just painting for fun. But I feel like even that might not count because I looked at a picture instead of creating the pose in my head.

I have been hearing this for a while now "you need to niche down" in videos, posts etc. but I have literally no clue what it means. Does it mean to draw something you like, for example fanarts or your ocs? Or finding a specific style of drawing? Or a form of art, like painting, digital art etc.? English isn't my first language, though I do know what the word niche means, but I couldn't find a proper answer to this. It would be appreciated if someone could answer this for me!

Edit: Thank you all for your advice, that helped me understand what niching down means!

I've been drawing since I've been old enough to hold a pencil, but it's only this year that I've decided to actually start learning the fundamentals and get serious about art. But..... it's also this year that I've realized I'm disabled, which causes me to have shaky hands and chronic pain.

In the various online art classes I've done and resources I've used, it's always so emphasized: to draw from the shoulder; practice ghosting your lines; try to avoid the sort of chicken scratch-ish style. But despite how much I've been practicing and how hard I've tried, I can't reliably draw from my shoulder or ghost my lines :(

I've been getting really frustrated with myself for not being able to draw like people I see online (and I know comparison is the thief of joy, and yet...... alas), and it's making it hard for me to even want to draw.

If anyone has any resources for artists with hand tremors and joint instability, please feel free to share them :D!!

Hello!

I am looking for folks' systems that they use for environmentally responsible management of acrylic paint in a community studio: cleaning brushes, collecting water, disposal, etc. The system needs to work for two groups: painter's session cleanup and studio manager's weekly cleanup. I already found Golden's Crash Paint Solids Kit. I am looking for a system for a community space. Thank you!

I'm used to a canvas so this is brand new. They advertise for their life and I was wondering if they're worth it.

Input much appreciated

I once heard the advice to sketch people you see at a bustop, or cafes, etc, and while I do have those environments near where I live, I'm a little nervous about being called out for eyeing strangers.

I was wondering if anyone knew of a good site that'd source pictures of everyday people? If I use google and such it feels like it's hard to get anything besides curated pictures of stereotypically photogenic people. Not much in the way of diverse features.

Hello!!

I've recently started drawing dynamic poses, using anime characters for references.

The pose ends up looking somewhat good but when I try to draw the expression it just doesn't look good

Im having a hard time displaying emotions on their faces...

Is there any way to make your character's/drawings emotion more visible?

Here’s my problem: I’m a fairly new artist (an NSFW one, so I won’t be sharing anything), and I’ve been drawing very seriously for almost three years now. I like to do complicated pieces with multiple characters, advanced poses, etc.

But every time I start a new drawing, the sketch phase usually takes me around 15~20 hours out of 30 total!

And I’m just talking about the sketch, not the lineart + base colors, just the sketch.

I’m not redoing the entire drawing every hour or changing the poses entirely, but just getting everything to look right, with the face looking good and the anatomy being correct, takes me so goddamn long!!

I’m wondering if it’s tied to one of my fundamentals being weak. I do timed gesture drawing and figure drawing, and I’m still learning anatomy, but still. Maybe it’s a perfectionism thing? (Not sure about that one.) Maybe it’s normal, but every time I watch someone’s drawing timelapse, they leave the sketch phase very early in the process.

I thought the better I got, the shorter the sketch would take me, but it’s kind of the opposite: nowadays it takes me days, even weeks, to finish the sketch before going on to the rendering.