Tips For Artists

The following treatise is by no means law or the only way to do things. It's only what I personally know and believe. Take from it what you will.

1.) Gesture drawings: Yeah, I know, it's one of the most annoying criticisms you'll get "you need to do more gesture drawings!" Stifle your reflex to kick me into a volcano and do it. Trust me, your art really will be better for it. It trains your brain and impacts many different aspects of your artistic development. Try to set aside 15 minutes a day for gesture drawing.


5.) Artist's block: Sometimes, getting up the inspiration and motivation to do art is difficult. You feel artistically constipated, frazzled, burnt, or like you've run out of fuel. It happens to all of us. The good news is that it can be overcome! You just have to find what works for you. Personally, I like perusing other artists' work; that rarely fails to get me motivated and inspired but if it does, that usually means I've burnt out and need a vacation from art for a few days. Sometimes, varying the kind of artwork I do helps. I might switch to doing sketches for a few days or even delve into writing just to give my art-engines a break. Getting properly inspired and motivated is very important because it will reflect in your work. 


7.) Develop a "back to the lab again," attitude. The fact is, unless you're a prodigy or a grandmaster, there are subjects out there that will kick your ass in like a steel-toed boot conveyor belt. It can be really frustrating, I know, but don't give up. If you can't succeed at something no matter how hard you try, take a break, come back later, try again. There are things I absolutely could not do at all in the recent past that I've got down pat today. Sometimes, you just need to take a step back and rethink your approach or study how other artists do it or just straight up ask a more experienced artist for their input. Don't be afraid to reach out.

8.) Hard lessons: Buffer your ass because there will be many of them. One of the first things I learned the hard way is that no one owes me anything; I am not owed pageviews, I am not owed comments, and I am not owed favorites. A piece of MS Paint cocksmut might get more love and attention than that Rembrandtean masterpiece you've poured your heart and soul into. Deal with it. Life's not fair. Most people won't give a crap about your "artistic breakthrough" piece or your "new style experiment" and if you expect them to, you will be thoroughly disappointed. There are a slew of artists infinitely better than you and at least one of them will be some punkass little 19 year old from China or Russia. Sometimes you'll get good honest helpful critiques but sometimes you'll get some troll with a vendetta under the guise of critique. Point is, if you want to maintain your sanity as an artist, you need to cultivate a thick skin and you need to accept that life isn't fair sometimes. It just isn't.

9.) Nuance: People like nuance. They like things that keep their eyes traveling around the composition. People especially like to see hands, eyes, feet, water, reflections, ornature, and anything hinting at complexity of the universe contained within a painting. To depict nuance, one must understand the subject. Take a baseball for example; 'round, white, and red braided seams' are the first things that come to mind. Nuance; a faint, smudged, brown finger print, dimples, a few stray threads from the braiding, uneven wear on the surface, uneven specularity, a slight nick. 'Round, white, and red braided seams' may suffice in many instances, but if you're looking for realism or visual interest, nuance is vital.


11.) Pageviews ≠ quality: Please do not equate pageviews with quality. The only thing pageview count means is literally that X number of people looked at it. That's it. As I said previously, an MS Paint cocksmut scribble can get a zillion pageviews while your masterpiece might get ten. That doesn't mean the cocksmut scribble is better. I mean really, if all you really want is pageviews, just take photos of vaginas. They don't even have to be good photos. You'll get 100Xs the views for 1/1,000th the effort. DO NOT gauge your value as an artist by pageviews or faves or comment count. 

12.) Autopilot can be bad: It is really easy to drift into autopilot mode when painting and that is when you are most likely to make mistakes. There are times when you can get away with going into autopilot mode but be careful you don't spend too much time there. Try to be aware of when you're doing it and make sure you're not doing it when you shouldn't be. To put it another way, paint actively. Don't passively watch yourself paint. 

13.) Eyes: It is a common mistake to make eyes brighter and whiter than they should be. In toonier styles, this isn't a problem but if you're going for realism, remember that eyeballs are not lightbulbs. Eyes should be spherically shaded with shadows coming down from the lids and/or lashes. Eyes are highly reflective and will reflect lashes, colors, light sources, and shapes from the environment in the pupil and to a lesser extent, in the sclera and iris.

14.) Don't hide things: "I don't know how to draw the thing so I will cleverly hide it behind this obvious attempt to avoid drawing the difficult thing-hider. Don't do it. It's usually obvious and you will be called out for it. Even if you get it wrong, at least try; you'll probably be called out for that too but at least it's a step towards getting it right. If you avoid the thing, you'll never get better at it. That's a fact.

15.) Gold: Gold metal picks up a significant amount of color from its environment and thus will rarely ever be the bright yellow people often depict it as. If you find that your gold jewelry or accents aren't looking quite right, try desaturating the yellows. Highly polished metals will pick up more color from the environment where as matte metals will pick up less from the environment, showing more of the metal's native color.

16.) Mind v reality: Many artists have a tendency to rely way too heavily on what we think something should look like and not on what it actually looks like. Don't guess when there is an abundance of answers all around you. What you think a camera or a clock or a bike should look like can be very off from what they actually look like. Don't get me wrong, using your imagination is a vital skill but if you're going for realism, you're going to need to reference reality. There's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make you less of an artist.

17.) Big to small: One of the most popular and successful work methods among artists is starting simple and progressing towards detail. Start with broad strokes and refine. Try to bring everything up at a fairly consistent level to avoid uneven detail. The reason this tends to be the preferred method for many artists is because it can be really difficult to make big, broad corrections (such as corrections to lighting or anatomy) when you've noodled a bunch of little details all over the place. Ultimately, you need to find a work method that suits you but there is a reason this one is so ubiquitous.

18.) Torso first: When drawing figures, a lot of people draw the head first. Instead, try drawing the torso first. The torso dictates the direction of all the limbs and the head. If you prefer drawing the head first and that works for you, great, but if you find you often have problems with posing and anatomy, try starting with the torso.


22.) Planning: If you have a specific goal, plan out your process. Sketches, thumbnails, and write-ups can help foster a sense of direction which is especially useful in complex pieces. Try to have a clear idea of where you want your piece to go and what you want the final result to look like. Otherwise, you may find yourself stuck in a dead end with no direction and a lot of confusion about what to do next or you may end up with a lot of aspects that look tacked on or shoehorned in. Conversely, "stream of consciousness" painting can yield some really interesting results too. Sometimes it's fun to just let loose and paint whatever comes to mind but if you have a specific goal or a complicated burgeoning piece or artwork ahead of you, it's generally better to plan than fly by the seat of your pants.

23.) Challenge yourself: Paint something you've never done before or wouldn't otherwise be inclined to do. If you focus on organic things, paint a cityscape. If you focus on robots and buildings, paint the human figure. Try a color scheme dramatically different than what you usually do. Don't let fear of failure stop you from challenging yourself and trying new things. You won't progress if you don't challenge yourself. This is a good way to keep yourself from becoming a one-note artist. There's nothing wrong with being a one-note artist per se but it's generally regarded as a good thing to have diverse skills, especially if you want to work in any industries.

24.) Fur: Detailed tips on painting fur can be found here.

25.) Eraserophilia: Don't overuse your eraser. Sometimes you just need to plow on through and get something on the page. It can be tempting to erase strokes that aren't perfect but that can also lead to much wasted time and frustration. Perfectionism can be a laudable trait but it can also be a massive hindrance.

27.) Getting into the mode: Sometimes, you need to get into a "mode" to accomplish something you're not typically inclined to do. I love working on characters but I don't really like doing backgrounds so much. Thus, I must force myself to go into "background mode." It takes some discipline but it has helped me out a great deal. The trick is to find a way to incentivize yourself to do it. Make yourself want to do it. For example, one of the ways I trick myself into enjoying working on backgrounds is by convincing myself that the background is a character in and of itself.


29.) Edge control: There are basically 4 different types of edges: Very soft, soft, firm, and very firm. Make sure the edge you are using is appropriate for the form you are trying to convey. This is very important. Make sure the hardness of your shadows is commensurate to the quality of the light. Hard light is going to produce hard shadows. Soft light is going to produce soft shadows.