Still Fumbling About Like a Clueless Person on Art

[Introspective Onlooker]

Updated this thread. Ah, who cares? I haven't been consistent on this thing in the nearly two years I've been sporadically at this. Even if I were more routine and concentrated on this, why did I delude myself into thinking anyone would actually glean anything from some amateur of a small corner of the Internet? This whole idea of someone gradually showcasing their work through a long period to demonstrate their progress in an attempt to inspire others is a fool's dream. If I have to improve, it's going to be something I have to actively pursue, and I haven't done that — AT ALL, in this span of time.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Five days later, and I've got a lot to show. I'm not sure if I made much (if any) improvement, but I have been drawing every day for the better part of a couple weeks, now. Hopefully, my lines and such will be better.

Anyway, the sole reason for me bumping this thread is something personal, and I don't make a habit of showcasing or detailing my private life here on this forum. Regardless, this is something special for my grandmother:

I didn't know how to make the roses attached to the vines, and I probably could've done a better job with the pumpkins. The heart has more glitter than I anticipated. It's pretty obvious I'm not used to writing letters in this particular style, either.

I haven't been able to effectively learn the Japanese language because of procrastination and general intimidation by kanji. Please excuse the poor hand-writing. I wish I did this earlier, instead of at night. Yeah, I sketch at night.

With that said, Happy Birthday, Grandma!

 

[Foreverfox]

I totally feel this - while many people (sometimes including myself) consider my art good, it’s not at the level that I want it to be. I want to do similar things, make comics, storys, have characters full of depth, etc. I have a general style that I want to achieve, and I just don’t know how to achieve it. Yeah, tutorials, but still. I look at so many other artist’s work and I can’t help but think, “Man, I wish I could do that.” To this thought in both of us, I say: just keep going. The more we practice, the better we’ll get and the more we’ll learn.

One thing that I had to do to really challenge myself in terms of art in both the traditional and digital sense, was the concept of working in layers. I used to be VERY “final picture first draft” and didn’t allow myself room for thinking outside of that notion.

I hope this helps and I hope you continue to share your thoughts and progress!

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Well said, @Foreverfox. And don't worry; there's plenty more where that came from!

 

[Aria Nook Violet]

Hi! I want you to know first of all that it is great to hear that there are people in this forum who seem to love being creative. I’m glad to hear that you found a way to teach yourself art and I do think the school system lacks teaching in the art department, at least where I live it does as I had to learn art outside of school. Like you I also feel like I am unproductive in arts as I don’t work on it every chance I get and I would surely have improved a lot more if I did, now I don’t know how your life is going so I will give you my point of view in my unproductive art life and you be the judge if you can relate to that or not.

Depending on the time of my life there were many reasons why I didn’t draw as much as I wanted and the reason was always because there were other things in my life who were taking the spotlight be it school or personal life issues. Right now I am going to social events to combat social anxiety which tires me, I work part time which tires me and plus I am trying a bunch of digital arts like 3D or video editing which tires me. My point is every little action you do is important and of course tires you. As that starts to build up I reach a point when in the free time I spend on drawing I start spending on just resting and while that break is just it feels like I am being lazy. Time you spend resting if you need that rest is not being lazy and even I need to convince myself of that notion. There is also the fact that everyone works differently and society isn't built for that.

By posting here you showed you really love this hobby and you seem to have the will to improve it and even if it goes slower than other people in the internet what matters is that from time to time you work on it and have fun. If you fail, forgive yourself and force yourself to forgive even if you have to repeat that idea to yourself multiple times. Don’t let it pressure you and if you feel that is happening take a step back and go slower. Experiment with what you want to do and have fun. Yes! It's going to take time possible years but if you keep at it I assure you it will improve. Just be aware that everything takes time.

To end I would like to say that the ideas that you seem to have about a story line between splatoon and animal crossing seem really interesting and makes me feel like I am not weird for having fan ideas for Animal crossing for example. Makes me wish there was a threat or something where people could discuss fan ideas about their own takes on video game franchises and support each other. If you want to talk about those ideas on this threat I would love to hear them. Good luck!

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

@Aria Nook Violet, thank you for the support! The sketches you made in your own thread are pretty good, too.

I do think the school system lacks teaching in the art department, at least where I live it does as I had to learn art outside of school.

It's definitely an issue that's seems apparent across the board. I think even as a child, I knew school was more about the procedure and application, rather than the learning process and immersion. Instead of expecting us to draw a wooden model in a particular pose without looking at what we're doing, maybe there should've been more of an effort to teach us some simple exercises to improve our line work and on-model faces or what-have-you.

To end I would like to say that the ideas that you seem to have about a story line between splatoon and animal crossing seem really interesting and makes me feel like I am not weird for having fan ideas for Animal crossing for example.

Just to clarify that the ideas I have for both of these series doesn't involve any crossovers between the two. Since they're both vastly different games, I'm planning on creating content for them separately. For Animal Crossing, I just want to draw scenarios of my villagers, and by extension, my own playable characters interacting with each other in ways that aren't depicted in games — they could possibly serve as a way to pitch new ideas to make the game feel more alive. For Splatoon, I want to make my own adaption of the Hero Mode in all three Splatoon games. Somewhat akin to Heroes of Inkopolis, which, to those who don't know, was a fan adaption of the first game's story with changes made to the narrative to help distinguish it from the original source. There's a comic dub on YouTube where you can easily watch/listen to it. That solidified my idea to do the same, with my own take on it.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of a game that innovated the RPG genre by instead of being another fantasy title, was a game set in a futuristic, post-nuclear world — Fallout. Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas, represented the best WRPGs had to offer, and my heart goes out to Interplay, its division — Black Isle, and Obsidian for their efforts to create the best games they could. I could go on with how incredible these games are, but I'll save that for another time. Vault Boy wants to get in on the action, too!

EDIT (10/13/2022): This was the last page out of my sketch book, so I wanted to end it with a "Bang!", if you catch my drift.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

With the Fallout 25th Anniversary tribute being my final sketch on my journal, I spent a couple of days going without drawing, figuring out how I should go about starting off my next sketchbook — again, it's older than the one I currently showcased in this thread, but here it is:

This was something I bought towards the end of the decade, but hadn't sketch until today. Crazy, right? Anyway, what I did on the first page was just me trying to relearn some techniques:

Here's the back of the page:

You'll notice the paper material is... more transparent, to the say less, and it's clearly softer — which only makes doing anything on it without a support harder. As you can see, this is just me practicing my flicks, shading, and shapes. From this perspective, this seems to have turned out better than I expected, but I wish I didn't drew the outlines of the can with a pen. It looks off.

I'm aiming for this sketchbook to be more focused than my previous one, because I mainly just drew whatever I wanted without a set goal in mind. For the rest of the week, it'd probably be best for me to keep practicing these techniques, and record my progress from there.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Over four months later... I suspected this procrastination would happen. It's not that I haven't drawn anything in that time-frame. I just... lost my flow. I could pinpoint a few key reasons for this: it was my first week of training, and even if it's just a few hours a day, it makes me feel emotionally-drained, sometimes. That leaves me wanting to ease that exhaustion through video games, daily constitutionals, and rest, all three of which take quite a lot of my time. Doesn't help that I was hyper-focused on a certain SRPG series and wanted to play each game in chronological order (which I somewhat did, though that's a story for another time). With that said, I still don't fully understand what caused me to not update this thread as frequently as I wanted to.

Regardless, I'm here, now, and even if I don't have much to show for it, and what I do have to show for isn't very good, I still imagine I'll be able to achieve what I want to do with my art. I just hope I can keep my priorities straight and my mind focused. Perhaps I should make an ultimatum to keep myself motivated.

Anyway, I have a slew of sketches of a rose. Back in October, when I was trying to think of ways to create and decorate a birthday card for my grandmother, I searched for some YouTube tutorials on how to draw one, and I was able to find one that helped me in the process. I swore I could do this by memory at that point, but if you look at these photos now, you'd think otherwise:

This, one, as you can already tell by the title, was done straight from memory:

The second sketch wasn't much better; I had the tutorial displayed this time, but I used the finishing drawing of the video as a reference, rather than allowing it to be my guide:

This time, I tried to draw the rose without memory, again, but I still wasn't satisfied:

This last one, I had to constantly look at the finished sketch at the end of this video to get a gist at what I was doing:

It's still isn't very good, and I've done much better, but it feels as if I'm relearning how to draw a rose in a particular fashion.

Maybe I should stop relying on tutorials to draw, and try "iterative drawing". Don't know much about it, other than the premise of trying out various forms of styles, and finding the most suitable one. Who knows? I feel just as lost as I did when I made this thread, so hope I don't spend another week, month, or a year with this thread buried.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

It's been a month since I posted here... I'm still doing a poor job trying to be consistent, here. Christ...

Anyway, here's an update: it's pretty slow. I'm still drawing, but I don't have much to show.

Anyone ever heard of one David Finch? If you read a great deal comics, you might have glance at one of his works across both Marvel and DC Comics. He has had more than a quarter century of experience working as a professional comic book artist, who also has courses on his website, as well as his YouTube channel — which is (of course) available to everyone. I saw one of his perspective videos; thought it was interesting. Interesting enough to check out his website, and bought a couple of his courses. I'm focusing on drawing a superhero head, and the results so far has been less than pleasing, I'm sad to say:

Accidentally tore a bit of the page out of the sketchbook.

Hope this is eligible to you all.

 

[Warrior]

You seem very smart but I, a moron am going to say something that might be a little pointed. Spending so much time criticising yourself, even in your own notes, Is a waste of time. Instead of writing next to the drawing, just draw another version where you try do a little better at the aspect that disappointed you. Keep drawing, and drawing, and drawing some more.

Anyway, I recommend this book here . A bit meaty but 13 year old me sure did like that book and followed its instructions pretty well. Now 26 year old me sells art for a living. So that's neat! I mostly improved I think only in the past 2 years, but preceeding that I've been drawing since I was a kid. In fact I think there's many drawings on this site I made spanning back to 2014. I spent a lot of time drawing 'ugly' art but every bad drawing is like a little loading segment in a process. It's a step to the goal.

Also, careful with buying any online courses; those people do not want you to get good ; they want you to buy more courses lol.

anyway here's my little stall with my stuff I sell as evidence I'm not just talking big! Just keep on drawing everyday! if its what you like to do, you'll do it without thinking. 頑張ってね

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

You seem very smart but I, a moron am going to say something that might be a little pointed. Spending so much time criticising yourself, even in your own notes, Is a waste of time. Instead of writing next to the drawing, just draw another version where you try do a little better at the aspect that disappointed you. Keep drawing, and drawing, and drawing some more.

Pardon the late response; I just needed some time to ponder what you said, and to go about how I should reply. I might try doing just that the next time I upload one of my sketches, though I'll still probably elaborate on my mistakes in the same post rather than on my sketchbook.

Anyway, I recommend this book here . A bit meaty but 13 year old me sure did like that book and followed its instructions pretty well. Now 26 year old me sells art for a living. So that's neat! I mostly improved I think only in the past 2 years, but preceeding that I've been drawing since I was a kid. In fact I think there's many drawings on this site I made spanning back to 2014. I spent a lot of time drawing 'ugly' art but every bad drawing is like a little loading segment in a process. It's a step to the goal.

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards... Interesting. I know the book has somewhat of a controversial reputation in the fields of neuroscience, but I also heard that it's well-worth the read, regardless. Maybe I'll check it out, some day. One book that I'm keen on buying, however, is one that Stan Lee and John Buscema wrote and drew a while back. They even did a video version of it that can easily be found on YouTube.

Also, careful with buying any online courses; those people do not want you to get good ; they want you to buy more courses lol.

Guess it's already too late, now... In all seriousness, I still think I can trust Finch's courses. I just wish the resolution of his tutorials were higher and that the videos were more technical and slower.

anyway here's my little stall with my stuff I sell as evidence I'm not just talking big! Just keep on drawing everyday! if its what you like to do, you'll do it without thinking. 頑張ってね

ありがとうございます! Lovely art, by the way. I really appreciate the support.

 

[Aria Nook Violet]

Hi! Long time no see. I have seen your progress and coming in with fresh eyes there is a slight progress. Be proud I understand how frustating it can be because I am on the same boat and it is hard to disconnect from that feeling. What I have been trying to do is not expect much of me and just do sketches. But it is hard to convince yourself. I think it's fine to see tutorials to understand anatomy but I would recommend you avoid those. If you are in need of orientation and if you have the resources you can pay to have a private art teacher like I once did he/she can personally and physically teach you how to improve. Private one on one and not a class, because unlike a group class the teacher will be focused on your mistakes and sucess and will guide you personally. When I say physical and present I mean that, I don't think online distant course will help you much at the start. Use whatever resources you have at your disposal that you feel that are helping you and most important of all don't rely too much on them. There are rules sure but sometimes you want to allow yourself to be freed from those rules so drawing doesn't become a burden. Do you feel you draw like a child? Then embrace that and draw like a child. Who knows? maybe there are some pearls of knowlegde you get to learn by yourself during that process. A balance between your own time to draw freely vs researching is important.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Hello, again, @Aria Nook Violet. Long time, no see, indeed. It's good to know that you're still following this (semi-active) thread. Contacting a private art teacher might be useful, but I have my hands tied at the moment; trying to balance free time and work (training, to be exact) can be difficult. I'll be sure to keep that in mind, as well. Thanks again for boost in confidence.

By the way, I plan on addressing the way I take photos of my sketchbook. Maybe I could use the environment to compliment my compositions. I'm going on vacation soon, so that should leave me with enough time to focus and experiment on what I want to do.

Another thing: A few weeks ago, I had a surplus of art supplies delivered to me, and once I get the chance to tamper with it all, I'll gladly demonstrated it on this thread.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

It’s been exactly seven months since I’ve had any sort of presence on this forum, though I have lurked around for a few months, observing some threads I wanted to respond to, so be prepared to see me in a lot of them. I still draw. I was even drawing every day from the 1st of September to around the middle of October. In the process, I made a much better card for my grandma than I did a year prior; check it out:

Progress over all, however, has been pretty slow. I’m trying to figure out how to motivate myself to draw more, but I’ve had priorities keeping me from my new sketchbook I bought earlier this year. Yes, I managed to buy another one. Good thing, too, because that other sketchbook I mentioned earlier in this thread has already been completed. And while I’m on the subject, I bought a surplus of art material and a couple books on how to draw comics in a way only Marvel does, and how to specifically “Ink” a scene respectively.

I’ve bought a pack of 18 kneaded erasers which come in six different colors, some black ink for pure dark values, some white ink to correct mistakes, a jar for water and towels to draw ink brushes with, a clipboard (which I think is a bit small and wish had a stand of some sort), pins to keep papers in place, three T square rulers, and a Mr. Pen Geometry Set to help assist with drawing comics.

And the books I bought over are Learning Comics the Marvel Way! (Stan Lee and John Buscema) and Framed Ink (Marcos Mateu-Mestre).

It’s quite a lot, and I still haven’t used all of it, yet, or even finished reading the first book. I bought all of this during the beginning of the year, but it was only later on that I started going through some of this material.

With that said, I still haven’t given up on this; I still have a desire to tell stories through visual media, regardless if it’s my own stories, or otherwise.

---

Lord above. There HAS to be an easier way to make posting pictures less tedious. Wanted to show off my art, but maybe I'll do that on another post, instead. This was a lot more work to resize these images than I wanted to do.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Hey. Look what came to my house, last night:

Guess I'm part of the digital age, now. Spent some time navigating through this new, unfamiliar medium of art with Krita, and I was able to produce a few projects I'm happy to say, turned out alright:

Right. Here are the specs:
-Model: PTH-660
-Dimensions: 13.3L x 8.6W x 0.3 H in; 338 x 219 x 8mm
-8 ExpressKeys (Productivity Boosters)
-Bluetooth/WiFi architecture
-Creative Software (MASV; Shapr3D — 3 months/250GV)
-Ultra Responsive Wacom Pro Pen 2 — 8192 PS (Pressure Sensitivity)

 

[Aquilla]

Hello fellow artist! I have had a little browse through your thread and seeing another person embark on their art journey makes me really happy. Getting your first drawing tablet sure is exciting! I also started out with a wacom and krita! The beginning was rough, I found that drawing digitally felt entirely different from pen on paper. Once you get the hang of it, the sky’s the limit!

Progress over all, however, has been pretty slow. I’m trying to figure out how to motivate myself to draw more,

I stumbled over this particular paragraph and wanted to offer a piece of my own experience in the hopes it might help you overcome this, if you’ll have me.

I’m an entirely self-taught artist who has been drawing for two decades, but I only really seriously committed to it in 2021.

Now… I know that most teachers and instructors in drawing courses encourage their learners to start with fundamentals and to really dedicate themselves to basics to build good drawing habits early on. There isn’t anything wrong with that, it certainly is very helpful to have a good grasp on fundamentals. The only issue: I personally didn’t find learning the fundamentals particularity inspiring or motivating, not enough to keep me going long term anyway. On my own art journey I discovered that the absolutely most important aspect of learning art is consistency and producing art! All the fundamentals and technical knowledge are entirely useless unless you actually draw. So I’d say put your primary focus on drawing anything, no matter what, as long as it inspires you and is FUN! Even if it means you don’t do studies for a while or don’t adhere to books. Find something that really tickles you and stick to drawing that. Of course you can sprinkle in theoretical aspects too, but the most important part is to draw, draw, draw.

When I lack ideas or motivation to just draw for myself it has always helped me greatly to have strangers or friends give me prompts or drawing characters, animals or whatever else as gifts for them. That external input has always and still always takes me out of a drawing slump. bonus perk: it makes you draw stuff you might not consider yourself, thus pushing you out of your comfort zone which helps you learn to adapt and think creatively!

So my tips summarised:
1. draw whatever the heck you want. You know what’s worse than ignoring technical practice? not drawing at all.

2. if you can’t think of anything to draw, ask friends or even strangers here on belltree for ideas and references to get you going. Stakes are higher if it’s for someone else so it might give you a kick!

I’m looking forward to your future drawings and progress! I hope that some of what I said can be helpful!

 

[mocha.]

Hey. Look what came to my house, last night:

This is so exciting!! I still remember the day I got my very first Wacom tablet, I literally cried with happiness haha. This was about 16 years ago though so there was a lot less pressure from social media back then.

I’d like to echo Aquilla’s previous post and say that consistency is the key to improvement. I have stayed semi-consistent over the past few years after taking a veeerrry long hiatus, and have improved leaps and bounds since I first started. It can be daunting seeing everyone’s work and comparing yours, but remember: we all started somewhere!! As long as you can see an improvement in your work and it’s making you happy, you’re doing fine. And even if it doesn’t make you happy, don’t worry! We all have days like that. Just take a little break and come back to it.

I made a thread a while ago where I listed some resources for artists, so I hope it will be helpful for you: Resources

If you need anything else, don’t be afraid to ask myself or anybody else on the forums. I’ve learned a lot from artists here and I’m always willing to help if I can! looking forward to seeing your progress!!

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

@Aquilla, @mocha., thank you very much for the feedback. Very interesting reads.

 

[Introspective Onlooker]

Finally have this piece done. It's a day late, it's not very good, and it's still doesn't have any shading, but I spent a while working on just the head of her character, so here it is. Now I just need to have it posted on the Birthday thread.