Artist Ref - Tumblr Posts
The latest discourse on my dash this April 14th of 2017:
Using spaghetti as a drawing tablet nib
An actual genius, June 12, 2011:
Buy a roll of round ~1.65mm(~0.065 inch) weed whacker wire and you have enough nibs to last you twelve lifetimes
Why artists and writers reblog their work multiple times:
They posted it late at night and want people to see it in the daytime
They want others to reblog it
They want more attention for it
THEY WANT OTHERS TO REBLOG IT
They have followers in different timezones and want everyone to get a chance to see it
THEY WANT OTHERS TO REBLOG IT
IF THEY REBLOG IT MULTIPLE TIMES, THEY’RE DOING IT BECAUSE THEY WANT ATTENTION FOR IT AND THEY’RE LIKELY NOT GETTING ENOUGH, SO THEY KEEP REBLOGGING IT IN THE HOPES THEY’LL GET SOME
BE A COOL BRO AND REBLOG
THEY’LL LOVE YOU FOREVER
I drew a quick chart about good wrist and finger exercise before playing Splatoon (or engaging in any other intense activity such as but not limited to gaming in general, programming, drawing, computer work etc.) As with all stretching exercise, these should only be done in moderate speed. You only want to loosen up, not break your hands!! … and it kinda exploded on twitter haha
art tips post
for all the artists following me
draw fast. it’ll look messy for a long time but you’ll improve faster than if you spend 4 hours on every drawing
if you draw in pencil and have a habit of erasing all of your mistakes, try drawing in pen or marker. i know it’s scary but it’ll help in the long run (i’m speaking from experience)
try different methods and mediums but don’t worry about mastering any of them, just have fun
if you’re not rich, buy art supplies from the dollar store, not the art store (seriously. i go through a sketchbook about once a month and i’d rather spend $4 on one than $15)
there’s no wrong way to learn. you can copy other people’s art if you want to, just don’t post it
DO NOT worry about having a consistent style. do not. just draw however you want
if you want to make original characters then do it. don’t worry about if they’re original, or a good design, or if they have an accompanying story. make sonic ocs. do it. it’s fun and it’s not hurting anyone
try not to kill your back. stand up and stretch once in a while
make a folder and save all of your favorite arts for inspiration
draw from life. draw your dog. draw your teachers. draw your desk. draw your own hands (seriously that’s the best way to get better at drawing hands)
in general, drawing from life or a photo is better than drawing from a diagram
draw whatever you want. draw youtubers if you like youtubers. draw undertale if you like undertale. when i was a kid i drew nothing but shadow the hedgehog and horses. everyone deserves to draw what they want without being mocked, and if people start making fun of you, block them and keep drawing
don’t expect to get any notes at first. don’t let it discourage you. if you want validation go show your art to your mom or your friends or your teacher or your grandma
take breaks, but don’t give up.
art tips post
for all the artist following me
Have two sketchbooks: One for finished and high-quality art (stuff made with Prismacolor or Copic if you use that or art for your portfolio) and the other sketchbook for more messy doodles. This way you have a place to try new things and mess up as much as you need. When I only had one sketchbook I was scared to draw in it because I didn't want to mess it up
Do studies. I cant tell you how much I've improved just by doing studies of shoes, hands, noses, and all that. This works for when you have art block too since you’re not really making stuff up and just learning how real things work.
Learn from others. I’ve never taken a real art class because 1. I can’t afford it and 2. there’s no good art classes/programs at my school. I’ve been following several artists and learning from them over the years and they’ve helped me tremendously. Just please do not steal art because that is never okay.
Break down concepts. If you notice there’s something wrong with your piece then figure out why. You can’t get better if you leave mistakes and don't try to understand whats going on. If the color is weird figure out if the values look right or maybe its the saturation of the color.
Watch youtube tutorials. Here are some youtubers I think are pretty good art teaching all things art: Draw with Jazza | DrawingWiffWaffles | Proko | Baylee Jae
Have an inspiration folder/blog. Sometimes you just need a collection of starry nights or a misty forest or even a French bakery. All of those things can help you get inspired to draw. It could even be completely unrelated to what you plan to draw.
There are no dumb ideas in the creative process. If you want to draw a lizard in a dress go for it! If you want to draw various pastries with faces do it! Don’t let the thought of it being too dumb stop you because if I’ve learned anything in my several years of drawing it’s that an idea can lead to another and another and another and you may get a really good idea just from doodling dumb things.
Here’s a few things that can get you started on drawing better:
Dynamic poses | Dynamic clothes | Dynamic figure drawing
COMPOSITION | PERSPECTIVE | CONSTRUCTION
Anatomy:
Legs
Arms
Hands
Heads
Body (Female) (Male
Color Theory
Improving your sketchbook
Most importantly, don’t give up! You may not immediately get notes or followers but it’s more important you get better than to have popularity. How do you think those popular artists got to where they are now? To be good you’ve got to work at it.
when you don’t do a warm up and go straight into lineart and your hand does the thing
IF YOUR ART GETS STOLEN
https://www.tumblr.com/dmca Go there, and do as the instructions say. When my art was stolen, I got the post reported, and it was taken down. Don’t worry, it doesn’t just take down the sources post, but it takes down all the reblogged posts too. Please give this a reblog, many artists out there may not know this is here. And remember, ask permission before sharing, or don’t post it.
as a bunch of new fans are getting into atla via netflix and there’s been a resurgence of fan content (as well as whitewashed fan content), i’m gonna say for artists looking to make fanart of atla:
google images is probably not the best place to pick your references, unless you’re going to be critical about which ones you use. a lot of the images are lightened. i see people defend themselves for whitewashing by showing they used a reference, but that reference was lightened too.
i’m going to use some pictures of katara i found on google images as examples:
[id: three images of katara from avatar: the last airbender. each image is a side by side comparison of the coloring of a scene. in the first image, she is from the waist up, smiling and looking at her friends who are off camera.
the second image is of katara sitting on a staircase, leaning down and putting her face in her left hand. she looks exhausted.
the third image is a closeup of katara’s face, with her looking up at someone off screen. the screenshots on the left of each image are picked from google images and significantly paler than the ones on the right, which were screenshotted directly from the show. end id.]
the ones on google images are paler than the show. this is also a problem i see with gif makers putting filters on katara and sokka. i would not use edited gifs as reference either.
this post is not saying you shouldn’t use google images at all for reference, or that all images found on it are bad. a lot of the katara images on google look just fine! i just wanted to bring awareness that people should not blindly trust their references and instead pick directly from the show if they can. if you do not have netflix or the atla dvds, avatarspirit has had an archive of screenshots from each episode of the show for a long time. i also advise choosing references that have a similar background and lighting you’re going for. colors will appear differently if you’re using them on red, or blue, or etc.
this post is not defending or giving excuses to artists who whitewash by saying they just picked bad references. this post is specifically to point out how to AVOID whitewashing by not picking bad references.
this post is also not arguing over if whitewashing is bad or not. if you comment about how whitewashing is not racist, i will delete your reply and/or block you.
Exercises for all the homies who want to have a long career drawing.
The true problem with being an artist and drawing all day (as I wanted my whole life) is that human backs are not designed to hold that position, so it is very common for artists and designers to have really stiff shoulder blades, creating a chain of muscle strain towards the arm AND the back… and a lot of pain.
These are some physical exercises for artists and honestly anyone who works at a desk.
(all credit to my physiotherapist)
Exercises for all the homies who want to have a long career drawing.
The true problem with being an artist and drawing all day (as I wanted my whole life) is that human backs are not designed to hold that position, so it is very common for artists and designers to have really stiff shoulder blades, creating a chain of muscle strain towards the arm AND the back… and a lot of pain.
These are some physical exercises for artists and honestly anyone who works at a desk.
(all credit to my physiotherapist)
Exercises for all the homies who want to have a long career drawing.
The true problem with being an artist and drawing all day (as I wanted my whole life) is that human backs are not designed to hold that position, so it is very common for artists and designers to have really stiff shoulder blades, creating a chain of muscle strain towards the arm AND the back… and a lot of pain.
These are some physical exercises for artists and honestly anyone who works at a desk.
(all credit to my physiotherapist)
artist tips
don’t save as jpeg