Drawing Tips - Tumblr Posts

HUGE ART PRO TIP: sketching and planning phase

step 1- turn the opacity of your brush waaay down step 2- DO NOT TOUCH THE ERASER. step 3- go absolutely bonkers on your page, be as messy as you want and do not think about how crap it looks because it is supposed to look crap in this phase. Layer the bits you like more over and over again so the lines are darker, and kinda space out the lighter lines you don't care about. step 4- any adjustments feel free to use lasso + free transform with "keep aspect ratio" turned off. this is the easiest way to sketch and it prevents you from overthinking while you plan. the sketch phase is NOT supposed to look good, it is supposed to be there to vaguely plan where everything is supposed to go. a draft where it looks like you had a seizure while drawing is a happy draft.

PSA: podcasts can cause art block and burnout

it takes mental energy to listen to a podcast while drawing! sometimes its good if you need noise BUT IF YOU DO IT ALL THE TIME IT CAN BE OVERWHELMING please ! work in silence every now and then! if not then take breaks where you sit in silence! stop listening to something all the time ! give your brain some breathing room!

I forgot I have to be active here so here’s my Twitter tutorial on how to draw folds I made a while back to help a friend!

I forgot I have to be active here so here’s my Twitter tutorial on how to draw folds I made a while back to help a friend!

i watched one (1) video on how to draw hands that changed my life forever. like. i can suddenly draw hands again

these were all drawn without reference btw. i can just. Understand Hands now (for the most part, im sure theres definitely inaccuracies). im a little baffled

DEAR ARTISTS, PLEASE READ THIS POST I STUMBLED ACROSS

IF YOU ARE NOT DOING THIS ALREADY, YOU SHOULD TRY IT

I even tested it out myself, it works great

really helpful technique ^ once you know how to divide by halves and thirds it makes drawing evenly spaced things in perspective waaay easier:

“I couldn’t find any pictures that are-” is a very lousy excuse to whitewash PoC. There are plenty of PoC models, stock images, and editorials out there. You just have to find it. Here are some of the blogs that are dedicated to PoC editorials/models that I follow. Feel free to add and suggestion more.

filipinomodel

desimalemodels 

modelsofcolor  

pinoysonthelimelight  

highfashionpakistan 

black-boys

bollywoodeditorial

pakistanifashionedits

celebritiesofcolor

koreanmodel

indonesianmodels

theasianmalemodel

hellyeahblackmodels

Do you have any tips for drawing solas? you draw him so beautifully but I find his features are so hard to capture :(

Any advice you can offer is greatly appreciated ^^ !

Hi Anon! I’ve always found it hard to explain my thought process like this, but I can give it my best shot! Putting the explanation/timelapse beneath the cut because it’s a little long. (Also, sorry if this is formatted horribly, I’m on mobile and this app makes my life so hard 😭😭)

Anon, just like you, I once found Solas’s face to be the most frustrating thing in the world to try and get right. And he’s still frustrating! But, what helped me the most was figuring out what his basic shapes were and then building off of that!

Despite all of the egg allegations, his face is actually super angular! The lines from his forehead to his cheekbones are just a big diamond. His jawline is super curved as well.

Literally all of his features follow a curved line upwards, except for his sad, sad eyes. Even his nostrils are higher than the tip of his nose.

Another important note, his jaw ends at the same place where his mouth is and the inner corner of his eye lines up with his chin. I highly recommend finding a good picture of solas and mapping out his face like this to see what lines up with what. That way you can know for certain you’ve got things in the right place 😊

Here’s a quick timelapse of the above drawings! Sorry it’s such low quality lmao I don’t know what I’m doing.

I forgot I have to be active here so here’s my Twitter tutorial on how to draw folds I made a while back to help a friend!

More art tutorials by Disney artists Griz and Norm Lemay

Chibi foliage guide: Rose (pt.2)

A mouth-watering fuck-ton of hand angle references.

By Shadowcross on DA.

draw more fat characters ok. i love you

A general cane guide for writers and artists (from a cane user, writer, and artist!)

Disclaimer: Though I have been using a cane for 6 years, I am not a doctor, nor am I by any means an expert. This guide is true to my experience, but there are as many ways to use a cane as there are cane users!

This guide will not include: White canes for blindness, crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs as I have no personal experience with these.

This is meant to be a general guide to get you started and avoid some common mishaps/misconceptions, but you absolutely should continue to do your own research outside of this guide!

The biggest recurring problem I've seen is using the cane on the wrong side. The cane goes on the opposite side of the pain! If your character has even-sided pain or needs it for balance/weakness, then use the cane in the non-dominant hand to keep the dominant hand free. Some cane users also switch sides to give their arm a rest!

A cane takes about 20% of your weight off the opposite leg. It should fit within your natural gait and become something of an extension of your body. If you need more weight off than 20%, then crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair is needed.

Putting more pressure on the cane, using it on the wrong side, or having it at the wrong height will make it less effective, and can cause long term damage to your body from improper pressure and posture. (Hugh Laurie genuinely hurt his body from years of using a cane wrong on House!)

(an animated GIF of a cane matching the natural walking gait. It turns red when pressure is placed on it.)

When going up and down stairs, there is an ideal standard: You want to use the handrail and the cane at the same time, or prioritize the handrail if it's only on one side. When going up stairs you lead with your good leg and follow with the cane and hurt leg together. When going down stairs you lead with the cane and the bad leg and follow with the good leg!

Realistically though, many people don't move out of the way for cane users to access the railing, many stairs don't have railings, and many are wet, rusty, or generally not ideal to grip.

In these cases, if you have a friend nearby, holding on to them is a good idea. Or, take it one step at a time carefully if you're alone.

Now we come to a very common mistake I see... Using fashion canes for medical use!

(These are 4 broad shapes, but there is INCREDIBLE variation in cane handles. Research heavily what will be best for your character's specific needs!)

The handle is the contact point for all the weight you're putting on your cane, and that pressure is being put onto your hand, wrist, and shoulder. So the shape is very important for long term use!

Knob handles (and very decorative handles) are not used for medical use for this reason. It adds extra stress to the body and can damage your hand to put constant pressure onto these painful shapes.

The weight of a cane is also incredibly important, as a heavier cane will cause wear on your body much faster. When you're using it all day, it gets heavy fast! If your character struggles with weakness, then they won't want a heavy cane if they can help it!

This is also part of why sword canes aren't usually very viable for medical use (along with them usually being knob handles) is that swords are extra weight!

However, a small knife or perhaps a retractable blade hidden within the base might be viable even for weak characters.

Bases have a lot of variability as well, and the modern standard is generally adjustable bases. Adjustable canes are very handy if your character regularly changes shoe height, for instance (gotta keep the height at your hip!)

Canes help on most terrain with their standard base and structure. But for some terrain, you might want a different base, or to forego the cane entirely! This article covers it pretty well.

Many cane users decorate their canes! Stickers are incredibly common, and painting canes is relatively common as well! You'll also see people replacing the standard wrist strap with a personalized one, or even adding a small charm to the ring the strap connects to. (nothing too large, or it gets annoying as the cane is swinging around everywhere)

(my canes, for reference)

If your character uses a cane full time, then they might also have multiple canes that look different aesthetically to match their outfits!

When it comes to practical things outside of the cane, you reasonably only have one hand available while it's being used. Many people will hook their cane onto their arm or let it dangle on the strap (if they have one) while using their cane arm, but it's often significantly less convenient than 2 hands. But, if you need 2 hands, then it's either setting the cane down or letting it hang!

For this reason, optimizing one handed use is ideal! Keeping bags/items on the side of your free hand helps keep your items accessible.

When sitting, the cane either leans against a wall or table, goes under the chair, or hooks onto the back of the chair. (It often falls when hanging off of a chair, in my experience)

When getting up, the user will either use their cane to help them balance/support as they stand, or get up and then grab their cane. This depends on what it's being used for (balance vs pain when walking, for instance!)

That's everything I can think of for now. Thank you for reading my long-but-absolutely-not-comprehensive list of things to keep in mind when writing or drawing a cane user!

Happy disability pride month! Go forth and make more characters use canes!!!

I was really struggling on the design of this Arachne. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!

Adding character diversity: Body type

Unique Features Tutorial Pt 1 by jeinu

Tips on how to draw not so cookie cutter characters! Change body type and shape, showing off natural differences in build that happen in real life! Not everyone is built the same! Pt 2 and 3 will follow but check it out on the original posting on the artist’s deviant!

How I pratice drawing things, now in a tutorial form. The shrimp photo I used is here Show me your shrimps if you do this uvu  PS: lots of engrish because foreign 

Clothes and Folds Tutorial by fakhear

Support the artist and visit their Etsy!

IT DOES HELP

Drawing closed spaces in perspective is one of my biggest flaws and I do believe this will be of a great assistance!!

I made a Room Building tutorial! Lemme know if it helps! 🧡

Tip me here| Commission info here!