That I wish people told me because it would have saved me soooo much time. I mentioned these to someone yesterday who kind of proceeded to insult me then post about me on their dA but… I hope this will be useful to someone out there!;;;
Undertale edition because I’ve been drawing a lot of undertale lately.
1. When shading, use both hard and soft edged brushes! A mistake a see with a lot of starting artists is they use only a soft edged brush and it gives the picture a very strange feel.
Shadows work in an interesting way, when I’m shading I think about how things curve, if it’s a more sharp curve I will use a harder brush.
On  the trousers here, the creases have a harder brush setting, which creates convincing folds in the fabric.
2. Don’t be afraid to experiment with colours when shading!! I see so often, people will just pick a darker shade of the same colour when shading, but this creates a dull picture visually.
Don’t be afraid to pick another colour of a darker or lighter tone to create contrast!
Here I used a purple instead of a dark grey for the shadows, and a light blue for the highlights!
I still play somewhat safe compared to others, so don’t be afraid to push how far you can take this, it can have dramatic effects on the entire feeling of the image!
3. Use differences in line thickness to your advantage. This is something I didn’t know for so long but a very good method to create more depth in your picture.Â
When lining something, think carefully about how thick a line should be. My general rule is if it’s just a crease or perhaps a strand of hair, something that isn’t really important to the picture as a whole, it’s still good to line them in, and to use a small pen size when doing so.
For example here, I drew creases, and hair with a small line, and as a stylistic choice, I chose to create a lot of shadows in my lineart. This created even more depth and a sense of the character not entirely being 2D. This image also brings me onto my next point.
4. It’s not the end of the world if a sketch doesn’t turn out right! Don’t!! Even!! Worry!! About it!!! Take a breathe, and make another one. With the progression image I posted in my last tip, I was so unhappy with that initial sketch. It looks super wonky right? I tried again and got closer to what I wanted to draw, and tried again until I got what I wanted exactly, I went through about 5 iterations of the image all up actually;;;
Did you know, some of the great artists like Van Gogh would paint the same picture up to 100 times before they were even remotely happy with the final product, or at least decided the quality was at a high enough standard. It’s good advice to take on board.
5. Don’t draw stick figures. Or at least, don’t rely on line tools when drawing. The human body isn’t a mix of incredibly sharp corners and straight lines, it curves a lot.If for say, when you’re drawing a pair of trousers and they just go straight down in a perfect line, it’s unrealistic or at least, very boring to look at. It can really depend on your style but even the straightest of trouser legs still have creases in them.
Look at these legs, note they’re at the widest at the thighs, become thinner around the knees, then bump outwards below the knees at the calves and finally are thin again at the ankles.
Getting anatomy correct can take years of practice, but don’t be afraid to look up reference pictures! These can be so helpful especially with hands and feet. Plus, the more you draw these sorts of things, it’s easier to remember the intricacies of the human body.
6. Watch other people drawing. WATCH OTHER PEOPLE DRAWING. Go into live streams, watch speedpaints, whatever! Look at how they go through creating a picture. Look at what techniques they use and even their brushes. I’ve picked up so many ideas from watching others and it’s really helped me improved my own art.
One of my favourite things to do lately, which is something I picked up from @wilyart was using white lines on intense highlights over the line art.
So here for example Iook at the sides of the heads towards the light source, the line art is completely white here.Â
7. No one can draw. Not even your favourites can draw. We all have a lot of failures before we come across even one good picture.
8. Don’t use bases. Please just don’t do it, if you want to be taken seriously at least. Even if it’s just practice, don’t do it. You will not learn anything. you are literally tracing over lines, not taking in any information. Just. don’t do it. Okay? For me?
9. Finally, push yourself as far as you can go. Do things you’re not normally comfortable with.
I summoned the courage to attempt drawing a picture that focused more on the background rather than the characters in it. I didn’t do great, but I learnt a lot while doing it.
I think number 6 is what I want to stress the most, I’ve learnt so much just by looking at how other people draw and paint. There’s only so much art tips and tutorials like this can teach you. Take inspiration from others!
Don’t worry if you’re bad it now, you’ll improve! If you don’t believe me here’s something I drew probably about 5 years ago now.
areudirty
kianamaiart
stormborns
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
