#art advice

[grimvestige]

I saw folks chattering in the discord about wanting a fandom for their art and story, and I have MANY thoughts sooooo into a video they go of course!

[arctic1987]

does anyone know how to draw dedede i genuinely can’t fathom where to even start with him 😭

it also doesn’t help that he has been redesigned like a dozen times at this point 😩

in more postive news though I have drawn my first iteration of my waddle dee oc, and she’s actually the first drawing I’ve done so far with my own pose :D

I have also deecided on a name

she is Laddee Brigadeeiro Deecquoise

I know most waddle dees just have like one or two extra words and the word(s) is their occupation / what they love. Laddee is the latter option but she gave herself a first, middle, and last name bc she’s extra like that. Laddu is her favorite/most important dessert tho

[fawkesheart12]

I'm having SO much trouble designing my oc....

I've been nervous showing them but as their one of the main characters I guess it's fine??

Idk....

I keep having trouble with the colors and contrast but I like the shape or general idea I have so far

Their name is Ratchet btw. They just say their name like a pokemon

[flimberjurbles]

the best art advice I have, compiled from years of drawing and classes

- you will learn more making more. just keep drawing. you will learn more from a hundred quick pieces than one long one

- work quick and expressive. Take time on fine details only for finishing touches, don't get sucked in early.

- draw what is there, not what you think is there. draw what you actually see.

- shadow is partly reflected light. pay attention to nearby colors

- yes, anatomy does matter. flaws in anatomy will make the piece look strange. and yes, studies are helpful if you want to improve at drawing anything (see first point)

-value value. your eyes see light and dark better than they see color.

- Draw Big. Fill the page. There is not a paper shortage. If you draw digital, try not to zoom in so much. This will help you learn to place things the size you mean to where you mean to.

[clementine-lemontime]

I really hate how some things people say just really stick to you.

A year-ish ago I showed some drawings of a fairly new oc of mine to a person I really cared about and something that they said about it was that "the character looked like he was wearing a fat suit" and I was fucking gutted to hear that.

I think it's important context that I, myself, am a skinny person and a lot of my ocs (not all) mirrored that since I use my own body as a reference a lot of the time. So with my lack of experience with drawing fatter bodies I wanted to learn and improve, so that's what I had a go at doing. Now looking back at the drawing that got this comment, yes there was quite a bit of room for improvement, BUT the same thing could also be said about the drawings where I first started drawing characters with more muscle definition because in some of them you really can't tell that that character was supposed to be muscular which made me stick at it and eventually get better through practice.

I think the comment stung so much because

1. It was said by somebody who I really cared about and loved sharing my art with.

2. This was a drawing I was actually proud of. Even if my anatomy was off I had made this drawing and I liked it. I had done something I wasn't used to, even if it was something as simple as adding more mass to a body, and I thought I had done a good job at it.

I wasn't showing this person the drawing because I wanted to be showered with praise for doing the bare minimum of drawing a person with a body type unlike my own, I was showing them this drawing because it was a new character and story that I had made and loved. I wasn't looking for praise or critique. I know the person saying it didn't mean to hurt me but they did. They didn't even give me constructive advice on how to fix this mistake, it was just the critique and nothing else.

I haven't made a full body drawing of this character since August last year which isn't too out of the norm for me since I have a lot of ocs and I haven't done many full body oc works this year, but it still makes me kinda sad to say. Even drawing this oc now, before writing this, the comment still gets to me. How do I get over this?

[jacenotjason]

what got you into art in the first place? Any tips for beginners that helped you?

i got into drawing when i was about 5-6 years old! I was really into powerpuff girls as a kid, and there was a Huge ppg fanbase on youtube at this time for some reason. The ppg artstyle was easy enough for baby jace to emulate

hilarious, i managed to track down the exact ppg music video that made me start drawing. I loved this so much, i tried to redraw it and then never stopped. So everyone say thanks Carrie Underwood and PPG artists on youtube 12 years ago.

My tips for beginners, DO NOT EVER STOP DRAWING!!!!! i know "just practice" is such basic advice but it's good! Find something you love to draw and just keep drawing it!!! Keep drawing!! Do not let anything or anyone demotivate you!

Another piece of advice, this one's more specific, draw for yourself. What I mean is don't always draw things Only because you know they'll get popular. Don't draw things only because you know it'll satisfy your audience. I specify "only" since feedback from an audience is a big motivator, but don't let it be your only one. Don't only draw because you'll know it'll get Big Number™

[fine-witch-azura]

Space!!