#delightful-mirth

[harmlessarrows]

I don't often cry over a death in the news, but this one hits so hard. Of the few truly famous people I have met, Jane Goodall was perhaps the kindest and most comfortable to be with. She was always modest, gracious and supremely fascinating to talk to. The whole world is a little less rich today. Every animal will miss you. Godspeed.

[justsimplythebest]

I am so grateful for my nice collection, that I have got by @delightful-mirth I am truly so happy I have met you.

[frankly-art]

Hi! May I ask you how you learned to draw so well? The level of your illustration is incredible!

Thank you so much for your comments and question, I really appreciate them! I probably don’t have much to say without rehashing what other artists have already said, but I’ll do my best to add something to the discussion so that other artists can benefit from it, and I’ll try to do so without sounding too pretentious… 😅

1. Practice makes perfect!

I know it’s been said many times, but the tried-and-true adage of “practice makes perfect” is absolutely true when it comes to improving your artistic abilities. I spent a lot of time as a kid drawing my favorite characters from video games, Disney movies, anime, and the like, but tracing and copying only gets you so far (and are, frankly, not all that thrilling for any kind of audience to behold). I started to try my hand at drawing original characters and scenes, each to varying degrees of success, which brings me to my next point…

2. Use a reference!

This piece of advice seems simple enough to follow, but I’m honestly embarrassed to admit that I didn’t take it to heart until… fairly recently. I assumed that, since a lot of what I enjoy drawing the most are fantasy creatures and scenes, references were inherently unnecessary (why would I need a reference to draw something that doesn’t exist, right? Wrong). I soon learned though that referencing the real world, even only as a base or as the inspiration for something fantastic, led to a lot of the fantastical things that I drew becoming more proportional, believable, and, ultimately, created a much more satisfying end result. Using a reference also leads to you becoming a more observant person, which comes in handy when working on any piece of since you’ll take note of certain things like form, color, and lighting as you go about your day-to-day life. And to quote a good friend of mine, @catastrophic-explosions:

3. “Art is theft”!

No, I’m not advocating art theft (neither was she when she said it)–art theft can be demoralizing for the artist and is, well, criminal. What I am saying is that art has to take inspiration from SOMETHING, otherwise it exists in a void and makes reference to nothing and can therefore garner no audience. It would be difficult to grow as an artist without observing and taking inspiration from other artists’ work, though I’ll admit that it’s taken a while to get to the point where I’m inspired by it, rather than discouraged because I feel like my own abilities aren’t up-to-par.

4. Suffer DURING the process!

Going back to an earlier point I made about venturing out to create my own art, there was a period of time as an artist where I cared more about producing a large quantity of work, rather than taking the time to make sure it was quality. Churning out art at such a quick pace left me with a lot of pieces that were ultimately unsatisfying and, honestly, embarrassing to share with an audience. Since realizing this, I try now whenever I’m working on a new piece to view it critically throughout the entire process of creating it, and I try to step away from it periodically to come back to it later with fresh eyes. If I notice that a particular part of the piece irks me, I fix it (I used to ignore these things, believe it or not–I’m so much more satisfied with my art now that I address them head-on)!

That’s about all that comes to mind right now. Hopefully what I’ve said here can bring some kind of inspiration or advice to all the other artists out there! Thanks again for asking!

TL;DR: Practice, use a reference, be observant, take inspiration from other artists, and don’t be afraid to suffer during the creative process–you’ll suffer a helluva lot less with the end result.

[harmlessarrows]

Breakfast this morning... does the heart good.

[harmlessarrows]

Afternoon sun, June 9th, 2025. My plant collection.

[harmlessarrows]

Happy Valentine's Day to every single one of my followers; I hope you have a day full of love and good memories! Vaughn

[harmlessarrows]

[harmlessarrows]

Bye, bye meta.

I have left Instagram as of today. I left FB long ago. tumblr is fine for the moment, lol. However, like many others I am migrating to BlueSky so if you wish to follow me there... @vaughndues.bsky.social