#drawing advice

[kyri45]

I saw a lot of you asking how to overcome those feelings of being jealous of other people art, of the challenges of art or the frustration of your own art not matching what you initially envisioned. 💜To all of you, know this: you’re not “behind”, you’re not “worse” and your art is not “wrong”. 💜

Many beginner artists might miss clarity in what they want to draw, or skills they still need to fully develop, but all of us should have fun while doing art, not be miserable about it. More than 1700 students decided to try to finally change their point of view alongside me, and while I wont be able to help everyone (my courses have limited spots) i hope i can help you falling in love with art again💜

You still have 3 days to join before registrations close again!

[crackshipsandregret]

damn u are fast

how u do facial hair? I’m struggling man all I want to do is draw my sillies and they look like poo 😭

ARE YOU TIRED OF DRAWING CHARACTERS WITH POO SMEARED ON THEIR FACE INSTEAD OF FLUFFY SCRUFFY BEARDS? WELL TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY! WELCOME TO: HOW TO BEARD YOUR BLORBOS!

Step one: BALD

Complete your drawing of your blorbo!

Step two: COLOR AND BRUSHES

Be sure to select the darkest part of their hair (ideally should match the shade of the eyebrows) and select a texture brush of your choosing. Any will do, as long as grain is visible! An additional textured blending brush to buff out any hard lines is beneficial, but not necessary for a good beard. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT USE A SMOOTH BLENDING BRUSH! The goal is to maintain grain!

Step three: BEARD LAYOUT

DO use a reference image for this step! Draw out the general shape of where your blorbo's beard naturally grows, making sure to leave space around the chin under the lip where patches of hair are typically absent. Once you lay out the shape, turn the opacity down between 20-30%. I personally aim around 24%. This is a base layer, so don't go too dark!

Step four: SECOND LAYER

With the same brush and color, add additional layers ONLY in the areas that have the most hair (as circled in red) on your reference image. Mess around with the opacity until it gives you the look you want. The darker the color, the thicker the hair in that area will seem. NOTE: blond beards are typically much less noticeable than darker colors, typically because the hair has less contrast against the skin tone.

Step five (optional, depends on your style): HAIRS

Using the same brush as your line art with the opacity lowered to 60%, draw out lines along the same general shape as the beard using the same color you've been using. They should be slightly curved along the jaw like contour lines; this helps prevent the chin from feeling flat, but that's more of a personal preference/stylistic choice of mine. Don't think too hard on this step. The lines should be laid down quick and loose as beards are typically scruffy!

CONGRADULATIONS! YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEARDED YOUR BLORBOS!

[orayart]

Disclaimer 2 : I'm not pro!! I'm self taught so idk!! Hope it helps nonetheless and dont hesitate to ask me if something isn't clear!

[rinneg0ne]

How did you draw the bellhart background that’s insane

HII Sorry for the Very late response. This is how I drew the bellhart bg

I'm not sure how in depth you want me to go but basically I used one point perspective to base everything on, with the help of a reference to get the angle of someone walking. This is the ref I used.

I put the horizon line low so that we'll be looking up to see bell hart and to show its great size and verticality.

Along with this I used references from Silksong to get a grasp on the colours, vibe and aesthetic of Bellhart.

I did take some creative liberties to exaggerate the size and scale. But I did try my best to copy Team Cherry's style for drawing and texturing the buildings/features. It did take me some time to draw, the furthest part in the background that has a bunch of bellhomes took the longest and it ended up getting blurred anyway lol. But yea it's really just trusting the process and drawing each house in low detail one by one. After that I add lighting on another layer, setting it to [Add Glow] mode and making the shrine the focal point. I hope this adequately answered your question @phoninghome and once again I'm sorry for the late response heheh... 💕 Edit I forgot to add my Bellhart drawing so you have nothing to compare with what I just said lol. Here it is

[moodyskeletonart]

easy way to add variety with simple clothes for characters is just to change the way they style them

like, jeans and t shirt for example

do they tuck in their shirt? half-tucked? it tight fitting? baggy? what type of jeans? baggy? boot-cut? bell bottoms? skinny? do they roll them up? are they ripped? how ripped? patched? do they wear a belt? are they stained? acid wash?

[meo-eiru]

i think i might combust when i see the micah version, thank you for providing what we all want/need/deserve

can i ask what kind of chest references you use? they always look so damn good or are these just in your head ???

It seems everyone is excited for Micah, my inbox is filled with people saying the same thing but you guys will have to wait because he's the last one on the list

For most of my art I don't use chest references but of course I wasn't born with the ability to draw manboobs, so here are a few tutorials that helped me on the way;

Credits

Credits

Credits

Credits

[thereweredragonshere]

Really like your dragon art! Seems like you really understand their composition to be able to put them in different poses. Is there any advise you can give on getting better at drawing dragons?

I feel like i can draw a dragon, but there is something missing in my understanding because i can't fold wings properly. Putting them in elaborate poses is a struggle too. Something always is off and like, should i just draw more to get better?

Thank you so much!

I find it hard to put a lot of the process into words, as I’ve been drawing specifically dragons for a good few years now, and the way I’ve gone about it has slowly developed over time, as all drawing techniques do. There are so many different categories of things I could cover that I don’t even know where to start for just a single post aha. I’d be more than happy to answer any further specific questions though!

In terms of wings, you’ve definitely got to think of them whilst you’re making the initial pose. They can’t just be tacked on later, otherwise you run the risk of making them not look actually apart of the dragon’s body. This comes with practice, so drawing more and looking between different references to figure out what works and what doesn’t is definitely the way I went about getting better!

Folding wings can be tricky, but using your own arm as a reference is something I do quite a bit of. Bat wings, which most common depictions of dragons have, are very similar to the human arm! They’ve just got very very freakishly long fingers!

Wings are also a borderline two dimensional shape from how thin they are. Practicing drawing the shape of a Pringle, of all things, in different perspective helped me to understand how a flat plane bends and attaches back at different angles. Definitely a learning curve I’m still working on myself.

Being a massive biology nerd also helps. Not necessary of course, but looking into how bones are structures and attached as well as how musculature forms around such powerful limbs has provided a lot of insight over time. I’m in the habit of setting the wings quite far down the spine to provide more room for the extra shoulder blades and collar bones that would have to come with a six limbed creature, as well as the powerful set of secondary back and chest muscles. That being said it’s not something I worry myself over too much, dragon biology is entirely made up, but it helps for a dose of realism to keep in mind!

Thank you so much for the question!

[jp-nichts]

Hey, if you dont mind, what is your proccess for drawing mechs? I struggle with designs that dont look super organic

Idk how actionable this is, but I tend to use Lego models for my reference.

If the mech I paint is not a mech from a show or game, it's probably a Lego build of mine that I'm using for reference. I love using Lego because it gives you the basic shapes and planes to start out with and then you can fill in the details as you need.

Also, if you're struggling with your mechs looking too organic, try drawing more non-organics from reference. Maybe ask a robot girl if you can draw her like one of JP's mechs draw some motorcycles, planes, tanks, or trains. Find some machine you can low key obsess over, and draw a lot of it! I garrenty it will help with your mechs

I used to draw A LOT of motorcycles and scooters (I was a motorcycle mechanic, so bikes were kinda my whole life). And I think a lot of those skills translated into drawing mechs