Creative Corner

I haven't officially said that the Harsh Critique Thread is closed yet, but, well. It is.
If you're waiting for a critique I'll probably come back to you next year, due to an upcoming time-consuming important event. Sorry about that :(

To make up for that, I'll quickly drop some art advice that I have learnt across the years - hopefully it'll help you!

First, let's talk about your art mentality!
Yes you can! :D

This is something I always hear beginner artists say, and even some pros!

I observed that little kids can doodle confidently but when they hit a certain age they strangely lose the ability to draw. Everybody can draw ;) (unless they have a problem that prevents them from moving, like a muscular disease)

What you really mean is "I have a fear of failing to draw well, as my idea of knowing how to draw is X, and I currently cannot draw X, so I do not draw and believe that I can not do it at all."

Drawing is not a "I can" or "I can't" thing. Do not restrict yourself with this line of thinking~

To overcome this ideology, I have a simple fix: Start drawing!
A variation of "I can't draw" that so many artists don't realise they're doing~
I don't mean it like "I won't draw NSFW and mecha", by the way XD
What I mean is: "I only draw anime" or "I'm an animal artist", etc.

Do not label yourself in any way. An interesting experiment, coined the Stanford Prison Experiment, proves the ways that the label you create for yourself can warp your behaviour and abilities - you might want to take a look at it, I think it's rather intriguing.
Is linked to "I can't draw" Can you write? Good! Using the same technique, coordinate your hand and move it so that your medium of choice (pencil, paint, finger on sand..) shapes your subject :)
What you really want to ask is "Do you have any techniques to help me improve drawing on perspective?" Identify the gaps in your knowledge/skills, and then work to improve them!
Sometimes, what you really mean is: "What material makes this artist draw good?"
It doesn't matter what you draw with - it's skills that made the drawing good, and simply using the same materials will not give you the artists skills.
[Actually, materials can matter; e.g. paint colours/lightfastness/blending ability; but I often see people use this question unknowingly under the context that they want to draw like the artists in terms of skill]
If you like art, you don't need to make money in order to have fun~ It can be cheap and the most you'll 'lose' is time ;)
Is linked to "But I can't be a professional".
Often a result of a person seeing a lot of people draw on social media, such as Instagram, and believing that it is a quick and easy process to become Michaelangelo. After realising that it's tougher and not worth their effort to be cool, they back down from art.

Draw not purely for the approval of other people. This will make you unhappy, everybody has differing tastes. This quote from Steven King is actually about how to write a good opening line for readers, but I think it works well enough for my point, so I'll reword it to fit my context:
"We've talked so much about the audience, but an artwork is important to the artist, too. Because it's not just the audience's way in, it's the artist's way in also, and you've got to find a doorway that fits us both"
Okay then. Make sure that the features of your style are purposely there because it is actually what you had in mind.
If you had a different idea in mind, take heed and adjust the feature accordingly. Sometimes it's nice to lie to make yourself feel better but no excuses! Accepting your skills and striving to improve on your lack of knowledge/skills makes a truly great artist!
False! What you can do now says nothing about what you can do in the future, and what you can do for anything else. Do what you can't!
What's the point of being negative? >:)
(On a more serious note, there are so much psychological benefits that it's better for you to search it up yourself!)

https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2802415/1#post_41795525

"But I don't have talent" Talent to me, is best described as an advantage that somebody is born with (and probably genetic). We are all different, and we all have different talents for different things - this can come off as unfair and hopeless for some.
If you don't have talent, do not fret! You can still draw, but you simply lack the headstart that talented people have. This is a bad comparison, but you don't need to steroids to train for a race, do you? ;)

"You're so talented!" Talent is a helpful thing that helps talented people (see below) but in the long term, hard work - learning and practice - is what makes a truly great artist.
Telling somebody they're talented may actually come off as offensive, because it's like saying "You have x, and that's how you draw so well" while ignoring the time they spent to reach that level of skill.

To illustrate my point:

Person with talent (beginner)*:

• Advantage: intuitively sees how things look good, improves faster, finds drawing easier, hence has more confidence to continue drawing
• Disadvantage: Usually doesn't know how they drew good since it is intuitive; will hit a point where their head start is not as helpful compared to learning and practicing more, and may get frustrated in long term

Person without talent (beginner)*:

• Advantage: Always had to try hard to draw so finds it normal to work hard,
• Disadvantage: Compares themselves to others which have more talent and feels frustrated, improvements slower compared, has lower confidence as result and may stop drawing

*'Talent' is obviously more like a spectrum, but for simplicity's sake, I just compared it like that

**Note that the talented person starts off with the exact same skills but usually improves faster giving the illusion of being born with those skills. I mean, do you think Mozart popped out the womb composing songs?

Edit: I did some more research, and really, most of what I talked about boils down to the Growth Mindset. If you can spare less than 10 minutes, go watch this - it is an in depth explanation I recommend!
Otherwise, I can summarise my findings.
First, there are two mindsets. We are one or the other for different subjects, but we must strive to be the growth mindset for all (easier said than done!). Certain triggers, for example, a bad grade or insults can bring on the fixed mindset.
1) Growth Mindset

• I can change my current skills/knowledge - this is supported by brain plasticity. Hence, we can argue the growth mindset is a more realistic view.
• I love learning and the processes that lead to the goal
• I can overcome challenges and weaknesses with learning and effort
• I do not focus on the results, and hence can take the risk of bad results if it means learning more

2) Fixed Mindset

• I am born with this talent, and cannot develop it
• I focus on the results, if my results are bad, I am bad. After all, I'm born with it.
• Challenges cannot be overcome, as I am born bad at this.
• If my results are good, I'm good.*

*That appears to be the only good thing about fixed mindset! Or is it?
Think of this: A girl is good at maths. She always has been good with numbers, hence, she is confident at it. She always gets As for mathematics - in fact, she is first each and every time. After a particularly hard test, she gets her results back. Not bad. Then she sees her rank: second.
She is shocked - she immediately gives up on maths and drops grades and ranks.
Now, you may think this is extreme, but sadly, this is a true anecdote of someone.
"But she was so smart!"
Exactly! She focused on her grades and ranks so much to the point that 1st meant she was 'smart'. She thought she was smart due to her talent with maths (she is).
When she went second, this triggered a fixed mindset. "I am not 1st, therefore I am bad at maths. I cannot change this, I was born with this. I am dumb. There is no point trying." (she isn't dumb)
Now! There are two issues here: First! That she has a fixed mindset.
If she had a growth mindset, she will review what questions she did wrong, in order to improve, as she would know that our brains are capable of change and retaining learnt information.
Second!(not exactly to do with the two mindsets, but is important!) She is relying on external measures as a gauge for her success. Her grade did not change. Her intelligence didn't drop. Her score was consistent. But Someone else beat her. Her gauge for success was "1st".
If her gauge was say, to improve her grasp of calculus, and she has indeed learnt and understood it more, then she has succeeded, regardless of rank.

Similarly, we artists are good at comparing ourselves with others: an unreliable external measure. Your success is should be measured up against your old art, not other's art ;)

Beware! The false growth mindset! Believes you can only be one mindset for everything, simply rewarding effort, simply being positive. There's more to the growth mindset than that, as seen above.

So how to encourage a growth mindset?

• Try to identify your triggers, and what mindsets you have for different subjects.
• Separate yourself from your artwork.

Okay, sorry about all that, I write too much boring stuff XD Onwards to the stuff you've all been waiting for!

Note I am aiming at a semi-realistic artist audience here, but this can apply to other styles too!

1. Hand to eye co-ordination + control -> when mastered, can precisely render any image/photograph E.g. hyper realistic artists
2. Understanding form (light and shadow)* -> when mastered, shapes look believably 3-dimensional (relies on 1)
3. Anatomy -> When mastered, can draw living organisms with accurate proportions and parts (relies on 1 and 2... you get the idea)
4. Composition/flow -> Once mastered, can convey scenes realistically but frames it with emotion and life

*Colour is related to light and shadow. I suggest James Gurney's 'Color and Light (a guide for the realist painter)'
Form is also related to perspective

How to improve on the above 4:
1. Hand to eye co-ordination + control
Practice is the main component here.
If using more complex materials, certain techniques may have to be learnt.
Suggested activities:

• Draw simple shapes: Straight lines. Squares. Circles. Squares with no border, made of diagonal lines (harder than you think) and a square with opposite lines. This will improve your coordination
• Draw a crumpled piece of paper. Each shadow will be out of place if another one is, so you must be very precise with the details
• Shade in boxes (around 12) from lightest to darkest using a single pencil, so there is a gradient of boxes. The first time you may make the boxes nearly the same tone, but that's ok. You will improve your pressure control with practice.

2. Understanding form (light, shadow, colour, perspective)
Try to 'see in 3D' rather than seeing subjects as a silhouette or outline.
This is rather complex, so I'll come back here later to edit with more info.
Suggested activities:

• Draw from life
• Draw line art, and shade the same line art in two or more different ways(digitally copying and pasting, or photocopying and printing will be helpful to save time). Different light direction, different light intensity, different light colour, different shadow colour, different object material, different object transparency... the possibilities are endless! (use references too to get a better grasp, and/or use the "How to draw any animal/object" technique below) Observe the effects and how to improve.

3.Anatomy
Bone, muscle and skin are particularly important! Understanding body parts will let an artist better represent it. How would I know how to draw X if I don't know what exactly X is?
Suggested activities:

• Use references of animals muscle and bone structure(this is the only time I recommend using other artists' images) and read scientific journals if attempting to accurately represent certain animals in an updated manner (e.g. dinosaurs)
• Use clear references of the animal that are high quality, note what muscles/bones are 'visible'
• Refer to "How to draw any animal/object" below

4. Composition/flow
Must be learnt and practiced. Mostly learnt.
I recommend to read books or websites to understand this. Composition goes way beyond the rule of thirds. Observation is also key when examining other artworks and photographs - what do you concentrate on? What is your eye's path?
Remember to build anatomy on top of a line(s) of action to assist in posing/dynamics/muscle stretching.
This is borrowed from a tutorial I read, but I can't find it and I have bad memory so... have a second hand version of it!

1. Draw your subject from memory. You will use it to see your progress later.
2. Collect reference photos of your subject - from different angles is strongly recommended so you understand your subject's form better.
3. Trace the pictures (if posting, credit the photographer). This is so you can see the details and remember them. Take note of all features of your subject(mentally, or actually write it down). What are the proportions? Shape as a whole? All the small details? Anatomy?
4. Draw your subject again, using the references. Don't trace.
5. Now, without your references, draw your subject from memory.
6. Compare it with the one you did in step 1. How'd you go? ;)
7. Repeat!

Criticize everything. (You don't have to be verbal about it haha), but rather than thinking "I like this artwork", think "Why do I like this artwork?" and "What makes it good?". Not only that, but "What makes it bad?" "How could this artwork be even better?"

If you know the answer, you can now apply it to your own artwork.
If you don't, try to find the answer. Ask the artist themself, ask other artists, google it... be curious!

Criticize artworks to find out what makes an artwork bad, and what makes an artwork good, so you can apply it to your own artwork.

Be criticized too. It can be hard to see our own flaws. This is the reason that writers have editors to help them out!
Ask fellow artists what they think could be improved in your artwork and HOW. You want CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, not insults or useless judgements. Let's compare them.

Insult: Meant to degrade the artist as the person themself is too unconfident, insecure and petty to make themselves feel better than others, and hence, must push others down to feel superiority. Is completely useless. Ignore, as they are also most likely a troll - replying to a troll gives them satisfaction.
E.g. "Your artwork sucks!" "That looks like a dog... is that meant to be a horse????" "That kinda looks like she's jumping, not flying. Just saying..."

Constructive criticism: States what is good, what is bad, why and how to improve on those bad points. What I aim for in my Harsh Critique thread.

Save several copies of everything (digital) I lost a year's worth of work once. Let's not do this! Also back up artworks online, and/or on several devices!

"Artists don't make money." "Forget your dream." "Be a X instead. You'll have a better life." "Give it up." "You shouldn't do it." Sound familiar?
That is not true~ It's just like any other business/job - it will be hard.
Tip! If you know how to market yourself you're good!

Unfollow people you are jealous of!This is my friend's problem XD
Someone inspires you? Awesome! Follow them to get more inspiration!
Someone makes you feel jealous? Awesome! Follow them anyway...no! Don't do that! There should be a good reason for you to browse social media - make sure you aren't wasting time or giving yourself bad feelings.

Don't avoid drawing anything.
The common method is hiding the hands behind the back of every human character, or avoiding certain species altogether. Is linked to "I can only draw X" and "That's because its my style". You can never improve on anything if you aren't drawing it - do not be afraid of failure and have confidence! If you never draw hands just because you're 'bad' at it, you'll never be able to change that skill level, so don't be afraid and draw what you want - no avoiding!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYqZjCsAJeg

• Marco Bucci
• The Art of Aaron Blaise
• Proko
• moderndayjames
• Bobby Chiu

[center][size=4]Common Mistakes[/size][/center] Quotations from my thread. Mistakes I see a lot, so I though it'd be helpful to share my suggestions on them: [quote name="SuperNinjaDragon" date="2016-08-17 04:55:26" ] @/Gem4567 I'm just gonna judge the second one, since it's better than your fist one - I can see the improvement! [img]//i.imgur.com/72qVs5A.jpg[/img] I think the hair shouldn't be individual pencil strokes - try to draw clumps with lines as detail in them. For example, this artwork (not mine of course, I just quickly googled 'hair'): [img]http://img03.deviantart.net/e7f6/i/2015/112/7/6/drawing_hair_by_taylorswiftt13-d5wr2dc.jpg[/img] You can see the [b]hair can be somewhat grouped in a 'clumps'[/b], and individual pencil strokes are drawn within them to create detail. Try to think of hair like that. In fact, sometimes detail isn't needed in the clumps as seen in this random anime style art: [img]http://www.planwallpaper.com/static/images/which-anime-character-are-you-quiz.jpg[/img] Try to also make hair more floofy - as in the to examples above where the [b]hair doesn't lie flat against their head.[/b] Just draw the hair a millimetre so more above where her head is. [/quote] To add to this hair one, I think 'ribbons' would be a better word than 'clumps'. Unless your hair is extremely thin/bald/oily it should be thick and not look skin-tight. [quote][img]http://img04.deviantart.net/3a2b/i/2012/337/0/a/the_do__s_and_don__t__s_of_shading_by_wickyw-d5mxo64.png[/img] [img]http://orig13.deviantart.net/f18b/f/2012/353/7/7/coloured_shading_tutorial___how_to_pick_a_palette_by_madeleinestern-d5oi5lp.jpg[/img][/quote] I use these this pics everywhere, haha. Colour theory will help, but if you don't know it too well, a general rule is that shadows are cooler. Do hue shifts (e.g. purple mid tones, blue shadows, pink lighting) basically :D [quote name="razu" date="2017-04-18 10:10:46" ] [sub][color=4d4b4f][b]light, shading & color[/b] when you're (cross)hatching mind the direction of the light, but also the surface area of the object (i'd advise against using a hatch perpendicular to the flow of the hair since it doesn't add to the flow, nor the volume of it) avoid shading with a pure darker tone of the base color (or black), instead go for some variation in hue/saturation when looking at the hair and the fluffy part of the dress (god behold i actually have no idea what that thing is called) there doesn't seem to be a clear light source for both of them [img]http://i.imgur.com/bqROjMv.png[/img] the hair implies it's coming from the top right, whereas the fluff has light coming from many different angles (bottom left and right, middle right and left) also be careful when adding highlights to hair, shading them like you would shade a simple plane will make them look flat, instead try and think of them as many different strings: only some of them catch light (even when they are relatively exposed to the light source) while others will be darker [img]http://i.imgur.com/e95wjlf.png[/img] it's pretty messy but i hope you know what i'm getting at! ((last thing: i believe it's just a cropping mistake, but having the litte tip of the hair cropped out feels very weird and gives some sort of incomplete feeling (?) )) [b]notes on first picture:[/b] i'm not sure if you were going for a profile view (you can see his belly and there's no strong perspective on the face) or a back view (both ears and antlers are visible), but i'll critique this one from a profile perspective since that's the more common one - there isn't much hue variation -> don't be afraid to go for more color (or colored light/shadows), especially in crystal/facet - towards the bottom part some of the lines get very shaky and pretty thick ( remember that line weight is usually used the create flow and support the lighting of the overall piece: i.e lines that are exposed to light are thinner and parts that lie in the shaow are thicker) - the shape of the antlers is not quite clear when seeing everything from a profile view [img]http://i.imgur.com/qePCFuZ.png[/img] (( > you either have to commit to a back or profile view otherwise things will look very skewed and bent )) [b]anatomy[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/MQFt9r0.png[/img] i'll probably not say that much about anatomy, mostly the eye placement was throwing me off a little (i actually struggled with the same thing not too long ago;;) try to draw from some 3/4 views from reference or try dividing the face into different planes i think that'll help a lot c: [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/1951130/34#post_26290328]i already talked about dividing the face into planes a little in this post if you'd like more information on that![/url] (#general tips on face layout) other things that i've noticed are: - parts of the arm and the hand itself are very small/thin - muscles at the neck are angled wrong, i haven't really found a good reference for the position of her neck, regardless i think [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c3/2a/19/c32a194012f37e72fd3d43666fb5ed57.jpg]this [/url] or [url=http://www.jouefct.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Neck-Muscles-Anatomy-and-neck-chewing-and-swallowing-speech-facial-expressions-and-movement-of-the-eyes.jpg]this [/url] could help you out a little (: yeah hopefully this was helpful to you, let me know if you have any questions and keep on drawing <3 [/quote] That top one is actually courtesy to razu, who wrote all of that awesome critique! I think perspective and anatomy (A missing part of the back of the human head, and an overly short animal lower jaw is common) are common areas that need improvement. [center][size=4]The 'Four Fundamentals'[/size][/center] To summarise all that I have written above, I have updated with an alliterative combo of four: [LIST=1] [*][b]Practice[/b] This seems obvious, but you must practice [i]consiously [/i]with [i]purpose[/i]. [*][b]Learning[/b] I see many complain about lack of funds to go to art schools, but! Look at this thread, look at YouTube(I recommend some [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2537655/1#post_35565481]here[/url], under 'Resources', look at the thousands of resources available to you if you simply type a question onto your browser... Look at your library - so many books! You can even google a picture of a dog instead of buying one, so you can draw it and learn how to draw dogs ;) [*][b]Critique[/b] To summarise, critique yourself and others, an be critiqued. Most importantly, learn from it! [*][b]Confidence + Growth[/b] Growth mindset![/LIST] [u]Extra: an investigation on how extremely young talented artists form![/u] What I noticed about these young 'talented' artists, is that they have realised their passions at a very young age. I myself have always loved art, and as a child - like everybody else - had always loved drawing. It is only recently that I have decided that this art thing was something I wanted to be serious about. So, although I have started art at the very moment I knew how to hold a pencil, you can say that I realised my passion at age X. That is, I set my goal at X not at when I began drawing. To become the perfect-enviable-artist (or anything else for that matter) you must realise "I want to draw very well" or even "I want to become a professional artist" at a very young age. 'Very young age?' you may ask. Well! I think many of us have envied the art of people of our age group or worse! Younger than us! But! As I have discussed earlier in my posts (or maybe I didn't, I have bad memory) age really doesn't matter when it comes to art. The only problems that come with age is health (e.g. many older people suffer from shaky hands) but otherwise, there is no reason you can't draw at an older age. It is not harder, despite common belief! Older age, more knowledge, and hence a better understanding of the world around us and how to draw it! It is hard not to envy the art of those younger than us, but remember, age doesn't dictate superiority or skills, so don't be to hard on yourself. However, this leads to my next point. I said "you must realise "I want to draw very well" or even "I want to become a professional artist"..." You must set a goal in order to achieve it, and so, by realising what they wanted to do at a young age, these artists have unconsciously paved a path of their success. I did some research: It was found that people who wrote down their goals were more effective than those who didn't. Interesting! Try to make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable(art definitely is!), Realistic and Timely! So! [b]Write down SMART goals, [i]now[/i].[/b] [center]And that's all I got for now! :D Hope it helps you guys somehow![/center]

Bump! More people need to see this amazing resource!

This is very wholesome and I support it 100%. Practical tips for art improvement!

((also psst the guy's name is Michelangelo, not Michael Angelo))

@a3person
Thanks :) I was hoping it'd be helpful somehow!

@Licorictus
Thanks for spotting the typo for me! I edited it now :D