General Discussion

I wish I could draw better, I try drawing alot but I'm just not good at it :')

art pinglist
@March
@Naufragate

@Knoxxi
Practice is the best way.
Though, for a looooong time I had this idea that using reference pictures was "cheating", for some reason. Though my bff who's an animation user was showing me how to look up stock photos and use those as references for proportions and poses. I found that to be pretty helpful.

@Eliatrope
yeah that's why I don't like to draw everyone says that using a reference doesn't count and that makes me sad because without references I basically make ms paint meme art

@Knoxxi

Using references isn’t cheating, I. CAN. NOT. STRESS. THIS. ENOUGH. It’s not like you’re literally tracing or re-coloring another person’s art. People saying that using a reference doesn’t count is pretty stupid. And as Elia said it really does help with proportions and stuff.

references is ABSOLUTELY not cheating! if it was, then there would be some serious ethics issues with the vast majority of art professors.

theres a difference between using references and stealing - stealing art will never let you improve but using references is how you understand enough of what you are drawing to be able to draw it correctly!!!

i wanted to make a little drawing the other day so i googled "running rat" or else id never know how to make the rat run right. because i was not born with this knowledge, nor did i happen to acquire it in my day to day life with the ability to put it on paper without looking at a rat in anything other than my mind's eye

i have to wonder what kind of people push the "no references ever" advice - do they like their own art? or do they feel artistically stagnated?

OH right and i have other advice too. you have to draw things you think are too hard.

if youre the "put the hands behind the back so i dont have to draw it" type - draw the hand!! doesnt matter if its a bad hand draw the hand! (i used to do that cheat, and i still struggle with like Real Anatomy Hands but since im not in this for Stunning Anatomy ive gotten simplified hands down relatively well) if you only draw cartoonish because youre avoiding learning fundamentals - learn those fundamentals! if you like the cartoony style you can go back to it later and youll realize you can do them better after youve learned more. going the easy way means never improving!

also, when you see the art you made and dont like it, look to find out exactly what youre doing wrong. i recently realized i worry too much about correct anatomy that it makes my people so rigid that i ruin the anatomy in trying not to! (especially ridiculous considering they were cartoonish and had big heads anyway so why am i trying to go for true to life proportions and big heads and eyes???) so i eased up, and i realized when i wasnt worrying so much about anatomy, my natural knowledge of it came out and it flowed much easier and despite the anatomy not being perfect and real, its SO MUCH BETTER than when i was trying because i was trying way too hard. Not to say i figured it out instantly though. Practice is vital! I drew 6 figures one after the other in expressive poses and wow there was SUCH an improvement from my first to my last as i got comfortable.
basically, ask yourself what seems wrong and find out how to improve or approach from a different angle.

if you practice a lot, you will improve! if you get out of practice, your skills will momentarily deteriorate until you get the hang of it again! its normal, dont worry about it, just keep working!

also, make sure that you are making art for the joy or creating. if you are making art to make good finished products, you will get discouraged and not want to keep doing your art which is a trap i see a lot of people fall into. dont expect your art to come out how you want it to in your head, just be proud of the creation you made (well, youre allowed to not like your work, but only dislike it for being not up to par with your other works, not because "it sucks" or anything. realistic self criticism is good, self deprecation makes problems)

@kuchipatchis
My art teacher likes my art. but lot's of other people say it doesn't count

just draw, tbh. i havent had any formal training or anything, and its not cheating to use references but i just never found it helpful for myself. if theres any artists you admire, maybe look at some of their work and see where the shapes and lines go, ignoring the heavy details n stuff like that. drawing the basic shapes in as a base is really helpful