#I kind wanna redraw this now that I'm better at digital drawing

[shadowman-arts]

I still like this comic I drew. I should draw more Brooklyn 99 comics.

[vetyr]

hi, i ireally love your work and i don't know if you've answered this before but, what kinds of studies do you do or how did you learn color theory? i wanna get better at rendering and anatomy but im having trouble TT TT

Hi! Long answer alert. Once a chatterbox, always a chatterbox.

When I started actively learning how to draw about 10 1/2 years ago, I exclusively did graphite studies in sketchbooks. Here's a few examples—I mostly stuck to doing line drawings to drill basic shapes/contours and proportions into my brain. The more rendered sketches helped me practice edge control & basic values, and they were REALLY good for learning the actual 3D structure behind what I was drawing.

I'd use reference images that I grabbed from fitness forums, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and some NSFW places, but you could find adequate ref material from figure drawing sites like Line of Action. LoA has refs for people (you can filter by clothed/unclothed, age, & gender), animals, expressions, hands/feet, and a few other useful things as well. Love them.

Learning how to render digitally was a similar story; it helped a lot that I had a pretty strong foundation for value/anatomy going in. I basically didn't touch color at all for ~2 years (except for a few attempts at bad digital or acrylic paint studies), which may not have been the best idea. I learned color from a lot of trial and error, honestly, and I'm pretty sure this process involved a lot of imitation—there were a number of digital/traditional painters whose styles I really wanted to emulate (notably their edge control, color choices, value distributions, and shape design), so I kiiind of did a mixture of that + my own experimentation.

For example, I really found Benjamin Björklund's style appealing, especially his softened/lost edges & vibrant pops of saturated color, so here's a study I did from some photograph that I'm *pretty* sure was painted with him in mind.

Learning how to detail was definitely a slow process, and like all the aforementioned things (anatomy/color/edge control/values/etc.) I'm still figuring it out. Focusing on edge control first (that is, deciding on where to place hard/soft edges for emphasizing/de-emphasizing certain areas of the image) is super useful, because you can honestly fool a viewer into thinking there's more detail in a piece than there actually is if you're very economical about where you place your hard edges.

The most important part, to me, is probably just doing this stuff over and over again. You're likely not going to see improvement in a few weeks or even a few months, so don't fret about not getting the exact results you want and just keep studying + making art. I like to think about learning art as a process where you *need* to fail and make crappy art/studies—there's literally no way around it—so you might as well fail right now. See, by making bad art you're actually moving forward—isn't that a fun prospect!!

It's useful to have a folder with art you admire, especially if you can dissect the pieces and understand why you like them so much. You can study those aspects (like, you can redraw or repaint that person's work) and break down whether this is art that you just like to look at, or if it's the kind of art that you want to *make.* There's a LOT of art out there that I love looking at, probably tens of thousands of styles/mediums, but there's a very narrow range that I want to make myself.

I've mentioned it in some ask reply in the past, but I really do think looking at other artist's work is such a cheat code for improving your own skills—the other artist does the work to filter reality/ideas for you, and this sort of allows you to contact the subject matter more directly. I can think of so many examples where an artist I admired exaggerated, like, the way sunlight rested on a face and created that orange fringe around its edge, or the greys/dull blues in a wheat field, or the bright indigo in a cast shadow, or the red along the outside of a person's eye, and it just clicked for me that this was a very available & observable aspect of reality, which had up until that point gone completely unnoticed! If you're really perceptive about the art you look at, it's shocking how much it can teach you about how to see the world (in this particular case I mean this literally, in that the art I looked at fully changed the way I visually processed the world, but of course it has had a strong effect on my worldviews/relationships/beliefs).

Thanks so much for sending in a question (& for reading, if you got this far)! I read every single ask I receive, including the kind words & compliments, which I genuinely always appreciate. Best of luck with learning, my friend :)

[cocokoalatea]

I'm gonna be That Guy and say, for that artist question meme thing; how 'bout answerin' ALL of 'em? 👀 give us them juicy deets bud

I can’t draw all of them because I’m super tired and lazy and I need to finish homework (And draw a certain anime boy)

Here’s 1-5

And the rest of the answers under the cut!

😪: What’s something you collect? - Legend of Zelda things and Hello Kitty!😻: Do you prefer traditional or digital art? Traditional!🎀: Who makes you want to draw and improve? Osamu Tezuka!🍺: What’s the biggest mistake you make that impacts your art/drawing process? My bad habit of drawing before thinking…🍙: Ever thought about becoming professional? Yes! I’m working hard to become a storyboard artist or a concept artist!👾: Do you livestream your art? If so, what is your favorite and least favorite thing about it? No! I use to, but it was really difficult to put on and keep up!💣: What site do you think you’re most active on? Tumblr but I try on Twitter!♬: What do you like to listen to/have on in the background when you draw? Usually an anime, my friend playing video games or some sort of music. Recently, Jack Stauber.💀: Show something you drew a long time ago that at the time you were proud of. I’d have to search for it…So not right now! But I’ll do a redraw sometime!🎁: Do you prefer CD’s or digital downloads? CDs!🌟: What is your most prized possession? Right now? My plush Dimple! In general…My stuffed doggy Maxwell and Bearbear.☕: Coffee or Tea? Tea! Coffee is icky.⚠: Have you ever taken an art class? Only in my first four years of college.✂: What’s you astrology sign, zodiac, and MBTI? Aquarius! I’m a Monkey! INTP!🎬: What is your favorite kind of clothing? Comfortable and lazy heheh🍔: Do you have OCs? If so, which is your favorite? A TON!!! And Kramples is my favorite. :3c💾: What do you love to draw? My ocs! And pictures for friends.☂: What do you hate to/can’t draw? FEET. I wanna get better at shoes though at least…☁: Guilty pleasure? Video games…hhhh…playing them all day….🎮: Do you prefer video games or TV shows/movies? Video games!🐙: What do you suggest to beginner artists in terms of work ethic? Always keep going! Never give up! We are all still learning how to draw and how to get better so you can’t get down on yourself - make sure you are always trying…Please don’t give up!🐳: What do you look for in a friend? Someone who can make me laugh and smile. Someone who doesn’t think I’m annoying or a burden on them…I know I’m a bit needy and annoying…But someone who loves me for me is always nice.🍀: How do you become motivated to draw? Listen to some music or just daydream.💦: Soft shading or cell shading? I like flat aesthetic. Ahahahahahahaha.