#i wrote this at 12am and im strugglig to proof read

[choco-worms]

do you have any tips for amateur/aspiring artists? <3 i'm the same age as you but just coming back to learning how to draw after a many year break. i love your style and how you draw your ocs makes me excited to hopefully draw my own someday!

Hi!!!! Im glad youre coming back to art, it is super fun :))

Short Answer: Draw what you love and dont be hard on yourself! Getting ‘better’ at art all comes down to practice practice practice. And its not worth it if you dont enjoy it.

The fun you have will come through in your art, and others will see it too!!

Lonnnng academic answer under the cut:

warm ups!!!

I am bias to a fast and loose drawing style so i really recommend warmups.

I, not as often as i should, use the website line-of-action.com where you can set up short timed figure drawing sessions.

For these you shouldn’t be focusing on the tiny details, instead drawing really loose stick figures or simple figures to just loosen up your hand and break out of the habit of perfectionism.

Studies!!!

Look at art you love and figure out what you like about it! Try to copy it! Sit down and actually break down how people draw things in ways you like.

There is NO shame in finding inspirations in other artists styles or compositions. Humans have been doing so for centuries. Of course, don’t go tracing or stealing concepts and pacing them off as your own, but tracing in the privacy of your studies can be a helpful learning tool.

Also heres a post that i linked some nice videos for human anatomy drawing that i really like:

Experiment!!

I really recommend regularly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Hate drawing hands? Draw only hands! Hate making backgrounds? Make a background as detailed as you can! Always do digital art? Try water color!

In the same vein, i also really recommend using references when you can! Even if you’re drawing stylized, a reference can help you get a better idea of space or proportions. (If you have trouble finding non-ai reference images on google i recommend using the advanced search settings to pull results only from before 2021 💕)

Original Characters

Thinking of making your own little guys??? Thats AWESOME!!! i feel like nowadays in the culture there is a bit of a stigma around having fun with ocs (or im just paranoid <3).

I personally use ocs to explore different facets of myself; fears, desires, and dreams. They can be whatever you want, do whatever you want, for whatever reason you want. It’s a completely harmless way to have fun and explore your creativity! Don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise.

Summary

Sounds corny but, remember who you’re drawing for: You.

Sure, it brings me a lot of joy knowing other people like my art too, but i draw things the way I want to see them, because i love drawing. You gotta just follow the fun and the love and draw as much as you can!!! Hope some, if any, of this helps!