#im enjoying learning how to use procreate with these tiny drawings im making

[roguefiction]

To die unremarked and unnoticed… and be free.

my knight alicent agenda continues

[patcaps]

how to art? just in general, your art is really captivating and baby artists (im baby artists) are probably really intrigued so... tips and tricks?

oh gosh, i’ve been doing digital art for 10+ years and art in general my whole life, but most of my professional career (6+ years) is digital so i’ll give advice based on that!

under the cut:

- use reference. references are your friend. need a pose? reference. need lighting? reference. need clothing stuff? reference. you can’t learn how to draw things without looking at those things over and over, i’m a professional and i still can’t always visualise without aids! you can also practise by tracing references and then trying to repeat what you just drew without tracing to build muscle memory (but don’t just trace and be done with it, that doesn’t help you learn at all and it’s almost always very obvious)

- practise gesture drawing (more about vague shapes and movement) as well as anatomy and strict structure of pieces. combining both makes your art proportional and look “right” (if that’s what you’re going for) whilst also letting it be looser and more organic. and along with that, don’t get stuck in a rut of drawing the same basic poses (head, shoulders, facing one direction etc). don’t be afraid to look up more dynamic stuff and practise it

- when colouring, use a mid yellow-greyish background. it helps see the true colour of things as you go and balance everything out rather than trying to colour onto a bright stark white canvas or a too dark/black canvas. you can change it to what you want later.

- please don’t use a black airbrush to shade stuff. it almost never looks good. try using a complimentary colour on a multiply/shade layer instead, and remember softer/harder shadow lines depend on your style but also the lighting of the piece

- experiment with styles. look at art you really like and pick out what specific things you love, practise emulating those techniques and making them your own. art influences art, it always has, just don’t directly copy someone else’s work and claim as your own!

- tools matter - to an extent. i started off with a tiny non-display tablet, but it had pen pressure and that’s all i really needed as a beginner. the more i taught myself the more i improved and i upgraded tablets as i went. i moved to a slightly bigger non-display wacom, then a bigger non-display huion, and finally last year i got my first display huion (kamvas pro 13). if you have access to an ipad and procreate, that’s pretty versatile too (but i’ve never used it so i can’t give advice on that)!

- don’t be afraid of programs. i’m extremely proficient in photoshop and paint tool sai for digital art, but i taught myself both. there’s a learning curve if they’re new, but both are super versatile and extremely fun! i tend to use sai for more painting as i like the blending brushes better, but all other work was done in ps cs5 extended until i switched to cc 2018 recently and i LOVE the huge range of brushes. don’t give up on them - dedicate time to learning them and you’ll get there!

- always use at least 300dpi on your files, it’s much better quality (and in professional work or for anything that is being printed, it must be this big!)

- have fun! art can be stressful sometimes especially with how competitive a field it can be, but try not to let pressure of posting or perfection bog you down. just have fun and enjoy it.