Hi,
Ever since joining this site I saw something being tossed around a lot. A simple phrase that can be summed up as …
“You need a good drawing program to be a good artist”
The tl;dr version of this PSA is that the above phrase is a lie. 당신 need practice and time in order to be a good artist. Also this 기사 will be image heavy.
Let’s start 의해 defining what exactly an art program is.
An art program is a digital artist’s tool. Each program has its up’s and downs. If 당신 learn how to use your tools correctly 당신 can excel. It doesn’t matter if the program is a piece of crap, 또는 one of the best in the business. Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing with their tools will fail, even if they know how to use the tools. While someone who knows what they’re doing with their tools will succeed, especially if they know how to use their tools. It simply does not matter the quality of the tools. Okay, well that’s a lie. Your end result will obviously be effected 의해 your tool choice, but not in the way you’re thinking. For example, if 당신 do something in MS paint it will have that pixely feel to it. However, 당신 can still make good art in MS paint, for a variety of reasons.
1.Use the pixely feel to your advantage. (pixel art anyone?)
2. Any art program can show good use of anatomy, color and perspective.
That last one is key. An art program does not do the art for you. 당신 still need to know the basics.
If you don’t know color theory, it will show- even if 당신 use photoshop
If you don’t know anatomy it will show- even if 당신 use paint tool sai
If you do know color theory, it will show- even if 당신 use MS Paint
If you do know anatomy, it will show- even if 당신 use GIMP
Okay, so now that 당신 know that the art program 당신 use is almost irrelevant; how do 당신 improve?
1.Listen to critique. This is one of the hardest things to do in my opinion. Not only do 당신 have to deal with people telling 당신 what is wrong with your art, 당신 also need to figure out what to listen to and what to not listen to. People are going to be assholes and just shit talk your art without anything constructive to say, and others just have no clue what they’re talking about. (give bad advice) A good way to tell if they’re doing it out of malice is to see if they add 당신 an alternative to what they point out 당신 did wrong, 또는 at least explain why it’s wrong. It’s going to suck, and 당신 probably won’t like the art work as much as 당신 originally did, but if 당신 listen to the good stuff and filter out the bad you’ll be good to go! Also, a person’s art skill does not determine if they know what they’re talking about 또는 not! ( If anyone wants to get a critique on a picture send me a message wherever and I’ll be happy to help! )
2. Read and listen to Tutorials. There are many tutorials on deviantart (and other sites), they range from how to color, anatomy tutorials, how to animate, make video games…but I’m just going to focus on anatomy and coloring! I recommend 읽기 them and listening to them. (some not all tutorials! I wish I could give 당신 guys a link to the tutorials I use but I can’t at this second) 당신 can find tutorials that show 당신 how to use the tools correctly in any program, how to use 색깔 correctly (I strongly recommend purplekecleon’s color tutorial!) 당신 don’t have to follow these tutorials to a tee, put your own spin on them!
3. Experiment I’m not going to drop any names but there is a sonic artist on deviantart that I loathe. I loathe her because she is one of rudest, stuck up people I have ever met. Oh, she has an ego too. She thinks her art is good but the reality says otherwise. Why do I bring this up? Well. Her art has not improved in 3 years. In fact it looks exactly the same! Same shading, same (horrid) anatomy. She doesn’t experiment. Experimentation is important because it allows 당신 to try new things. (duh?) 당신 will do stupid shit with the experiments, it will look bad and that’s okay. It is okay to roll out art that 당신 don’t like as an experiment, because if 당신 experiment, it’s a 더 많이 “hands on” way to improve. To put it layman's terms, you can’t improve if 당신 keep doing the same thing! So go out of your comfort zone! If you’re always doing art with line art try going lineless! Maybe lineless with 1 layering the entire picture? Maybe try a new way to cel shade! 또는 maybe doing the entire picture in gray scale then using layer modes to give it color! There are many things that 당신 can do!
4. Patience 당신 won’t see improvements immediately , it’s a slow process. Just keep doing steps 1-3 and 당신 will slowly notice improvements in your art. 당신 will only see drastic improvements when 당신 look at your really old stuff! Trust me, it’s a treat! (by treat I mean really embarrassing!) Just keep at it, I know 당신 can do it.
Okay, well where’s the proof?
Proof, okay. Got it. I’ll show 당신 some of my old art and some of my newer art. All of these pictures where made in Paint Tool SAI with maybe a little bit of photoshop. In otherwords, the quality of the art is very different dispite being made in the same program! This also shows that nobody is born a good artist, 당신 have to work for it! The picture closest to the 상단, 맨 위로 is the oldest, while the picture of Espona at the bottom is the newest. The last two pictures are NOT mine, they are there because the artists who made them used MS.Paint and Gimp. In the image captain there is credit.
The 2nd to last image is 의해 nancher.deviantart.com and the last image is 의해 Light-Waves-Warriors.deviantart.com
Ever since joining this site I saw something being tossed around a lot. A simple phrase that can be summed up as …
“You need a good drawing program to be a good artist”
The tl;dr version of this PSA is that the above phrase is a lie. 당신 need practice and time in order to be a good artist. Also this 기사 will be image heavy.
Let’s start 의해 defining what exactly an art program is.
An art program is a digital artist’s tool. Each program has its up’s and downs. If 당신 learn how to use your tools correctly 당신 can excel. It doesn’t matter if the program is a piece of crap, 또는 one of the best in the business. Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing with their tools will fail, even if they know how to use the tools. While someone who knows what they’re doing with their tools will succeed, especially if they know how to use their tools. It simply does not matter the quality of the tools. Okay, well that’s a lie. Your end result will obviously be effected 의해 your tool choice, but not in the way you’re thinking. For example, if 당신 do something in MS paint it will have that pixely feel to it. However, 당신 can still make good art in MS paint, for a variety of reasons.
1.Use the pixely feel to your advantage. (pixel art anyone?)
2. Any art program can show good use of anatomy, color and perspective.
That last one is key. An art program does not do the art for you. 당신 still need to know the basics.
If you don’t know color theory, it will show- even if 당신 use photoshop
If you don’t know anatomy it will show- even if 당신 use paint tool sai
If you do know color theory, it will show- even if 당신 use MS Paint
If you do know anatomy, it will show- even if 당신 use GIMP
Okay, so now that 당신 know that the art program 당신 use is almost irrelevant; how do 당신 improve?
1.Listen to critique. This is one of the hardest things to do in my opinion. Not only do 당신 have to deal with people telling 당신 what is wrong with your art, 당신 also need to figure out what to listen to and what to not listen to. People are going to be assholes and just shit talk your art without anything constructive to say, and others just have no clue what they’re talking about. (give bad advice) A good way to tell if they’re doing it out of malice is to see if they add 당신 an alternative to what they point out 당신 did wrong, 또는 at least explain why it’s wrong. It’s going to suck, and 당신 probably won’t like the art work as much as 당신 originally did, but if 당신 listen to the good stuff and filter out the bad you’ll be good to go! Also, a person’s art skill does not determine if they know what they’re talking about 또는 not! ( If anyone wants to get a critique on a picture send me a message wherever and I’ll be happy to help! )
2. Read and listen to Tutorials. There are many tutorials on deviantart (and other sites), they range from how to color, anatomy tutorials, how to animate, make video games…but I’m just going to focus on anatomy and coloring! I recommend 읽기 them and listening to them. (some not all tutorials! I wish I could give 당신 guys a link to the tutorials I use but I can’t at this second) 당신 can find tutorials that show 당신 how to use the tools correctly in any program, how to use 색깔 correctly (I strongly recommend purplekecleon’s color tutorial!) 당신 don’t have to follow these tutorials to a tee, put your own spin on them!
3. Experiment I’m not going to drop any names but there is a sonic artist on deviantart that I loathe. I loathe her because she is one of rudest, stuck up people I have ever met. Oh, she has an ego too. She thinks her art is good but the reality says otherwise. Why do I bring this up? Well. Her art has not improved in 3 years. In fact it looks exactly the same! Same shading, same (horrid) anatomy. She doesn’t experiment. Experimentation is important because it allows 당신 to try new things. (duh?) 당신 will do stupid shit with the experiments, it will look bad and that’s okay. It is okay to roll out art that 당신 don’t like as an experiment, because if 당신 experiment, it’s a 더 많이 “hands on” way to improve. To put it layman's terms, you can’t improve if 당신 keep doing the same thing! So go out of your comfort zone! If you’re always doing art with line art try going lineless! Maybe lineless with 1 layering the entire picture? Maybe try a new way to cel shade! 또는 maybe doing the entire picture in gray scale then using layer modes to give it color! There are many things that 당신 can do!
4. Patience 당신 won’t see improvements immediately , it’s a slow process. Just keep doing steps 1-3 and 당신 will slowly notice improvements in your art. 당신 will only see drastic improvements when 당신 look at your really old stuff! Trust me, it’s a treat! (by treat I mean really embarrassing!) Just keep at it, I know 당신 can do it.
Okay, well where’s the proof?
Proof, okay. Got it. I’ll show 당신 some of my old art and some of my newer art. All of these pictures where made in Paint Tool SAI with maybe a little bit of photoshop. In otherwords, the quality of the art is very different dispite being made in the same program! This also shows that nobody is born a good artist, 당신 have to work for it! The picture closest to the 상단, 맨 위로 is the oldest, while the picture of Espona at the bottom is the newest. The last two pictures are NOT mine, they are there because the artists who made them used MS.Paint and Gimp. In the image captain there is credit.
The 2nd to last image is 의해 nancher.deviantart.com and the last image is 의해 Light-Waves-Warriors.deviantart.com