T H E U L T I M A T E G U I D E T O A R T I N G B E T T E R T H A N Y O U N O R M A L L Y D O .
BY HALEY LAMONT
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GET THE TOOLS YOU NEED
Doing art requires the proper tools to actually be able to draw something. Whether you need a piece of paper and a paper, or a mouse and a computer, or a canvas and a paintbrush, make sure you know what technique you’re gonna use and what you’re gonna need.
DON’T PROCRASTINATE
I know that procrastination is very, very tempting. I know that you want to see what kind of tricks you can do with your pencil, or that you want to see how many times you can write your name before your hand starts cramping up. I get it. But don’t give in! Drawing and painting takes all your time and effort and ESPECIALLY your complete attention.
FIGHT THROUGH ART BLOCK
If you’re thinking to yourself “how could you possibly go through an art block?” then you’re obviously not an artist. I have been through the struggle of art block MANY times. I sit down, have a good idea in my head, then try to draw it out and it fails miserably and then I wonder what to do next. To help you, you should look at other things that people have made to help you get ideas and to hopefully inspire you to draw at least something.
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
Let me tell you something about myself. I am one for tutorials. I use and watch tutorials ALL the time. They’re extremely useful, so if you ever find yourself stuck or having troubles drawing a certain thing, look at other people’s works, or look at tutorials. It isn’t a sin, don’t worry. I do it all the time, and I am a saint.
FIND YOUR PASSION
“But isn’t doing art already a passion?” Yes, but I mean what you’re passionate about drawing or painting. What kind of things do YOU like to draw and/or paint? What are you good at drawing/painting? Is it humans? Cats? Ponies? Animals? Anime? Whatever it is, you should stick to it until you tire yourself out of it so much that it’ll make you want to branch out to something else and be passionate about that instead. Just go for what you feel most comfortable with doing!
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
“Now you’re just contradicting yourself!” I know, I know. I get it, but I don’t mean challenge yourself like you would when you decide to learn the world’s smallest violin, I mean challenge yourself as to challenging yourself to draw and paint different things than what you’re comfortable with. I know I just said that you should draw what you’re comfortable with drawing, but you can only get so far with that, and there is a limit before you bore yourself of it completely. It doesn’t hurt to try to do something you’re not used to, but just don’t push it way too far.
ASK FOR FEEDBACK
There is one that is an artist’s best friend - critiques! Some people don’t like critiques, which I don’t understand, but do at the same time. Usually, people really enjoy getting critiques because they’re super helpful, like me. I think critiques are super important and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Taking critiques can really help you in the long run. They’re there to help you improve on what you’ve done, and you can always ask from trustworthy sources.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE
This is the most important tip I will be giving to you. PRACTICE. Practice makes perfect! Okay, maybe it doesn’t make perfect, but in this case it will if you keep on practicing. How do you think I grew to be able to tell you all these tips? I’ve been drawing for six years. Skill doesn’t just come to you like your dog would. The most important thing is to use guides to help you be able to start somewhere and you can go from there. Once you start drawing enough, you’ll become a natural at it.
BE GENEROUS
This might just be a personal thing for me, but you should be generous. Giving people gifts that you drew is the best kind of gift you can ever give to someone. They will always appreciate it and love it, especially if you do it well and put effort into it and try. It’s a simple thing, but it gives you and them hours of happiness, and you’ll just feel like a good person.
KEEP IT TOGETHER
Finally, you need to be able to keep yourself together. I know it can be hard if you’re trying to draw an arm, or an animal hoof, or an artist’s worst enemy - hands, but you can do it! Take breaks or do some meditation if you have to. Drawing and/or painting can be difficult, time consuming, annoying, or sickening if you’re that kind of person. It can be infuriating to draw something and it coming out a lot like a phallic part of the body rather than what you’re trying to go for. Just control your emotions, and most importantly, don’t give up! Make yourself want to finish your drawing so that you don’t waste resources and also your time as well. You can do it, and if you keep repeating that to yourself over and over again so that it becomes robotic and montone, you should be able to pull yourself through your despair and actually being happy with the final result and also with relief.