# “Keep Practicing”



## Heppi (Oct 18, 2019)

Wherever I go or look for information or tutorials, these two words are present everywhere. It's frustrating for me to see those words again and again, it actually kept me away from drawing more when I started. Those two words do not answer the actual question. Or does it?

Whenever those words pop up, I'm always asking the same question to myself: “But what *exactly *do I have to practice?”

For me it looks like there is no real guidance for learning how to draw. I just started and figured everything out on my own, just drawing what I like. I tried out a book, but it didn't help me at all, to be honest. I had to draw a circle and other simple objects like rectangles, which would result in a Furry character. But the problem is: I only learned from it how to draw this one specific pose. It felt more like tracing off, I didn't learn how to draw something *new*. In ended up not using those simple objects at all. Never. Just doing what feels right to me.
I figured, art is more about logical thinking. I look at things I like and try to understand the logic behind it. And then I just change it the way I like it. It's about the rules in my opinion. Even a new created fantasy world has its own rules. Or it should have, to be enjoyable and believable.

Anyway! What does “keep practicing” mean to you? I'm looking forward to hear your opinions.


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## Tenné (Oct 18, 2019)

“Keep practicing” is something that applies to anything remotely creative, not just art. As you say, it’s impossible to draw new things simply by following a tutorial. This makes sense: if a resource tells you what to accomplish and how to do it, then the product will never be original.

What “keep practicing” means is do whatever. As long as you’re working and experimenting, you’ll get better. And because you’re doing this on your own (with minor help from friends, perhaps), you’ll learn to create new things.


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## puddinsticks (Oct 18, 2019)

For me, I keep practicing what feels right. 

I feel like a lot of character based illustration skill is based off of how well you can 'feel' the anatomy you're creating.
"Draw this more in perspective, give it some meat."   'How?'   "... I don't know.. Just... Make the arm an arm... Somehow."
I've never been able to teach anyone "how" to draw anything. I think a lot of it comes from muscle memory and repetition. 

Like I can teach my husband how to draw a hand one way, but then he has no idea how to draw that same hand doing something else.
Do it again, and again, and again. From every angle, every position. Twist, squash, and stretch.

Then you get the random savant who can draw the entirety of The Louvre's murals while blindfolded right out of the womb, I can't explain their existence.


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## MissNook (Oct 18, 2019)

The "keep practicing" is the basics. It doesn't mean there are no specific things to practice but that things will not improve without practice.

It's funny because I have the opposite experience than yours 

When I began to draw I was just drawing anything that came into my mind without worrying much. Then I began to want to draw specific things and improve and I didn't come across the "Keep practicing" at that time. I found people who were launching tutorials about a lot of different things and it really didn't help me XD I mean I tried to follow some of those tutorials but I wasn't even understanding most of them. It made me disappointed. I thought I was missing something while not knowing what. 
And well, now I know that what was missing was the "Keep practicing" part  Because when I was following the tutorials I only do what it was telling me to do. And in the end, I did learn some technical part but I didn't learn why or how it was this way. 
While practicing I found that I began to understand some things even subconsciously. The tutorials began to make sense not as a "follow the steps" thing but more because I would understand why the artist was choosing to show it this way and could find a way to appropriate them to use some of it with my own knowledge and make something out of it. 

Now I try to look at different artists and their way of doing things and advice because it allows me to grasp new concepts like composition, shading, painting. If I like one, I can try to push more into it and practice with it. I still look at tutorials about technical things too. It allows me to try to improve whenever I want to, while still putting most of my efforts into just practicing. I still mostly just draw anything that came into my mind sometimes without any specific goal, sometimes with the wish to improve or test things ^^

So well the "keep practicing" is still a basics but it comes with other questions like "what to practice", "how to practice" and so on.


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## foussiremix (Oct 18, 2019)

Hmmm honestly practicing art is different for everyone, some practice by just focusing on certain parts they want to improve and some practice by simply just drawing and adding new things.
I am the type that simply draws and just practices by doing new stuff.

Just try to find your own way .


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## PercyD (Oct 18, 2019)

Practice means sititng down and trying to sketch a reference as quickly as possible.
I set a timer for 10 seconds and see how much I can do. Then I progress to 30 seconds, and check how quickly I can do something. Then I progress to 1 minute, 5 minutes...

It helps me turn off my insecurity and just draw what I see. It's an excellent way to build your skills.


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## LameFox (Oct 19, 2019)

Generally speaking you learn the simple shapes so that when you want to draw things differently to what you saw in the examples, *you* simplify them into shapes. And then, even if you don't have an exact reference for what you're drawing, you can figure it out because you know how to draw and shade the shapes you construct it of.

Most skills in art develop similarly. People can show you how to do things with examples but they can't give you an example of everything you could potentially draw. They can't tell you 'exactly' what to practice because it's up to you. After that you've got to take that approach they showed you and apply it in other ways on your own in order to actually figure it out and commit it to memory, and so pretty much any tutorial needs you to 'keep practising'.


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## oappo (Oct 19, 2019)

Heppi said:


> For me it looks like there is no real guidance for learning how to draw.


This is a huge reason why I struggle to maintain drawing as a hobby. You can basically draw any way you like and it's valid. You can pretty much start anywhere and it's ok. There are wrong ways to draw, but they're still "not wrong" in the same way as a programming or  physics problem would be. You get no feedback from making a drawing once it's done, the best you can rely on is your own limited observational skills (unless you are very fortunate to have a seasoned artist willing to look over everything you make )



foussiremix said:


> Hmmm honestly practicing art is different for everyone, some practice by just focusing on certain parts they want to improve and some practice by simply just drawing and adding new things.
> I am the type that simply draws and just practices by doing new stuff.


In my time drawing, I've found this is a critical part of "just practice." Learning is subjective. What works for one person will no work for everyone.  You gotta experiment with the various methods of learning art. Look at tutorials, just draw what you're looking at over and over, study other artists, watch livestreams,ect. Not every piece of advice or tutorial will make sense, be engaging or otherwise work for you and that's ok. You get to pick and choose what to do.

That said, I definitely do think knowing how to learn is an important skill. Drawing something 100 times doesn't matter if you're just doing it on auto pilot without any thought.


MissNook said:


> So well the "keep practicing" is still a basics but it comes with other questions like "what to practice", "how to practice" and so on.


Questions like these are what you need to ask yourself. But it sounds like you're already thinking in this mindset.



Heppi said:


> Anyway! What does “keep practicing” mean to you? I'm looking forward to hear your opinions.


Raw practice will see an improvement subconsciously, incidentally and mechanically if nothing else. I think that's what people mean when they say it. Though an aware and critical mind will improve faster.

Personally, I start with drawing real life, as everything has _some _sort of basis in it. That's mostly to improve. I also just draw what I want to have more fun.


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## BunBunArt (Oct 19, 2019)

Just draw anything you want. Anything you have in mind. You can use references to learn new stuff (make sure to credit original owner if you post them). But yes, basically the way to learn is to practice every day, or at least as much as you can/want.
How do you practice swimming? By swimming. How do you practice cooking? By cooking...
And so on...


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## LameFox (Oct 19, 2019)

oappo said:


> This is a huge reason why I struggle to maintain drawing as a hobby. You can basically draw any way you like and it's valid. You can pretty much start anywhere and it's ok. There are wrong ways to draw, but they're still "not wrong" in the same way as a programming or  physics problem would be. You get no feedback from making a drawing once it's done, the best you can rely on is your own limited observational skills (unless you are very fortunate to have a seasoned artist willing to look over everything you make )



I suspect that's probably a big part of why if you're being taught art (in a functional way, not 'fine art') the focus tends to be on realism. There *is* feedback then, because no matter how horrifying your skills might be, you can still compare to reality and think 'this is off somehow'. And even if you don't know exactly how it went wrong, which is often the case at first, studying reality gives you a basis to figure it out. Then later, when you do stylize things, it's a conscious choice how far and in what way you deviate from reality, not something you're constricted by on account of only having learned that way.

I mean, that's not to say you can't also stylize stuff right off the start line, but if you find yourself getting stuck because you're just drawing 'any way you like', it's probably a good idea to go back to realism for something concrete to measure against.


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## Heppi (Oct 19, 2019)

Wow, so many replies! Thank you, everyone.  These were the answers I needed.

@puddinsticks 
Drawing things over and over again is a really good advice. It's repetitve to learn specific elements, right? But in the end it will be rewarding. I guess it's important to know what exactly I want to draw, I need to know what I love and then working towards this goal.

@MissNook 
Oh yes! When I tried to follow an advice or turorial, it didn't work for me. This person had his own techniques that worked for him, but it didn't help me. I guess I found my own way of doing things, like everyone else. Only a few bits from a tutorial, mere mentions, were helpful to me. At those moments I think: "That's it! This is that one little thing I needed!"
The beginning is the hardest part for every artist, I think. If you don't give up and learn more things, everything starts to make more and more sense after some time. You can make connections from your own experience. Everyone learns on his own, but the experiences and struggles are connecting every artist.

@PercyD 
To draw faster is one of my next goals. It took me...a few days for a character when I started. Now it's a few hours, but I'm afraid it's still too slow. I'm a big a fan of clean art. I use the eraser only for the first step: the sketch. I think I need to learn the basics more properly, it's not easy for me to draw straight lines or circles digitally. And yes, I use the "stabilizer", which is a big help!

@LameFox 
Thanks! For example: the wolf's snout is like cylinder attached to a ball (the head), right? I will try this out next time! I can imagine this makes it easier, because those shapes are in 3D and you just have to attach them. Hm.



oappo said:


> Learning is subjective. What works for one person will no work for everyone.


Good point.
I draw for the fun too~ I don't think I will ever do this as a way to earn money. Maybe I would even start to hate it then. :'3 You have to reeeaaally love it to draw almost every day and for hours. But as a hobby? It's great!

By the way, I found a video some time ago, which was very helpful to me and a big motivation. It's not about art specificially, you can apply this to everything you want to learn. Here you go:


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## Renneon (Oct 19, 2019)

it's true that it's very abstract put that way, but it really is the best advice because to me, any drawing you create is practice !
To me what gives the best results is trying everything and anything when it comes to Drawings, mediums, little challenges to give yourself… You end up with Drawings you Don't like but it's what will tell you what you like, what you Don't, what you want to improve on and by trying different things you end up picking stuff left and right that you like and want to do again another way or in another drawing !

what helps the best is drawing from observation : going outside and drawing things you like, landscapes, buildings, people, etc !
keep a little sketchbook where you try different mediums, subjects, or little challenges like "draw this with one stroke, in 5 minutes, with your left hand, with two colors only, etc !"
but drawing things from your mind, or with a reference is cool too of course !
Art school really taught me that even if Something seems stupid at first it can really give you new skills and ideas!

Tutorials and how-to-draw books are super useful, but a thing i really dislike about them is that they tend to give you limits ("draw this that way, in this color !") all these tutorials are a good starting point if you want to draw a certain thing a certain way, but what makes them cool is that you can spice up and add or change anything you want !

anyway. i go in all directions when i talk about Learning how to draw but it's important to me ♥ Keep on drawing anything you like or want to, go wild with experimentations and remember that any drawing, even if you Don't like the end result, is good practice ! (hence the vague…."keep practicing!" )


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## PercyD (Oct 19, 2019)

Heppi said:


> @PercyD
> To draw faster is one of my next goals. It took me...a few days for a character when I started. Now it's a few hours, but I'm afraid it's still too slow. I'm a big a fan of clean art. I use the eraser only for the first step: the sketch. I think I need to learn the basics more properly, it's not easy for me to draw straight lines or circles digitally. And yes, I use the "stabilizer", which is a big help!


Actually, I would suggest weaning yourself off the eraser! Going back and 'correcting' takes a lot of time. It's better to draw the rough sketch with guide lines and then use another layer to put cleaner lines it out on top. Repeat this process as many times as you need, but avoid using the eraser at all costs. 
The only time you should use your eraser is if you are using it to carve out a shape in a medium, like a chisel. Never use it to correct mistakes. 


If you want to draw faster as well, use a reference image. You can do things much faster when you also don't have to create the image. 
I suggest using photos because other people's artwork can limit your own artistic expression. Other people's art is what they choose to render and you'll be limited by their approaches. Use photographs whenever possible!


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## oappo (Oct 21, 2019)

Heppi said:


> I don't think I will ever do this as a way to earn money. Maybe I would even start to hate it then. :'3 You have to reeeaaally love it to draw almost every day and for hours


Yeah, that's pretty much my mindset. It'd kill my passion for it. I don't think I could do any hobby on a 9-5, 5 days a week type schedule. Not to mention a huge appeal of art for me is making my own ideas come to life. I just can't get too excited about other's ideas, especially if they're specific.

I can see myself doing the occasional commission or even working on my own personal projects  but don't think I could ever do commissions full time. If I ever get the opportunity, I wouldn't mind doing some sort of short-term industry work, but that's much more for the experience of working in a professional setting and such


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## Heppi (Oct 21, 2019)

@Renneon 
Very deep thoughts, thank you! I also agree with you on the observation part. It's important to know how lifeforms act and interact with the world. The own imagination is often "wrong" or it lacks all the small details. When I started to draw, my view of this world did change. Older people look different to me know, e.g. I notice all the small things, like the longer ears and such, haha. The interaction part is especially important, a woman, for example, who holds a purse, walks and stands in a different way.
Having a sketchbook or doing challenges are nice ideas! I will try it!

@PercyD 
That was very helpful again, thanks a bunch! I already feel a change not using the eraser. I notice it helps me learn things better and, of course, it's faster. I honestly like the results even more now!


PercyD said:


> I suggest using photos because other people's artwork can limit your own artistic expression. Other people's art is what they choose to render and you'll be limited by their approaches. Use photographs whenever possible!


Will do. 

@oappo 
I completely agree with everything you said. Doing a commission is a nice experience now and then, I can imagine. New experiences are always fun and exciting~


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## PercyD (Oct 21, 2019)

Heppi said:


> @Renneon
> Very deep thoughts, thank you! I also agree with you on the observation part. It's important to know how lifeforms act and interact with the world. The own imagination is often "wrong" or it lacks all the small details. When I started to draw, my view of this world did change. Older people look different to me know, e.g. I notice all the small things, like the longer ears and such, haha. The interaction part is especially important, a woman, for example, who holds a purse, walks and stands in a different way.
> Having a sketchbook or doing challenges are nice ideas! I will try it!
> 
> ...


Excellent! c:

I'm part of a discord server where we practice art things and creative things~... If found this helpful, we'd be happy to have you join us.


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## MissNook (Oct 21, 2019)

Heppi said:


> Everyone learns on his own, but the experiences and struggles are connecting every artist.


I wouldn't have said better 



Heppi said:


> I draw for the fun too~ I don't think I will ever do this as a way to earn money. Maybe I would even start to hate it then. :'3 You have to reeeaaally love it to draw almost every day and for hours. But as a hobby? It's great!





oappo said:


> Yeah, that's pretty much my mindset. It'd kill my passion for it. I don't think I could do any hobby on a 9-5, 5 days a week type schedule. Not to mention a huge appeal of art for me is making my own ideas come to life. I just can't get too excited about other's ideas, especially if they're specific.


I think a lot like both of you, but I also think that they are more ways than commissions to earn money from your art. If you ever want to create stories, to create even books and you can gather enough people around you, you could crowdfund some of your projets. If it can be "just" to be able to share printed versions of your work (so you may not be able to earn money for the time taken to make it real).
 But I think it's a good thing to keep in mind that commissions aren't the only way.
I joined some creative projets that results into printed versions, and it really is something to be able to hold the final result in your hand ^^


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## Heppi (Oct 21, 2019)

PercyD said:


> I'm part of a discord server where we practice art things and creative things~... If found this helpful, we'd be happy to have you join us.


That would be nice! I appreciate it.



MissNook said:


> I think a lot like both of you, but I also think that they are more ways than commissions to earn money from your art. If you ever want to create stories, to create even books and you can gather enough people around you, you could crowdfund some of your projets. If it can be "just" to be able to share printed versions of your work (so you may not be able to earn money for the time taken to make it real).
> But I think it's a good thing to keep in mind that commissions aren't the only way.
> I joined some creative projets that results into printed versions, and it really is something to be able to hold the final result in your hand ^^


You are right, commissions are not the only way. I started as a writer and commissioned other artists for art. And eventually I started to learn to draw myself. The reason for this is, art alone is not enough for me. I like video games and few visual novels, that's what influenced me the most. A book wouldn't be enough for me either, I don't like to read, unless it's a teaching book. The things I like cannot be realized by a single person, big and awesome things require a lot of (wo)manpower and ressources. VN's were the best solution for me, I figured. I enjoy art, music and thrilling stories. Creating music and programming are not my strengths, though. The good thing is: music licenses can be bought and programming is not necessary that much, unless you want implement gameplay. The masses seem to prefer fanservice, romancing options and sex scenes. And I just want to do it differently, without all those elements. And not your typical anime style, just...different.  I don't know if there are even like-minded people. Of course, it wouldn't be a mainstream product for the masses, it probably wouldn't sell well. And because of this, earning money shouldn't be the main goal. I just want to see something really awesome, a cultural contribution if you like. And I want do it together, in a team. That's my dream at least. 

But as for now, I will "keep practicing" my drawing ability. Only need 23 exp for my next level up~!


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## Cosmonaughty (Oct 21, 2019)

When it came to practice, I suppose looking at character concepts for warner brothers, disney and anime characters and trying to deconstruct them into the baser shapes and then add personal flair to them was what I did. Then again, as has been said by many, its how you specifically feel comfortable composing images is what should be practiced!

Always disliked art class in school for making us practically copy an art style to proove artistic skills! Just didnt seem like we were learning anything, but all the cartoony doodles I adorned my english books with definitely improved my understanding XD!


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## Heppi (Oct 24, 2019)

Cosmonaughty said:


> Always disliked art class in school for making us practically copy an art style to proove artistic skills! Just didnt seem like we were learning anything, but all the cartoony doodles I adorned my english books with definitely improved my understanding XD!


Art class never made me excited about it, ironically. The teacher came to me and DREW OVER MY painting!! "But you have to do it like this and this!" Ugh! Imagine a person who just wants to draw a butt (not me ^-^") and then a clown comes out of nowhere and draws pants on it. Super annoying, I swear.
But...teaching this yourself, learning from your favorite things, that's far better. At least you do it with enjoyment and improve naturally~


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## Cosmonaughty (Oct 24, 2019)

Heppi said:


> Art class never made me excited about it, ironically. The teacher came to me and DREW OVER MY painting!! "But you have to do it like this and this!" Ugh! Imagine a person who just wants to draw a butt (not me ^-^") and then a clown comes out of nowhere and draws pants on it. Super annoying, I swear.
> But...teaching this yourself, learning from your favorite things, that's far better. At least you do it with enjoyment and improve naturally~



Damn, my art teacher never did that! What an ass hat! 

But yeah, learnt way more watching cartoons and emulating than painting fruit with 20 people who really didnt care! XD I guess it cant be an easy subject to teach, but its definately a good lesson to slack off in! XD


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## Kopatropa (Oct 25, 2019)

PercyD said:


> Practice means sititng down and trying to sketch a reference as quickly as possible.
> I set a timer for 10 seconds and see how much I can do. Then I progress to 30 seconds, and check how quickly I can do something. Then I progress to 1 minute, 5 minutes...
> 
> It helps me turn off my insecurity and just draw what I see. It's an excellent way to build your skills.


Everyone says "Draw what you see". What does that even mean?


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## LameFox (Oct 25, 2019)

Kopatropa said:


> Everyone says "Draw what you see". What does that even mean?


Just what it says on the tin. They're reminding you to pay attention to the values and colours you see in front of you rather than letting your mind fill in the gaps with its very simplified, iconic idea of the thing you're drawing.

A common example is how kids tend to draw trees. There's a vertical brown bit, and a fluffy green bit on top. Like a tree emoticon. You know exactly what it is yet it looks like no tree ever, because they're drawing _the idea_ of a tree. Leaves are green, trunks are brown, the sky is blue, clouds are white, etc. It's our first instinct when we start drawing, so learning to draw what you see instead of what your mind tells you is kind of an early hurdle in making things look less ridiculous.


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## PercyD (Oct 26, 2019)

Kopatropa said:


> Everyone says "Draw what you see". What does that even mean?


Yeno thats actually a good question-
I will say that everyone "sees" things differently. Thats why I always prefer to use photo references instead of drawn references to render things. 

One approach is to dissect everything into shapes and build up from there. The post that you quoted, when you do the drawing exercises, you should focus on capturing all the shapes of the figure first. It also depends on what your focus is. If you are just doing hand gestures, then the focus on capturing all the shapes of the hand. ( I break down my hands into 10 to 12 shapes just on it's own). 

Conversely, if you are working on anatomy and poses, you should focus on rendering all the shapes of the body.


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## GlitterFog (Nov 1, 2019)

If you're more of a logical / technical person and feel frustrated with a lack of a specific curriculum, drawabox sounds like a place for you. Just read through everything very very carefully. 
In general, I strongly believe there's good tutorials and bad tutorials. Bad ones are the ones that tell you how to do something in their style but teach you nothing about why those things are there in the first place. 
But there's tons of amazing educators giving away priceless knowledge for free: Proko, Sinix Design, Marco Bucci (love love love this guy), Istebrak, Volen CK has come out with a curriculum recently, Tyler Edlin, Bobby Chiu, Brookes Eggleston and so many more. Those are very competent professional artists who are able to dissect art into problems that can be tackled separately.
Just making fully finished pieces over and over again will get you somewhere at some point, but there's ways to get there much faster - and that is by studies that target a specific aspect, like drawing believable 3d forms, or brushwork, or dynamic gesture, or composition. When you go hard at those, and then incorporate them in your usual work, the difference is amazing. 
Also not getting super emotionally attached to your  current skill level helps a ton. Just getting into the mode of thinking "ok I'm a beginner now, but I'm getting better, these studies I'm doing and critiques I'm getting are just there to help me learn, they don't define me as an artist forever" is a very freeing attitude to have. 

I am definitely a person to get frustrated with a lack of a concrete curriculum, but I've figured that most of these emotions come from me wanting to get everything handed on a silver plate, effort free. But that's not gonna happen and the world doesn't owe me amazing art skills, so my ultimate aim is to get my butt to work with zero expectations and just learn to appreciate the process. Because it is kinda fascinating when you're not constantly frustrated.
Like, it still blows my mind that us humans can do THAT with our brains. It's crazy.


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## oappo (Nov 1, 2019)

PlagueMaiden said:


> work with zero expectations and just learn to appreciate the process.


This is a great mindset to have. One day I realised drawing is like working out; you can't expect to make noticeable gains in the first day, week or maybe even the first month. Appreciate how it makes you feel in the present, let that be the reason you do it, and trust in whatever plans you have to improve.


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## Inkstars (Nov 4, 2019)

I too, hate the term "keep practicing" and yet every time we draw and color, that's what we're doing. I look over tutorials and guides as help, but I don't use them to learn directly from. I test something out to see if it works, see if I like it and it's easy to maintain. If not, I move on. But mostly I use a tutorial as a very basic guide to improve something about my art.

For example, I like watching art timelapses, because I see the process, and see how artists handle certain challenges (it's also helped me work better and loosen up), and while I might copy a pose they did just to understand it through muscle memory, I basically use that image or challenge as a stepping stone to try my own challenges, like adding movement, or using a pose I don't use normally. Like I might incorporate sitting poses or a hand-stand which I don't typically (though I should). 

It may be though, that because I don't just "keep practicing" and relegate it all to when I sit down to draw something I want to share, maybe that's why it takes me ages to improve. Maybe that's why I'm not yet where I want to be.


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## Heppi (Nov 5, 2019)

@Inkstars 
I actually don't hate the term anymore. After receiving all the answers in this thread, I changed my mind. I began to understand the meaning behind it and that I was actually doing it the right way all the time. 

You are right, every process we go through will teach us something new. It happens naturally, especially if you are enjoying what you do.
I tried to learn directly from a tutorial once, but my results were horrible! But using small bits from a tutorial, like you do, is another story. In my opinion art is different for every and each individual in this world. There is, of course, no true guide. No true way of doing art. True art comes from our hearts. You can discover your own tastes only yourself. No one can teach you the things *you* love. I personally don't consider real humans attractive (not meaning it in a hateful way!). So I never learned anatomy and just draw forms and lines that I personally feel attracted to. Just figuring everything out on my own. Experimenting. And then drawing what I consider as perfect. Even critique is pointless for me, because of this. Doing it proefessionally is a whole other story, I have no real experience with this. I guess you need to learn many, many things, so that you are able to please others. Doing this would make me sad, because it would mean I can't draw honest art anymore. But everyone feels different of course and that's a good thing. Someone else may like the challenge that comes with it. Or just making others happy.


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## Deleted member 132067 (Nov 5, 2019)

I personally think it's less a problem of keeping up with practice, that is incredibly important, it's more a question of "well, but what exactly do I practice, and how?"
What I found to be hugely helpful and an overall very positive experience is the Drawabox.com | Part One: The Basics | Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes | Understanding Drawing "draw a box challenge" from this site. It gives very detailed instructions and tips on how you should approach various lessons, including this one. Many of the lessons seem very basic and boring at first but they provide needed insight and new ideas for everyone who is willing to invest some time and effort. Maybe it and all it's others lessons help you as well


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## Anthrasmagoria (Nov 6, 2019)

Heppi said:


> Wherever I go or look for information or tutorials, these two words are present everywhere. It's frustrating for me to see those words again and again, it actually kept me away from drawing more when I started. Those two words do not answer the actual question. Or does it?
> 
> Whenever those words pop up, I'm always asking the same question to myself: “But what *exactly *do I have to practice?”
> 
> ...



Keep practicing is only half the story. You can't keep drawing the same stuff over and over to progress in terms of skill. You have to push yourself further than that if you want to improve.

If you want to be better then you have to have an attitude of getting out of your comfort zone and improving every time over the last. You learn to draw by taking an image or a real object and studying it in detail. How its 3D dimensions are represented in 2D, how color works on it, how light and shade works on it. If you want to learn advanced drawing techniques take an advanced artist's work and study it in painstaking detail. No matter how good your teaching resources are, if you don't do this for yourself you can't actually understand how an image is constructed.

P.S. it took me a long time to figure out that's what I had to do. Self teaching books could tell me all about anatomy and perspective but until I went out and studied objects in person I was still "lost" on how to even begin constructing images.


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## Furrycatboi2282 (Nov 9, 2019)

When someone tells me keep practicing I take it as a nice way saying you suck but better than yesterday’s suck-y-ness


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## cheribun (Nov 15, 2019)

Learn the basics of whatever you want to focus on, go out with a sketchbook to observe and draw from life as well as follow tutorials, use references, try to fix any bad habits that are holding you back like hiding the hands or something, and don't be afraid to experiment and make mistakes. Even tracing is a valid way to practice imo, as long as you're not stealing other people's work for any reward. I still loosely trace poses from stuff like stock photos, then move stuff around a little and go over it in my style, and since I've been doing that, my anatomy and posing have gotten better and better without it.
I know "keep practicing" gets cheesy and frustrating. I've been there, but a lot of it really is just muscle memory. It's hard to say exactly what to do since we all learn differently.


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## Tendo64 (Nov 15, 2019)

The reason why you keep seeing "keep practicing" is because that's all you can really do. There is no "apply to see instant results!" method for art. You have to keep drawing as often as you can; use references when you need help with a specific pose, but at the end of the day, the only way you will get better is if you practice and be patient. Nobody can be an amazing artist overnight, you will just have to accept that it will take years for you to be able to make high quality art.


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## Keefur (Nov 15, 2019)

I really don't do much art drawing, at least not until recently.  I will relate my experience learning Photoshop.  I remember, when I first got it, I could barely open a blank page.  I was soooo frustrated for a long time.  I only learned what was absolutely necessary for my work, which was cutting, pasting, and some layout skills.  I do lots of convention booklets, funeral programs, and paperback books.  I remember someone came to me and asked me to change the color of a person's shirt on a book cover from white to pink.  I couldn't do it and was embarrassed to say so.  So I learned.  I went online and started looking up tutorials.  I couldn't do anything at first.  I would mimic the tutorials and try to understand.  Sometimes it would take up to ten tries to get it right without having to stop the tutorial and/or start all over.  I learned some fantastic stuff.  Then I relized that I could start "combining" things and a vista opened up.  I guess you could say I "leveled up".  Then I went on to start trying more and more advanced techniques.  After a while, I would "level up" again.  Now, after about 15 years, I know some really amazing Photoshop stuff.  I have even taught some classes on it, and am helping some of my fellow craftsmen in printing with other companies learn some skill sets that will help them in their work.  For fun, I do the parody poster stuff for Fangcon and other conventions.  The drawing I have started doing recently has stemmed from the Photoshop skills I have acquired.  As stated above, use references when you can, learn the principles of light and shading, even if you don't use them now as they will reside in your brain until needed if you don't start using them right away.  Even the Masters used "crutches" to assist their skills, so don't think you have to freehand perfect pieces of art.  Go find those tutorials and work with them over and over.  If you don't like one, move to another.  You will find that they accumulate in your subconscious and pop out at opportune times.


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