# how to improve?



## nybx4life (Aug 25, 2010)

I'm not that good of an artist, and I've always been trying to find ways to improve myself.

I've been wondering, is drawing other people's work here on FA a good way to start improving?
Or is there other ways to better improve?

If so, please tell me.


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## mystery_penguin (Aug 25, 2010)

No. Drawing other people's work is a VERY bad idea (by this I assume you mean "copying"). You don't develop your own art style and end up becoming worse.
The best way to improve is drawdrawdrawdrawdrawdrawdrawdrawdraw.


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## Jw (Aug 25, 2010)

There's no easy way out; you gotta practice and practice hard. Every drawing should feel like a puzzle your brain has to solve. Doing so will expand your skills faster and more consistently than anything else.

If someone has already solved the puzzle, then there is not a lot you can learn from it.


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## nybx4life (Aug 25, 2010)

Okay, but usually when I try to draw a person it looks really bad.

I mean, I'm really not that good drawing from nothing.


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## Zydala (Aug 25, 2010)

Don't draw from nothing - draw from life. Learn the essentials of form and value. pick up some good resources of the basics - "Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain" is a good starter.


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## nybx4life (Aug 25, 2010)

Draw from trees and tables and actual people. Okay.
I don't want to sound dumb, but it's not like I could just ask someone to stay still while I draw them. Is there some way to go around this?


And who is the author of the book you mentioned?


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 25, 2010)

Drawing to make yourself improve is hard. If you don't like doing it, well don't.
If you like the challenge then do.

But don't come here to complain at us how hard it is, we KNOW: some of us quit early and the rest of us kept trying.


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## quoting_mungo (Aug 26, 2010)

nybx4life said:


> Draw from trees and tables and actual people. Okay.
> I don't want to sound dumb, but it's not like I could just ask someone to stay still while I draw them. Is there some way to go around this?


Many ways.
1. Learn to draw quick sketches, and sketch people in some public place. I sometimes sketch my co-passengers if I'm on a long train ride or flight.
2. Ask anyway. Friends and family are often willing to oblige.
3. Draw statues. Good statues for this purpose are the ones that look like you took a person and turned him to bronze. The only thing that's going to bother you there is the coming and going of, like, birds. Go to a museum of natural history and sketch the taxidermy exhibits.
4. For practising faces, use a mirror. This will also help you learn to adjust to the fact that most models will shift slightly if you have long sittings.
4b. For hands and feet, you can also use yourself as a model. Hands can be really fun to draw from life!
5. Draw from photographs, preferably ones you snapped on your own.


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## Eske (Aug 26, 2010)

I've found that a lot of people assume that drawing is easy.  You draw a lot, and one day you're a fantabulous artist with the ability to draw absolutely anything straight from your imagination.

Sadly, the fact is that art is _hard_.  There's no easy way, as everyone has been saying.  It's a matter of hard work, and you have to really have a passion for art if you expect any kind of success as an artist.  There have already been some really great tips in this thread, so I think you have a pretty good idea of what you need to do to improve.  The most important thing is, don't copy other people's work.  Studying their work to mimic a technique is one thing, but copying other people's art for the sake of "improving" is nothing but a myth, and can actually do more harm than good. 

Another misconception is that you need to start early -- and this really isn't the case.  You can start when you're 40, and still turn out to be a great artist.  So don't feel panicky if you aren't good yet, there's still plenty of time to learn at your own pace.  

What really helps is to train your eye to break down complex figures (such as the human form) into simple shapes.  Once you understand how this can be done, drawing becomes much easier.  The most important thing is to avoid getting caught up in the _lines_, and remember that you are looking at a 3-dimensional object, with weight, mass, and form.

Good luck!


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## nybx4life (Aug 26, 2010)

Thank you for the help!
At least I have a mirror to work off of.


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## savageorange (Aug 26, 2010)

If I had to recommend one book about learning to draw, this would be it:
Harold Speed's "The Practice and Science of Drawing" (Public Domain -- link provides downloads)
(Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is good, though; I just think that PSD provides a more overall view, and I personally found it much more motivating.)

Also, I know people are very interesting, but surely there are other things to draw. Remember, serious drawing is basically about accurately perceiving how things look and depicting that, rather than depicting how you think they look. Paying serious attention to how things really look, whether that thing is a cube or a train or a candelabra or a person or something even more complex... is going to improve your drawing ability generally, not only with regard to the particular topic you drew.
I have a set of blank cards (playing-card size, matte), which I clip to a small clipboard, and I go for a walk and draw one thing I see, on each card. I draw anything that will stay still long enough for me to draw.
What point is this getting to?
Unless you're locked in your room 24/7, there is an infinite number of opportunities to draw stuff. All that's required for improvement is to actually use those opportunities.


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## D-Bit (Aug 26, 2010)

If you're starting out (and even professionals) don't draw from nothing. There are a lot of manga and
comic book artist that do draw from nothing, but they have been drawing for so long that they are in 
an entirely different league. They've drawn poses for so long it's memorized and embedded in their head.
(Some artist even draw poses exactly the same in books and it's noticeable. which isn't a good thing.)
Even the best have wooden figure dolls to help themselves out at times.

My personal idol in illustration, JC Leyendecker, always drew from models:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&q=JC%20Leyendecker&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1920&bih=903
(Images of his stuff, he was also Norman Rockwell's idol as well.)

I would draw from photos, and take a few artists you do like and see how they stylize their work. I don't
mean copy as much as.. look to see why a photo is different from the scene an artist you like does. 

I'm a graphic designer and it's how I make a living but I draw as a hobby. 

When I was in school in drawing class I was told over and over again that 'Drawing is seeing'. It's not
about the style or how you hold a pencil and all that, it's just seeing what makes a picture look good, and
seeing what is making it look bad. 

If you want to get better, then draw. Draw over and over again, don't rip up papers if things go wrong, just
finish each piece, even if it's covered in smudges and the paper is about to fall apart. Just work it until you
feel it's done. Look how the body is constructed, learn anatomy, but most importantly... draw over and over
and over and over and over, and after pieces are done, look at them, and compare them to other photos and
make mental notes of things you need to work on. Maybe you draw heads to big, you draw legs to short, arms
to thin...? There isn't some 'level up' you feel when you get better, you just do. One night you'll sit down and
draw something and impress yourself!! Some nights you might draw something and it looks like vomit. Haah 

That's the way art is. Want to get better, do it constantly!  The best artist in the word when it comes to
illustration and comics were the ones too stupid to realized their stuff sucked, so they didn't stop. Haha
(That's how I see it anyway.) Just stick with it and a few years from now, you'll be a lot better, and still
think you suck. haha Artist always hate their own stuff at first (and for their careers at times.)

Also, take a figure drawing class. It so so HELPS!! Even if it's not the style.. in the end anatomy is anatomy and you
need to know it well before you can start doing cool things with it.

P.S.- Also don't think every picture you do is supposed to be something good enough for everyone to see. It's
like learning the piano. If someone is learning, they play but it doesn't mean they are playing a final-cut masterpiece
of music, they're just playing to learn. Same with drawing. Draw to learn drawing, don't draw to have an awesome
piece of artwork. You feel that you suck right now, so just learn it! It will come if you're dedicated and practice enough.

Keep at it!


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## nybx4life (Aug 27, 2010)

I kinda feel like I'm in school taking notes over the things you guys say.
But, I guess if I left it here for someone else to read, here's my summary on how to improve:
-Draw constantly! Whether it is from the shapes and stuff in your head to trying a style similar to another artists. Draw it. (Doesn't mean to directly copy another artist, but to maybe try a pose that they use, or a distinct drawing style)
-Understand anatomy (taking a figure drawing class helps)
-Continue to practice, even though you feel like you're going nowhere.
-Read two books: "Drawing from the right side of the brain", and "the practice and science of drawing" by Harold Speed.
-Draw your works until completion. Do not give up beforehand.

I'm not sure if I missed an important point, but this is what I got from my two threads. Thank you all for your help. If anybody else has good advice on what to do, please post it up.


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## Arshes Nei (Aug 27, 2010)

Try to draw completely, but a sketchbook is a personal workbook it's meant to have unfinished studies and your personal notes.

Learn your foundations (this is needed BEFORE you learn anatomy) meaning you need to learn how to construct your basic shapes and learn to see the object in 3d and draw it as such, instead of a square, you need to learn to draw a cube, instead of a circle, you need to learn how to draw a sphere, etc..

You need to learn the importance of line , value etc.


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## D-Bit (Aug 27, 2010)

Arshes Nei said:


> Try to draw completely, but a sketchbook is a personal workbook it's meant to have unfinished studies and your personal notes.
> 
> Learn your foundations (this is needed BEFORE you learn anatomy) meaning you need to learn how to construct your basic shapes and learn to see the object in 3d and draw it as such, instead of a square, you need to learn to draw a cube, instead of a circle, you need to learn how to draw a sphere, etc..
> 
> You need to learn the importance of line , value etc.


 
Ditto here! I forgot, Arshes is right. It's super important to learn contrast, line value,
balance, negative space and all that. (Negative space is a big one given it helps
to you see what you're doing right and wrong. It's really easy to over-look the
basics and jump into drawing cool characters, but it really needed.

It seems like a lot, but it's easy to learn what it means and remember, the hard 
part is just to keep doing it! But if you have a passion for it, then you'll always
return to it. ^^


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## D-Bit (Aug 27, 2010)

nybx4life said:


> I kinda feel like I'm in school taking notes over the things you guys say.
> But, I guess if I left it here for someone else to read, here's my summary on how to improve:
> -Draw constantly! Whether it is from the shapes and stuff in your head to trying a style similar to another artists. Draw it. (Doesn't mean to directly copy another artist, but to maybe try a pose that they use, or a distinct drawing style)
> -Understand anatomy (taking a figure drawing class helps)
> ...


 

Sounds like an awesome list so far and you're on the right track!! =P

And like Arshes said, get a sketchbook to doodle and try out ideas, but when you sit 
down to do a 'piece of work' don't give up on it. I had a illustrator for a professor that 
worked for hallmark, and he said that he was taught in college and even told by illustrators he met 
at hallmark to never 'give up' on a piece and always take it to completion, even if you aren't going
to show it to anyone.

It wouldn't make a point of saying this, but I rarely ever hear it said, and I've experienced
how well it works. When you give up, you stop thinking on what makes a piece look bad to
you. Instead of thinking through it, correcting mistakes and learning, you just throw it 
away and all that could be learned by working through it.


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## Jw (Aug 27, 2010)

Another important aspect of sketchbooks: periodically take a day and go back over the drawings from the previous week. Saturday and Sunday are good options, but just pick a day when you can spend some good quality time with what you've drawn. 

Jot down what you notice about your drawing, what changes you see, what still looks odd, and what seems to work well for you. This is an easy way to focus your studies and improve in a slightly easier manner than with drawing alone. 

Here's an example with one of my journals. It's the picture and some of the things I jotted next to it.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4269769/
*Needs more value range in the skin, especially the face
*Work on gauzy materials and how you shade them
*Review ponytail light patterns
*high contrast is good for sketches
*kill lines on skirt's bottom edge.

Try that and see what you can identify in your own work.

Remember, your sketchbook is a leavin, breathing extension of you. It's never "finished" or "dead", so don't be afraid to go back to old drawings and draw a better version next to it. Just make sure you date your drawings for your own clarification. Fix the boo-boos you made in the past. Redraw the same thing and improve as you gain more skill. also, as a final thing, NEVER throw away your sketchbooks. Many of your early problems you'll fix and forget you had to do so. Others may stay hidden in plain site until you can compare old and new drawings. That's how I found I really needed to concentrate more on flow lines a couple years ago, and it's revolutionized how I draw now. One day, you can compare how far you've come as an artist, and that is when those early drawings become so valuable.


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## Tao (Aug 28, 2010)

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2161561

This tutorial was pretty helpful for me as far as drawing bodies goes! Hope it helps!


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## Angelus-Mortis (Aug 30, 2010)

The only thing you should ever copy is real life stuff. Anything else, and you'll never know if it's anatomically accurate or if the lighting makes sense.

And if you can't finish a piece because there are some mistakes in it that you just can't seem to fix, it may be a good idea to scrap it and start it all over again. You don't make the same mistakes twice; every image you draw is unique.


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