# How do you all draw so good?



## FurryFfion (Aug 8, 2017)

Hey! I was just wondering here you can all draw so good as when I try to make a fursona it just looks complete and utter crap, do you have any tips on drawing?


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## kidchameleon (Aug 8, 2017)

Don't shy away from reference. Look at photos of animals, people, etc, and draw from them until you understand what it is you're drawing, then start experimenting with different ways of combining those elements into new creations. Other than that, it's just a - rather cliche - matter of "practice, practice, practice". Studying anatomy/perspective, etc, whilst "boring" is also a major boon, and is basically a must if you wanna get better. Can't neglect those basics if you want to get better.


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## Jarren (Aug 8, 2017)

How do I? The answer: I don't. I pay/beg for other people to do it for me.


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## Pipistrele (Aug 8, 2017)

Dedication, self-awareness and good learning material. First for learning and doing stuff even if you don't want to, second for actually knowing your stuff instead of doing it by brute-force, and third for getting to know your stuff. Simple as that, though much harder in execution.


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## FurryFfion (Aug 8, 2017)

Jarren said:


> How do I? The answer: I don't. I pay/beg for other people to do it for me.


I'm not paying or begging for people to do it for me  If you're on about my profile picture, it's not mine. I just found it and it looked cool and I'm not claiming it as mine


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## Tigers-on-Unicycles (Aug 8, 2017)

I made 5000 drawings that looked like utter crap, at which point they started to look like not utter crap.


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## SoniatheSquishy (Aug 8, 2017)

I don't lol. Everybody starts being pretty meh, but you improve with time! As with any kind of skill.


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## nekhromancy (Aug 8, 2017)

15 years of solid practice, and spite.

Real talk though, some tips to help you improve:

*DON'T* compare yourself to other artists! _This includes tracing and referencing their work_. When you trace and reference other artwork, you're trying to "improve" not your foundation, but your style, and style is unique to every artist. It's up to you to grow into that part on your own.
*DON'T* draw the same thing a bunch. Branch out and diversify. Push the boundaries of what you can do with every new piece.
*DO* practice in different mediums! The more varied your experience, the wider range to pick from in your focus.
*DO* try different ways of drawing things and stylizing! I think I draw human noses differently in just about every art piece I make, honestly...
*DO* spitpaint! Take 20-30 minutes tops to loosely sketch out a concept, just for practice and warm ups.
*DO* trace stock photos, and draw from life! Practice what you see in front of you, and what you see in real life before you start to stylize. *IF YOUR FOUNDATIONS ARE WEAK, YOUR ART AND STYLE AS A WHOLE WILL SUFFER F O R E V E R.*
*DO *reward yourself! Hang up your best pieces! Pat yourself on the back for what you do well.
*DO* heavily critique yourself. 
     ^^^ I want to elaborate on this one especially. A lot of new artists (and non-artists) preach that "nothing is bad". Gonna say it flat out, if you're just starting, or if you only have a year or so of art experience, *your art is BAD.* But! This is a learning opportunity! If you recognize that your art is bad, you have more willingness to compare it to photographs and resources to point out EXACTLY what you need to do to improve. You can redraw weak art pieces a few times over (but try to redraw something no more than 3 times) to really push dynamics and anatomy, and you'll see your biggest and best improvement from that.
*DON'T COMPARE TO OTHER ARTISTS! THIS INCLUDES TRACING AND REFERENCING!* Again, this will *ONLY HURT YOU*. Practice your foundations and stylize from there before anything. Learn art, _don't learn other people's art_.
*DON'T GIVE UP.*


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## Tytysi (Aug 8, 2017)

For me, it was all about practice and references. References are great. Other than that, just... time. Recognize what you do and don't like about your style and do something about it.

I spent a lot of time looking at other furry artists to find what I liked which is why a lot of my gallery varies in style. However, trying other people's style allowed me to get a lot of practice with anatomy, and it stopped being about mimicking the aesthetic style that I like in other people's work, and I started focusing on smoothing out the bumps in my own style.

Other than that... "practice makes perfect" is all I can really tell you. There was a time when I thought I'd never improve, but it did eventually happen! Took years, but I'm finally happy with how I draw and my style. These days I'm more trying to master my shading and coloring techniques as opposed to finding a lineart style.

Practice eventually brought me from this


Spoiler












to this



Spoiler


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## YukiKoyuki (Aug 8, 2017)

nekhromancy said:


> 15 years of solid practice, and spite.
> 
> Real talk though, some tips to help you improve:
> 
> ...


oh my god this is phenomenal advice ESPECIALLY THE PART ABOUT FOUNDATIONS DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR FOUNDATIONS


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## FurryFfion (Aug 9, 2017)

Thanks everyone imma try to make a fursona again and hopefully it won't fail badly


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## snowyfursuitlover (Aug 12, 2017)

practice. like if you draw like one picture a day thats not gonna cut it i whip through a 60 page sketchbook 120 pages in a matter of weeks, i go home at 3 and i draw for three hours a day almost. Look at a million stock photos and draw exactly what you see. it wont be like what you see but if you keep doing it and drawing from vision not from memory it really helps/


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## CL4M0 (Aug 13, 2017)

Practice, practice, practice!! I also feel like I improve more when I look at my art and FIRST examine what I like about it!
"Wow I did a really good job with the face!"
"Ah, but the hair lines are very messy compared to the rest of the piece!"
Sort of self-compliment sandwich? Otherwise I get bogged down with how negative I feel about my art. Also, while Nekhromancy's advice is *superb* I do have my own tips that differ a little bit from his!

It's ok to reference other people's styles! Don't COPY anyone, of course, but if you like So-And-So's method of linework, I think it's ok to practice their style a little. Don't trace, and don't use any referenced pieces for profit/gain (usually if I do this, I don't even post the piece anymore as it is just for personal practice.)
There are SOME things you want to draw over and over if you're doing a STUDY. If I wanna start drawing rabbits, lemme tell you, I ain't never drawn a rabbit before. I'd have to reference life photos and draw that darn rabbit a hundred times. Different angles, different poses, the skeleton. I think he meant not to ONLY draw one kind of thing, but I think it's not just OK to draw something a lot, it really does help you improve.
It's ok to draw something your comfortable with! You should try to branch out a lot, but sometimes drawing something more than once can help you improve! I don't have any good examples of this besides a couple doodles!



Spoiler: First try













Spoiler: Second try











Oh, and ALWAYS ALWAYS PRACTICE! Draw every day!!


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## wolflynxrae (Aug 13, 2017)

I mostly use shapes to draw. That, and I use a lazy tool to draw good lines with. Otherwise my art style is the sketchy kind.


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## WolfNightV4X1 (Aug 13, 2017)

Black magic and sacrifices of paper cuts, tears, sweat, and premature wrinkling of the eyes to the art gods


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## ChapterAquila92 (Aug 13, 2017)

WolfNightV4X1 said:


> Black magic and sacrifices of paper cuts, tears, sweat, and premature wrinkling of the eyes to the art gods


Art for the Art Gods!


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## Satoga (Aug 28, 2017)

Practise, practise, practise! 
This is what everyone wants to hear. xD

Always look at some references when you are drawing. This helps so much, trust me. Photos can be yout lifesaver. Excessively when drawing hands!

Watching speedpaints on youtube are also a good idea, they can keep you motivated and you can also learn how other people draw their drawings.
Watch/read tutorial.
Don't be afraid to ask other artists for help. Some might not help others will. 
Have fun drawing and don't pick out every tiny mistake you might see in your art. You will get better with time.
And if you are stuck at some point and think you're going nowhere with your art, just put two pieces next to each other. One that is really old and then a recent drawing. You will always see an improvement.


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