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Description
I’ve recently gotten into traditional after years of neglect. I’ve always been very digitally driven because of certain limitations. Some of that was warranted like postural issues and fatigue. The avoidance was mostly due to the abysmal results traditional brought me compared to digital which has mostly been due to anxiety and other emotional aspects. Upon the insistence of another artist who themselves have achieved quite good results and consistent traditional results, I spent some time these past 2 months drawing traditionally. Here are some of the things I learned.

1. It’s gonna suck, regardless of how hard you try, how slow or fast you go, how good your pencil or pen is. There will be a skill mismatch between your expectations and your output.

2. You will improve. Regardless of how much you think you won’t. It won’t be immediate but you will see improvements within the month.

3. Plow through a sketchbook. Reference art you like if you have no ideas. Fill each page. Keep your vanity and ego out of it. The goal is to just get it filled up and having your arm moving.

4. Every so often make a point to make a completed piece as nice as possible. This will test your level of skill and put into practice what you’ve picked up so far. It will also help you gauge how steady and reliable your lines are.

5. It can take up to an hour to get into the right feel of things both mentally and physically so consider the first hour as preparation For the big show.

6. The benefit of sketchbooks is its sequential nature. You will be able to look back a few weeks and see where you where and where you are currently. You can also see where you were going in the right direction and when you were losing sight of your goals. Plus sketchbooks can be pretty cheap if you nab em at the dollar store.

7. Instead of faving/saving/etc, the art you like, put them in a tab. Collect a bunch. Copy and reference those images then close those tabs. If you want to do a more in depth study save it for later. Mind you, you know as well as I do that saving/faving has a placebo effect of making you think you absorbed what you see. Make it a point to draw (even if it’s just a small part you like) every single image you like so as to get an intimate understanding of the image.

8. Mix it up. Keep it varied with subject matter, style, artist, photo reference and so on. You’re looking to strengthen and broaden your understanding, not getting yourself locked into a style that doesn’t allow you to feel any comfort.

9. Learn to see the whole image as an equal series of shapes and lines. The hardest part for me was getting over the hand and face hurdle where my results would dip dramatically due to 2 reasons; First, I wasn’t drawing them as much, and secondly I wasn’t draw them as much due to the anxiety of not drawing them as much (duh). This is a downward self reinforcing spiral. To improve upon this I decided to reinforce my belief that I could easily draw faces and hands just as easily as any other part of the body by asserting that photos and illustrations are all made out of the same things; Lines, shapes, contrast and values.

10. Tools are important. You’ll hear over and over that you should “as an artist” be able to use anything and get good results, but the truth is art is subjective and sometimes very finicky. If tools didn’t matter arts stores would have only 1 brush. I would say spend at least a few days with a dozen or so tools you’re interested in. Try the ones other artists suggest and try some you are personally interested in. My personal preference is a large 2B pencil and the only reason is because I tried it out for myself. This is a tool I’ve become accustomed to using due to ample usage, as well as being pleased with its results on my artwork. You must make your own decision which tool works for you on similar criteria. Do you like how it looks and do you like using it.

11. Don’t make any assumptions on how you should draw. DO exactly what you want. It’s your time and your hobby, enjoy it in the way you choose.

12. Ditch the eraser for now. I think erasers are great for final results, but relying on them means never getting to new strokes you’d never considered. Get past erasing for at least 4-5 months and just commit to your lines and deal with the flaws. Doing this will both strengthen your resolve to place better lines in the first place and ensure you don’t blow a ton of time fixing an unimportant detail not worth fussing over.

13. Learn to draw at different levels of pressure. Light drawing gives a completely different feel than hard drawing. I won’t argue one is better than the other.

14. Remember keep drawing. You may not always have ideas, so keep a bank of images for ideas or inspiration as reference. It’s about doing it.

15. Eventually you’ll find something you feel very comfortable doing and you’ll exploit that as human tend to go in the direction of least pressure. Resist the urge. You can find something else you like drawing than just “Cute Anime Girl”. Indulge in it at first until you find a comfort and ease in doing so. Once there it’s time to shift gears and find something else to mildly challenge yourself with. Keep that motivation going but also keep yourself on your toes with what you are drawing. Every part of the drawing should be accessible and you shouldn’t have blind spots. Meaning, you shouldn’t be able to draw 90% of a drawing and inexplicably be unable to complete some small component of it. If this is something you encounter you need to focus a bit more on tackling what you’re having problems with. You won’t be able to always do it with brute force either, ie: drawing it a lot. You will need to attempt to correct how you approach it mentally by altering your perception or creating simple guides or methods for deciphering those hard to draw things.

Thanks and I hope this helps those of you looking into getting on track with traditional drawings.

Description
I’ve recently gotten into traditional after years of neglect. I’ve always been very digitally driven because of certain limitations. Some of that was warranted like postural issues and fatigue. The avoidance was mostly due to the abysmal results traditional brought me compared to digital which has mostly been due to anxiety and other emotional aspects. Upon the insistence of another artist who themselves have achieved quite good results and consistent traditional results, I spent some time these past 2 months drawing traditionally. Here are some of the things I learned.

1. It’s gonna suck, regardless of how hard you try, how slow or fast you go, how good your pencil or pen is. There will be a skill mismatch between your expectations and your output.

2. You will improve. Regardless of how much you think you won’t. It won’t be immediate but you will see improvements within the month.

3. Plow through a sketchbook. Reference art you like if you have no ideas. Fill each page. Keep your vanity and ego out of it. The goal is to just get it filled up and having your arm moving.

4. Every so often make a point to make a completed piece as nice as possible. This will test your level of skill and put into practice what you’ve picked up so far. It will also help you gauge how steady and reliable your lines are.

5. It can take up to an hour to get into the right feel of things both mentally and physically so consider the first hour as preparation For the big show.

6. The benefit of sketchbooks is its sequential nature. You will be able to look back a few weeks and see where you where and where you are currently. You can also see where you were going in the right direction and when you were losing sight of your goals. Plus sketchbooks can be pretty cheap if you nab em at the dollar store.

7. Instead of faving/saving/etc, the art you like, put them in a tab. Collect a bunch. Copy and reference those images then close those tabs. If you want to do a more in depth study save it for later. Mind you, you know as well as I do that saving/faving has a placebo effect of making you think you absorbed what you see. Make it a point to draw (even if it’s just a small part you like) every single image you like so as to get an intimate understanding of the image.

8. Mix it up. Keep it varied with subject matter, style, artist, photo reference and so on. You’re looking to strengthen and broaden your understanding, not getting yourself locked into a style that doesn’t allow you to feel any comfort.

9. Learn to see the whole image as an equal series of shapes and lines. The hardest part for me was getting over the hand and face hurdle where my results would dip dramatically due to 2 reasons; First, I wasn’t drawing them as much, and secondly I wasn’t draw them as much due to the anxiety of not drawing them as much (duh). This is a downward self reinforcing spiral. To improve upon this I decided to reinforce my belief that I could easily draw faces and hands just as easily as any other part of the body by asserting that photos and illustrations are all made out of the same things; Lines, shapes, contrast and values.

10. Tools are important. You’ll hear over and over that you should “as an artist” be able to use anything and get good results, but the truth is art is subjective and sometimes very finicky. If tools didn’t matter arts stores would have only 1 brush. I would say spend at least a few days with a dozen or so tools you’re interested in. Try the ones other artists suggest and try some you are personally interested in. My personal preference is a large 2B pencil and the only reason is because I tried it out for myself. This is a tool I’ve become accustomed to using due to ample usage, as well as being pleased with its results on my artwork. You must make your own decision which tool works for you on similar criteria. Do you like how it looks and do you like using it.

11. Don’t make any assumptions on how you should draw. DO exactly what you want. It’s your time and your hobby, enjoy it in the way you choose.

12. Ditch the eraser for now. I think erasers are great for final results, but relying on them means never getting to new strokes you’d never considered. Get past erasing for at least 4-5 months and just commit to your lines and deal with the flaws. Doing this will both strengthen your resolve to place better lines in the first place and ensure you don’t blow a ton of time fixing an unimportant detail not worth fussing over.

13. Learn to draw at different levels of pressure. Light drawing gives a completely different feel than hard drawing. I won’t argue one is better than the other.

14. Remember keep drawing. You may not always have ideas, so keep a bank of images for ideas or inspiration as reference. It’s about doing it.

15. Eventually you’ll find something you feel very comfortable doing and you’ll exploit that as human tend to go in the direction of least pressure. Resist the urge. You can find something else you like drawing than just “Cute Anime Girl”. Indulge in it at first until you find a comfort and ease in doing so. Once there it’s time to shift gears and find something else to mildly challenge yourself with. Keep that motivation going but also keep yourself on your toes with what you are drawing. Every part of the drawing should be accessible and you shouldn’t have blind spots. Meaning, you shouldn’t be able to draw 90% of a drawing and inexplicably be unable to complete some small component of it. If this is something you encounter you need to focus a bit more on tackling what you’re having problems with. You won’t be able to always do it with brute force either, ie: drawing it a lot. You will need to attempt to correct how you approach it mentally by altering your perception or creating simple guides or methods for deciphering those hard to draw things.

Thanks and I hope this helps those of you looking into getting on track with traditional drawings.