How to be a better artist -- My opinions.

Decided to make this journal out of boredom. Please be aware these are just my opinions.
I've done several of these things before and I'm not afraid to admit this either.

1.) Don't say you can't draw or you're not good enough.
Practice, practice, practice. No one becomes an artist overnight. If so, that would be silly. If your first few drawings come out looking bad, don't give up. Just keep drawing. In time, it'll get easier and you'll get better at it. NEVER expect your first drawings to come out looking like a Van Gogh -- that's too high of an expectation. They WILL be bad, trust me. But in time, they will get better and better and improve the more you practice.

Drawing classes, tutorials, and references help a ton! Seriously, they do!

My art a few years ago was SO BAD. Seriously. I'm like, ashamed of it now. Going back and looking at it, I can definitely see the improvement.

Take a look for yourself! XD

Example:
2004: tinyurl.com/7pyf3xb
2005: tinyurl.com/75mclk7
2008: tinyurl.com/7ze6l5n
2009: tinyurl.com/7a537n7
2010: tinyurl.com/6lrnwtk
2012: alexdachshund.deviantart.com/g…

And you know what helps? Whenever you're feeling like your art is just not good enough lately, go back and look at art you did a year ago. At the time you drew it, you'll be like, "I am so proud of this!" but when you refer back to the old art a year later, you'll say, "Ugh this is so bad. And to think I actually LIKED this!".

2.) Ask for artistic critique and accept it.
One great way to improve is to ask for critique. Critique means asking others to point out stuff in your drawings that seem off or wrong, then providing suggestions on how to fix it and make it better. It may hurt your feelings at first to hear that you may have a few or several things wrong in your drawing, but it helps, trust me. When someone points out a mistake, you can now take that knowledge and apply it to the next artwork, making it better. It shows you what you are doing wrong that can be easily corrected.

For instance, I will strongly admit I have problems drawing hands and some anatomy. I used to draw hands backwards! Seriously, haha. But I found that accepting people's critique and red-lines actually helped a bit, even though I still draw hands wonky-looking.

3.) Try new techniques and draw new things.
One thing I am always doing in my art is trying out new brushes and techniques. It is really fun to do this and mess around with. You may find something you've done that you REALLY like, or something you don't like. Try new techniques, it will help your pictures stand out better than being in the same style all the time. For instance, I occasionally use textures, dramatic lighting effects, soft shading, and gradient shading. It helps to be different instead of sticking to the same techniques all the time.

Also, try drawing new things. If you mostly draw Sonic the Hedgehog style art, try drawing a regular dog or a human for once. If you do a lot of toony art, try doing realism. If you get stuck in one style, it's hard to try drawing new things. For instance, I used to be stuck drawing in the "Ginga Densetsu Weed" style for like 2 years straight and I would draw regular dogs in that style even if they weren't OCs. But I learned to drop that style and come up with my own. It helps to have your own style rather than copying someone else's.

4.) Don't trace or recolor.
I used to trace a lot growing up. I also used to recolor anime screenshots too. Seriously don't do this, it really does not help you out at all. For an occasional thing for fun, it's ok, but don't do this all the time. Draw your own art.

5.) Use references.
References help a lot! I SUCK coming up with poses. It's perfectly fine to ref, as long as you don't blatantly trace it or claim the pose is your own. A lot of my art is ref'd heavily and thanks to reffing photographs, I've learned to somewhat come up with poses on my own. (fav.me/d4i283v <-- That was drawn without a reference!) It really does help!

6.) Don't compare yourself to other artists.
Doing this will make you feel down about yourself and your art. Don't compare yourself to other artists. Who cares if they can draw better than you? This is when you practice! Again, practice makes perfect!

7.) Don't get upset if you barely get any feedback.
Don't expect to get tons of favorites or comments on your pictures, especially if you are a beginner. Those come in time after you've practiced and gotten better and acquired more watchers. If you get 1 favorite and 2 comments, just be happy you got any feedback at all. Favorites and comment statistics are just numbers. You don't need to have a ton of favorites on an image for people to admire it. Don't give up and get angry!

8.) If someone insults your art and makes fun of it, just shrug it off.</u>
If someone goes and insults your drawing or art skill levels, just delete their comment and move on. If it becomes a problem with that user, just block them and report them. Don't even reply. Trolls love negativity and it feeds them and makes them want to continue bothering you. You're not there to please that one person. If they don't like your art, big deal. Just move on and don't let them bother you. The only opinions that matter is what YOU think of your art, and your watchers.

9.) Don't beg people to commission you/art trade with you...etc.
Seriously don't do this. It leaves them a bad taste in their mouths if you beg and whine about wanting people to commission you. Most likely the reason people don't commission you or show interest is because a.) you have a limited amount of watchers and you're not well-known b.) your art skill level is not good enough yet for you to be taking commissions. Wait until your skills improve before trying to open for commissions.

10.) Drawing tablets do not automatically make you a better artist.
I've experienced this so much with people. People who assume if they go out and buy a Wacom or Intuos drawing tablet, it'll automatically make them better at art. It's not your media that makes you an artist, it's your knowledge and skills that make you an artist.

11.) Don't use templates, bases, or free lineart.
These are ok occasionally, but don't heavily rely on them. Doing so makes you lazy and doesn't help you out at all as an artist. It really does. Try drawing your own art instead of having to rely on recoloring bases or templates.



I hope this helps out someone! Remember, I am NOT a professional artist. These are just my opinions and suggestions.

Remember, NEVER give up!