critique wanted Artist in training

[TheForgotenBrony 18]

Artist in training looking for some advise! If you have anything please let me know, I'd like to dig into the wonderful world of art

[Kiri 7,278]

Are there any specific questions you have about it? And are you doing digital, traditional, or both?

[El Duderino 878]

Advice on how to make art, or what to do with it?

 

Well, I'm a musician, but I have experience with other forms of art. Other than how important it is to learn proper techniques, I can't really tell you how to make art. I can say that it is smart to invest in some proper equipment. It does help. For example, if you are drawing, get some proper drawing pencils. It won't make you better, but it still helps. It also is good if you have something unique about your style. This is not something you can force. You will find it eventually, but it takes time. Took me a few years to find a style of songwriting that really works for me and sets me apart.

 

As for what to do with it, unless you have an actual place to showcase your art, you should go online. I recommend making a blog, or finding a website dedicated to artists showing off their work, or both. Deviant Art is a popular site for that. 

[SFyr 1,982]

What kind of advice are you looking for?  There's a lot of specifics you could get into, but for general "getting better" purposes, I think all of these would be applicable:

• Draw from real life examples, or find artist's work you admire for inspiration.
• Experiment. Don't get cozy in a small niche in terms of subject or poses.
• Find your fun in drawing. If drawing becomes a chore, it'll kill motivation.
• Practice a lot of fundamentals, like gesture and shape.
• Don't get hung up on polishing things to perfection.
• Ideally, get opinions or criticism; sometimes it really helps pick out things you missed when you're working on improving something.
• Make time for art. Generally speaking, the more you draw, the more you'll see see your ability grow.  :grin2:
• Stay humble, but not fearful.

[Artimis Whooves 1,576]

For example, if you are drawing, get some proper drawing pencils. It won't make you better, but it still helps.

 The best I've found are Ticonderoga black pencils

If you want a good quality digital art program, I suggest Autodesk sketchbook. It's free and really simple to use (You can get this on anything with google play)! I'm not the best at drawing ponies, so for an example here's a hat: lol

Edited February 26, 2016 by Artimis Whooves

[daileyart 29]

If you want to dabble in digital painting, I suggest checking out Paint Tool Sai. It's super cheap and is an AMAZING painting program if you don't want to buy Photoshop. As far as tablets go, Wacom sells a lot of cheap tablets now like the bamboo. You can always look for used tablets as well. Once you have all your digital art supplies there are a ton of pony drawing tutorials out there too (I know because I looked at them myself!) I've thought about opening a patreon where I teach people to paint but I'm still working out the specifics good luck!