Forums → Art, Music, and Writing → Any tips on becoming a good artist?

He drew this? DAAAAAAAAA--

As a mediocre cartoonist, the only tip I can give is practice. You probaly hear it a lot, but its the best thing you can do. Pick something simple to start out with, like your hand, and keep drawing it over and over and over again. Once your hand is really good, move on to some more complex still lifes, and just keep practicing.

And all those Art Classes that require you to pay are all scams. Jus' sayin'.

While I can't deny practice helps, there's something more innate in art and that's the sense of proportion.
Start by doing some portraits. Takes something simple like a cartoon character you love, a video game hero's image from a booklet, even pokemons - they are easy yet diversified, and thus very fun to draw. Practice your sense of proportion by trying to reproduce stuff, and when you feel you have a the gist of it then you can start working on artistic skills, like smudging and hatching.

Here's a link to one of my thread containing some miscellaneous pencil art. Some of the works are reproductions, some are originals, I hope it'll give you an idea of how to procede. I'm no professionnal and I never took any kind of art class so I can't really help you with any kind of precise technic, but you'll see soon enough that a lot of it comes from the gut.

If you want to ask more concrete questions, or want to inquire about my art, feel free to either comment on my profile or thread.

@ Maverick, yea my friend really did draw that on a big piece of oak tag. And thanks for the help i will see how it goes with drawing images of my hand.

@ Fallen Sky, your drawings are awesome i really like the drawing of the book and the hand. Also, your poetry is really nice. And thanks a lot for the tips.

Anytime buddy, don't hesitate to ask.
There's a lot more art I'll upload there over time so if you feel like it, take a drop every once in a while.
Hands, as mentionned by maverick, are especially great for training purposes. You wouldn't believe how many hands I've drawn over the years.

Try charcoal because i know a few people who can make a masterpiece in minutes with charcoal.

Pros: possibly easy
Cons: messy

Charcoal will get utterly messy if you're not used to draw with it. I rarely ever use any other media than pencil, however; I use many shades - except when using a mechanical pencil.

I'd start out with the most basic medias such as pens and pencils. Since you want to work on the basics first, precise tools are best to start out with. What I mean is that it's easier to practice drawing a hand than painting a hand.

Another tip: If you were never good at drawing by hand, try photoshop. I was terrible by hand but the art teacher in my school said I'm probably the best photoshoper in the school.

i have only begun to draw in the last year but ive improved like many others have already said through practice...
i started out with simply following a few manga tuts, but then decided to branch off into cartoons. I subtly began drawing realistic things in my class room, first my hand then my teachers, the person across from me, etc.
You'll start off slow at first, going slow helped me to get accustomed to drawing until I liked it...A year later and im a bit quicker at drawing slightly more complex things.
thats all i really can say...if you decide to do digital art, i suggest you get a tablet of some sort...i personally just think its easier than drawing with a mouse.

Mojo, Seeing peopel draw and wanting to be like that isn't a really great way to make... art.
You can copy it, sure, but actually making art is alllll you.
It doesn't have to look like something real. It doesn't have to be a face or whatever, it can just be lines of something. or random blobs of paint on a canvas.
What really matters in art is being able to have a feel for it, not just making something realistic.

But I know I wanna draw like Fallen ;-;

But I know I wanna draw like Fallen ;-;

Awwww, that's so sweet of you darling. After all the denying, I finally made up my mind that I was cut out for this job, so next year, I'm stopping my scholarly wandering to set myself in an art programm of some sort.
My dream would be too make landscapes/character designs for videogames.

As King Lemon mentionned though, Moon, drawing is much more about practice than brute talent. The portion of raw ability needed is quite scarce in reality. I never took any class or had any tips so I'm sure if you come to see your uncle, he'd teach you to be as good as him . You should really listen to Kinglemon also; when I learned he was drawing for about only a year, I was blown away. He's got undeniable talent, maybe much more than me, and then, there's Dan.

For you to know Mojo, ''Dan'' is DDX. He's the absolute art authority in all terms here on this site. Strop and Cenere should also get much praise, so should you find yourself short on art tips, search these users.

My tip or tips are :
Just be original
Draw slowly
Draw with 'feeling'
Practice time to time
And you just have to have a bit of talent...

@ MoonFairy, its not that im copying people's drawings. I always imagined things in my head that i want to draw, i just dont have the skill to do it. And when i saw my friend draw, it motivated me. So im not just drawing to be good at it and copy people, Im drawing because I want to draw.

I always imagined things in my head that i want to draw, i just dont have the skill to do it. And when i saw my friend draw, it motivated me. So im not just drawing to be good at it and copy people, Im drawing because I want to draw.

While a little naive, this is what moves every artist forward, and it couldn't have been said better. The sprirt alone is quite commendable, so I feel you should really strive for it and try as hard as you can.
First, you should draw something. Then scan it and post it here so we can really work on polishing your technique.

Someone with such pristine determination can only spur me to help him to the utmost; I'll do all I can for a fellow artist with such high spirits.

I am a cartoonist, and have met matt from the times. My tip is to
keep drawing a smooth picture, until you can handle those tricky smooth curves.

If you want to be an artist that draws pictures, then my advise is to start off with scribble and splattering the most splish-splashiest thing you can without trying. then you should take a picture or post some sort of link so that I can see it if possible. If you do not feel comfortable with taking the advise I think I probably get the deeper meaning as to why.