Art Advice Archive #1 (self-improvement & more)

you know what? I tend to get private messages like "how do I improve X??" and I make a point of always taking the time to write out serious answers no matter how many times I've answered similar ones before - but I've always had in the back of my mind thoughts like " 2 hours later and now I have this wall of text... maybe I can post it somewhere at some point, instead of it being lost in my messaging history"  

And then I realized here I have the perfect place for some extra info to archive!!  

Before jumping into it, I want to disclaimer; I focused more on the self-improvement part of the question and gave some quick surface level advice on creature design and gaining more exposure - I'd reword certain bits with more nuance if it were asked with more specifications and given some context of the experience of the person asking ( tho I got the feeling they were young / and just starting out ) I normally try to not claim things as matter-of-factly but I didn't want to ramble too much either and felt the person in question just needed some help figuring out how to get things going.

The claims I make are made from my personal point of view! I tried to keep things as generally applicable as possible since I was going off of the general nature of the question.

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QUESTION: (excerpt)

"...I was wondering if there were any tips for creating creatures since I'm  trying my best to become a concept artist." "... and I was wondering if there are any techniques/tips on getting my art  noticed and for me to improve.  
The common answer I get is "draw everyday" but that's kept me in the same place for a while." - DevinatArt User

ANSWER:

"Well creating creatures is mainly just about mixing together different  anatomy types and sometimes stretching things, pushing shapes,  exaggerating features. The more complicated part is self-improvement!  There are many variables to it, which means there's a lot of  self-reflection involved - i.e. analyzing your process, your strengths  and weaknesses, breaking down your struggles into its separate roots and  seeing which art fundamentals might apply to those, which you then can  focus on step by step,,

But concerning that other part of your  question first; getting your art seen, is a bit more of a thing of being  in the right place at the right time - Or, just slow gradual growth.  The latter ties back to that "draw everyday" mentality, each new post is  another chance to get new eyes on your artwork, and new  followers/watchers. But the main thing people forget with that standard  advice is that; it works backwards if you just draw the same things all  the time with no exploration or iteration - you run into the risk of  people getting bored. And in terms of self-improvement, drawing the same  thing for months only makes you really good at drawing "that one thing"  - thus whenever you try to change things up it might feel like going  backwards, since there'll be a big difference of quality and you  essentially have to redo that process all over again.

There are  some small ways you can have a hand in helping boost your own exposure,  which can do good if you make it into habits, but might put you into a  situation where people come to expect those things from you always if  you rely on it too heavily. Things like drawing fanart, finding  communities to interact with, collaborations, drawing gifts for people  etc. You can probably guess that these things will work just fine in  moderation, but if you, for example only draw fanart and nothing else,  then people will follow you for fanart, and not be as invested in your  personal pieces once you loose interest in the fandom.

Think of it as growing your own personal audience, instead of "being noticed by the art community".

But  back on self-improvement, yes drawing regularly is important, but it's  even more important to be self-critical to a degree ( not to the point  where you're putting yourself down ) there's a balance, blind doodling  will only get you that far, but you can aslo lose the joy of drawing if  you put too much pressure on yourself.

So to touch on that idea  of self-reflection - take a step back and look at your situation:  concept art.
You've seen professional artist's work (if you haven't go  on the website Artstation and look up creature design!), and you know  your own work. Now, take some time to really think about your work, and  your technical skills. Look at the professional artists, and you might  have all your answers already laid out for you - what are they doing  that you aren't yet doing?


-Do their characters seem  life-like in their design? Well they've invested a lot of time into  learning these art-fundamentals: Anatomy, proportions, gesture/posing.

-Do  their rendering look like you can exactly tell what the texture of the  skin would be like? They are very good at: shading, rendering textures,  color usage. And have probably done many photo studies.

-Do their  action pieces have amazing motion and a dynamic feel to it that draw  you in? They've studied: compositions and "blocking" (the art of placing  the character in the frame of the picture) https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/NrPxbOfN7wPCPe7NJ0MJKHFvpsSwttw3QRuwi_mYOYmc2-Jg0yxIHU0SOpyHsa5jCC8FW9bYJJulxd4zuTCA5Ua2nB1c8TkPLTwrH2rReP6UvR7zMo3MAw3YMcUa . And done many different rough versions, testing thumbnails, before deciding on the best one.

-Do their pieces look like you could jump right into them? That's the wonders of correct perspective.

-Do  they have incredible detail in their fabrics and environment? They have  collected a vast array of references, and know when to use them.

-Do  even their sketches look like completed images? Well they've often  sketched for so long, that they need less lines to communicate shapes,  and know which colors to pick to convey the right light and shading, and  have drawn so often they don't have to second-guess their intuition.

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"draw everyday" is the surface-level advice. "work on your  fundamentals" is still a pretty surface-level advice. "find your  weaknesses and your strengths" is advice that will only help when you  take direct action to make and enact decisions; even if you're guessing.  ( half the time artists decide on what they might need in terms of  improving their art, it's a pure guess - that's why some might feel  better with clear lists on what to do and a mentor to get feedback from)  

....though after all this, a legit side-advice I can give is :  stop cutting corners. Stop avoiding the challenging parts. I avoided  background art for so long, that it took me more than a year to feel  like it matches the quality of my character drawings once I felt I  couldn't avoid it any longer. I see many artists often talk about how  they are posing their characters so they dont have to draw hands. I've  done it myself too. You are doing no-one a favor. A crappy looking hand  is still better than no hands at all !!
And I'm just using backgrounds and hands as examples, this mentality applies to anything you might be avoiding.

Remember - if you don't draw it, how will you ever become better at drawing it?


--so  yeah, those are my initial thoughts on that. You can probably tell why  people resort to the common answer of "draw often"? Self-improvement is  something you could write books about, but the problem is, there is no  100% sure-win method to it. Your method of self-improvement is only  effective, if you adapt it over time to your growth and needs as well.  Maybe you currently dont have the energy to do anatomy studies; well  then try to find a way to include small observational studies during  your regular art instead! Spend 10 minutes looking for reference images,  so you have smth to learn from! But maybe in a couple of months you'll  have more time for art; then you might be able to readjust your habits  for better efficiency.
--but I'll stop there, lol. All in all; there's some thinking you can do.

And if you still feel lost, go check out this playlist and see if there's something that interests you! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEFKK1ywgVCDPDR9RhgxU0SojdWpUZAiD