#BUT im hoping the change will help my brain stop feeling so stale and stuck | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tomatoart · 1 year

Note

mwah your art is good and nice :>

can I ask for some advice? no worries if u don't want to answer.

do you have any tips on how exactly to practice art? everytime I ask for art advice everyone always says "practice" but idk what to practice first! do you have any strategies for learning how to draw something? do you do excercises? and if so how do they work?and are there any beginner mistakes I should look out for and change specifically?

thank you so much!! have a wonderful week :>

thank you so much! im ok w answering! i dont want to speak as if i am an expert on how to draw things in general as i am learning as well and definitely am not completely learned, so i might not be the best person to ask since im not very professional w my art as I do it as a hobby (and I can only speak on mostly digital cartoon matters) but i reallly hope to try and help u out even a lil ! im really happy that you’re eager to draw :] I wish you so much luck muwah muwah

i also hated when ppl told me “just practice” and i dont wanna inflict tht on u EITHER LOL but also thats just what i ended up doing for awhile but i tried to find some things to help ^_^

tips for practice: My number one rule is that practices should be challenging but still fun, I know it can get frustrating trying to redraw a pose over and over trying to get it perfect. And over time it rlly is all about muscle memory, the longer you draw the more your eyes will pick out specific shapes in everyday life and convert them into its own vision of them! or at least its good to look at life that way, try to pin point key shapes and stress less on details in practices. after you look at key points, THEN you can go over what you have and draw in and over it to make it more “complete.” To stop practices from getting too stressful I recommend starting out drawing what you want a little more simple looking than ur desired finished product. This helps eliminate the pressure of everything not looking “perfect” and keeps your art more loose and fun. Doing this a few times is gonna get ur brain to recognize patterns in art and how things look/flow in anatomy and such. dont get stuck in ur own head abt perfecting everything to the point you either 1) give up bc ur not at a level capable of it being 100% “perfect” or 2) focus so much on making it perfect that you end up saying the work looks “wonky” or stale in dynamics, So while I do think studies help, don’t get too lost in them. I always practice with media I enjoy too, whether it’s characters or fashion I enjoy.

Strategies learning to draw something: people get mad abt this one but I think tracing reference photos is great. its been awhile but When I tried learning to draw hands better at first I would trace them then put the traced image to the side of the canvas, then try and replicate what my mind saw as its most important angles and aspects. Same for clothing folds/hair/etc! I think it’s maybe not the best idea to trace the ref and use the tracings as is, because you learn more from tracing it then trying to replicate and simplify what u learned into the style you’re working in. Find what shapes you like from them and don’t over detail it. you may have to go by eye and think “what parts of this ref photo should i simplify to fit my style” and for me, its usually adjusting the length of the torso and then the limbs by associations. i dont recommend feeling like u need a reference for every art you make though, its ok to let ur own head try out its own sometimes too while trying to learn this, see if it remembers any call bad from the past referenced sketches! over time ull remember where everything goes more, these days i rarely kick myself to use refs but im sure they still would help to use, but figure drawing simple blobby figure in a bunch of random poses was a big thing i used to do as well to get better at full body art + overall dynamics (still does this). also paying attention to silhouettes is great

Exercises and how they work: I WANNA HELP U SO BAD BUT to be honest, all the works on my blog ARE exercises! i rarely actually do finished pieces, if u scroll thru my posts ull notice most r sketches. i usually just fill up a page and call it “warm ups” then i get attached to some of them, take a few, and just line them up pleasingly on a smaller page, then color them in (or sometimes fix the lines to be more clean too). im not rlly a person who “exercises” to practice, it more so happens from just me drawing a lot for fun as a hobby! but i really should. i will tell u this has humbled me a lil i need to start practicing too 😭 LOL but a good exercise is to look at what ur inspirations do, and study it. Make a collage and write out what you like most abt their styles/what u want to gain from them. For ref Here’s a page I did awhile ago when someone asked me abt my insps:

i also look at fashion magazines and as well as anime figures and take insps from that sometimes with learning cool poses and compositions to convert into my own things

Beginner mistakes to look out for: its hard for me to pin point “mistakes” beginners make, as sometimes we cant avoid all of them or even notice them, progress comes from growing out of old ways. some mistakes are even the foundation of ur future amazing cool style! but i think some things to look out for could be these, from my own old art experiences

Hands were the first thing I learned bc i liked drawing them. I don’t know if that is the best way to go but I think it is smart to practice sooner than later, here is a lil guide thingggyyy wingyyy from awhle ago

i see beginners shy away from drawing signs of age in people, sometimes adding too much detail on an older person in cartoon art makes it look weird, so i try and hit the key markings on ppls faces of age.

Too thin of lines. sometimes its a stylistic choice to use thin lineart, and it can look amazing ! but sometimes it can flatten an image if ur not familiar with its flow. im not saying use thick line art, but more so to keep in mind the weight of ur strokes, adding depth with a thick thin combo of line art can do SO much for the simplest of pieces. heres a visual from a while back when i talked abt my brush + more abt lines:

but if ur desired style is thin lineart that is cool too! tbh it was just harder for me as a beginner

sometimes artists think they need to do full lineart for everything and then hate how it looks compared to the sketch, do not fear i will introduce u to my bff: painting over a sketch, extractinging the lines, then calling it line art. i only do this sometimes but its a fun exercise-ish thing to do in a pinch. example:

finding what shading fits ur art. sometimes ill see ppl starting out who have a style thats very simple, but they use a very detailed rendering process on it. this is not something id ever police of course, art is each persons own choice! And it CAN work. It can be so cute! but sometimes mixing two very contrasting mediums of art can throw off the “put together” look of it. i use to abuse the airbrush tool thinking it made my simple style look super cool and detailed, but looking back on it now those pieces looked a little off, having such a simple style have somewhat more realistic shading. dont get me wrong the ability i see ppl use rendering like that is so insanely talented! but i found cellshading to be a good match for cartoony art like my own. a tip i learned way too late abt that is rather than shading each layer by color picking a darker color, instead use a clipping mask over the entire art (above line art too as I color my lineart) and lasso tool the areas u want shaded + fill it w a saturated purple then set to multiply + lower opacity. also, sometimes coloring can come out chalky looking when u meant for it to be smooth and transitional, i think this comes from overshading and overlighting pieces without reason. pay attention to where the light source is, and focus on making the shaded and lighter areas nice shapes that cover the necessary areas, then u can add additional shading to the smaller details of what should have a casted shadow/light

its good to spice up ur art now rather than later, focusing making ur art pop more w backgrounds will help ur coloring skills look better too! i dont mean detailed huge backgrounds, a small lil color pallet and design rather than a blank white bg. like this will make u feel better abt it or at least it helped me *sweats* yeah:

beginners tend to draw blank faces like “:)” but I think a good thing to do is try and get silly with expressions early on. It’s okay if the mouth hangs off the face cartoonishly with joy or shock, it’s ok if the eyebrows are super high in surprise.

tracing and pasting it as is (already said this but I’ve seen ppl do it a lot with hair styles and it makes it look alienated from the rest of the style) (final fantasy fans found critically injured) n if need a ref for a pose, using a real humans anatomy as-is doesn’t look quite right on a cartoonyish drawing. Shortening torso and legs usually comes out of this for me!

flip ur canvas i promise u it’ll be less embarrassing over time!

using guidelines for perspective and foreshortening is GREAT. Do it stylistically rather than realistically to add some groove to it...yay. Having silly perspective in art can make it look like a 10 so easily opposed to a normal front facing sketch. Look at cool poses from fashion magazines! Don’t be scared to draw something you don’t feel confident in conveying perfectly, this is why progress redraws exist :)

Drawing the hairline b4 u draw the hair is great, it helps u understand where their hair flows from, where it starts and stops, AND prepares u for drawing bald ppl. Also don’t make the head too big, the skull IS bigger up top, but sometimes I see an alien head affect.

Anatomy is an interesting mistake that beginners make a lot, but it’s one they find harder to notice! When I started out, all my art would be SO wonky, but I didn’t even realize it! It still happens today too! specifically though I see beginners struggle with the arms in this department. My advice is to try and measure them out and make sure they don’t go past the knees, and are the same length as each other when Unfolded. asking for criticism is hard but it helped me realize when i would make something bigger/longer than it should have been in my art, and stuck with me being able to go “oh... i see it LOL”

clothing wrinkles- do not over do it! Too many wrinkles and shading can look unpleasant and wirey- like a plastic table cloth all bunched up which isn’t exactly what ppl wear. pay attention to gravity too

I hope this helped even a lil im sorry tht I’m not very good at explaining or didn’t have much to sayyy! If u have any troubles no guarantee I’ll have the answer, but ur always free to ask!

#asks #faq #I hope ur week is going good n that u’ll have fun creating 💙🐠#long post #not tomaart

112 notes · View notes

trippykippy-blog · 7 years

Photo

what the fuck is going on?

i miss my father.

hes fucking dead.

got too high on ecstasy,

laughing friends radio blaring,

splattered blood and bent skull on the concrete.

but this wasnt how he needed to go....

it was in a room of the people who loved him the most

souls all writhing and screaming for a reason

dirty tears mixed with skin oils, like a lather

the baby is screaming ‘daddy wake up’

he cant here you. hes brain dead.

too much fun, leads to no race won.

they pulled the fucking plug

i miss my mother.

she might as well be.

you guys would all have more peace that way anyways.

dont fucking act like you care, just because i checked on you.

i dont want this bedroom brain.

everything is a rental, nothing is possesed.

i wish my fucking dad was here. too fucking bad huh?

youd think id be used to it by now.

where is my mom at? dead to the world.

probably somewhere curled up to a small oak tree.

on a bed of pinecones, with pricks in her back.

lie down on your dead leaf pillow.

make friends with the beasts of night.

drinking blood from a cup, drawing in it crecents upon your doors.

black widow, spit your venom spin your web.

im grown now. grown enough to have nothing and be nothing.

dump her off on me, give me scotch tape and tell me its my job to piece her back together.

call me a fool for the smile on my face. youre ugly. im ugly. you made me ugly. look at us.

where should i stay with all these pieces?

“do you have a tent?”

i wish i had a tent made out of the canvas of my beating heart.

dont vent to your friends, unless you like them black as charcoal, and sick as congested liver.

sharp yellow snot cuts the back of your throat, tonsils all full with the left overs of the dope you pour into your face, shoots out your mouth, in string, living in your windpipe, ejected by force, foam slaps the tile floor, cheeks turn red.

“why are you drooling on yourself”?

throbbing face corner, twitching left eye.

finally tears.

cleansing the slits i see out of. rib skinned rubber band.

they eat you desolate. trees of thick forests and sharp knives.

you miss your family?

what family?

your brother barely even knows who you are, dont you remember him?

your grandmother watches you wear down, your skin drag down under your eyes, fighting yourself every day, and it drains her. she isnt so nice anymore you know.. why did you do that to her? holes torn in the paper walls, doors broken in half, cant see through the black and red, mop in her eyes, she tries to hold the hope that not everything is ugly. innocent and fucking nieve. thats the way she likes it. or.. did. until year 3 of the blender. crows feet, butterfly fabric, scaly hands, that pat your back when your head is in your chest and your dripping the fluids again. the same hands that reach across, the car, going 60 mph to feel, your cold hand, and press some warmth back into them. she will stand watching, she wants people to look. she planted him in the dirt like seed, but he tore her garden up like weeds. she tried to cut and whack them down, but cut herself, i watch her drown. she smiles and nods, and carrys on - i know she doesnt like me.

your mother warns you of the potholes in the road, - a yield sign, shes been here before. dead end. turn back now. a few nice words when you feel upset over nothing. a heart too big to pump oxygen. holes in your face that admit youve been studying. lizard eyes. purple locks of hair, dry and stale into red broom straw. 23% of the time she lives without care, peace sign thrown in the air. the rest of it, means hell to pay for every person involved, she loves her son the most :) she talks riddles, runs at night, spits out bees. “what the fuck are you looking at?” vodka lights up her eyes, but she falls apart inside. magical circles race around her rounded head. stuck on repeat. the straw in her hand she stabs in her nose. you reach to help. oh wait, youre just looking in the mirror again. haunting endless echoes of bathroom doors being shut and water running to no avail, never ending sound of stream, a white painted fram, round opener, you look so pretty today.

moms sister, carries the weight of her own sins, lost in a world of red blazing demons. brain gnaw. first fulls of hair, giving self black eyes, she ends up with a crazy toothy smile anyway. eyes go from white and brown to brown and black. permanent frown. acidentally falling asleep on the grass. the cigarette on the property that strictly prohibits this very thing. plastic chemical bottle. cooked dinner that night.

dads brother, cant even look at you. his face is inside you. it is a bed of nails here. crack, ecstasy, and methamphetamines for dinner. tooped with marijuana, a dash of lsd, magic mushrooms of ‘please dont look at me, because when you do i see my dead brother’

grandfather hid dead bodies and poked people till they hurt and would bleed. hed take everything in sight. what he thought he needed. short gasps around. little did he know, thered be nothing left of no one to call a family.

i dont have to tell you that

your father watches you from either above the clouds or below the fiery pits of hell. and he’s bittersweet and all knowing.watches you gnaw on fruit. i bet you dont ever stop to think that he is black behind gods shoulders but he’d do anything to snap you out of it. oh well. its not up to him, faggot. its up to you. kill him over and over and over again, and expect him to call. you dont know who he is and he doesnt know who you are. and the funniest part is, you never will.. guess you dont like him enough. he wouldnt have liked you very much anyways mom says.

you better be glad you have a mere morsel of jump left to kick out of that lazy ass, and friends who like to see the race go on pull you up and carry your dead weight across another mile mark. heat stroked. hot heavy sweating body on the pavement. i feel like a pair of wooden crutches, walked on for 58 years... worn. have history. not cold or shiny. down to earth. rubbery bouncer edges. leaned on to walk right through you. cut trees. burn leaves. dry heaves. cant breathe.

“thank you”

you will never live together as one. you will die alone, as the only son.

oh yeah, your face looks like its about to fall of your skull. i hope you get control back of those face muscles. i hope next time i seen you youve washed your face or changed your clothes... you care not for yourself and not for others. drown in spit, tired kid.

0 notes