r/NoExcuses • u/elShoggotho • Jul 29 '17
Need a hearty kick in the buttockulis maximus, art related
I need to get my arse in motion, go out there, and draw stuff. Give me good reasons to leave my house with paper, clipboard and pencil. I want and need to draw stuff, but procrastination keeps being too strong.
1
u/BrujeiiVR Jul 30 '17
Artist here. I'd like to tell you a lot of the advice I've been given and a few tidbits of my own.
1-- give yourself permission to suck. You're practicing a craft here, and if you don't let yourself try and fail many times, you will never improve. As the saying goes: "the expert has failed more times than the novice has tried". Draw bad drawings. A lot. Challenge yourself to draw things you wouldn't normally, and be proud you did, even if they suck. Another teacher of mine has said "every artist has 10000 bad drawings in them, and you have to get them out before you get to the good ones". Have fun and enjoy what you're doing. You will improve if you simply draw as much as you can. Get that pencil mileage.
2-- inspire yourself. Find something that gets you motivated and curious. Look up artists on Pinterest and go down that rabbit hole. Watch a movie. Take a hike or go to the zoo. Draw what you see and things you like. You will develop tastes and styles over time unique to you. Stay inspired, rest when you need to. When it feels like you've plateaued or hit a wall, try a different direction. Then refer to #1
Other art places to check out: https://www.artstation.com http://www.zbrushcentral.com http://www.sketchtheatre.com
3-- do drawing challenges or random prompt generators when you feel stuck. Just draw all the time. Try these:
http://www.posemaniacs.com/randompose http://www.senshistock.com/sketch/ https://www.quickposes.com/en/gestures/random https://line-of-action.com/practice-tools/animal-drawing/
http://www.magatsu.net/art/index.php http://creativeartprompts.tumblr.com
4-- get advice from other artists. There are so many great art books out there and just thumbing through them even will help things click for you. Watch YouTube speed paints or speed drawings or sketchbook videos and tutorials. Some great places for tutorials besides YouTube are:
https://www.ctrlpaint.com https://livestream.com/gnomon https://creative.pluralsight.com/11/index.php http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com https://www.thegnomonworkshop.com
Have fun~
1
u/lordcarnivore Jul 30 '17
I was never that good at art, but there was a time when I got a bout of strong interest and tried my best. I mostly drew dragons, faces, and underwater scenes. I was waiting to board a flight one day and was drawing a black and white silhouetted mask with charcoal in my pad. I was fucking nailing it! No moving features, no smudging or erasing, just pure flow.
An hour passed and the boarding announcement came just as I was finishing. When I looked up I noticed about 15 people gathered around me watching. I hadn't even noticed, but damn it was one of the best feelings ever. I heard people whisper to each other that "That guy's good." A kid even said to her Mom that she wanted to be an artist. I rode that high for a couple of months until I lost interest.
That's a reason why you should go draw in public. That's definitely why I would consider taking it up again. Just to see if I could hit that flow.