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I really love drawing, but...

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It's been years since I've done drawings. A few days ago I bought a drawing tablet and been trying it with 3 different programs. I've never been able to properly draw human bodies nor imitate the faces of my favorite anime characters so I'm stressed, lol. Any tips would be appreciated. Should I just keep doing the same thing over and over? Should I practice with linearts? Should I hand draw everything or use the rectangle, circle, etc tools?
 
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Heyy! So first off, getting used to a tablet takes a long time. I got my first tablet 5 years ago (and granted, I was quite young) but it took me 6 months- a year to fully get used to using it. The more you use it the easier it will get, so time and practice are really the only solutions to that.

My advice would be to just work at things bit by bit. Find an art piece you really like and try to copy just the eyes, or ears, or head, for example. After you can get those down, try them at different angles. As a general rule of thumb for when I do this (like when i get artblock or whatever) is I never post these drawings, since you're technically copying someone elses art. For your own personal study this is fine, but just keep it in mind.

Just start small! Start with sketches, and once you get comfortable with that, move up to lineart. Don't be afraid to take a long time drawing even a small object. I'd say "study anatomy and life drawing" but I didn't do that sooo< I still feel I should recommend studying life and all that, because it is good advice I'd probably be way further ahead if I did, but I know it takes a lot of time and it's not all that fun. Also, I wouldn't worry to much about finding your own artstyle when you're just starting out, that sort of thing also happens naturally with time.

Like I said, all this stuff takes time. It's not gonna happen overnight, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to improve quickly. Check out tutorials, especially ones using the program that you use, and try different stuff out. I'm not sure which programs you're using, but if you're using paint tool sai I can help you out with it a ton! I also have some excellent brushes that I use on the daily.

If you want some specific help on stuff you've drawn I'm always open! Just send me over a pm. I hope this helps a little ;;

edit: to answer the hand-drawing/cirlces rectangles question: hand draw! there's nothing wrong with using the circle tool to make a base for heads and what-not, but handdrawing helps you practice much more and gets you used to your tablet!
 
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Heyy! So first off, getting used to a tablet takes a long time. I got my first tablet 5 years ago (and granted, I was quite young) but it took me 6 months- a year to fully get used to using it. The more you use it the easier it will get, so time and practice are really the only solutions to that.

My advice would be to just work at things bit by bit. Find an art piece you really like and try to copy just the eyes, or ears, or head, for example. After you can get those down, try them at different angles. As a general rule of thumb for when I do this (like when i get artblock or whatever) is I never post these drawings, since you're technically copying someone elses art. For your own personal study this is fine, but just keep it in mind.

Just start small! Start with sketches, and once you get comfortable with that, move up to lineart. Don't be afraid to take a long time drawing even a small object. I'd say "study anatomy and life drawing" but I didn't do that sooo< I still feel I should recommend studying life and all that, because it is good advice I'd probably be way further ahead if I did, but I know it takes a lot of time and it's not all that fun. Also, I wouldn't worry to much about finding your own artstyle when you're just starting out, that sort of thing also happens naturally with time.

Like I said, all this stuff takes time. It's not gonna happen overnight, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to improve quickly. Check out tutorials, especially ones using the program that you use, and try different stuff out. I'm not sure which programs you're using, but if you're using paint tool sai I can help you out with it a ton! I also have some excellent brushes that I use on the daily.

If you want some specific help on stuff you've drawn I'm always open! Just send me over a pm. I hope this helps a little ;;

edit: to answer the hand-drawing/cirlces rectangles question: hand draw! there's nothing wrong with using the circle tool to make a base for heads and what-not, but handdrawing helps you practice much more and gets you used to your tablet!
Thanks for your suggestions. I'm trying Illustrator, Photoshop and clip studio pro. Illustrator is very hard to understand, I thought it'd be the same as Photoshop but no, many things are done differently e.e and I'm having trouble with the pencils/brushes in the other 2 programs because everything looks so pixelated -.- and none of them have a pointy end. I don't like the big circular tip of the lines I make. Btw, what's life drawing?
 
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Hey there! Have you considered Paint Tool SAI or GIMP? I reckon they're better drawing apps. ^^ I used to draw in Photoshop, but I switched to Paint Tool SAI and I personally grew more comfortable with the latter!
 
Hey there! Have you considered Paint Tool SAI or GIMP? I reckon they're better drawing apps. ^^ I used to draw in Photoshop, but I switched to Paint Tool SAI and I personally grew more comfortable with the latter!
Hi. I haven't tried Sai but some time ago was going to download it xD. Does it use vectors? I hate the pixelated drawings. But I feel the need of trying clip studio a bit more since it came with the tablet (so I basically paid for it)
 
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Do you have pressure sensitivity off, by any chance? That should help if you're experiencing just plain fat, round lines instead of finer tip strokes. I also reccommend Krita as a free-to-use, open sourced program. You can download extra brushes (although it comes with quite a few) if you google "David Revoy Krita brushes" and browse through the ones you like. I like his charcoals and watercolors, especially.
 
Do you have pressure sensitivity off, by any chance? That should help if you're experiencing just plain fat, round lines instead of finer tip strokes. I also reccommend Krita as a free-to-use, open sourced program. You can download extra brushes (although it comes with quite a few) if you google "David Revoy Krita brushes" and browse through the ones you like. I like his charcoals and watercolors, especially.
Nope, I have it on. I know it because the line gets darker the more I press. But the tip is still round idk why.
 
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I think it helps to do a basic "skeleton" at least for me, with shapes and lines. I usually use the line tool mostly to make the pose of the skeleton I want and then "fatten it up" by adding simple shapes over, and then I make a new layer and draw my line art over that. Tracing and using pre-made line arts and bases can really help you get the hang of stuff but just don't be one of those people who claims it as their own work! I know in my early years I did TONS of tracing and it helped me find my own style and get more confident drawing on my own!
 
I think it helps to do a basic "skeleton" at least for me, with shapes and lines. I usually use the line tool mostly to make the pose of the skeleton I want and then "fatten it up" by adding simple shapes over, and then I make a new layer and draw my line art over that. Tracing and using pre-made line arts and bases can really help you get the hang of stuff but just don't be one of those people who claims it as their own work! I know in my early years I did TONS of tracing and it helped me find my own style and get more confident drawing on my own!
I don't even know how to draw skeletons. I've seen way too maaany people do them but I never knew how to make them. Idk how to make them with the correct proportions, unless I can use some already made, lol. Any idea if I can find a big variety of them to draw on top of them?
 
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I don't even know how to draw skeletons. I've seen way too maaany people do them but I never knew how to make them. Idk how to make them with the correct proportions, unless I can use some already made, lol. Any idea if I can find a big variety of them to draw on top of them?

If you go on DeviantArt and search for "F2U bases" you can use those too. Here are some links to ones I had saved if you wanted to try them out. Here, here, and here. These are best for practicing some body stuff and poses, I think.

As for basic simplified "skeleton drawings" here are some I had in my references folder. Here, here, here and here. You can probably find a lot more by googling "base skeleton for drawing." That's what I searched, I believe. Something along those lines.
 
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Illustrator is the only program to my knowledge that does vectors, so anything made w/o that program would be pixelated. Do keep in mind that vectors sort of stay on the program file (.ai) and can't really be displayed on websites unless you save them as .png or other image files!! The only way to /sort of/ avoid this is to work on a larger canvas, so you get a higher resolution of whatever you work on :")
Alternatively, you can look into a program called Mischief - it saves your lines in vector but it also lacks some very useful basic functions of a drawing program (e.g. transformation tool, blendy brushes). I think it's mostly concept artists who use this program to draw since there's an unlimited size canvas.

@ the brush tips being flat, if you're on photoshop, you might want to check that you have shape dynamics ticked:
mlQcmZcmSweTc6ObxBjEFw.png
Most CSP brushes have a pointy tip (I actually don't think any of the default brushes are flat...), so if your strokes don't turn out like that, you might want to re-install your tablet driver!

I'll agree with Cherry on the tablet - it took me ages to get used to my first tablet too, and when I switched to my current one, it took me some 3 months before I got used to it as well. There's also a learning curve for the drawing software that you use - because the tools are different and certain features of the software functions differently, it will take you a while to learn how to utilise it to do the things you want it to do. For me, it took me half a year to transition from photoshop to SAI, and almost a year to transition from SAI to CSP. It takes a lot of time but you learn a lot during the process so do be patient!

I'm an incredibly lazy artist (lol) so I started out by drawing chibis... but ofc you can start out drawing w/e you want!! Other than the methods Cherry mentioned - this is a debatable method of learning, but I think sometimes, tracing over work from an artist you like is good practice (just make sure not to put it online and call it as yours lol, that's just a drama magnet). It's also a good idea to look at speedpaints on youtube and pick up a thing or two from watching how the artist draws - that's how I learnt most of my tips and tricks on drawing and programs.

You can try breaking pictures down into simple shapes for easier understanding too!! For example, here's how I sketch my chibis & how a friend of mines does it. Skeletons are great for putting the pose down, but in the end, I find shapes a lot easier to understand ^__T

Hope this helps!
 
Hey there! Have you considered Paint Tool SAI or GIMP? I reckon they're better drawing apps. ^^ I used to draw in Photoshop, but I switched to Paint Tool SAI and I personally grew more comfortable with the latter!
I just installed sai, could you please tell me where can I find the option for correcting irregular lines/circles, etc?
 
You could try out the free program Krita too? It's what I use, and it has a wide variety of brushes :)

I'm seeing suggestions for tracing over bases and referencing others' art, but I wouldn't recommend that at all? For faster improvement photo references are generally better, bases/poses are good for the positions you can't find as photos but it's better not to trace but rather copy; it trains the eye to see proportions and that skill can be transferred to life drawing.

Photo referencing can be boring though, and we're all lazy artists. For me, I don't usually bother with the shading/scribble it in since I figured I can learn the shapes first. What I do to spice things up is take a favourite fandom character of mine and just use them as a model!(adding their hair, eyes, outfit etc.)

Watching tutorials/slow paints on youtube can be helpful as well. Good luck!

(sometimes I feel like a hypocrite saying this but oh well I'm getting back into the swing of photo references so ;)
 
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Krita, photoshop , Paint Tool SAI , Clip Studio Paint

Krita, hands down. Its free, open source, and very powerful. It is great for beginners who don't have the money for photoshop and you can do most things that you can do in photoshop. Have fun and enjoy!

Truth be told my main programs are Paint Tool SAI and Clip Studio Paint, but I do use Medi Bang Paint Pro at times. MediBang Paint Pro is free and it works super well and can work with XP-Pen Deco Pro Drawing Pad .

XP-Pen products are very well made and hold up well, Just be aware that it'a kind of awkward to start with a tablet even if you're experienced with traditional drawing. Just keep at it and don't give up.
 
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