Please offer me your digital drawing advice!

[S.J.]

Hi friends! I've been using Procreate/Photoshop for iPad for ~10 months to draw, and I had very little experience drawing traditionally before that. There are so many aspects of digital (and traditional) art I haven't attempted, and others I'd like to improve (like drawing semi-realistic characters, landscapes and backgrounds, shading/lighting, and lineless drawing styles). I've taken a Domestika course on drawing characters in front, profile, and 3/4 views, which I enjoyed, but because I don't have a particular style, I still feel a little stuck, and don't know where to look next, to continue learning.

In an effort to find some new resources and make some progress, I'm looking for all your advice, areas you think are good to focus on, course and tutorial recommendations, Procreate brush recommendations, and whatever else you can think of! I've put some questions down below, but please impart any and/or all of your knowledge to me!

• I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?
• Do you have recommendations for resources, tutorials, courses, etc. to help improve semi-realistic or non-chibi character drawing?
• Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?
• How do you find your Procreate brushes, and more importantly, how do you choose which brush you're going to use?! (I find myself afraid to try textured brushes for lining my drawings. I see you all using crayon brushes, watercolour brushes, and paint-like/gradient brushes, but I look at them and feel out of my depth!)

Sorry for the long post. Thank you for your wisdom.

 

[Yanrima~]

Downloading brushes is a great start to doing digital art. Although, I mostly use Clip Studio paint for them. As for the recommended tutorials, Digital art tutorial videos can also be found on Youtube.

Experimenting and practicing with methods is the best approach to improving your art.

As for the recommended sites There's a thread that covers all the resources for drawing: https://www.belltreeforums.com/threads/resources-for-artists.591373/

 

[S.J.]

Downloading brushes is a great start to doing digital art. Although, I mostly use Clip Studio paint for them. As for the recommended tutorials, Digital art tutorial videos can also be found on Youtube.

Experimenting and practicing with methods is the best approach to improving your art.

As for the recommended sites There's a thread that covers all the resources for drawing: https://www.belltreeforums.com/threads/resources-for-artists.591373/

Ah, thank you for the link. I had forgotten that I had seen this thread before, and I think the Line of Action website looks interesting!

I just had another thought. Has anyone used physical drawing books to learn? I bought some drawing books from the bookstore last year, and I'd say 2/4 of them have been well used. I know most of you are so talented and experienced, so it probably sounds silly, but I learnt to draw chibi-style characters using "How to Draw Cute Kawaii in Simple Steps" by Yishan Li, and there's another cute book I like for drawing flowers called "How to Draw Inky Wonderlands" by Johanna Basford.

Spoiler: more on books

I think my two best chibi drawings. Having references from the Yishan Li book was helpful for drawing face shapes, eye shapes, and poses, especially.

And I haven't shared this one before, but this was me practicing drawing flowers and mushrooms from the Johanna Basford book.

 

[Warrior]

I've used various books and other things to try learn, but the most important skill of drawing is your ability to use your eyes or to conceptualise things in your mind. This is the most important skill to work on I think. Try bring a sketchbook with you places and drawing things quickly, even if the the sketches themselves don't look great due to speed, this is still building up your ability to draw.

 

[xSuperMario64x]

I would be happy to answer your questions SJ

- I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?
when I was a kid I always loved drawing animals, that made up like 98% of what I used to draw. when I was in 5th-6th grade I started drawing Pokemon and Fakemon, using others' drawings as references. then a bit later when I started to really get into Super Mario stuff I started using the art from those games as references as well. would also like to note that I was a semi-active member of Flipnote Hatena back in 2011-2013 so I learned a lot about drawing anthro/animals from there.
basically from doing all of that I developed my own art style, and I've been working on improving it over the last decade. that's why my art style is like a kid's cartoon, because it's based on Super Mario, Pokemon, and people's cute anthro drawings lol.

- Do you have recommendations for resources, tutorials, courses, etc. to help improve semi-realistic or non-chibi character drawing?
honestly I'll tell you exactly what I do. I study others' drawings a lot and I also study anatomy a lot. once you have an understanding of anatomy you can develop your own characters/art style from that by exaggerating different features. I would recommend looking up drawings/models/etc on Pinterest and maybe making a board specifically for drawing refs.

- Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?
drawing landscapes and backgrounds is a lot like drawing characters themselves, you start with a sketch and build you way up from there. you don't need to make anything really elaborate either, sometimes just a green meadow and blue sky are good enough! or even a solid color with a pattern (like in my avatar).

- How do you find your Procreate brushes, and more importantly, how do you choose which brush you're going to use?! (I find myself afraid to try textured brushes for lining my drawings. I see you all using crayon brushes, watercolour brushes, and paint-like/gradient brushes, but I look at them and feel out of my depth!)
so I don't use Procreate, I use Clip Studio Paint. I just use the standard brushes that came with the application. I'm a big fan of texture in art (many of my old Flipnote Studio drawings have a "sketchy" look for this reason) so when I moved up to Medibang and CSP I started using a charcoal brush to draw, and a pastel brush to shade, and I absolutely love the texture it creates. I've made smooth drawings in the past and they just don't appeal to me the way that textured drawings do. charcoal and chalk are actually my favorite media to use in traditional art so that helped my decision a lot!

 

[S.J.]

I would be happy to answer your questions SJ

- I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?
when I was a kid I always loved drawing animals, that made up like 98% of what I used to draw. when I was in 5th-6th grade I started drawing Pokemon and Fakemon, using others' drawings as references. then a bit later when I started to really get into Super Mario stuff I started using the art from those games as references as well. would also like to note that I was a semi-active member of Flipnote Hatena back in 2011-2013 so I learned a lot about drawing anthro/animals from there.
basically from doing all of that I developed my own art style, and I've been working on improving it over the last decade. that's why my art style is like a kid's cartoon, because it's based on Super Mario, Pokemon, and people's cute anthro drawings lol.

- Do you have recommendations for resources, tutorials, courses, etc. to help improve semi-realistic or non-chibi character drawing?
honestly I'll tell you exactly what I do. I study others' drawings a lot and I also study anatomy a lot. once you have an understanding of anatomy you can develop your own characters/art style from that by exaggerating different features. I would recommend looking up drawings/models/etc on Pinterest and maybe making a board specifically for drawing refs.

- Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?
drawing landscapes and backgrounds is a lot like drawing characters themselves, you start with a sketch and build you way up from there. you don't need to make anything really elaborate either, sometimes just a green meadow and blue sky are good enough! or even a solid color with a pattern (like in my avatar).

- How do you find your Procreate brushes, and more importantly, how do you choose which brush you're going to use?! (I find myself afraid to try textured brushes for lining my drawings. I see you all using crayon brushes, watercolour brushes, and paint-like/gradient brushes, but I look at them and feel out of my depth!)
so I don't use Procreate, I use Clip Studio Paint. I just use the standard brushes that came with the application. I'm a big fan of texture in art (many of my old Flipnote Studio drawings have a "sketchy" look for this reason) so when I moved up to Medibang and CSP I started using a charcoal brush to draw, and a pastel brush to shade, and I absolutely love the texture it creates. I've made smooth drawings in the past and they just don't appeal to me the way that textured drawings do. charcoal and chalk are actually my favorite media to use in traditional art so that helped my decision a lot!

Oh my gosh, I love your story about how you got into art and developed your style. I've always loved your art style, especially the way you draw your OCs and bipedal animals!

I completely agree about the appeal of texture, and that's why I'm so curious about swapping my go-to smooth brush for a textured one!

Thank you so much for your detailed reply!

 

[amemome]

Here to offer my thoughts!

Q: I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?
A: I was always interested in arts and crafts. I took private drawing lessons in elementary school and some here and there private lessons throughout middle and high school. Most of my digital stuff is me just playing around with different brushes and stuff. I've never had a great grasp on color theory/ art principles, so my colors and understading of shadow and light are really rudimentary, but my main art goal is to have fun.

Q: Do you have recommendations for resources, tutorials, courses, etc. to help improve semi-realistic or non-chibi character drawing?
A: Hmm... I would say don't shy away from using 3D models or real-life objects to help you pose or compose scenes. Paper-pencil sketch-what-you-see was really helpful in helping me look at perspective, light, and shadow. I would even go as far to say you should focus mostly on drawing what you see/ using references to practice before branching into doing your own thing. For me, black-and-white shadow/light/shape practice was always super helpful. Break down complex objects into shapes that you're familiar with (like spheres and cubes) and work off that!

Q: Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?
A: Use lots of references! Also, I think Bob Ross was pretty inspirational for me. I'd watch a couple of videos to see how he composes and how he gets elements laid out on the canvas. Also if you want to work with paints, his techniques are interesting and though they don't translate 1-to-1 on a digital canvas, you can try using similar techniques and see where it gets you. But #1 is to use references. Look at pictures posted on the web, or walk down to your favorite park or landmark and try to draw exactly what you see.

Q: How do you find your Procreate brushes, and more importantly, how do you choose which brush you're going to use?! (I find myself afraid to try textured brushes for lining my drawings. I see you all using crayon brushes, watercolour brushes, and paint-like/gradient brushes, but I look at them and feel out of my depth!)
A: I honestly Googled for brushes, and downloaded the ones that looked interesting or useful. I choose the brush based on what I want to try. If I'm going for something really soft overall, I might just use the acryllic paint brush and smudge my colors. If I want to emulate the look of oil pastel on canvas, I'll use the oil pastel brush. For chibi or stylized art, I find myself using brushes with lots of line jitter or "fuzz" so it masks my horrible line control LOL.

Hmmm... if you think using textured brushes is difficult, why not try laying colors down with them first, then using a "solid" brush to sketch your lines on top? You can also try downloading canvas textures and using the Multiply feature to overlay a canvas texture onto your piece. Then, it would "make sense" to try using a paintbrush or crayon since that's kinda how you might use a real crayon or paintbrush — on a canvas!

 

[jadetine]

I had written a long dissertation response to each question, but the draft didn't save, so here it is again:

• Learning is more effective if it's fun. Approach it in a low-stakes way both passively and actively:
  • Passive methods: following your favorite artists on Instagram and YouTube
    • I like Sam Does Art's style and debunking of TikTok tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNNOvB507MRfny7Jcv8MmOw
    • https://www.instagram.com/mahou.shoujo/ has great solid lineart cel-shaded style
    • https://www.instagram.com/chenlongchung/ is my idol for flow and lineart
  • Active methods: dedicated drawing practice time with goals
    • checking "reference sheets" on Pinterest really helps me; I dedicate at minimum 15 minutes per session to sketching (because if you are not engaged after that amount to time, there's no point in forcing yourself).
    • And during sketching, it's important to observe shapes and proportions, like warrior was saying, use them eyeballs! (I like to attempt drawing and then pretend there is a grid over the reference, and compare to see if my work matches up...) GRID METHOD
      • 
• Choose the tools you will actually use; this applies to paper/pencil, ProCreate and brushes, and even reference boards:
  • sketching on paper with pencil has nice tactile feedback and you don't have to feel pressure to save or send it to anyone
  • I will say ProCreate got me into digital art, while my computer tablet just collected dust
  • Brushes: there are so many options, so I will say that taking the default brushes and raising the stability settings was where I started as a beginner
    • Most widely used for my cel-shaded work: Default Brush "Studio Pen" under Inking, with Stabilization Streamline at Amount: MAX and no other settings changed;
    • Then I tried the free JingSketch brushes but didn't like them; they are advertised everywhere; I tried it on 3 different artworks and they just weren't responsive in a way that I was comfortable with.
    • Then I loaded the instagram user Liliyth's brushes (FREE) because my lineart idol ChenlongChung uses them and fell in love: https://liliyth.gumroad.com/
      • They are each named for what they're for (Base Color Brush, Standard Sketch, etc.) -- it depends on your style you are trying to achieve.
  • Reference board: I know ProCreate allows you to load 1 reference, or you can split screen, but I prefer looking at a separate screen for my references. I used to use Powerpoint to compile everything, but someone recommended PureRef (FREE -- Enter Custom Amount $0), and I have been using it since: https://www.pureref.com/
• USE REFERENCES: no matter how simple or ridiculous, be liberal about finding references until you are more skilled at drawing, especially from imagination
  • Anatomy "Course" (really more casual discussion that I like): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflflDShjUKH4EfZyf0vuKEuqeqvlV0Qd
  • Backgrounds and landscapes in 3 minutes (made me less intimidated about backgrounds overall; search for video posts): https://www.instagram.com/derekdomnicdsouza/
  • Sources: Pinterest >>> Google Image search
• Fundamentals are KEY: perspective, proportions, color theory, light sources, composition... there's so much! Explore one at a time.

 

[S.J.]

I had written a long dissertation response to each question, but the draft didn't save, so here it is again:

• Learning is more effective if it's fun. Approach it in a low-stakes way both passively and actively:
  • Passive methods: following your favorite artists on Instagram and YouTube
    • I like Sam Does Art's style and debunking of TikTok tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNNOvB507MRfny7Jcv8MmOw
    • https://www.instagram.com/mahou.shoujo/ has great solid lineart cel-shaded style
    • https://www.instagram.com/chenlongchung/ is my idol for flow and lineart
  • Active methods: dedicated drawing practice time with goals
    • checking "reference sheets" on Pinterest really helps me; I dedicate at minimum 15 minutes per session to sketching (because if you are not engaged after that amount to time, there's no point in forcing yourself).
    • And during sketching, it's important to observe shapes and proportions, like warrior was saying, use them eyeballs! (I like to attempt drawing and then pretend there is a grid over the reference, and compare to see if my work matches up...) GRID METHOD
      • View attachment 441989
• Choose the tools you will actually use; this applies to paper/pencil, ProCreate and brushes, and even reference boards:
  • sketching on paper with pencil has nice tactile feedback and you don't have to feel pressure to save or send it to anyone
  • I will say ProCreate got me into digital art, while my computer tablet just collected dust
  • Brushes: there are so many options, so I will say that taking the default brushes and raising the stability settings was where I started as a beginner
    • Most widely used for my cel-shaded work: Default Brush "Studio Pen" under Inking, with Stabilization Streamline at Amount: MAX and no other settings changed;
    • Then I tried the free JingSketch brushes but didn't like them; they are advertised everywhere; I tried it on 3 different artworks and they just weren't responsive in a way that I was comfortable with.
    • Then I loaded the instagram user Liliyth's brushes (FREE) because my lineart idol ChenlongChung uses them and fell in love: https://liliyth.gumroad.com/
      • They are each named for what they're for (Base Color Brush, Standard Sketch, etc.) -- it depends on your style you are trying to achieve.
  • Reference board: I know ProCreate allows you to load 1 reference, or you can split screen, but I prefer looking at a separate screen for my references. I used to use Powerpoint to compile everything, but someone recommended PureRef (FREE -- Enter Custom Amount $0), and I have been using it since: https://www.pureref.com/
• USE REFERENCES: no matter how simple or ridiculous, be liberal about finding references until you are more skilled at drawing, especially from imagination
  • Anatomy "Course" (really more casual discussion that I like): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflflDShjUKH4EfZyf0vuKEuqeqvlV0Qd
  • Backgrounds and landscapes in 3 minutes (made me less intimidated about backgrounds overall; search for video posts): https://www.instagram.com/derekdomnicdsouza/
  • Sources: Pinterest >>> Google Image search
• Fundamentals are KEY: perspective, proportions, color theory, light sources, composition... there's so much! Explore one at a time.

Aaaaaa, so much great advice! And resources. And ProCreate tips.

It's strange to realise little things I do now, after reading all of you TBT artists talk about your art. I did actually start raising the stability settings when I do linework, after reading you mention it in a different thread! And I only started flipping my canvas after reading @/Aquilla mention it once.

I'll admit I haven't really been following any artists or using Pinterest enough.

Also RIP to your dissertation, but your advice is cherished!

Thank you sm to everyone who has responded so far. I am so grateful for your wisdom and I swear I will implement as much as I can handle!

 

[mocha.]

I think Jadetine hit the nail on the head with some fabulous recommendations, and I’d just like to add my 2 pence..

There’s nothing wrong with taking influence from other artists in the beginning of your journey. How do they use the programme to achieve their end product? Look closely at the tools they use, how they use them, their style of shading, lineart etc and compare it to your own. I really enjoy watching others speed painting process on YouTube and there are still things I learn today even though I’ve been drawing for years!
(It’s important to develop your own art style throughout this process as you don’t want to plagiarise other artists work, although I don’t think there is any harm in practicing for urself)

I also use Pinterest for the majority of my references/inspiration. Whether that be colour schemes, references, irl poses etc. it’s a fantastic resource!

When it comes to Chibi styles, remember that artists who focus on this as their art style have strong foundations to be able to stylise so well. This means having a strong understanding of anatomy, values, structure etc. (e.g. looking in a mirror - identifying where the light hits and where there are more shadows). With this knowledge you can then implement it into your own art style and it makes drawing a lot easier (altho difficult in the beginning stages!)

I’m just brain storming things I wished I had been told at the beginning of my art journey - my art is nowhere near where I’d like it to be but the main thing is identifying progress. I can make clear comparisons between my art in 2013 to now and there is a significant improvement even if I haven’t been able to pinpoint it over the years.
Keep at it, and the main thing is.. have fun! Experiment! Don’t be afraid to do something that scares you

 

[Plume]

I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?

Since I started as a painter, I use charcoal style brushes in Photoshop which have a painterly look to them, and I follow the same process that I would if I were working on a traditional art piece. I've been trying to challenge myself by using cleaner lines and embracing a more digital style, so I find this thread really useful!!

Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?

My usual approach is to find a photograph or several with elements that I know I want to incorporate for inspiration, but I try not to plan too much since I work better with spontaneity. Most of the time, I'll begin by putting down a bunch of shapes until they start to resemble something, and then build upon that. This can also be a good method for distant objects or landmarks like mountains and trees, where less detail is better! A good thing to remember is that objects in the distance are more grey/blue, and less in focus. I try to remember those two rules whenever I put down marks for a convincing landscape.

 

[dizzy bone]

• I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?

I went to art school so I kind of started from the foundations in an art education setting and only using traditional mediums. However, most of the skills and techniques I use in my art today (which is 90% digital) were self-taught or learned online like you mentioned, long after I graduated. I don't draw like how I did in college at all. Overtime, I naturally realised what I liked to draw and what I didn't, and that helped narrow down my style (for example, after years of drawing people I realised I HATED it and now I draw mostly landscapes and abstract stuff hahah). I have a very low attention span and I get bored easily when I draw, so it's important to me to be able to draw in a way that keeps me excited and engaged (that's why I like printmaking so much). That's not to say that having different styles is not okay and you should only stick to one style. The way you draw and the body of work you create is a sequential development. I experiment with a lot of techniques and I tend to have different styles for each. After a while you may even see these styles blend into one.

• Do you have recommendations for resources, tutorials, courses, etc. to help improve semi-realistic or non-chibi character drawing?

I teach visual arts for G1 through G8 currently, as well as a foundations drawing class. It's a very simple idea, but a good practice: learn to identify and draw from shapes, 2d forms and then 3d forms. If you feel like your outcome doesn't "look right" (if you are doing realism) it's probably because the foundation isn't correct. I spend a lot of time on the sketch portion of any piece I make. I never erase my "wrong marks" during this phase. I always keep them there so I can see how to correct it before going in and refining it. So when I teach drawing, I always teach mark making first - how to draw lightly and how to "not commit" early on. I realised a lot of my students were in a rush to make the final marks as soon as they put pencil to paper when doing realism, so I try to get them to change their thinking. This is very easy to do in digital art because your sketchy layers can always be hidden/have the opacity lowered/etc.

Also my advice would be to always take your own references. Even if you are practicing, try to practice with photos you take (poses, portraits, etc.) because other than the possibility of running into copyright issues from using other people's photographs, using your own also opens a whole range of possibilities for poses that you can't find online as well as unique lighting you can create yourself. The more you can control in your art making process, the better imo.

• Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?

I think lighting, atmosphere, and colours are what make a good landscape rather than "I can draw this tree or building well". You can make a very convincing landscape by just understanding how shapes and lighting works. I would look back at landscape painters of different time periods before you go straight into sketching from photos or life. I would practice doing spontaneous or gestural drawings (applies to both landscape and human bodies) before sitting down and trying to draw exactly what you see super accurately. Of course, knowing perspective is a huge part of landscape drawings, so that's always helpful. I personally hate perspective so I draw a lot of flat stuff but I tried to learn perspective first and how to build a space.

• How do you find your Procreate brushes, and more importantly, how do you choose which brush you're going to use?! (I find myself afraid to try textured brushes for lining my drawings. I see you all using crayon brushes, watercolour brushes, and paint-like/gradient brushes, but I look at them and feel out of my depth!)

I literally only use 4 different brushes on procreate: the HB pencil, dry ink, studio pen and bonobo chalk. I have a bank of textures I made myself by drawing or scanning in home made textures (started from way back in my college days), so I always use those rather than relying on textures from a brush. But that's just how I like to work, which usually has an order to things. You will experiment with a lot more brushes if you are more painterly. But I personally love drawing out my shapes and compositions, then sifting through my files and inserting my homemade textures or assets because the process feels more experimental and collage-like, heh.

 

[CitrusPoltergeist]

Any advice or resources on learning to draw landscapes and backgrounds?

Don't be afraid to download a brush or two to help you out! Especially with stuff like clouds. If you don't want to download a brush, I found a watercolor brush does the trick just as well for more organic shapes involving clouds, leaves on trees, etc.

Watercolor brush also helps with shading background elements.

Oh! And don't be afraid to take stuff from multiple references! Say you like how a sky looks in one picture but you dont like the mountains or the trees or a house that's there, keep that image in a separate folder (or canvas) and write something like "Sky" so you know what your taking from it. Proceed to stock up on reference images and gather them in the same area as your first reference, following the same naming process as well.

A small and quick example:

 

[Beanz]

• I'm genuinely interested to know, how did you get where you are? How did you learn to draw or paint the way you do?

i’m not that good of a digital artist tbh. i was an unsupervised 9 year old on the internet and saw a digital drawing of sonic the hedgehog, i was amazed by it and was inspired to draw just like that when i got older. i started doing digital art when i was around 13, i really just practiced by drawing characters and my ocs that i made up.

• Do you have recommendations for resources, tutorials, courses, etc. to help improve semi-realistic or non-chibi character drawing?

if you use procreate you should get an apple pencil if your ipad supports it, when i used to use procreate i just used my finger because my device was too old. if you want to draw on a computer i would suggest that you buy a drawing tablet. i have a huion 580x, it was around $40 but i don’t know if i would recommend it because sometimes it doesn’t work right away after i plug it in but i like it because of the battery less pen and the tablet is a fairly good size, not too big and not too small.

for tutorials videos i would recommend angel ganev. he’s kind of mean and swears a lot, i don’t like his attitude because i feel like he thinks that anything that isn’t realistic is crap but his videos such as his lip tutorial helped me a lot.

i really can’t give advice about backgrounds since i haven’t drawn them a lot. also can’t really give recommendations on procreate brushes because i don’t use procreate as much as i did before, i use fire alpaca on the computer. i just used the regular round brush under painting.

however i think it would be good to make a sketch request thread in the museum like i just did, where people ask you to sketch something. i chose to do it for free because i recognized that i need to improve my sketches before i charge people for full line art and colored drawings. people might ask you to draw something that you have never drawn before and if you do it for free you can’t really set people up for disappointment if it’s bad but it can take a lot of time out of your day if you’re doing really detailed sketches.