The one I follow is "don't shade with black".

Like I know how to draw. I've been drawing for years. And there are some artstyles I want to learn that I do think could improve my work so I figured I'd relearn fundamentals and work my way to there but like idk??? It's like I've never drawn at all now. Even master studying feels like a pain I'm looking at a piece I did not too long ago that does implement fundamentals and I used master studying to make and it looks rlly good so yes when I do study fundamentals everything is alluding me?? Even when I go back to the piece to add more stuff I know what to do (though I will admit it is me doing my own art of a screenshot of a character). With that said I've done original work before and it looked good.

Looking for recs on essays, books, videos, etc that hammer home creating for the sake of creating and the inherent value in making art without monetization.

I’m taking a gap year to focus on art, but I’ve been rejected from the course I wanted (OCAD) because I don’t have a portfolio. I’m looking for a course similar to it, that doesn’t require a portfolio and is only 1 year. preferably online. is it worth just getting a tutor?

I have done silver arts award and have self-studied illustration for the past few years.

So.. Originally a colour pencil artist, I went through multiple brands, discovered the world of pan pastels and mixed media, dabbled in water colour and could never master or enjoy it, tried out gansai tambi, charcoal, graphite pencil, love oil painting, hate acrylics, have played with mica pigments, fine liners, copic and tombow markers.. Basically I've tried ALOT of mediums.

Finally I've discovered gouache. After years of wanting to try it out but not wanting to spend the money, I got my hands on a few colours and I'm working on my first piece. And I love it so much!! The versatility of washes and opaque detail. The matteness. The simplicity of it.

The only downside I feel is that it doesn't have a great deal of flow, but that pushes me to work more quickly. It's loosening my style from the perfectionism of colour pencil work but also allowing me the freedom to work as much detail in as I like, which I could never quite achieve with watercolour.

I'm working with Windsor and Newton but plan to try Holbein when I expand my palette.

Just got an email that Squarespace prices are increasing. I use it for my portfolio, and need it for finding work, but the price increase is a bit much.

Has anyone found an alternative they’re happy with? Preferably that allows for a custom domain? Rather than ‘mysite . website . Com’

I just wanna take a look at them for inspiration and maybe listen to their interviews if they have ones, to learn how they think, etc.

I’ve been super interested in tonalism recently and have had a go at painting a couple of pieces in the style, but I can’t get it right. i think my colour pallet is to wide and I’m not creating a dominant mood or Tone, but im unsure of how to fix it without my paintings getting muddy.

any suggestions on how to effectively study a style and then apply it to your own pieces?

Its in the title.

Like when you're halfway through a drawing, and it's just looking bad, how do you tell if the drawing itself is just beyond hope, or that you just need to trust the process?

And if you need to just keep going, how?

In my youth, I used to draw like all the time. But I slowly fell out of it, to the degree that it is now a skill I must rediscover. I'm old, and learning is hard.

Does anyone have any tips to how to get back on the track?

Motivation is ultimately not a problem for me most of the time. I make pencil art mainly but do a little dabbling in various paints and the occasinal digital works. Recently (for about a month), I've noticed a shift in how I feel when completing artworks, more often seeing them as 'done incorrectly', 'not of a high enough quality', or occasionally, 'not me enough'. This was originally nothing big but ultimately I'm starting to see less of a point in making art if I will get nothing out of it. How long do these tend to last, and is there any way to better keep oneself producing artworks during this time?

So this question has been asked in this group before, but it was about three years ago. I didn’t see another post so I figured I’d ask it again since fresco has had some time to exist. How do we feel about fresco versus procreate?

I currently have fresco because I have the Adobe suite, and while I do like fresco it functions like an Adobe product and not always in a good way.

Pros :
-it’s great for vector art
- you can sync it to your Adobe programs (illustrator, photoshop etc)
- (pro for me) I didn’t have to pay for it. I have Adobe through work and school.
- has an animation feature for small projects.

General Cons:
- its trying to be the halfway between illustrator and a drawing app. What I mean by this is it has a lot of functions that you would find in photoshop or illustrator but they all kinda don’t work as expected if you have work in those programs. For instance if I want to add text. Why can’t I put it on a path? Also wish I could add gradients easier but I can do fills and strokes on shapes. Feels weird.
- it’s still fairly new so it feels like it still hasn’t gotten its footing.
- limited brush options. (Yes I know I can install ones for photoshop but they don’t really function as intended)

I haven’t had the opportunity to try procreate. And while I really want to, I’ve been wrestling with: do I want to pay for it. If I don’t like it I will have wasted money. I will also have to learn a new program after I just put in a lot of time to learn fresco.

I wanna hear y’all’s thoughts and opinions.

Hi i wanna be a librarian or an archivist but, i also really love making art and fanfictions at most i think id wanna run a patreon or make indie animations so i could make whatever i wanted but, i also want just one kid someday i wonder if all my dreams are doable or realistic. I am also polyamorous which makes me happy. Im scared im dreaming too big sometimes all of them seem doable? I could use an opinion.

Can anyone recommend me some art streamers that aren't furries and who don't do nsfw? Pikat and Rinspirit are the only ones I know.

Ideally someone who draws characters/people but not photorealism.

This is something I struggle with the most and have no idea on how to start, whenever I attempt to draw a backround it looks really off, landscapes and backrounfs that aren't just landscapes, but ESPECIALLY if it's not a landscape backround, and how do i figure out if it's okay and hoe big everything I'd supposed to be? And I have also no idea how to figure out where the horizontal line and vanishing points are on backround pictures

As the title says hahahaha. I get that it has a vulnerability aspect to show what you've made, and despite getting positive feedback, it still feels rather embarrassing somehow.

Hello. First time poster, not sure if it's allowed honestly. I've been learning art for the past three years and got to the point where I'm losing motivation. Nothing is coming out how I imagined. So I was wondering if that is common for anyone and how to solve it.

I applied four coats of gesso and sanded the last coat, so I ended up with a pretty smooth surface. I wanted to do a master copy, and I’m just starting to learn oil painting. Now I’m worried that the surface isn’t suitable and might be too smooth. Is this a problem? Should I try to fix it somehow?

Hi everyone, looking for some artist-perspective - am new here so lmk in case I break community rules - also rather non-art background / hobbies, so curious to learn here!

I am rather technical, rather poor drawing skills. But am creative, pretty vivid, image-rich imagination & mental models. Regularly get art-inspired.

I started a new hobby - designing watchfaces for smartwatches - its functional. Millions of people look at their watch dozens times everyday, so I thought lets get creative & do "crazy" ideas as well, not just boring digital watches.

Got a nice input making doodled watchfaces for example & just working on a series showing open-domain artworks on watchfaces. However, I'm looking for rather "wild" ideas - almost anything can be made on a smartwatch!

What comes to mind? How would you approach such a field, get inspired, develop novel ideas? I feel all ideas that come stem from a treasure trove of inputs I collected over my life - guess its the same for everyone? But is there a way to truly get new inputs? Would love to get some of you (if thats possible - or any are top of mind!).

some ideas:

- spirograph: the old pen & plastic gears that generate patters on rotation.. add such a watchface that generates new patters everyday & reminds one of childhood toys (at least for millenials!)

- pixel weather (rather basic?) - pixel weather & time of day lighting conditions, dynamic, pixel art

I'm looking for wild ideas, the further off the better (I think!)

Thanks for sharing & hope thats an ok discussion to have here!

It's this inevitable time that I have to make an art portfolio and I decided to give Carrd a try. However whatever image I import turns out blank/black. They are jpegs which is in the accepted formats. Anyone know how to fix this? Or has a free alternative? Sorry if it's a dummy question but I couldn't find a solution online.

I’ve been invited to meet with a small local art gallery about my work. But my stuff is a little all over the place. I primarily do performance art, and I have an idea for a performance installation that can go on for as long as I have the stamina. I also have some more story-based acts, a good amount of photography, writing, and a couple very elaborate costume pieces with a lot of heavy symbolism. All this stuff was made in different contexts so I don’t have an artist statement that ties it all together.

So I’m just not sure how to prepare. What can I expect them to ask? Is there anything I should bring?