8 Replies

--The nice thing about art is that it costs very little to start out. Just pencil and paper. You can make great stickers with sharpies and USPS labels.

--Some people like to keep a sketchbook, other people are more comfortable with loose sheets (you can always collate the ones you want to keep later). The most important thing is to find paper you're comfortable with. In school they made us draw on newsprint and I *hated* it. I used to like copy paper and my dad's ledger paper -- it turns out that back then it was made with cotton, so no wonder. Five Below has surprisingly decent sketchbooks for the price - give the paper a feel. Notebook paper, graph paper, whatever. Those sketch-a-day books are fun. Some thrifts have amazing vintage notebooks.

--You don't have to show anything to anyone. Or you can show everything to everyone. You're in charge.

--Copying is a perfectly valid way to learn. If you're nervous about it put "after [artist]" or whatever on the sheet. Tracing is a good way to learn how to break down an image into its component masses. As long as you don't post it as yours, it's fine.

--Date your drawings so you can go back and watch yourself grow.

--Some how to draw books are much, much better than others, and unfortunately it's a genre that really likes to squeeze young people for money but teach them nothing. Hit the library before you start tossing money on them. If a book has been in print for 30 years, there's probably a reason. It is also totally okay to start with little kid drawing books to get comfortable.

--Propelling pencils are fine if you hate sharpening or are on the road, though they handle a bit differently from regular pencils.

--Nobody told me this until I was in my @#$%ing 30s, so I will tell you now: If you draw a comic, first write the lettering and then draw the balloons around it. So much easier. So much.

hii wifeeee gehehehhe...

ok the tips i have!! ((they might suck bad))

1. dont compare yourself to other artists!! it can ruin confidence!

2. use some refs! it helps more than you realize!!

3. take your time! rushing can make things a bit sloppy!! ((thats okay tho!! :3))

ily wiifeee gehehehhehe....

My biggest piece of advice would be to just draw a lot and finish pieces, even if they're not perfect, because you learn a lot by going through the whole process of completing a drawing. Also all artists reference, trace, copy, its how you learn. As long as you aren't taking credit for others work, you're ok.

Also just my opinion but don't jump into requests or commissions too soon, I've seen a lot of new artists burn out from that. When you're getting started it's best to just draw the things you like to get the basic skills down.

these are all sadly just my opinions,,

PLEASE don't rush it. art takes time, don't start drawing chins and other things so fast, I still draw circle heads and I've been drawing for SEVEN YEARS.

and don't smudge a lot, a lot of new drawers smudge their drawings a lot, but I think it looks trashy.

also also if you see a f2u base you really like, start tracing over it and using it, just don't say its yours. I used to do this a year or two ago and it helped my artstyle grow.