HEY GUYS THIS IS IMPORTANT YOU SHOULD READ THIS

(also hit download this is a BIG FILE)

so I figured I’d do one of those IMPROVEMENT MEME things since I was recently reminded of their existance and fuck if I have any actual art to do and I figured I may as well attempt to dissect my current art block with it.

so the original progression of my art is pretty straightforward, it goes from absolutely awful in 2007 when I’m using no references of any kind, and no digital media to use, and improves somewhat after I begin using (albeit heavily stylized) refs, practicing anatomy more, and getting access to a version of photoshop that actually works, although without a working tablet and instead opting for using the line tool, with predictable results.

the biggest visible improvement in my art was when I was 16, when I found out that the tablet I had for the past two years actually worked with my new laptop, which I then proceeded to use for the first time, to considerable improvement. Some may have attributed this to the magical powers of the tablet making my art automatically improve, and while I will admit that it had an obvious effect on my art, as it no longer had the stiffness and lack of depth that the line tool gave it, but for the first time in a long while, making a relatively completed piece was easy for me. I had more stylistic options, I could finally use pen pressure influenced tools like the Cool Kids, and I could produce something I actually enjoyed and was proud of in a matter of hours, rather then something substandard that I was hesitant to share online.

Now no shit not everything I made was a super awesome masterpiece, but I honestly thought that was of a benefit to me, I was willing then to spend half an hour on a doodle I’d throw up online rather then now where I feel I have to spend hours on a piece rendering it because I don’t want to waste an opportunity to create something super awesome and detailed, when all this has been doing for me is making creating art feel like a chore.

back then I was okay with doing some shitty quick lineart, slapping some quick colouring on it, and calling it a day, and that’s good, because I’m getting a shitton more experience from doing that a dozen times then I am sketching something, and then getting halfway done with the lineart because I’m overwhelmed with the thought of finishing it and the fifty other wips I have in my folder. I wasn’t so afraid of my lineart or colouring not having enough depth, or oh no what if theres a minor anatomy mistake, although I was still looking up to better artists, I didn’t feel so crippled by inferiority as I am now, and I wasn’t so paranoid about having the finished product absolutely perfect every time, because I was practicing little by little in my dumb little doodles.

So I guess what I’m saying is that it’s really, really important to just keep drawing, and keep getting at least something done, no matter how little confidence you have in your work. Not everything has to be a masterpiece, and while no fucking shit doing studies and using references are super important (And something I really really need to do more) Art really should be fun for you to create first of all, and not something that feels like a chore. You shouldn’t be so overwhelmed with how you want the finished product to look that you lose all enjoyment of the artistic proccess

idk theres a good chance I’m completely wrong about all of this, different things work for everyone after all, but this is what I’ve found has worked best for me in the past, and definitely something I’m going to try doing more of in the future