Hi there,

What thoughts and feelings do you have around sharing your art?

Do you consider it a necessity so others can see it, as otherwise it has no purpose? Or a necessity to make a living?

I feel like there is a bit of truth in both, but then again, it seems like people are forced to share due to algorithms and such, to sustain themselves.

It seems like we're living in a time where the "sharing" part has become more important than the "creating" part.

What are your thoughts on it?

I've been learning art on my own for about 1.5 years now, but I've never really had a proper learning program or structured path. I've mostly just practiced whatever I felt like learning at the time — drawing, watercolor, gouache, acrylics, different subjects, etc.

I feel like I've learned a lot compared to when I started, but lately I feel really stuck. I'm practicing, but I don't feel like I'm progressing as much anymore, and I'm starting to realize that I might be missing some important fundamentals or simply don't know what I should be focusing on next.

My goal isn't to become photorealistic. I'm especially interested in traditional / digital fantasy, psychedelic and imaginative art, but I also want to build the fundamentals properly so that I can actually create the things I have in my head.

For artists who have been through something similar:

How did you structure your learning?

What fundamentals would you recommend focusing on at my stage?

Would you recommend following a course/program, or creating my own curriculum?

How do you know what to practice next when you don't have a teacher?

Basically, I'm looking for a roadmap rather than just randomly practicing and hoping I'll eventually improve. 😅

Thank you 🥲

Recently just started attempting to do art with graphite and charcoal for the medium and I'm getting okay results just trying and experimenting on my own.

But I want to see what I can do to do better

Firstly, I want to preface this by saying I apologize for making this kind of post - I imagine the whole "Am I too late to start drawing?" question must come up often in spaces like these.

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If you don't know what MtG (Magic: The Gathering) is, it's basically a fantasy-based trading card game like Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon where you cast spells and play cards - and these cards have some really kick-ass arts. My personal favorites are those of Progenitus and Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale. They're very cool. I had gotten into the game a little over a year ago at this point, and since I have actually been meaning to take up drawing for quite some time now, I thought of a very ambitious goal for myself when I was scrolling through card arts earlier today: become a Magic: The Gathering artist.

There's just a problem: I'm already 21, I haven't drawn since middle school, and I'm pretty sure you gotta be at the peak of your abilities to be drawing for these guys.

At this point in my life, I just don't quite know if it's worth the time and effort to pursue this goal, since I've already chosen something else as my major besides art. That, and I'm pretty sure you've gotta have a crazy-ass stacked portfolio to actually become one of these artists. So I have to ask, since you all are much more experienced than I am, and are more familiar with making art than me: Just how much time and effort will have to go into making art of this caliber?

Thank you for any and all that take the time to answer, and have a nice day 🙏

Hi all,

I hope this is the proper thread for this question:

I'm new to painting and I want to be bold and stretch a canvas. I'm looking at the stretcher bars from blick (lemme know if there's a better way outside of blick) and just to be clear, whatever size I choose I need two bars of each length. Like if I wanted a 24x36, I would need 2 24" bars and 2 36" bars? As well some support for the middle once you hit certain sizes. This seems self explanatory, but I need to ask the stupid questions just to be sure. Thanks

So I rock climb and when I look at a specific climb, I can see what moves I have to do. How do I do this when I draw? If I look at a reference photo, them draw it, and it looks bad, how can I tell exactly what about it is wrong? Not sure if it matters what art style, but I want to draw anime

i’m no expert in painting whatsoever so if a brush like this is a well known thing i apologize in advance. but i find myself often thinking about this spongebob episode when painting and literally wishing i had a paintbrush like this (see in comments). i’ve tried to cut the bristles on a few of mine to get it close but no luck. like i need the finest paintbrush ever. literally want it to be like painting with a fine tip pen. anyone know of any recommendations??

Personally, I feel like I draw more when I place myself outside like at a cafe with my digital art supplies/traditional art supplies. When I'm at home, I like to tell myself that I'll cozy up in bed and get my art supplies to draw, and sometimes I manage it for a few mins, but I always end up getting to relaxed and start browsing the internet.

What about you? What makes you draw more when you are either outside of your home or inside your home?

I got Amsterdam Standard acrylic paint (yeah, was probably irresponsible to get such good paints at the start). I got them because they have a CMY system of base colors, and I really liked the mixing. When it came to actually grabbing a brush and applying the paint to the paper (I have about medium-hardness synthetic brushes), I was frustrated that what feels like a hefty load of paint on the brush is barely enough for 2-3 good strokes, then it begins streaking significantly (well, like a dying alcohol marker).

Will I significantly benefit from getting a different material/hardness brush, do I need more/less water, or is this just a skill issue?

I did a panting in acrylic pens on canvas and I wanna pit it on my shop to sell but I need to seal it. Its my first time working with then ans ive never sealed anything in my life. I also have a cat so I cant use spray. Does anyone know of any good stuff to use to seal it?

A while ago I saw Karl Kopinsky post a process vid on IG where he was drawing with 2 pens/pencils at the same time, and since then I've seen multiple videos from different artists using the same technique (Karl in particular seems to really like drawing this way).

Is there any real reason to do this? Is it faster? Does it force you to loosen up and thus approach the drawing in a different way or focus on different aspects of the drawing? Or is it just a flex? I tried a Google search but all I found was people being told to do it for therapeutic reasons, so I'd love to hear what you guys think.

I’ve been drawing for about two years, but I have rather low self-esteem within the art community because I realize that drawing is a struggle for me; I really want to like my own art, and I am trying to learn

It really upsets me that drawing is hard for me

When I was in high school and college, I loved drawing even though I wasn’t very good at it. I didn’t care that it lacked any fundamental skills and was cringe. Drawing just brought me joy anyways. I couldn’t stop. I’d draw in the margins of all my notes, during classes, between classes, and any time I could. I frequently spent time during lunch and after school in the art classroom.

My addiction for drawing started to get in the way of my studies though, and when I entered college (non-art degree) I decided to stop all together so my grades wouldn’t suffer. I intentionally squashed my creativity. I resisted every urge to draw, thinking it was would be worth it. I threw away all my old drawings and any notes with doodles. I mercilessly smothered that part of myself.

Problem is, it worked too well. I’m 40 and well out of school and have long since wanted to pick up my old habit and nurture it. But it just doesn’t seem as joyful as it used to. I fear I’ve too effectively killed that whimsy and creative spark I used to have. When I do draw, I’m so concerned about improving and making it look good that I don’t have as much fun as I used to. I don’t like the end results of my drawings, even though they are much improved from my high school days.

Can I get my joy for drawing and creativity back? How do I get less hung up on the end result and just enjoy the process again, like I used to? I really want to love it again, I just don’t know how.

I have been working on a comic for awhile now in blender, but I don’t know what software I should use to assemble the finished renders into panels with speech bubbles and narrator dialogue, etc. Is there some kind of ready made software that has ready made assembly tools for comics like this? Or am I better off just using a general photo editing tool. Also a separate semi related question, when I do finish this comic is there really good places I should post it to get the most traction? Thanks!

I’m wanting so bad to take art and get a degree while getting my other degrees. The colleges near me non of them offer art. Any ideas or good online colleges with degrees?

Hello random question I honestly only have a interest at getting better at art only drawing in pocket sketchbooks but I’m trying to understand if that stunting me from improving. I’ll draw in other sketchbooks if I really feel like it but I just want to be able to do it at a smaller scale because I enjoy having a book that’s easily portable but since I want to draw characters, scenes from my daily life, or just practice idk if I’m actually holding myself back or not

Ive had an idea to do 6 small square canvas art works and make them into a cube light. I'm planning to prime them with transparent gesso. Has anyone here got experience with backlighting through canvas? Any tips to get a good even backlighting? Should I run strip lights along the borders to hide the "hot spots" of light, or put 1 cfl light in the middle?

I used Ibis paint for a while but I want to switch to a different app, I use a iphone and I have no money so is there any good free apps that you guys use?

it is hard for me to do studies without structure so i’m looking for courses (free or paid, preferably free lol) that have really helped level up one’s art of people/characters. things such as digital painting/rendering, anatomy, poses, shadows/light, etc.

id love to hear if anyone has any suggestions! i just really need structure lol.

the only course i know of is drawabox and it’s a little too back to basics for my needs right now

Hello! I’m planning on painting with acrylic on a 20 x 20 wooden board. I’m not very experienced, but my tentative plan is to cover the board with a coat of white gesso primer, sketch out my design lightly in regular graphite pencil, then one coat of acrylic paint for the background, then the rest of the painting. After it dries I’m planning to apply a layer of satin varnish.

I would appreciate any pointers or suggestions on whether this sounds good or if I should change anything! Thank you :)

...and I live in Scandinavia, meaning it will be below freezing for a couple of months each year.
Can the canvasses and paint tolerate freezing temperatures?
Would love to hear some experiences.
Happy painting!
edit: I mainly use acrylics, oil sticks and oil pastels

i wanna pursue art as just a hobby , is 18 too old to start
also i would be grateful if you all could suggest me some tips to get started with ballpoint pen art

like it is very cool , the ball point pen art landscapes , caricatures

i wanted to start earlier but didn't but better late than never

I will soon be travelling by air and, as I’m new to soft pastels, I’d like to know how to pack and travel with them. I have two small sets in original cardboard. Are their specific cases recommended for travel? Carry on only, I presume? Thanks so much.