UNHINGED ART ADVICE (that actually works)

from the twisted mind of...me...some art tips that may get the art police after me. okay it's not that crazy but seriously, some of these things I avoided for a long time because I was worried it was cheating or something???

∆ My book Unfamiliar is available here! -
∆ Thank you to Amarante for providing a good portion of the music! Listen to them below:

[sansprobus]

So excited to learn the dark arts, especially from the girl who made me start drawing at all.

[livefromisolation]

lavendertownes 'evil' art types being 'be kind to yourself' and 'art is supposed to be fun to make not kill you' is really on brand i love it <3

[sigamigs]

That copy and paste tip is so useful for webcomics and stuff. No need to draw the same thing over and over again.

[LabraDoodleDraws]

I’m an artist that started taking art seriously 4-5 years ago; but I didn’t do the traditional studying, I didn’t study anatomy, no color theory until this year, no style studies to figure out how I get the look I want, I just drew what I loved allll the time! I did art challenges like Inktober and Mermay, but I just drew what I liked! And yes, it took me much longer to gain skills, and I’ve had to unlearn some things like improper anatomy, but I know if I forced myself to study I would’ve grown to hate it

[seren]

Also to add on the artists who specialize drawing one gender or drawing a fandom or whatever, I would say just don't be rude to the artist if they choose to shift gears. Too often I see people so very angry when an Artist drew something for months and suddenly find a new interest that sparks them anew.
Let them indulge as they should, just unfollow if you don't like it. Or stick around, you might find new love in this artist's new muse.

[orikage]

This is scary because I ALWAYS crop out the weird parts of my drawing 😭 Glad to know it’s not taboo

[MaiaEmpyrean]

I think it's okay to "cheat" sometimes, like when they're something you absolutely don't know how to draw it's okay to trace, or use an image as a background. That's how you learn. But it shouldn't be a crutch, and when you trace you should give credit.

[Aviedya]

My biggest "forbidden" art tip is that tracing things that you have the rights to is completely fine. 3D models, your own photos, even free-to-use stock photos. Trace those hands. Hell, I make a lot of very simple 3D models for objects I know I'm going to be drawing a lot, just so I can easily trace it from whatever angle I want in CSP. You don't have to go through the whole pain olympics of "being a real artist so you draw everything yourself". Tracing is industry standard, too.

[MillieBee]

For your last art tip, when I was at school a girl in my art class started furiously erasing her drawing while her friends screamed in horror. My teacher told them off, because that girl was being brave and letting go of her art so she could create something better. I love that he encouraged the artist to do what she felt was right and not cave to their pressure. Years later, Drawfee started the "DELETE YOUR ART" meme and I couldn't be happier. xD

[yuzurudropa]

Once I did a commission, and I couldnt get myself to draw the commission, so I ended up making an entire new drawing just for myself so that I got to draw something I wanted. And after I did that, i managed to draw the commission afterwards

[Blackrosealchemist]

That Perfect Blue fanart at the end tho tho ♥️😭🙏🏻

The tips were great! I would have loved to see some of these brought up during my art journey, thank you for speaking up about some of these unpopular art tips! I couldn’t agree more with the copy paste and crop methods! I also use objects within the piece to hide things I couldn’t get to my liking!

[Ghost]

Some of my dark arts advice I find helpful for both myself and my students (many, if not most, of which are beginners) is that you don’t need a whole repertoire on how to draw certain things. It’s more important to know how to start your process so that you will be able to figure out how to draw anything. Copying and tracing get more of a bad rap than they deserve. Copying and tracing are good ways to learn, as long as you don’t rely on them in the long run. Mimicking others who have more experience is how we learn any other skill, like music, sports, writing, dancing, etc. Art is the same way. And don’t draw every single detail that ain’t necessary. Don’t draw every leaf on a tree, or brick on a building, or weave on fabric, or every strand of hair. It’s a trap that will overwhelm you. Simplify first before adding details where necessary.

My favorite thing is when a student comes up to me and they say they messed up and don’t know what to do. I get excited because then we can work together to figure it out and it gives me a chance to say, “You failed on your first try. Good, you’re supposed to. You’ll be better on your second try.” You can see them visibly relax when they are essentially given permission to mess up.

[Yeehawyee]

Def agree with the last one!!!! Cropping your art can give your art a whole new story and even make your composition better at times!!!

[asimp]

i just lovee this art style its so simple and cute, lavendertowne is the literal reason i got better at art

[ladymanga]

"Delete your art" is a tip I learned from the Drawfee crew that has made it so much easier to remind myself that I don't have to keep trying to fix something that isn't working.
I'm doing cad modeling for jewellery design and have come to realise that sometimes it's faster to just delete and start again rather than try to troubleshoot why this specific thing isn't working the way I expect it to and breaking my workflow.

[PlaceHolder]

The draw what you like one is so true though. I'm a furry (if you couldn't tell by the pfp lol). I've only been drawing for like 8 months or so, but i feel like I've improved a lot since then. Drawing what I like has helped me a lot with anatomy, proportions, poses and even bacgrounds more recently. As I heard one time "combine what you like with practice"; draw what you want, but challenge yourself while doing so.

[Itsy_Bitsy]

Something that I really love about art is that nothing is a mistake. You can create anything you want and will be acceptable.

[kingofallhallowseve]

I wanna thank you so much. Your channel made me realize that doing digital art as my job would make me miserable. Your art school breakdown helped me realize that SCAD wasn’t the place for me, especially with the price. I feel way less guilty about doing these things. I just want to thank you for both teaching and inspiring me

[nimthedragon]

another thing to the last one: what helps me sometimes - next to putting the artwork down for a bit - is sending the current work in progress to a friend or mutual, and sometimes that alone will help me spot mistakes or things that don't look quite right. Or if I go back into the chat throughout the day and look at the drawing again, I can do it with fresh eyes again and again. Also it'll usually be smaller than in the fullscreen drawing programm, which helps especially with composition mistakes. Or simply having a conversation on what you like and don't like about it.

[milknhoneyhoney]

Love the Perfect Blue illust on the last one!! 🖤 This is seriously great advice though, I personally get some comments sometimes for only drawing feminine characters, but that’s what i love to draw!!! Maybe if i feel inspired to draw some more masculine figures i will, but I draw what i enjoy 💖