ART TIPS THAT ACTUALLY MAKE YOU WORSE

I honestly wish I hadn't followed so many of these when I was first learning.

∆The Unfamiliar Shirts are here!∆

[tazzredbandana]

"Stop Drawing Fan art."

Fan Art is the thing that taught me how to draw

[Nortarachanges]

I think the worst advice I’ve ever heard is “If you’ve improved at all as an artist, you should hate your old art. If you don’t hate it, you’re either not improving your skill or your eye.” And while that may be true, it really hurts when I’ve spent my life coming up with characters and creatures. My first sketches of them are like their baby pictures! I love them ^_^

[ItsMe-qmfm]

Telling an artist to not draw cartoons or anime is like telling a writer they’re not allowed to write fiction


EDIT: I’m talking about the type of teachers or people that say you can’t draw anime because THEY don’t like that style and they think it has no place in the art world and can’t get you anywhere. Not if you’re in a realism class and they rightfully say that anime in a realism class isn’t appropriate.

[CartoonyPirate]

Funny thing is, realistic drawing isn't even "the rules"

It's shapes.

[karahbrown]

I had a professor that basically didn’t like anything stylized (even though the project was suppose to be stylized) because she thought that realism was the only “correct” form of art

[toutydroid]

The worst advice was: "Real artists don't need references!".

[zmenaczzz]

I often get people saying

"You aren't from Japan, stop copying Japanese art style. Stop drawing anime"

[davekachel]

"drawing cartoons is a diffrent skill than drawing realistic"

Best quote Ive heard in a long time.

[kn_putri]

11:12
"Stop drawing fanart"

Fanartist from every Fandoms: So anyway, I started blasting.

[bejeweledbat]

I find it hilarious when people say fanart isn't real art when most classical art is fanart of the Bible

[anicz]

I remember in painting class a lot of kids just kept drawing memes. My teacher loved it

[theperil]

The "Stop drawing ____" part made me remember of a middle school teacher I had, at that time my art style was very manga inspired, and since I wasn't progressing at all, people used to tell me that I always drew the same thing, while complimenting my drawings.
I talked about it with this teacher, and he told me that my drawings looked indeed very similar, like I was drawing what people wanted me to draw. He gave me a sketching book and told me that it would mine, only to my eyes, to express myself not to show nor to fulfill others expectations, to help me with my struggles at that times. And instead of telling me to stop drawing the typical anime girl I was drawing, he told to continue to my heart's content, that when I'll get sick of it I'll naturally get out of my comfort zone to express myself with another style that would be more "myself".
It was quite a long ago now, but both his advice and the sketching book he gave me, helped me improve my art, and be happy about my creations. He left after that year and I never saw him again, although I would have love to thanks him.
It may not work for everyones, but I'm sharing this anecdote in case it helps someone who's reading this~

(Sorry for english mistakes btw, I'm a Baguette ♥)

[SequoiaSleeps]

Here’s another one: “NEVER EVER SHADE WITH BLACK IT CANT LOOK GOOD!!”
Yes, soft shading with black is a bad idea in a lot of scenarios and this is definitely a rule a lot of the time. But buddy, an important part of “learn the rules before you break them” is the “break them” bit. Because you can definitely break them. Look at American superhero comic books. Or some pop art. Or black and white pieces. etc.
This applies to a lot of stuff actually, I don’t think there’s many places in art where “never do this!” is completely solid advice.

[xingqiu]

"Stop Drawing fanart"

Renaissance/Classical Painters: Excuse me

[possiblynaya]

I think the reason everyone says 'just practice' is because they genuinely don't know how they got there. Because I still don't know how I got here.

[Deadflower]

Since I'm both a creative writer and an artist, I've noticed that a lot of bad advice can kinda be transcribed from one to the other and fall apart.

"Don't draw cartoons" sounds really silly if you translate it as "Don't write sci-fi" or "Don't write historical". "Copy photos to learn to draw" is actually hilarious when translated as "Copy books to learn to write." As for writing translated into art, some bad advice that a lot of novice writers fall into is "Make sure every word has meaning", which is like telling someone getting into art to "make sure every line is perfect". It's just unfeasible.

[chonkyhotdog]

"Stop drawing fan art"
I drew danganronpa characters, and that's how I learned body sketches, shading, proportions, faces etc. It helped me a ton.

[spudd]

“Saying to just practice is bad advice”

*_My life is a lie._*

[motelmars]

lavendertowne: “saying just practice isn’t great advice”

*the art community has left the chat*

[kateb]

I remember my art instructor (I was attending optional art classes) telling my parents that I should stop watching cartoons because my art is cartoony and I should draw realism. The problem was, I was trying SO HARD to do realism and it never was realistic enough. I was looking at other people's art and thinking "They are so great and realistic... And mine look like a kid's drawing...". Even my grandpa critisized me for my cartoon style and didn't like anything that wasn't realistic. I only recently learned that drawing cartoons is not a bad thing. So. Many. Years. Wasted. Now I'm good at neither cartoons nor realism and I have to start all over again... And to make matters worse, this instructor is STILL teaching this class. I feel so bad for those kids...