5 EASY TIPS FOR INSTANTLY IMPROVING YOUR DIGITAL ART

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Hey friends! Here are some of my quick tips on instantly improving your digital art. I was struggling with this painting and realized that all the tricks I used for getting through the art block could be super useful to you as well!

SOCIAL STUFF

[SaraTepes]

On my point about copying other artists' color palettes, I believe I didn't properly explain what I meant. I stand by my point. When I meant "don't copy other artists' color palettes", what I meant was color picking from their painting. The exact shades in the highlights, shadows, nuances in the skin, clothing, hair. On the point of "you can't own a color palette", yes you can. Companies can copyright colors or color palettes as they appear on their products. The UPS brown has a copyright against any other carrier company using the same color. McDonalds has its red. Milka's color scheme is copyrighted in Europe against competitors. If you take this concept from design and apply it to paintings, I could hypothetically take out a signed copyright for the palette of a painting I've created against any duplication in another painting. This doesn't apply to a simple color palette, for example-- a lime, pink, and blue. But if you color pick the exact shades from an artist's painting, the exact limes, pinks, and blues, and use those tones similarly in your own painting, you are in fact using THEIR palette.

I also don't agree with this comment being elitist. In the same way that we have plagiarism laws against taking snippets of lyrics or songwriters' melodies, artists' work should be protected. Every original artwork an artist creates immediately has a copyright in their name-- you don't have to actually pay for or legally get paperwork for your copyright. Imagine how much harder it would be for you to be consistently color picking from other artists' works, investing time into your paintings and not actually making conscious choices about your color schemes, and then trying to get a freelance or contracting job with a larger company. My advice is based on my own experiences building up my style and skills. I have been completely self-taught, and the few paintings that I had directly color picked from when I was in my early teens, I haven't ever posted since they are not my original concept. If you color pick the same shadow tones and highlight tones from another painting in your own, you are ultimately not going to be making conscious choices with your color picking, ultimately stunting your growth. Whether you agree with this advice or not, I'm speaking as someone who has worked on multiple commercial commissions and knows what clients like and don't like. A high-paying client is ultimately going to want you to create as original of a piece as possible and will be very wary of stepping over any other creator's intellectual property.

The reason I don't believe that my recommendation of taking colors from photographs or media stills is also "stealing" or copying is because any live-action camera work will have millions of different pixel colors on the canvas/screen based on lighting conditions and reflections. I'm also assuming that you liked a couple of colors in the still and would be utilizing them in an original way (not directly copying both the palette and imagery). For example, you could see a still of the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, and love the combination of purple, red, and pink. This palette isn't copyrighted when it comes to a digital or traditional painting. The movie could take out a copyright infringement against another filmmaker replicating the shot, colors, and color correction. However, if you as an artist isolate those three colors and come up with a wholly original painting idea, introducing other tones and nuances into your piece, you are just taking inspiration rather than copying. It is much harder to directly copy from another creative medium than the one you are using. This was a concept talk to me in design school when it came to taking inspiration for my design projects. Every professor would ask for a mood board but would ask for a diversity of media in that mood board so that the inspiration could be more broad and vague rather than topical.

I can make a full video with examples on this topic if you're interested! Thanks for reading x

[JessieNebulous]

I was with you until the "don't copy color palletes" part. Colors can't be owned, and palettes can easily end up being similar just from following basic color theory. Your art is great, but maybe you should revisit what you consider art theft if you think artists in any way can "own" a palette.

[pixel-]

I have to disagree on the color thing, it’s completely fine to take inspiration from other peoples art rather than just photos and the old masters. And it sure as hell isn’t cheating. Work smarter, not harder.

[ScottyHeSavage]

If you're an artist and you get upset about someone using something as silly as your color palette, you get triggered way to easily. It's just a color palette. Me personally if someone is using my color palette I'll take it as a compliment.

[razxberrie]

do you think you can show us how to edit our images after we finish illustrating, i feel that’d help me a lot. sometimes my images look at bit dull after post because I don’t edit them at all

[shim]

I think the color palette thing is a bit extreme. It can be problematic when someone copies the color palette along side another aspect of a certain work making both pieces way too similar, but colors aren't owned by anyone. If anything, I think the reason NOT to copy a color palette is for the artists own benefit in improving their skill when picking out cohesive colors. Using colors from a photo/painting or generated online isn't bad though. That within itself can also teach the artist when studying. Just my opinion~

[lovepenelope]

1. Begin with a sketch that you love.
→ Use flowy lines rather than hard lines.
2. Use as many layers as you want.
3. Use a colour pallete from a photo that inspires you.
4. Stop when you're feeling frustrated or have been focusing on one detail/area.
→ If you've been overworking an area, erase that area or make a new layer on top and colour block then add details.
→ Take a look at your sketch to see if your proportions are correct.
→ Step back and analyze what's going wrong.
5. Don't be afraid to blur out/cover out details that you've worked hard on.

[TheEpicMeli]

Been doing digital art for 13 years, freelance artist as a job for 8.

I've never felt compelled to copy a colour palette from someone's art myself, nor have I done it.

However, also wanted to say no one owns a colour palette. That bit sounded a bit weirdly elitist to me. If someone is creating an entirely new piece of art, who is it hurting to use colours that you don't own?

Awesome video otherwise!

[osaover]

this is so helpful as i'm starting to seriously take up digital arts as a hobby <3 since i usually don't draw traditionally on my free time

[disappointed]

Was enjoying the video until you mentioned ''copying'' a color palette. I'm sorry, but nobody owns color palettes: the fact that some colors go better together than others is universal color theory and nobody should claim ownership over that lol.

[filelps]

I have to say i disagree when it comes to not using another artists colour pallet. You're maybe the first person i've heard actually saying this? like my professors who work in the industry never advised this and if anything have told us to seek pallets we like in order to learn. Of course learning isn't just using the eye drop tool, but like tracing and heavily referencing art, it can help develop your skills (though with these i'd never advise to post online/claim as your own works) Colour is just.. colour? Nobody owns colours or colour pallets even if some artists are known specifically for them. Because those artists are not the only artists who developed their pallets on their own.
I see no difference with using a pallet already created, to learning about colour theory in order to get to that point where you'd have a colour pallet that's the same as some other art work. The only thing here is that one, one person has learned and two, the other hasn't gone through that process. The end result is still the same, because it's just colour.

I'm not denying that going the eye dropped route will maybe take you longer to learn, but to put some type of.. ethics to it? as if you don't respect an artist by using their pallet? It just seems like a very strange stance for someone to take (and as someone else has said.. pretty elitist) simply because the artwork you're using the pallet from, 100% has another piece somewhere else on the internet with the same pallet.

[keepyourshoesathedoor]

I think you made a good point originally then in your comment. It makes sense. I wouldn’t call it copying but more so, not receiving a relationship with color nor learning how to create values with said color palette.

I don’t think it’s inherently bad for artists to do that because in a traditional setting, most artists do masters studies and copy the heck out of particular artists at the beginning of their career yet halfway through, they start really developing their studies and aesthetics to really learn how to do their own art. I think what you’re talking about is no different.

As well, a piece of work is not the same as a company like McDonald’s or Amazon. Restricting historically known palettes like Zorn palette or the primary palette would be completely useless and actual hinder a lot of artist’s art because those palettes help students of art develop their own ideas of color mixing and color choice and seeing what works. It’s inherently problematic.

Again, I can understand not wanting people to copy you or other artists but in mean time they won’t.

[SosiCreatesArt]

Sorry if this comes across too aggressive but I’ve actually seen people start fights about how this or that artist “stole” their color palette and it’s really annoying when people act like that’s a real thing
People don’t own colors, if someone limits themselves to a certain palette and makes it part of their “style” to be “recognizable by the palette” that’s sorta on them, if a color palette is the only defining thing about someones art and the only thing that makes it good then Theyre not a good artist, and they still don’t own colors or palettes
Again not tryna fight but I’ve seen people get extremely pressed about others color picking from their art as if their colors are the secret Krusty krabs recipe……

[hyejuwolff]

Love ur art! But as the others talking about the color pallets, I have to agree… no one really owns a color..

[Scarletmoul]

I really love that people like you give their tips for their drawings, it helps us improve, thank you☺️🥞

[ArtofLuba]

I disagree about the color palette. There are plenty of art challenges out there, like "Draw this in your style, " which encourage palette copying. We all copy each other subconsciously, and all art is derivative... so.. eh? Copying a palette from a movie is the same thing as copying a palette from someone else's art. It doesn't matter tbh.

[farsawirart]

Super solid advice and beautiful painting as well! I love the way you contrast the warm and cool tones and how the saturation of the warm tones draws you to the face right away

[Kiki-rogg]

Thank you for the video!!

notes on the video(the 5 tips):

1. Use the brush you want during the sketch layer. Using a softer/defused will help you blend the sketch into the final piece. Use loose flowy lines, use your entire arm pivoted from the elbow and not the wrist.

2. Use as many layers as you want for your sketch. You can use a smaller brush size on another layer with the lower layer's opacity turned down to refine your sketch to your liking.

3. Use a colour pallet from a photo that inspires you. Pinterest, Unsplash, movies. You shouldn't use the colour palette from another artist because it is more like copying. (As in colour picking specific shades from another artist work, not general clours.) Unless it is from the old masters or if you got permission.

4. Stop if you aren't satisfied with your render (if you are overworking one area).
Why it's not working: You are hyper-focusing on the details of one area and not colour blocking anymore.
Option 1: If you just can't draw this area you can erase that area and restart. Start by colour blocking shapes then add details.
Option 2: Take a look at your sketch and see if the proportions are wrong to begin with. Use a reference! Doesn't have to be pretty pictures, it can be pictures of yourself.

5. Don't be afraid to blur out or cover details. If they don't tell the story or take the attention away from the focal point blur them. Add motion blurs, gaussian blurs, prism blurs. Even with the blurs in, you can still kind of tell there was a lot of details there.

[mjpete]

Sweet video and wonderful tips! I started to chuckle at your layers tip! I remember my computer freezing after adding to many layers in Photoshop! I believe my limit was just 6 with my first Mac it only had 16 MB of Ram and I had to save constantly but even then if it detected to many layers it just froze. I was so excited to purchase an 8600 tower and I was a bit of a braggart to my computer club as I had dug down and got 448MB of Ram to allow me to go crazy and used over 15 layers in Photoshop 4.0.1! You are truly inspirational and such a delightful young lady. Thank you for sharing your art journey with us.

[mywe.]

This is one of my favourite pieces you've done.