How Do You Improve Your Art Style?

[Guest Samurai_Kid]

I like drawings. I want to draw. I'm a writer, I want to be an author, but drawings can express your characters in ways words cannot.. Plus it helps me make sure I keep the same designs, and fanart is awesome.

However I draw like a toddler old.

I've known five year olds who draw better then me. I remember back in art class in elementary, everyone drew better then me and I think a few kids questioned what I was drawing; Don't they look like people though?

Those drawings I made.. I dunno, in late September of this year. It's a more simple style from my usual, but my more "advanced" style is worse. That one actually looks cute..

But it stinks. A lot.

It's been that way for years; No amount of practice helps it.

[JJ]

You can buy books that will help practice and train your hand so that you can become a better craftsman. But you can lose the "cuteness" and spontaneity too.

It's up to you. Most cities offer some sort of art program periodically. They can be a very good place to learn drawing skills. They can improve your drawing but art is in the expression of your heart and something that comes from within. Techniques can be taught. Art can't.

John

[Guest Melanie Dawn]

Tons of practice! draw form life. Go outside and draw something, if it's too cold stay in and do so. Books are good for basics, but just practice practice.... as one of my instructors at the Savannah College of Art and Design used to say as we left class everyday... "Draw, draw draw".

Melanie Dawn

[Guest Samurai_Kid]

I don't want any help though.

A lot of artists don't use help, so why should I? Plus I've tried, and I still draw the same.

[Guest ~Brenda~]

I don't want any help though.

A lot of artists don't use help, so why should I? Plus I've tried, and I still draw the same.

That is where you are very mistaken. I personally know some very famous artists. Art requires a lot of work. One may be born with talent, but one must practice and work to improve technique to be able to express their art.

Help? Yes, indeed all artists needed help from teachers to improve their God given gift.

Many times I am in Manhatten going to one of my friends gallery opening. If you are serious about Art, you can PM me and we will talk.

Brenda

[Guest Elizabeth K]

That seems a bit strange. You ask for help and then say you don't want help. It's like saying you want to play the violin but don't want anyone to teach you how.

I am an artist - and I have a lot of talent, but I STILL have had art training - four years of it.

Lizzy

[Guest DawnK]

I never pass up a chance to learn something new about things that interest me. And I'm thinking about signing up for art classes at the college where I work just to learn more. You never know when you'll be able to use it or teach someone else. Like I used to tell my Boyscouts, I guarantee that you will use everything you learn in life, even if it's just to teach someone else who may take it and do wonderful things with it.

DawnK

[Guest iCb]

Ima be a broken record and reiterate what's been said, lots of practice, maybe take some classes, etc. Personally I started out learning from tutorials and resource material pulled off the net.

On another note, try a pencil.

[Guest Cynthia Of Creation]

well its learning like people you gotta learn porpotions, practice a lot to get better control, pressure aplied with drawing tool, angle, thats why they say draw draw draw, take a picture and just try drawing it.

like for people there is the connect the dots,

were you lightly put dots on the page to help with placement like for lips eyes etc.

[Guest Melanie Dawn]

well its learning like people you gotta learn porpotions, practice a lot to get better control, pressure aplied with drawing tool, angle, thats why they say draw draw draw, take a picture and just try drawing it.

like for people there is the connect the dots,

were you lightly put dots on the page to help with placement like for lips eyes etc.

Also, most things (especially people) can be broken down into simple shapes... that's also a good way to start. Think abstractly... look at your subject in terms of what shapes make it up.

Melanie Dawn

[Guest meagan]

I am naturally talented as an artist. It is just something i could always do. Even so, it still takes a lot of practice. When i was a kid i would write page after page after page of the letters, "O,I and H". Once i mastered those letters in crisp clean circles or straight lines, i moved up to doing them just as many times in large and very large. The bigger you go the more you need to change how you use your wrist and as much as a full arm, to even just a full body back and forth action. After that, i would go out and run my hand over the surfaces of things to understand the curves and remember them. then Watch the light and shadows as the sun moved to understand the value of depth, the change of colors. All that was just the start. IN recent years i moved into bodies and faces and you can find my post around here with some of my paintings if ya want a look see. After all the practice, then it comes down to mood, interpretation etc. Remember also that art is not so much about perfection as much as it is about emotion, feeling, interpretation etc.

Other things i practiced a lot. Drawing with my left hand so i could make age rewound looking drawings (Kiddie like, cause i like this sort of things, cave painting style i guess), as well drawing without lifting my pencil once it hit the paper. Or even having a friend draw some random shapes on a page and i then have to use those to make a drawing. But whether i looked for help and tips from others or just went out and learned things by observation. I took all the help and added in even more practice. It never hurts to do so. Anyway, good luck on the drawings and keep at it, you got the basics and understanding already

[Guest Pellinore]

You should not try to improve at all. Techniques ruin the soul of your art! (yay, lets start a discussion..omg i'm moody today)

[Guest Pellinore]

and by the way, samurai kid, i like those drawings of yours..you know why? because they stand out and are unique..develop your own style..don't go into mainstream art.

[Guest Melanie Dawn]

You should not try to improve at all. Techniques ruin the soul of your art! (yay, lets start a discussion..omg i'm moody today)

I'm not gonna fight with you, but if someone wants to improve they HAVE to have some sort of "guidance". just grabbing a book, or taking the advice of people here will be a good foundation. You develop your own style as you practice.

Melanie Dawn

[Guest Samurai_Kid]

and by the way, samurai kid, i like those drawings of yours..you know why? because they stand out and are unique..develop your own style..don't go into mainstream art.

I'm having problems drawing anything in my style. My brain has a more mainstream, psuedo-anime type image, but my drawings look like a elementary school aged kids. It's hard to draw what I want to.

[Guest Pellinore]

you will rarely be able to project your art onto paper as it is in your head..since there are alot of factors that cause interference (i'm not pointing to lack of technique) .. this interference leads to your own style..it is also why many great artists don't like their work because it is never as they intended it like they wanted to. but hey..i'm all for expressive art so my ideas on art differ alot then most artists out there.