Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

Anonymous asked: Uncle Mod I really love your comics and they inspire me to create art. I've taken classes since I was a kid and write often, but somehow it's like I'm never good enough? We aren't allowed to do anything cartoony in class, just realistic stuff. I can't do anatomy and my writing goes to pieces. I know I've been given the opportunities to learn, but I feel like I've wasted them. I'm 15 this year so I know I've got time to learn, but I can't help but feel lost. do you have any advice?

putting this one under a cut ‘cause it got way long!

ah shucks anon gosh I can only tell you that I’ve been there- at that precise age, in fact! I had three lovely art teachers in secondary school and I had a great time but we were never taught how to draw humans, at all, or even animals properly! I had to basically teach myself that stuff until I got to foundation art year and uni, but the best thing is? there are a lot of sources of information out there to help you, I mean heck- you even have a real live human to look at and draw right now! it’s you! find figure drawing classes if you can, and an anatomy art book goes a long way, but honestly just grab a mirror and get to work- it might feel a bit frustrating, but understanding how to draw The Real Thing is how you can learn to draw cartoons- this applies to everything. in fact, I’m having to do that right now with cats! I never grew up with one as a pet, so I haven’t really drawn them a whole lot or ever deeply understood their anatomy- the next doodle comic features one, and while it is a cartoon style I know that the best way I can do that is to learn how a real cat’s anatomy works. That’s fun though! I love biology so looking at skeletons and muscle breakdowns is neat to me (got to love libraries and the internet for finding those kind of resources) and watching real footage of cats is, obviously, hilarious and adorable. Research can be dull, or fun! you have to go in with the right mindset, and have enough patience with yourself to allow the time for it to sink in properly.

You’re right that you have a lot of time to learn, but I also understand that it might not feel like it! In fact, it never does! You want to be able to draw better than you can, and I hate to say but it’s always elusively out of reach- someone once told me that your head is always two years ahead of your hands, meaning that what you can ‘think’ to draw will always be better that what you actually ‘can’ draw. This sounds disappointing, but don’t be fooled! Always wanting to do better than you can means you always try, and when you try you always learn, and so you therefore always do, in fact, get better. People who think they’re the best don’t bother to try to improve, so they don’t! 

I’m not some magical guru super artist with all the answers; I’m still learning and trying and failing and trying and screwing up and trying again myself, and I know I always will be! all I can advise you on is to be kind to yourself, never stop trying to learn, don’t be afraid to seek out alternative ways to learn, and trade perfect for done- that’s one of the best things I ever learned to do. Perfect doesn’t exist! You’re always going to post art online and then go ‘augh I missed that bit’ or ‘urghhh it’s not as good as what I had in my head’- but nobody else can see that picture in your head, they can see the thing you made, and odds are they think that’s pretty damned swell! Make a thing. Want to make a better thing. Make a better thing- repeat.