I made this years ago and taped it above my drawing table to remind me that not every drawing I make is going to be good and that’s ok. Remember that for every good drawing you see, especially on social media, there are thousands of bad ones that led up to it. The crazy thing is that even as you get better there’ll always be something that frustrates you and the only way to get through it is to draw draw draw!
ABD = Always Be Drawing
True
(via bloodsbane)
Anonymous asked: hello mod, I am having trouble- I always seem to draw very slowly, and my friend says it is because I listen to music, do you think that's true? should I not listen to music when I draw?
Interesting problem, and the answer is that the answer depends on each individual; Richard Williams gives that same advice in the Animator’s Survival Kit, and while I do see the benefit (no noise = no distraction), I actually disagree and do listen to music and find it helps me. Sometimes if something is complicated or I have a headache I turn it off, but not very often! I do, however, have some rules about the music I listen to;
1) Do not listen to sad, slow music! You will draw much slower than usual- my digital ink and paint teacher taught me this, and would even go around pulling out our headphones to check we weren’t listening to slow music. Listen to tragic music all you want when you’re coming up with ideas by all means, but it will slow you down when it comes to doing stuff!
2) Listen to music without lyrics, or at least music that you know so well that you don’t have to ‘listen’ to it. If you start focusing on the words you will stop focusing on your work! I find that film soundtracks in particular are great for drawing.
3) Try to match the mood of the music with the mood of what you’re making! If you are drawing something exciting, get some epic adventure music, if you are drawing something funny, try something upbeat, if you’re drawing something sad, go for something big and powerful rather than slow (see above). Music affects our emotions, so this is where my argument for drawing to music comes in; it can give you just that little extra inspiration in what you’re looking to visualize.
Art and music are inherently linked, experiment with it! Don’t feel that anything I’ve said or anyone else says is the law; these are just things I’ve observed myself, try things out and find the path that’s right for you.
Hey so I’m going to bed because I’m a lamer (and I am tired so this might be an idiotic time to write this) but I’ve been having a real hard time thinking about what to do about Patreon, which I finally intend to have a crack at, and with my hand recovering it looks like I might be good to start drawing in earnest again in a fortnight or so.
I’m also officially between contracts and thus at a great point to try and make a break for it- if I can make enough to support myself I could make drawing these stories for you my means of living and that is, like, crazy amazing even as a far out possibility. I just don’t know how to go about it, so what would you people want if you became a supporter for me on Patreon? Basically, what would be a big draw for you to help me? What would you want to have exclusive access to? Character design sheets? Q+A’s and step by steps? Writing short stories based off prompts from you? If any of you could help me out that would be great, (especially you’ve made a Patreon yourself or if you’re a supporter on there), because if I can do this that would mean I could finally seriously focus on getting TPoH, the SKIP stories and a whole bunch of other things out of my brain and into your hands!
Wait, that, sounded gross. Into your eyes? No that’s worse anyway uh yeah THROW SUGGESTIONS AT ME I’LL BE HAPPY TO CONSIDER THEM.
Anonymous asked: Mod do you have any tips for getting better at inking? Im quite poor, so using what little good ink/inking pens i have to practice feels wasteful since i don't really know what I'm doing...
Actually I had the same fear of wasting materials in school when using ink and paint, and using ink with a brush can be pretty scary because you have to trust both it and yourself- you’re going to make mistakes that aren’t reversible! You have to learn to go with it and adapt those mistakes into something better, or just start over, but it’s hard to do that when you’re using something costly. What I used to practice was super concentrated black coffee. All you need is some cheap instant coffee and hot water to make it (best to let it cool down before you use it though, or it can warp the paper); the trick is to use a tonne of granules and not much water, just add it bit by bit until all the coffee is dissolved. The less water, the darker the liquid. Make yourself a little dose of it in an egg cup or something and away you go.
Try to get the solution as saturated as possible, and use a decent water colour brush- a good brush can make a good picture out of almost anything! You can also use beetroot juice, but it kinda stinks and the colour changes over time. Experiment with what you have available! It’s difficult to make a liquid as dark or permanent as ink, but this is a method for learning how to use a liquid medium; the important thing is to make your liquid medium about the same consistency as ink or watercolour, so it will get you better and more confident at using a liquid medium with a brush. That way when you want to step your game up you’ll be more familiar with the methods and less likely to make simple mistakes that could have been avoided with a little practice.
Anyway, that’s the method I used, and hey you can make some pretty great pictures using coffee! Go have fun :D
Anonymous asked: I'm jealous of your level of art
MNnngh. Nothing to be jealous of though man, I mean… I didn’t pull anything special, which you can kinda tell from looking at the older entries on this Tumblr. It’s just time, repetition and patience, and getting to this ‘level’ or much better is an inevitability.
Just roll your work towards that goal on the horizon like you’re a beetle and your work is a big precious ball of dung. You’ll get where you want to be eventually.
Also:
I had this drawing of Will Smith!Horse!me lying around for a week and I needed to find a reason to use it, so thank you anon.
Words to live by
Hello! Your friendly neighbourhood storyboarder cartoonist bod here.
I have lots of lovely people asking how I draw and what magical voodoo secrets I have that make me able to draw things without making mistakes. Well, I make mistakes. There is no secret, but if there is one, that is the secret. I draw something, think it’s rubbish, and try again. Or I draw a thing, decide it isn’t right, and then try to draw it another way! Or leave it and do something else I have to do, and come back to it with a new perspective!
Your first drawing is almost never going to be the best one, so don’t expect it to be. The thing is nobody is going to make the best version of something without warming up for it; you wouldn’t run a marathon without stretching, would you? In this case it isn’t a serious picture and I’m not probably going to take it any further, but even so you can see how the second pass is better than the first, even if it’s still not perfect. The random scribble was a warm up, the next was a rehearsal, an attempt at the idea without expecting anything great; the third drawing is what I’d call my first real hack at it. You need groundwork to build off!
Another big thing that I wish more people taught artists is not to bully yourself. If you draw something that isn’t perfect, then berate yourself for making something ‘crappy’ to the point that you don’t want to draw any more, then you’ve just bullied yourself! You’re allowed to be mad at the drawing for while. Think that it’s crappy or wonky or not right, that’s fine, but don’t only think that about it, or yourself! You have to learn to love yourself, and your work; demonstrate that you love it by trying again, by looking at your mistakes and analyzing them. You need to give yourself time to do that.
Treat yourself and your work like you would a friend or an employee- don’t smack it over the head with a ruler and tell it to sit in the corner! Of course you won’t want to draw again if you do that! Who wants to be yelled at for trying? Be a good boss! Be encouraging, be kind, and be patient with yourself. Be critical by all means, but don’t just criticize. Recognize the good points in your work, as well as the bad, then you’ll know which areas to fix and which areas to push even further. Accepting your faults is very important, but you shouldn’t ignore the good areas in order to do that- you’ll be missing half of the information to be gained from the exercise.
You’re a sentient, emotional person! Treat yourself like one.
Extra Credits: “Fail Faster”
even though this is geared towards game designers i think it’s p inspirational for all designers across the board- fail faster so you can get all the bad stuff out of the way before you can move on to making a better thing.
I think the overarching idea of this is great advice for any—or at least most—creative medium and process.
(via cylo)
For any writer who’s feeling down/stressed/overwhelmed, watch this.
From my Nerdist podcast interview…
(via neil-gaiman)
