Heya, my name's Zenith, nice to meet ya! I love the way this site looks already and I'm excited for what the future holds for it. Let's drop some of our art down in the replies and a little message introducing yourself if you want. Here are some of mine:

Seeking feedback is necessary for artistic growth, but it is also possibly the hardest thing to find reliably. Good teachers and excellent peers can lead you on the path to having a thorough understanding of your craft. Being a helpful teacher yourself is another acquired skill-set. How do you know when you have helpful advice, or just a personal preference? It’s worthwhile to make the effort to be a helpful peer to your fellow artists. You’ll make good connections, broaden your appreciation for different art and ideas, and strengthen your understanding of art concepts by verbalizing them to others. === HOW DO I GIVE A GOOD CRITIQUE? === A good critique tries to consider the artist and their goals. Give context for your opinions, and try to be objective about what is technical vs. your own personal tastes and biases. Ask artists what they want to improve on, and be curious about their interests. Try to frame things positively, and push people to have hope and want to work hard. “I like this pose, but the shoulder is looking dislocated. You might need to move it forward to make it feel more natural, like in this reference.” “There’s a ton of detail going on here, but it can be better to have a few places of lower detail to balance out the composition, here’s an example.” “What sort of art do you admire? I feel like you are aiming for this style, but knowing more about your goals might help us give advice.” === WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF BAD CRITIQUES? === Bad advice does not consider the person receiving it. Critiques shouldn’t be designed to crush someone's spirit or make them feel hopeless. If something just isn’t your thing, it may be better to let people comment who are more experienced and interested in that area of art. Even if someone is picking up concepts slowly or getting frustrated, it’s not an open invitation to treat them poorly. “There is nothing I can say to you other than read lots of Loomis books.” “Stop drawing anime.” “Fan art is unoriginal.” “This style is a fad that will go away, you should just do something else.” “You just need to try harder.” “You’re too much of an amateur for me to even start critiquing” === HOW DO I GET USEFUL FEEDBACK ON MY WORK? === Help us cater to your artistic needs and goals. When posting work, consider including this information for context: - Tell us what your objectives where with the piece you want critiques. - Share anything you were struggling with while you were working on it. - Tell us what your goals are as an artist. Are you a hobbyist learning landscapes for fun? Putting together a portfolio to get into art school? A professional refining your skills in a certain area? - How long have you been practicing this form of art? - Who are some artists you admire who's style you strive to have in your own work? === HOW SHOULD I RESPOND TO CRITICISM? === There are a lot of ways you can respond. Generally, it is polite to show that you appreciate that someone took the time to give you feedback on your work. It’s important to keep in mind that critiques on your work aren’t personal attacks. Feedback is meant to help you see things from a different point of view. An artist might be trying to guide you away from mistakes they feel they made in the past. Arguing with the person critiquing you won’t be productive. It is their opinion based on their knowledge (or lack thereof). Think of them as simply opinions intended to help you out. You don’t have to accept every critique that comes your way, especially if the critique is subjective rather than objective. With time and experience you’ll have a better understanding of where you want to go with your work. Try to keep an open mind, but also have confidence to shed advice that doesn’t serve you. If someone is being hostile and rude or is actively trying to discourage you, report it. === KEEPING YOUR EGO IN BALANCE? === Egos come with being an artist. It is just a fact. If you didn't feel good about your work and didn't enjoy creating it, why would you do it? The sense of accomplishment is a great feeling, and you SHOULD feel good about the hard work you do. In communities, it’s easy for egos to get a little out of control. When a bunch of artists in a room, each with their own opinion of what is good art and what isn't is always bound to lead to a bit of head butting. This is a community that is meant to be friendly and helpful. Be proud of yourself, be proud of the work you do, but keep it in check. Be respectful to your fellow artists who are different from you. As much as possible, be open to criticism from people of various skill levels. Whether you choose to use them or not is up to you, but be open to the fact that they're going to happen. If you accept them with courtesy and grace, and maybe try to learn a bit from them and open your mind, you will help make this a strong community. If you choose to disregard everyone who gives you advice because you consider yourself better than everyone here, then this is not the community for you. Finally, people who post rude, off point or otherwise useless comments posed as criticism will be penalized by the mods. If you see posts such as this, use the "Report" feature to get the attention of the moderators. === WAIT, WHAT IF I THINK I SUCK? === Everyone has to start somewhere! Art takes hard work, and it doesn’t help to get down on yourself. Being humble is fine, but remember that having a little confidence is sometimes needed for motivation. Believe that you are worthy of kindness and that your art has value, even if it's just to you. Find enjoyment in learning and studying, it’ll guide you through the times when you are getting down on yourself. Just remember, begging (or demanding) praise, attention, or sympathy won’t generally go over well with your peers. Wanting to work hard is what gets you support. Embrace your work ethic and show effort whenever you can.

As the tittle says i just dont understand gesture. I have read a small amount of bridgemen and Force + Michael Hamptons book i see what they are saying and the examples are great. But when ever i try to draw gesture myself it all just falls apart. I have been trying to get in / learn it kinda on and off again. But i just keep repeating the same mistake / problem. All of them are just contor drawings With a small amount of gesture in them. I will be honest. I just cant see this "rythem" thing Stan and everyone is talking about. I read it and it makes sense but when i try to do it myself it just isnt possible. my brain / eyes cant see this "rythem" thing. All i see is a person striking a pose. I have even tried to draw along with Glen Vilpuu but to no avail. I think i have a VERY left oriented brain. Thats one of the reasons i just cant see it. I can construct abit and draw in perspective ((nowhere close to perfect or mastery. But i can do it if i REALLY focus. I will give some exampels of gesture i have drawn now and the things i have drawn in perspective. Just to show what i mean. Would love some help in this area, Thank you for your time.

hi! i'll keep it short. In my country art stores don´t sell newsprint paper pads to practice with charcoal and shipping is too expensive. Do you guy know of an alternative paper to practice with?

Hi! I'm new to this site but I would like to talk about some things that have been stuck in my head for quiet some time now. I've always had an interest in classical approach to art. I love the feeling of being in an art gallery and really just studying by looking at paintings from last centuries. My most favorite period is baroque. Especially baroque painting and architecture. And what I also find very interesting is how we actually ended up from very classical approach to contemporary, conceptual art today - postmodernism. I find it so fascinating how the art world was changing during different times. Anyways the main reason for this topic is that I would love to meet people with same/similiar interest when it comes to art history, classical approach to painting, drawing. I want to improve as a classical painter (Even though I'm still a student) but I also try to think more conceptual in art. I think that connections are the most important thing when it comes to this field. You can introduce yourself under this topic if you're interested. I'm excited to meet new people who I could talk to about art history, classical painting and so on. :))))

Because I'd sure like to see what others have dreamed up for the prompts.....

What was the app for organizing your reference photos that Stan recommends in a video? Its a free one

So I am not very experienced with art. I am currently doing the figure drawing fundamentals course. I would really love to do some paintings of portraits or characters (e.g. like samdoesarts). I really don't have time to commit to a project and do the course at the same time. The course will probably benefit me in the long run but I want to do something else aside from course work. I am not very confident in my abilities and I kinda expect a perfect drawing after seeing the stuff on instagram. I know it is not realistic. Is there any beginner friendly personal projects I could do? I personally like Ink, portraits and figures/characters. Big fan of 2d animation as well Would appreciate any advice. Have a good one and thanks for reading

Hi I've been working and studying art for 3 years. So at the beginning I was so eager to get better and improve. I mostly spend 8hrs at work and 6 more hrs for practice in the first 1-2.5 yrs. I wanted to create my own pj for myself but after a time I just hate whatever I did. And the 4th year in my career coming and I somehow just got too tired and have no more motivation to do any pj or even practice and study. I still love drawing and art so much, but I've been stopped drawing for 5 months (aside of work), I'm working full time now so I want to spend the rest of the night to relax and I lost the motivation to do anything else. Can someone give me any advices, I would appreciate that. Thank you so much!

This is the start of a new art community, so it's important to have fun and introduce ourselves! People can use this post to say who they are, what they like drawing/painting, and maybe show off a piece of theirs or two (or three!). Thanks everyone! o/

Hi guys. Where can I find full concept art of games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown?

Very often (too often!) I see young artists obsessed with the canons demanded by social networks such as Instagram: having to produce a new original drawing EVERY DAY, calling anything that hasn't taken a month of work "a sketch " (as if there is time left for articulated projects having to, for example, meet the crazy parameters imposed by Instagram's algorithm!) and being subjected to prices that are insane to say the least. It was quite shocking a couple of months ago to see a very good painter being insulted because, in a private message asking her how much she wanted for a portrait, she replied $400.  This artist paints in oils in a realistic style reminiscent of the Flemish masters, yet recognisable and very original. A portrait of her would not be out of place in any museum, but for this "client" it was not worth more than 20 dollars, because these are the prices people have become accustomed to on social networks. If you ask for a fair price, you will be insulted, pilloried on social media, accused of being greedy and having no talent, shouting "Even the poor have a right to beautiful things!". Absolutely true, so much so that the net is full of free content that EVERYONE can enjoy but, or you can easily buy cheap prints. The point is that when you ask someone for a custom painting or drawing what you are asking for is a luxury. A tailor-made suit definitely costs more than the T-shirt bought on the market stall. People have convinced themselves that everyone is entitled to free or very cheap art (because young people are convinced that this is the case and sell out their work) without realising that often the artists they are insulting have a lower annual income than they do (and in many cases a crazy student loan to pay back). In the past few months a creative collective in my country (Italy) has finally done a survey on the annual income of comic book artists. 95% of them earn LESS than 5000 euros gross per year (on which you have to pay taxes even if in other cases under 5000 euros per year you don't fall into the taxable income bracket). That was my income in 2020, this year was much worse, I think at the end of the year I'll be lucky if I get to 1000 euros (our category is also excluded from state aid, not being recognized as a profession. Exactly, in the country of the great Renaissance masters, creative people are not recognised as workers. But they do pay taxes) In short, when people talk about poor people deserving to have our jobs for 20 dollars they ignore the fact that WE struggle to pay our bills and rent (I'm lucky that my husband, a journalist, has been very busy covering the news of the pandemic, otherwise I couldn't even afford to buy food) Everyone deserves nice things but we deserve to be able to support ourselves with our work, which takes years of study and practice. So please stop devaluing your work and calling sketches what are actually finished drawings that took you hours to complete! On social media they call them sketches just so they can be paid cheaply!

Anyone else feels like everything in life makes sense when drawing? When I'm not drawing though that feeling seems absurd to me...

Hey guys, I'm once again trying to carve out time to sit down and get back on the art learning train. I've been doodling in my spare time but at a point now where I feel I've began to stagnate. There is obviously a lot to learning art so I was wondering if anyone has any recommendation on how they balance all the different methods and theories when they are learning. For example I've more experience with figure drawing and characters but when it comes to portraits and drawing landscapes I kinda suck. So ideally I'd like to tackle the weakest areas but I worry that If I focus to much on one area I may end up neglecting another. How can I approach learning scenery and landscapes without letting figure drawing fall by the wayside. Is it even possible? Any tips on workflows and approaches on how to keep everything balanced would be appreciated. :)

Edit. I put the picture of my little bird in the comments. I can't see where to attach on mobile to the main post. I've been learning to draw for about 6 months now, on and off. A tree destroyed half of my house in a storm, and that's the only time I took off a month to, well, survive. We had to evac. Even three months after that, we still don't have full power. I have to practice drawing before the sun goes down haha. I say all that because after all this time I just kept at it the best I could. And today at work, I doodled a little bird head. It's not great. But it's not half bad! I don't know shading or textures yet, but I used big planes to map it out and then refined it the best I could. If someone out there is on the fence about their work and they think it's "bad", PLEASE KEEP GOING. You'll never know how good you can be if you stop, or how much joy it can bring you. Just pick up the pencil, even when you're supplies are covered in dirt and soot from your house collapsing. I love you all and I love this site!

Hey everybody! I've seen a few questions regarding the purpose of doing master studies recently and would really like to hear everyone's approach when it comes to studying other artists' work. What mindset do you go in with, what are you trying to get out of it? Any tips or tricks you have or general observations about the process. Thanks!

Hello everyone I recently made an youtube channel and here I'll be uploading process videos, original animation series etc and would y'all please like share and subscribe thank you https://youtu.be/7Cld2CmThCI?si=c8-0NLdC9FoJG2Ks

I had the chance to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA this week. Not only have I been dying to visit this Museum to see the main Rockwell exhibition, but they currently have a special exhibition celebrating the art and humor of MAD Magazine illustrators which included four entire galleries packed with originals from “The Usual Gang of Idiots” such as Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Norman Mingo, Don Martin, Duck Edwing, Sam Viviano, Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragonés, and others. There was an incredible collection of Rockwell’s work on display, in addition to the main galleries we had the opportunity to tour Rockwell’s fastidiously kept studio where he painted for the last 21 years of his career. The MAD exhibit exceeded expectations. I was unaware that Rockwell was commissioned to paint a “definitive” portrait of Alfred E. Newman but politely declined in his own humorous way. More on that in the link. Seeing these pieces in person was an incredible experience. I didn’t take as many photos as I now wish I had, but here are a few highlights from both exhibits as well as a link to the gallery documentary about the MAD Magazine exhibit and it's connection to Rockwell. https://youtu.be/IUbYa5eTHOY?si=qjwwVZk0E_HefTax