Any tips for aspiring artists out there?

How did you start creating your own art? What was your primary reason for starting back then? Any tutorials/videos/articles you can recommend? What's the most important thing to remember regarding game art creation? When and what do you usually draw? Any habits worth picking up in your opinion, any general advice you can provide for aspiring artists out there?

I've recently realized I wanted to learn how to draw my own art assets, but I was the kind of person who, as a child never took a liking to drawing things...

never be discourage to draw things that you liked to do no matter how bland or simple it is , everybody start from bottom.

im not really tutorial/videos/articles type of guys i just draw things, although i do go to some spriter website who give good tips on how to sprite (i forgot the website xD)

if you like to draw, draw, it all depends on your resolution not childhood.

although i dont know if it have any effects, i draw from middle school (nothing fancy though just doodles).

I think my case was because my parents, for some reason, were either never there or made it a point to discourage me from doing things like that. I only got over those things recently.

When and what do you usually draw?

If you really want to draw, following drawing lessons may be the way to go  :)

If you can't afford such lessons, or don't want to follow this way, you can find drawing lessons books for small prices: ask to your bookseller or, even better, drawing supply stores sellers. These ressources will help you get the basics of classic/traditional techniques upon which you'll be able to develop your own.

Otherwise, like Supercow said, practice on your own: daily drawing sessions (and I mean daily) are the best teacher. Find a subject (object, pet, people,... whatever) and dedicate between 5 and 10 minutes drawing it. Not in the smallest details, mind you, but the overall shape and posing, in order to get the expression of the subject – its look, its essence: it should be recognizable even if you didn't draw every aspects of it; this is what is called a sketch.

Then, about once a week or so, dedicate two or three hours drawing something in a detailed fashion and with accurate shadows: again, simple objects, or even details in photos, or even better other drawings whose technics you'll be able to try to imitate – drawing is the only field where you have the right to copy: use and abuse of this! Once you'll have done a few black & white things, put colors in your works (colored pencils, watercolor, pens,...) and try to see how these colors compliment each other, how they complete themselves in creating contrasts and therefore volumes (read this to understand the importance of contrasts, and keep on reading to get the idea behind complementary colors).

And don't forget: talent is 1% of talent and 99% of work – in other words: practice, practice, practice!

I've been drawing since I was a little kid, so it's a pretty natural thing for me. The best advice I can give you is to draw whatever you like and just practice lots. There is no such thing as drawing too much, so as long as you're having fun with it, just keep going.


As for the technical stuff, look up basic shading tutorials. Study anatomy of humans/animals if that's what you plan on drawing. Look at how stuff looks like in real life (buildings, mechanisms, clothing etc.) If you plan on drawing cartoons/manga I found it helpful to start by mimicking a style, and from there start developing my own.

I started drawing ever since I could hold a pencil really, and it hasn't really changed much since. I just kept drawing and drawing! My primary reason for starting back then was that I just really liked making characters and the environments surrounding them. Regarding tutorials, I read a decent amount of tutorial books growing up, some bad, some good. I would recommend Andrew Loomis' books first and foremost, and Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton would be my second recommendation. I also get a lot of ideas from artbooks, too. And just in general, set a folder for collecting artwork that inspires you.

In terms of creating game art, it's important to draw a variety of designs and be open to any and every possibility. As a beginner, it'll be difficult, since the focus should be on getting your foundation and basics down. What also helps for game art, is looking at other game art, seeing how they put things together. Ask yourself why these designs work or don't work. Draw ideas from real life, history, and imagination, don't limit your inspirations to just one or two things. Just in general, be open to ideas when it comes do designing.

Some habits I recommend are to form your foundation first before you stylize. If you know the basic structures and how things work, you can exaggerate things without them looking really weird. When drawing, don't draw with a hesitant hand; be confident and be messy. You can always clean up afterward, but by being loose and not worrying about cleanliness, you can achieve confidence in making marks on paper. Don't compare yourself to others. If you compare yourself to someone who's like super pro at art, you might feel bad and have an 'I QUIT!' mentality. To combat that, look up to them instead and find things that they do that you want to try out. On the flipside, if you compare yourself to others that aren't so good at drawing, well...just don't. You're not challenging yourself to improve if you just gloat over someone else, and this will lead to a plateau in your skills. That and you just end up looking bad, man. And of course, practice! Practice is the most important part. Practice while you look at tutorials, too, so you know that you're applying what you're learning. Just practice when you can and practice a lot, make it something you automatically get into.

Yeah, I think that's about it from me. Hopefully you get some ideas from that. <:

That was definitely helpful guys, thank you! :)  

I've been drawing most my life, and even now drawing isn't really that natural a thing for me. At times I have to force myself to sit down and draw, because by default I'd rather play games than do anything else. And I hate sticking to schedules, so having a 'draw once a day' thing doesn't really cut it for me.

But if I had any advice to give, it's to never discredit any drawing, any at all, that you do. Even if it's a scribble on your desk or a stray receipt in the middle of the day, or you attempting something big but it didn't come out the way you want. Any time spent drawing at all is never a waste of time.

If you want to maximize your improvement, keep looking at art and take note of things you could pull off, and the next time you draw something, try it out. It helps in leaps and bounds.

I'll vouch for this piece of advice that seems no one has mentioned yet

"how to go about practicing"




and a second one, just so you don't get discouraged when a fool that know nothing about drawing call it "talent" or "something you are born with":










Last but not least a source to find knowledge (friendly to people new to artsy stuff):

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/library/

I'm watching the videos, and man, I really needed them. Thanks!

I got myself a sketchbook and a few pencils, and now I'm motivated. I guess that was what I needed. 

Those video essays are awesome. I needed the reminder, was feeling old and pathetic. Thank you.

There isn't much I can add that hasn't already been said - which was all good stuff! But as another one whose been drawing since I could hold a pencil, I'll say a couple of things ;)

I see people mention art books, but those can be expensive. When I was little I would quite often rent then out if the library. So be sure to check out your local library and see what they have to offer. Then you don't have to worry about putting down $$ on something that you may or may not find helpful.

Don't be afraid to use references! There is always a strange stigma that you shouldn't look at references, but that is silly. If you are having a tough time drawing something, take photos of your hand, open goggle image search and find similar examples.

And something specific for game art is to remember to keep things distinguishable. A player shouldn't have to guess what things are. Sometimes people work so hard on making something look right that they lose the meaning in the details, and it just comes across murky to the player. It's a personal opinion, but sometimes simplicity is better. :)

Best of luck! If you ever need help, don't ever hesitate to ask.

@Makio-Kuta Thanks for the advice! I never considered going to a library, I'll try going to one tomorrow.

Oh, and sorry in advance if I ever end up bothering one of you guys for your insight. I'll just plod my way through NaNoWriMo for this month then commit myself into learning how to draw while taking in scripting tutorials, and I might ask for opinions about whatever I might come up with...