One of my fav. drawings of mine

[sour quiver]

Actually that's REALLY good. I'm not a great artist, and I don't draw people, but I don't think you should beat yourself up. Eyes aren't symmetrical at all, the eye looks perfect to me. The shaking also looks amazing, I don't know where you actually messed up

And considering you used one pencil, that is PHENOMENAL

[upbeat wasp]

Thank you so much, I call this my special “violent” art style 🌝

[upbeat wasp]

Also call yourself a great artist! Everything works out with discipline and good practice. It makes me very happy that you like it this way, I think my problem is just, that I’m not anymore happy with my art. Am also too lazy to watch tutorials sadly

@trim cove When I give you a compliment, I know what I’m talking about.

[trim cove]

omg

omg omg

that's so good

wow

[upbeat wasp]

Kind of you! Keep going with your art, it’s very pretty

[split crypt]

my jaw dropped when i looked at it. Its such a great work!

[split crypt]

frr

[upbeat wasp]

Ty! Me, calling my art trash 🌝

[split crypt]

most artist do that but tbh but there's no need to hate our own art, like whats the point? You're doing really good seriously, just see your progress from year before, or a few and you will see the progress ur making

i need to say that personally i think ur art is mesmerizing

its so cool and pretty

hell idk how to even describe that

[upbeat wasp]

Can I show you an artwork which is 3 years old? I feel like I didn’t improve

[split crypt]

I really admire you

suree

[upbeat wasp]

It makes me very happy to read this, thank you so much for your kind words

[split crypt]

no need u deserve them

[upbeat wasp]

I feel like I did something different in the past than now. But I can’t tell what I lack now

[upbeat wasp]

Aaaaah, I appreciate it a lot!

[split crypt]

maybe I'm not an expert in art or drawing in general. Actually, I'm still a kid compared to you, but I must say that I see improvement. The overall shape in the new drawing seems to be more professional, the hair etc. more natural. I don't know how to describe it, but at first I thought this drawing was a living person

[split crypt]

Maybe its not abt skills but smth else? personally i took a long break from drawing cuz i stopped having fun. I had the impression that I draw out of necessity and obligation. Did you think maybe it was due to something else? I mean, maybe you have some situation in your life that makes you feel unfulfilled in some way

if not then maybe try to analyze ur drawings? think what u were doing etc

well dont beat yourself up its not worth it btw

You could just as well change the subject of your drawings, for example thats why it may feel different

[upbeat wasp]

I totally know what you mean, because I had the same problem with the fun part. I only drew for social media, which made me break at some point. What keeps me motivated are the dreams I have, which are all connected to art, what about you? And I was thinking of a way how I can test if I really got worse:

to just try to “copy” the drawing I’ve drawn, to see if I get the same result, do you know what I mean 🧐

I will try it out with changing the subject as well! I appreciate your time for helping me, thank you so much

[upbeat wasp]

I would really like to see your art, because I’ll show you that your art is as great and that we’ll improve! I’m also just a very small fish compared to the art I want to have hehe. It makes me very happy to know this , I always used this type of art style “semi realistic” which I also like to call “the low effort shading technique” 🌝

[split crypt]

No problem! I think the idea of "copying" ur old art is actually really great especially if u still have the reference u used back then (im guessing that u used one). I wish u good luck and i hope that your dreams come true! And I must agree with you, social media can tire a person out, especially since they require constant posting of something new if you want to get popular. And for artists in particular it is difficult because every job takes a lot and you often have to adapt to people's tastes. Although I personally believe that you should do what you like and you will find your circle sooner or later.

Well personally I'm drawing for fun at least for now. I think it will stay this way cuz I thought abt doing something bigger like getting better at art so I can take part in games for example and do the characters design etc but when I thought abt it for a while it may seem cool but I'll probably give up on it because I doubt I'd be able to treat drawing as a job/combine it with it, and the money isn't that big and it's hard to stand out/get popular. So that's a pity kinda but I'm still in high school so idk what I even want to do haha

[split crypt]

Ahh big goals. It's good that you have them but don't let them lower your value because your works are wonderful, really. I'm truly amazed and I bet many other people are too.

Idk if i can send it here. If it can't be removed I will, but here is an example of my latest work. It's unfinished tho. The second is my favourite from all of my drawings at least for now

Honestly, I am currently trying to achieve this semi-realistic style. I would like to achieve something similar to the drawings that appear in the game "path to nowhere" or in the series "arcane". Like a combination of them with some drawings/styles from pinterest that I found or instagram etc. It would be amazing to achieve but I have a lot of work to do and school is not helping

Haha

Well back to you, seriously, don't tire yourself out. It's worth it to want to achieve something big but also look at it sensibly so as not to overwork yourself. You also have to have fun with drawing and give yourself some time

You can't achieve perfection, no one can, but with each drawing you will get better and better and I hope you will achieve your goal

[upbeat wasp]

Wow!! It’s so beautiful, when you said ‘I’m a kid compared to you’, what are you saying here 😤. It looks amazingI feel like I know the first one as well! Is it maybe someone from an anime? Fate grand order? I will reply fully to your messages and art in the morning, it’s almost midnight here and I’m very sleepy

I hope it’s fine for you

[upbeat wasp]

Aah the one you also call one of your favorites! It’s so pretty, just zooming in into the flowers makes me want to paint them as well. The horns (I hope I’m correct) are so cool, I did a few animations and I add horns to everything possible haha. You did more than great, please don’t call yourself a kid compared to me

I’ll be back in the morning again

[abstract whale]

Nicee!

I mean even in classical paintings they actually intentionally make 1 eye clearer than the other, i think yo have a clear focal point.

What exactly don’t you like about your shading? Is there a specific style or emotion you’re going forb

[split crypt]

It's feixiao from honkai star rail haha. Btw you know fate grand order omg?

[split crypt]

Thank youu for your kinds wods really but that's the truths haha. Your skill level is much higher than mine. It's okay tho I just need to practice more. Thanks again

Maybee. it's still eye catching and interesting tbh

[upbeat wasp]

Omg I always misunderstood! I saw the Star Rail trailer and thought it’s the collaboration x). Ty for telling it to me and yes! Do you like the series? I’m pretty much into anime 🌝

Back in a few min again ✨

[upbeat wasp]

Considering that I changed a few things about the original photo (like the horns which weren’t there), what do you want to tell me with this?

[split crypt]

Yeaa!! I watched it a long time ago but I remember that I loved it

[upbeat wasp]

I had the same feeling that it is a nice way to see someone’s current level as well (Yes exactly, I’m a little careful when it comes to posting original art (like my animations) on social media’s. Since I don’t have any community right now, I’m fine with showing the quick portrait drawings which I’m doing. It’s very kind of you, I wish you the same for your dreams to come true, everything will work out! You’re totally right in my eyes, I always posted what I wanted to post and when I saw on Instagram that my follower count is growing in reverse, I just stopped posting. It’s so boring

Oh! You’re into designing characters for video games? This is a very beautiful thing, since I can relate a little to it. That you stay like this for now is very good if you ask me, the joy for drawing without caring about social media will make you grow faster. Take your time! Just like you say, you’re in high school, you will see for yourself how everything will turn out

[upbeat wasp]

What you can do is also to post maybe twice, once a month on the social media you want to have a community on, what do you think?

[upbeat wasp]

It’s very kind of you and thank you for the kind words:) I’ll show you want kind of shading style I want to archive

[upbeat wasp]

This is an Instagram artist who I like. I think what I dislike about my shading is, that I only use one pencil, but I also feel like that I skipped all the shading basics and what I do is very simple shading

I would go so far to say that I have no idea how shading works

[abstract whale]

What does simple shading mean

I believe many artists use 1 pencil as well, there’s no right or wrong.

[upbeat wasp]

Aaah, I can imagine it well

[upbeat wasp]

That I use one layer, to get the darker shading with one try and not work slowly towards the darker shadow. Does it make sense?

[abstract whale]

Hmmm… well if it works, it works

But if you just wann achange it up, then that makes sense

[atomic steeple]

This is an insanely good drawing.

For some constructive feedback, considering the person you linked as a goal. I think you are right about needing to potentially use different pencils. Your darkest dark and lightest lights in your original drawing are not on extreme opposite ends like your inspiration

The mask has very good detail, but there's not a lot of contrast between the shadows and the hightlights, so a lot of detail is getting lost unless you zoom in (which can be fine)

Consider that the darkest places in the person you linked are the hair, the eyes, the mouths, and some of the shadows where their body parts are meeting (hands touching faces / body) or where clothes is casting a deep shadow

And notice that their darkest color is almost a pitch black. I think you should not be afraid to try making your darks even darker!

Aside from this, I have done some work as a graphic designer for work. Speaking from experience, having your art be at the whim of someone else does not feel good. It's like the person said, you end up needing to change the piece you made / poured your heart into for someone else, when art is subjective and really their opinion / requested changes could be based on some weird matter of taste. Usually requested changes are not based on constructive or objective feedback. It can be soul sucking unless you're working on a project that truly means a lot to you. Your art style is extremely good and with time will improve even more. You could instead consider selling prints / original copies of pieces, either online or at markets. I think you're at the point where people would buy your original works

[upbeat wasp]

I reply very soon to your message, need to eat sth first

[cerulean crane]

It's already very good, amazing skill, but yes you should buy a set of HB pencils that range from light to dark to help get the best values.

[upbeat wasp]

Thank you so much, also for the compliment!!

[upbeat wasp]

Thank you so much for telling it to me, also with the “your darks even darker”, I’m always scared to go darker with the 0,5mm mechanical pencil. Or that I don’t look at the whole drawing and only at the part which I’m working on at the moment. Your advice will help me pretty much

[upbeat wasp]

Ooh! Do you enjoy the work as a graphic designer? I totally understand you there, that’s why I like to hesitate to work for others, I want to create what means everything to me. It means a lot to me that you like my art style, since I’m just a self-taught artist. People often ask me if I sell prints, I did bigger portraits for friends and such, but always for free. I never thought about if my art is worth a $

[atomic steeple]

you wont get as wide a range of values as is physically possible with a 0.5mm pencil depending on the mix of the lead. lead pencils usually are pretty uniform as far as their value range. If you like the feel of having the lead come out of your pencil so there's no need to sharpen, then you might want to try out darker lead

https://tinyurl.com/msyu72at
(the above link goes to amazon)

there's some other lead holders that can hold up to like 2mm lead, but that might give you a different drawing feel so you might not like it. Safe to say, you can definitely go darker with 0.5mm lead, i think. It's not about the size of the lead, but the darkness. Keep in mind though that darker leads are generally softer so you might have more breaks. It might not be an issue if you're not using a ton of pressure when drawing, but something to keep in mind

[atomic steeple]

Short answer: Not really.

Long answer: I don't do graphic design anymore for a reason. I enjoyed the process of making cool logos and other art work with vector graphics. I had some mentality related issues that kept me from pursuing it, including the reasons I said above, but also somewhat the confidence issues you are alluding to. People will often not have the same creative vision as you and then request changes. This would be even harder with a physical medium since it's significantly harder to make changes to a finished piece like yours. With digital you get the benefit of layers and ctrl + z and being able to save a piece at different states. I think your art would lead to a more 'concept artist' type of role, if you wanted to seek something that is professional and paid well. But you would need to pump out artwork at a massively increased pace as well, which might lead you to burnout.

I think you could charge anywhere from 300-400 for original piece for your artwork, depending on the size (potentially more). Just from skill alone. There are people that would pay this much and probably more. Part of making a steady income as an independent artist is being able to market your work effectively, this means posting on things like tik tok or youtube if you want to grow your audience. It could also mean networking at local events like open markets where you can set up a tent and display your art and sell it

for prints, I think you could be selling prints of work such as this for $25-$30, more if it's a super high-quality print, this means high quality scans, high quality paper, good quality packaging. More than that if you want to include the ability to have it shipped to people already in a frame

My pricing might be underselling it. It would be good for others to chime in on the numbers I've given because I might be lowballing, especially for the original piece of the art itself, but it's also not super obvious just from your picture exactly what size the artwork is

[upbeat wasp]

Will reply soon again to your messages. I was worrying a little and wanted to ask you if the mentality related issue is better now, how do you feel (please just ignore it if it’s too private)

[atomic steeple]

I dont mind answering. When I was reading some of your issues related to mentality I found a lot of parallels in what I was thinking at the time. I sense a lack of confidence and potentially some hatred for your own personal art. Apologies if that's not entirely correct. I think for me personally, it's better now, and I think part of it is derived from my goals with art kind of shifting. I used to want to get better because I wanted to potentially do it as my job. Having the experience of doing some art as my job opened my eyes and showed me that maybe it's not actually what I want to do, or if it is, then I would want it to be on my terms. Nowadays, I do have some frustrating moments while doing my art, but it's not as bad as it was before. I think it's largely because I don't feel any urgency to improve or get to a specific level to be accepted by XYZ professionals that might be deciding whether or not they want to hire me at their company. Now it's purely something that I do as kind of a therapeutic thing. I do a lot of figure drawing as well and drawings of real people. I draw because it helps me pass the time, and it's enjoyable when I get to share my drawings with others and they also like it. Basically, a change in why I was drawing happened in my brain. I get my income from an entirely different field at this point so there's not the pressure that I used to feel, which I think contributed heavily to me not enjoying the process

I still have artistic goals for how I would like my work to look! But it's not something life or death where it's like: If I don't reach this artistic style, I won't have a job, I won't be able to feed myself, etc

that kind of pressure leads to a lot of negativity, for me personally. Some people are driven by it, but not from my experience. It would take a little bit more self reflection from yourself on why you might feel such negativity.

I think also it helps that I've done a decent amount of drawing and there's some stuff I can look back on and be really happy with the outcome personally. So even if my current drawings dont look as good as some of my peaks, I can still be happy with some of the stuff I've done and be able to say: "I did that!!"

example 😊

[upbeat wasp]

You did an amazing job and it seems to be like, that it would be such a cool emote in games! It has an unique and cool style which I really like

And please don’t mind me, just a gamer from the past hehe

[upbeat wasp]

I think both of us feel in a very similar way then, right? The reason for my growth in art is hatred, I like the attention I get from art and the way others are shocked when they see the art which takes me few minutes to create. But the way I know that I didn’t reach anything yet, annoys me. I need to get better faster, which might be the reason for my growth to be slow. I totally understand the part with “to be on my terms”, that you want to create the art you have it in your mind, right? And it’s getting better for you, which is very nice to know! Do you think that you will try much harder again when you reach a certain skill level which you’re Looking for, because of companies and such? I understand it, it’s very enjoyable to see others also liking the art you make, which can keep you going with what you do and to not get fully frustrated. That you get your income from something else could be also good, that you can take the time you need, to keep going with your art goals. I get my motivation from the future I imagine, when I reach all the goals of mine

Soon back again

[upbeat wasp]

@steel meteor better?

[steel meteor]

That looks awesome

[west prism]

erm bro what do you mean shading skills suck you must be lying