Talk:Masterpiece/@comment-39325258-20190522012028/@comment-38434943-20190522050347

Hey, I have a few pointers! Art's been my life as long as I remember, and though I'm not picasso, I've picked up a few tricks of the trade. I'm going pretty general with the tips but if you are having some more specific issues, I might be able to help with those as well!

1.  USE REFERENCES!!! I know it may not be the funnest thing, but using references does. help. It can give you an eye on how light and shadows work, so you won't have to use referneces for everything later on.

2.  use basic shapes. This helped me when getting into people. I would draw a sort of trianular or shape for the torso, circles at the elbow and knee joints, a circle with a triangle at the bottom for the head and so on. This also helps when trying to mimick specific traits, such as drawing your favourite pop star. Use a photo of them and compare shapes of their face or body to shapes you can mimick. Like if they have wide, round eyes, or more slanted ones. If they have a very thin, rectangular build or a more triangular one. This will help you identify key features and it will become a habit (hopefully :P )

3.  If you are doing your art digitally (but not on aj) you should FLIP your artwork. Most drawing software allows you to flip your canvas somehow, but if you are working on aj, I'm sure there's a way for you so screenshot or save your drawing and flip it somewhere (I'm not a very techy person) Anyway, when you draw, your brain automatically ignores things that are not right proportionally in your drawing, like it will automatically make you try to read an incorrectly written sentence correctly. To combat this, and be able to make your flaw painfully obvious, just flip your image on its y-axis, so that it's still right-side up but facing the other direction. From there you should be able to see any flaws.

4.  Shading is important. Do not be afraid of shading. Yes, it's a little daunting, but it can sometimes make or break a piece. This is again where refernces are helpful. Look at how light reflects off different textures, colours, and shapes from different angles. still lifes, however boring some people find them, are helpful, as they teach you the way light acts, so you can draw your own original artwork without the use of too many referneces.

I can add more later, if needed. If you need more specific help or anything, just let me know, I check here lots. Sorry if that was a lot or kind of basic, but it's a good way to start. I'm self-taught so I'm not the best at how to teach art, but I try :)

My user is bazuka2 if you need anything on aj!

have a good day!