Getting Started with Art

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I've observed a lot of great artists here who can draw perfectly without getting stuck, not sure if they were stuck when they get started with art; but I am deeply stuck and not sure where to get started with art.

 

Drawing is my one of two interests and my wish and goal is to provide my skills to others for helping them to develop their projects and my skills can also help my own projects as well.

 

However, if you're an artist and do digital art, I'd like to know:

• How did you started with art?
• Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else? 
• How much time you spend in practicing for drawing? 
• In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?
• What program you do use?
• Mouse or Pen tablet?
• Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom? (I'd also like to know what other drawing styles are called)

These things can help me where to begin and how to begin a good artist, in case you'd like to know, here's some of my artistic details:

• Learning since 4 months
• Program Paint Tool SAI
• Art style Painterly style
• Tool Pen tablet

Please feel free to correct me on anything I've mentioned. Thank you very much! Edited May 6, 2015 by Mak-Star

[Dainiri.Art 155]

• How did you started with art?

​​I started when I was a kid when me and my cousins (they live in the province and cell phones doesn't exist during those dates so every time one of our relatives is going to their house they let us bring something for them) use to exchange drawings of different animes specially Dragon Ball Z. Then when in High school I join some art club but Im not that so serious that time so I left the club. After graduating High School I really wish I could take up a formal class or atleast I decided to be a fine art student but unfortunately my parents cant support my hobby because we don't have enough resources to do that. So then I went to college with a different course, And because of college exams etc. I don't have enough time to do something else, thats how I forget about art for four years. After college days (Yehey!) I saw my old drawings so I grab a pencil and draw something (a human figure) to test if I can still draw. Gladly I still can then I remember that I want to became an artist! Wow after so many years! Then one day one of my cousins came to our house and he said "why don't you work as an artist we got some open position in our office" I pass the interview and became a Graphic Artist (for Advertising and Package Designs) yeah I know not the profession of my dreams but still I'm an artist, Whenever the we got a free time I always draw in my computer in the office.

• Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else?

​Yes! but it didnt went well like I imagine. So now I draw what I feel like to draw.

• How much time you spend in practicing for drawing? 

​Right now to gain more experience and techniques I practice for 4-6 hours a day

• In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?

​Exactly 1 billion years from now haha! well I'm far from that.

I'm been an Artist in some company for 4 years now.

• What program you do use?

I use Adobe CS6 or CC and Paint Tool SAI

• Mouse or Pen tablet?

​Pen Tablet (a cheap and generic one)

• Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom? (I'd also like to know what other drawing styles are called)

​I use to draw Anime Styles more, realisim eats too much of my time so I really cant do that.

 

 

For me creatures are the easiest to draw since your not following any topology and no will give you a comment like, the arms are a bit long, the eyes are big not equal/proportion to the head or any part of the body. Unlike in human a very small misproportioned part is easily spotted and can be identified because we are human and very familiar with our own body proportion.

I suggest you practice human figures first not anime or cartoon but atleast semi realistic. Once you get the hang out of it, every thing will come easy specially creatures. And don't draw out of nowhere always use a concept like mixing animals to human as armor,clothe. That's all I can say since I'm no pro myself.

Good luk with drawing and have fun.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Dainiri

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

How did you started with art?

I started drawing when i was 4 or 5, and it was just copying different anime characters i used to see as a kid.. I mean, simple characters like Pikachu and Kirby, or Sonic-- though i never traced them.

 

When i went to Hong Kong as a kid (8), my mom then got me a booklet to draw in to keep me busy, and that's when i started drawing people. (I hope this answers the question?)

 

Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else?

I really just copied Kirby's and Pikachu's styles at first; I didn't start (trying to) come up with my own style until i was about 12.

I didn't start trying to learn anatomy until i was 16.

 

How much time you spend in practicing for drawing?

I used to really draw a lot as a kid, maybe about 1-3h everyday?

I then cut it down to 1-3x a week in highschool, but would draw for 3-8h each time.

 

Now, i draw 1-6x every one to three weeks, but i draw for about 4-11h each time. I really don't draw that much, but i do spend a very, very long time when i do draw.

 

In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?

I think i still have a lot to learn, but so far it's been about 15 years.

 

What program you do use?

I use Paint Tool Sai, and once in a blue moon, Photoshop 7.0.

 

Mouse or Pen tablet?

Pen tablet

 

Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom? (I'd also like to know what other drawing styles are called)

I think my style is semi-realistic but also sometimes more anime-looking!

[Tsarmina 2,612]

How did you started with art?
Uhmmm...I don't remember! @_@ It's been too long lol. Probably since I could pick up a drawing utensil, though I don't know if those really counted as art. Maybe "modern art." XD

Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else?
I did a lot of copying when I was younger and I didn't really get into art until just a few years ago, I think! I've never done a serious anatomy study (I suck) but I think I'm getting better at it through practice and references. I'd like to think my art style is still changing :3 Though I draw in different styles, not just one style.~

How much time you spend in practicing for drawing?
I don't have a lot of time to draw anymore :< I have to save it for the weekends, and cram in maybe 3 to 4 hours a weekend. 

A few years ago I would draw every day! <3

In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?

Oh, I'm far from perfect....very very far....*looks at mountain in the distance* I've been drawing this new anime-style thing for 3 years now, but I did a lot of more realism stuff beforehand. (Not that any of it was very good. ._.)

 

What program you do use?
I have Photoshop Elements 8 and Corel essentials...4? (Yeah, painter essentials 4.) I tried SAI but I couldn't really get into it :c though it seems really cool, and I would probably recommend it. X3

Mouse or Pen tablet?
Tablet all the way! I suck at mouse art =.=" I have a wacom bamboo tablet and I love it very much (though the settings get jacked up sometimes)

Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom? (I'd also like to know what other drawing styles are called)

I used to do more realism, and then I got into a more anime-style a few years back ^u^ and I really like it! I also like chibi stuff as well hahaha~ I'm not sure what to call it! I do like using soft shading though. Cel shading is not for me ;-;

[Nyapurgisnacht 152]

Hey there :3 I'm starting to learn digital art too! I'm by no means anywhere as much of an artist as the previous posters here, but boy do I know that I know how to get started learning ^o.o^

 

-How did you started with art?

I started drawing when I was 12, I was into a few webcomics and Jhonen Vasquez comics at the time and it inspired me to start learning.

 

 

-Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else? 

I drew a bunch of cartoony fanart of whatever random anime or cartoon I liked for a year. It looked like what you'd expect from fanart from a 12 year old xp I don't remember why exactly, I was probably frusrtated with not improving, but I pretty much dropped that when I was 13 and got really into photorealism, and I started drawing real faces using references from actors and models, and I took every art class I could during school. I looked into anatomy a little to help with this, basic measurements for artists (your foot is as long as your forearm, eyes are the width of one eye apart, etc.) but nothing intensive. That's what I mainly did until I started going to AAU(Academy of Art University) online when I was 18.

 

At AAU, you have to take a lot of 'foundation' art classes before you're allowed to start taking classes that apply to your Major. They make you learn composition (which included value studies, beginning perspective, and starting out drawing people and objects), art history, figure drawing, perspective(which included learning how to draw scenery and pulling in all the other elements you learned up to then), and color theory in that order. There was a lot of staring at nasty naked people to desensitize the student, as expected.

 

At the school they urged students to forget about anime, forget about everything you've seen in media, start from the barebones and learn how to draw real-life, and then work backwards from what you have into your own style. Personally, I don't think there's a best way to go about the learning process, but for me who isn't particularly talented in art, learning these foundations made a world of difference.

 

Hard work more than anything makes the biggest differene.

 

Definitely learn art history though. I won't get into it too much, but I do believe it's something any artist should know.

 

 

-How much time you spend in practicing for drawing? 

While I was going to AAU for two years, I was practicing and doing homework for about 13-18 hours a day, every single day, without weekends, and barely scraping a B. I was an online student because I wanted to stay home with my husband and my kitty, so it was a bit more intensive xD I got good quickly, which was the point, but I was always exhausted and stressed out, and it felt like I hardly got to see my family anyway.

 

During color theory, (and I made the mistake of taking a full courseload along with it) the class EVERYONE at the school hated, I was working for about 4 days straight with hour breaks for sleep between. That was where I got tendinitis and severe nerve damage in my drawing arm and I had to quit two semesters later, and I couldn't draw at all for a year and I just sat around drooling in a corner and feeling sorry for myself :x

 

And now I'm here! Much happier too. I love it here, it's so much better than college ;-; I'm not even fucking kidding, Spectre gave me better art feedback on one of my recent pieces than any of my proffessors ever did on anything. You picked a good community to start learning with.

 

 

-In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?

Well, before I started college I had a little portraiture 'businses,' it took me about 6 years of practicing drawing before I was confident enough to try and sell my work, and actually do well. I can make a mean portrait, but I'm nowhere near as proficient in any other area of art xD

 

It hurts a lot to draw, but I reaaaally want to, so I draw about once a week these days- That's a ridiculously slow pace to try and get good at anthing, maybe an hour everyday would be preferable -.-; So I don't know if I'll ever attain the ability to draw exactly what I envision, (my idea of as close to 'perfect' art can be) but I want to at least learn enough to make some artwork for mah games ^^

 

I spend a lot of time watching other people draw and researching various topics so I can draw more quickly and efficiently (is my hope anyway.) Pixel art I can do with my off-hand, so I've been praciticing that too when I'm not working on my game :3 Go watch Hirei on Thursdays, for instance!

 

Digital drawing for me is the biggest learning curve I've encountered in my life, just holy shit. The artists in this community deserve worlds of respect.

 

 

-What program you do use?

Linework, Texturing, Pixel- Photoshop CS6

Digital Painting- Corel Painter

3D- ZBrush, Autodesk Maya

 

-Mouse or Pen tablet?

Wacom Intuos 5

 

-Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom? (I'd also like to know what other drawing styles are called)

I'm trying to work into an anime style for use in games, that's part of what I'm here to figure out

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

During color theory, (and I made the mistake of taking a full courseload along with it) the class EVERYONE at the school hated, I was working for about 4 days straight with hour breaks for sleep between. That was where I got tendinitis and severe nerve damage in my drawing arm and I had to quit two semesters later, and I couldn't draw at all for a year and I just sat around drooling in a corner and feeling sorry for myself :x

 

HOLY cow!! O__O I can't believe you got that due to schoolwork.... that's really awful-sounding. I mean, severe nerve damage?? Wow..

I also can't imagine how much it probably epically sucked to not draw for a year. And then i had no idea that you were still experiencing pain from this. That's really unfortunate, from trying to pursue something you love, and deciding to better yourself by going to (this) art school. I can't even believe you were still functioning from so much work/ little sleep.

 

I'm surprised that colour theory was so unpopular though. O_O I personally find it pretty interesting, though i only read a few pages out of a book about it.

[Nyapurgisnacht 152]

Ah, yeah, I try not to mention it as much as I tend to, but it effects everything I do. It's very frustrating, doctors have been very unhelpful -.-; But I've been doing this thing I like to call 'left-hand-mastery,' where I just pretend my right arm is lopped off and I do everything with my left. It's been working out! I just can't draw well yet xp

 

-Sigh-

These are my best attempts with my left hand:

 

 

 

 

 

It's cool, things are nice these days~ I was kinda pressured by my parents into the college thing, so I went with something that seemed fun. And it was! Not that I'd do it again though xD

 

Oh no! My complaints with the college had nothing to do with the subject matter, I actually had a lot of fun learning that ^^; But I've kinda learned since then that you can find the entire curriculum on the internet for much less than a college tuition. Namely DigitalTutors. Just. Buh,

 

But dude, you don't even know, this class needed its own 'group support' thread in the forums. The mutual opinion was, "Who knew the relaxing subject of painting could be so stressful?" I was the only one injured though, and that was entirely my bad, I had some cheap crappy materials that were strenuous to work with- The materials list was expected to cost a little over $1,004 or something like that, and I was like 'haha no fuck that.' I shouldn't have taken more than one class with this one. (This sounds really funny to me hindisght, by the way xD)

 

It was more of a painting class, the method was to learn how every color in the color wheel is made through mixing the colors yourself from the 3 primary colors, white, and black, and then using it to make the different assignments and make them look good using color theory. It totally worked too, I can tell you how to make any color with that palette just by looking at it... With varying accuracy xD

There was an emphasis on quality presentation, including the canvas you had to cut yourself, so things had to be down to the centimeter. The quality of my work dropped rather quickly after I hurt my arm, I'm amazed I managed to pass with a C- (I think the teacher understood my plight, I got my work done but it was always a day late or two. I don't think my work was really worth that C though, I couldn't get into it at the time and I just wanted to get things done :x)

 

I wish I could find examples of A work from the class,it was mainly the other students work that made me want to keep with it ^^; It was just too much in too little time. The weekly schedule had just changed that semester, the module started on Monday, and all the lecture, coursework, and practice had to be done by Sunday, when up until then we used to get until Tuesday and modules overlapped. You were allowed 3 late assignmets before you were kicked from the course, this applied to every students schedule for every class. This was supposed to prepare us for long hours meeting deadlines in a studio/office, I can't honestly say if this kind of schedule is accurate or not in a work environment... I don't think in the U.S.A you're allowed to make people work for more than 8 hours, but I'm not sure xD

 

There was this girl that got perfect work turned in every Monday, and it blew everyones minds, she's probably working for some big company now. There was some really, really talented students I got to work with, so that was nice~

 

And, no, are you kidding? No one could function like that. I think I went a little insane for a while, I wasn't pleasant to be around, my husband is an amazing man for putting up with me. And, you know, kitties. Kitties make everything better <3

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

I think those are REALLY impressive and really good, actually. I've never tried drawing with my left hand, but if i had to imagine how it'd be like... it seems to me that you've become really skilled at it. 

 

--> I actually turned on my computer now to see what it'd be like... (drawing with a different hand)

 

 

... I really gave an honest shot at just drawing an apple, since i knew it'd be difficult.... but... this is the result (lol).

 

 

How long have you been drawing with your left hand? Do you find it easier now to do some tasks with your left hand?

 

 

Wow, interesting that that one, one class cost ~$1 000 in materials! o_o It sounds really cool and pretty amazing though, being able to discern how to make each colour of a palette like that. Also, cutting a canvas! That sounds really neat. And really lucky for you that your teacher was so considerate like that, in college. 

 

Good for you for wanting to continue in the program, from seeing the works your classmates did (i think that's a positive reason). Sometimes you just see these amazing things people make, i mean like even on DeviantArt, and it motivates you somehow to want to get to their level, and try even harder! But sometimes it can also make people feel bad about themselves. 

 

Your sleep story reminds me so much of this one friend I have, he's in some sort of fancy engineering in university, but in his 3rd year (i'm 1st year): He was saying how for days in row, he would be stuck taking 3h sleep sessions between classes at school, to make up for the fact that he had to stay up all night doing schoolwork, and didn't get to sleep at home. Things like this suck even more when you end up hallucinating while you're "awake".

[Dainiri.Art 155]

Sorry for being dumb not following your Template haha!

I have to edit my comment because of that.

[Nyapurgisnacht 152]

Aw, thank you~ My teachers would be like, 'lol wtf is this.'  Naaw it is challenging, at least it's a general apple shape xD

 

Sheesh, it's been going on two years now o.o; I don't think I practice enough, honestly. Hmm, I manage my daily life fine, I just can't lift heavy things unless I find weird ways to leverage it with my legs or something. Things that require dexterity took some getting used to. I'd almost consider myself ambidextrous at this point! >:3 RPGs have been a godsend for playing games one-handed to pass the time.

 

Definitely, I wouldn't mind trying to refine my painting with these techniques more someday xD I could go on and on about all the cool artsy stuff we got to do in the school~ Some of the classes covered some very interesting material. I do miss seeing quick improvement, I'm rather lax at my own pace xp

 

I think conceptart.org is where it's at for inspiration material, but deviantart is nice and diverse, I like finding speedpaints to watch there~

I'm not really the type to quit halfway through, if I got discouraged so easily I wouldn't have made it past the first semester x3 A lot of students dropped out just because it wasn't what they were expecting. The graduation rate is pretty low for the school, I can understand why

 

LOL when I'm working with people on stuff for my game, I hear a lot of, "I'm doing this, this, and this for you, but I'm really busy with school so it's taking a while," and I just want to put my hands on their shoulders and be like, "It's okay, I understand. Please don't overdo it." I think my only vocabulary for a few months was, "I'm so tired, I need more clean water" x_x

H'oh boy, I'll have to tell you about my hallucinations sometime, they're some pretty good game-dev material at least xD

 

Just for funzies, here's some of the progress shots we had to take to prove we weren't bs'ing our work, and the only painting I managed to get a B on

I think the first one was taken right after I hurt my arm. Seeing those square swatches of color bring forth feelings of anxiety @_@ Hundreds and hundreds of them, and they all had to be cut out, about 50 of them in perfect 1x1 squares, and a few .5x1 to make the color wheel. Luckily I got the theory down pretty well, otherwise I would've had to redo them all if the color was off. I still remember this after 2 years >:|

 

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone wants to PM me with tips to help with pain associated with art and stuff, by the way, I'm all ears ^^;

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I've been trying to build my style and get familiar with 'paintery' look. So as a test, I did a quick and messy, rough sketch paint using SAI.

 

 

It's my first attempt at painting, so don't mind the mistakes and the rough look. I am planning to use Photoshop since it got some nice textures for brushes and it'll make the painting easier to draw.

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

Definitely, I wouldn't mind trying to refine my painting with these techniques more someday xD I could go on and on about all the cool artsy stuff we got to do in the school~ Some of the classes covered some very interesting material. I do miss seeing quick improvement, I'm rather lax at my own pace xp

 

I think conceptart.org is where it's at for inspiration material, but deviantart is nice and diverse, I like finding speedpaints to watch there~

I'm not really the type to quit halfway through, if I got discouraged so easily I wouldn't have made it past the first semester x3 A lot of students dropped out just because it wasn't what they were expecting. The graduation rate is pretty low for the school, I can understand why

 

LOL when I'm working with people on stuff for my game, I hear a lot of, "I'm doing this, this, and this for you, but I'm really busy with school so it's taking a while," and I just want to put my hands on their shoulders and be like, "It's okay, I understand. Please don't overdo it." I think my only vocabulary for a few months was, "I'm so tired, I need more clean water" x_x

H'oh boy, I'll have to tell you about my hallucinations sometime, they're some pretty good game-dev material at least xD

 

Just for funzies, here's some of the progress shots we had to take to prove we weren't bs'ing our work, and the only painting I managed to get a B on

I think the first one was taken right after I hurt my arm. Seeing those square swatches of color bring forth feelings of anxiety @_@ Hundreds and hundreds of them, and they all had to be cut out, about 50 of them in perfect 1x1 squares. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, that all sounds really interesting and not was i was expecting. I took Gr.9 art but stopped it in Gr.10, because i didn't think we'd learn anything very useful. But hearing that, as well as what some others have said about tertiary art, makes me kinda regret that decision, even if it was just high school art lol. Or kinda wishing i took it in University/College.

 

I've seen conceptart.org too and holy cr*p! Oh boy, some of the art there is just awesome and godly. Like wow.

 

xD And usually, when i hear people (repeatedly say) that they couldn't do something because of school or something... tbh, idk, i often feel like maybe they were just slightly lazy about it. Ik that's a pretty rough way at looking at it, but i just kinda get the impression that maybe they aren't managing their time very well, and get kinda skeptical. I mean, when it happens really often.

 

 

Wow! Mother of a sailor! That painting looks really good! The shades look incredibly natural. I hope you can paint stuff like this again the more you keep at it with your left arm.  

[Nyapurgisnacht 152]

@ Bugs: Naw, I don't think you need to go out of your way, I'm being honest when I say some of your artwork that I've seen is absolutely the kind of professional quality the school was trying to instill on us, and there's even that uniqueness they kept rambling on about getting people hired >:3

 

They give us a direction in school, tell us how to get there and grade us to let us know how we're doing along the way, but really with the internet all the resources are already there. I think it's entirely possible to give yourself an education, as long as you know how to go about it. (And school is so expensive ;-
 

Actually, in the same vein, if you're interested in more guided practice, some of the workshops I've seen at conceptart.org offer pretty high quality tutelage ;D I think my favorite was: Find 10 "masterworks" (from artists whose style you would one day like to produce a similar quality of) and in no more than an hour, using only grayscale values, make a copy of each. It felt really similar to the kind of things we did in school.

You should totally get some feedback from their community and let them rip your art apart too sometime, that's a lot of fun <3

That's a good point (and likely true in a lot of cases ) I like to give people the benefit of the doubt though, it's not like I'm paying anyone atm xD

 

Rawr, thank you, I hope so too <333 I'm not incredibly impressed with that piece myself, maybe I'll even make 'A' quality work someday, lul xp

 

 

@Mak: Heeey lookin' good there, the colors are nice :3 I see you're going for an atmospheric perspective kinda thing- Dark in the foreground, midtones in the middle, light in the background. Plain and simple. Unless a title window is going in the negative space between the moon and the mountains at the bottom, I think just one more mountain range behind your dark one in foreground would bring this together ;D

 

Here's some of my older atmospheric perspective roughs/thumbnails: There's typically a focus on mountains/landscapes when learning atmospheric perspective, so to change it up I think the idea was to have one entirely black/white element in the foreground/background that isn't in the center, participating in some kind of scene. Just to make the composition interesting.

 

In some of these I failed, but I thought some examples might be of use ^^; I think the thumbnails that make the best use of atmospheric perspective are 4, 18, maybe 16.

 

The one with the spider,  and numbers 15, 11, and 12 in particular are trash, and should be noted as things not to ever do. 20 might be okay if the creature had a more gradient value and wasn't in the center.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2015 by Nyapurgisnacht

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

Actually, in the same vein, if you're interested in more guided practice, some of the workshops I've seen at conceptart.org offer pretty high quality tutelage ;D I think my favorite was: Find 10 "masterworks" (from artists whose style you would one day like to produce a similar quality of) and in no more than an hour, using only grayscale values, make a copy of each. It felt really similar to the kind of things we did in school.

You should totally get some feedback from their community and let them rip your art apart too sometime, that's a lot of fun <3

That's a good point (and likely true in a lot of cases ) I like to give people the benefit of the doubt though, it's not like I'm paying anyone atm xD

I see! I'll definitely give that a shot then and see what they have. And try out the grayscale-copy thing you had done from college. It seems like a good and interesting way of comparing where you're going too dark/light, and just improving your sense of shades. I've always wanted to practise in grayscale, but just didn't know where/how.

 

Is it actually fun when they rip apart your art?? xD Or are you being sarcastic..

That's another good idea i'll consider though, when i think i start producing stuff that is more professional-looking.

[Nyapurgisnacht 152]

How funny, all I'm used to is grayscale xp Working in color seems so challenging, I'm just barely getting into it o.o;

 

Hey, I like a healthy dose of brutal criticism, keeps me virile ^o.o^ Seems like a mature place anyway, no flames and such~

[Removed- 0]

Thanks, guys! Clouds and moon are so fun to draw.

 

 

Learning to draw more clouds I should post a thread to store my paintings, hmm...

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

^ Sure, why not? Ik i did that here for myself because i find it more interactive and less stressful than some other places. Ik i am still learning, too, and sometimes you just feel more prepared for one thing over another.

[Gui 61]

• How did you started with art?

It was in 1st grade, about 35 years ago: one of the pupils in my classroom was drawing a dinosaur and I thought I could do the same. I just kept on drawing when I felt it afterwards.

• Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else?

I just drew what came to my mind, often imitating comics (mainly super heroes) and other drawings that I liked (taken from artbooks for example), or even cool things that I saw in movies and cartoons (aliens, ships, robots, etc.): drawing is the only field where you have the right to copy – it is even strongly recommended: it is often said that an artist is only as good as his references...

• How much time you spend in practicing for drawing? 

Not enough, but real life has its priorities now. As for a beginner who wants to learn, one drawing a day is a minimum – this can be a 5 minutes sketch of an existing, real-life object though...

• In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?

I'm still learning, and I never learnt more than in following drawing lessons: one who knows is worth far more than ten who try; now, I have the necessary basis to experiment on my own.

• What program you do use?

The classics: Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel Draw, etc. But I mainly do 3D, on Max. I'm a graphic designer so I need to use the right tool for the job.

• Mouse or Pen tablet?

None of the above: pen and paper only. Then I rework the sketch on my comp if needed. But, as stated above, I do not draw as much as I used to.

• Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom?

Realistic, but I don't draw characters so maybe it doesn't really count...

[Tiranoua 3]

How did you started with art?
I started when I was around 5/6, I first came across Pokemon on the TV, then I came across Dragonball Z and it progressed to video games such as Final Fantasy, Wild Arms and Grandia. I loved trying to draw the characters, I was never seen without a pencil in my hand. Then when I was 12, I used to come home from school and draw in my room all night, that's all I ever used to do. I wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it. Me and my friends used to bring in drawings to school and exchange them like gifts, I loved taking my friend's art home and seeing how they drew and structured their anatomy. There was a period of time, probably from age 14 to 16 when I didn't draw at all, that was until I met my best friend in college, she loved the same things I did and had a passion for drawing also. She helped me get back into my groove the rest is history! 
 
Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else? 
I've never actually properly studied anatomy/muscle structure or anything. I probably should do. When I first started I used to copy other people's work until I built up enough knowledge to try myself. I like to think that I have my own unique style, but I switch up my style SO much, I can't truly say I have one.
 
How much time you spend in practicing for drawing? 
Overall, for about 15+ years. I'm not professional, far from it. I've known people who've been drawing a lot less than me, and they can pass as professionals. Usually, I can spend 4/5 hours a week drawing, highly depends WHAT I'm doing. My inspiration/motivation comes in waves so I could fancy a quick sketch one day, and a full-blown coloured piece the next. I work full time, so that severly cuts down my drawing time
 
In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?
I'm not perfect, even at 23 years of age, I'm still learning. I'm getting closer to where I want to be, but I'm not there yet.
 
What program you do use?
Used to be Manga Studio 4.0, but recently I've fallen in love with PaintToolSAI, I can easily say it's one of the best out there (for my style of drawing at least).
 
Mouse or Pen tablet?
My rusty, trusty Wacom Bamboo tablet.
 
Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom? (I'd also like to know what other drawing styles are called)
Hmm. Probably anime. Chibi would be considered a style within anime, along with other styles such as shojo, shonen etc
Here's something I recently put together, this is my style:

 
Learning since 1998
Program Paint Tool SAI
Art style Anime/Manga
Tool Pen tablet

[dipping dots 68]

I got started with art in about 5th grade about 6 years ago, when this kid in my class named Roman was drawing next to me. This kid was really good, I mean SUPER good. He'd put some adult professional artists to shame. Out of jealousy, I challenged him to drawing contest (At the time, I couldn't draw at all, mind you) and failed miserably. I challenged him again and again with the same result. So I started practicing. I was also really into the Warriors book series, so naturally I practiced drawing cats. Then I read Pokemon Adventures, my first manga. And thus, my anime art was born.

 

I began with some library drawing books, the ones that were like "draw a circle, and another, then connect them" and the next step would be a perfectly realistic drawing with the caption "add details and finish." Eventually I started copying manga artists' styles like Mato (Pokémon Adventures), Kishimoto (Naruto) and so on. I grew into my own style eventually. Looks kinda realistic but still anime'ish, like Death Note .

 

I'm not a perfect artist, but I'm only 16 and I have plenty of time to improve.

 

I use Photoshop CS3 because I'm most familiar with it (Ik its outdated, but my school gave it to us for free, sooo...) and sometimes GIMP because it has a certain tool that Ps doesn't have.

 

I'm a hobo, I cant afford a pen tablet yet ;-; I use a mouse after scanning a hand-drawn picture to my computer, and go over the edges/color.

 

I would upload something I drew, but I'm on mobile so I'm not messing with that noise.

[Endee 3]

How did you started with art?
I think I started when I was 3 years old; art kinda runs in the family, both my mother and my grandfather are fairly good at drawing. I remember one of the first things I drew were horses with cowboys, then dinosaurs and dragons, then zombie dinosaurs and dragons and then my anime phase hit
Did you tried to build your own art style first, learned human/creature anatomy first, or something else? 
I used to copy the styles of my favorite animes back at the time, Pokemon and Dragon Ball Z style mostly. It took quite a while for me to settle on a style that was more personal, and that too has evolved over the years, especially when I joined deviantART and found all these amazing artists with amazing styles - I took a lot of inspiration from those. As for anatomy, I will admit I used to wing it for years, and didn't really know what I was doing when it came to drawing humanoids and animals - big mistake because I learned faulty anatomy that way, and it's tough to break away from that. I never took any classes, nor did I draw from real life reference. I do so now though, and I'm glad it shows in my art, though I'm still far from a pro (especially when perspective is involved). If you want to learn proper anatomy, don't look at art other people have done (as they too can make mistakes and you don't want to accidentally copy said mistakes just because it looks 'right'). Reference from real life, either photos or actual people to learn proper anatomy, and once you get a decent grasp on that you can adapt it to your own personal style. Or do it the hard, long, painful way like I did
How much time you spend in practicing for drawing? 
I used to draw every day, back in high school, but due to real life events my inspiration/motivation took a huuuge blow and even now, 13 years later it still hasn't fully recovered. There are times I draw a lot for a few days, in between not doing anything even remotely artsy for a month or two. It sucks, because the ideas are there, sure - I have sooooooo much stuff I want to draw, including a ton of character art and designs for my RPGMaker project - but the motivation is lacking. I still have hope I'll get over this eventually... Improvement is slow because of this and that sucks!
In how many years/months you became a perfect artist?
I don't strife to become a perfect artist, and I'm faaaaaaaaaaaaar from reaching perfect state anyway, if I can even reach it. And I think this goes for most people. I do however always strife for improvement (when I do draw) and this also goes for pretty much everyone, I think. When I think 'perfect artist' I think of people like Leonardo da Vinci or Johannes Vermeer, the masters of old.
What program you do use?
Paint Tool SAI for sketching, line art (I LOVE DOING LINE ART), flat coloring and shading, Photoshop CS5 for shading and touch ups.
Mouse or Pen tablet?
No one should do digital art with a mouse I use a Wacom Intuos Pro. Bought it about 6 months ago after my trusty Intuos 4 died after many years of faithful service. Before that I had a Medion tablet, small but decent.
Your art style? Anime, realistic, chibi or any custom?
Semi realism. I broke away from traditional anime style, but you can still find hints of it in how I draw today.
 
Some stuff~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2015 by Endee