For me, it's all the time lol

Does making art ever trigger mental fatigue or decision fatigue for you? I'm currently studying art and right now I only have two art classes but I still find myself feeling drained sometimes when it comes to creating. Like sometimes creating is too open ended and overwhelming. When I know what I want to make this doesn't happen really. What's your experience with this?

Something I hear a lot from people considering serious art training. "I don't want to waste years on cast drawing if I want to be an illustrator/concept artist/comic artist/animator."

The assumption is that atelier or classical training only produces one kind of artist, and if that's not what you want to be, the training is wasted time.

But when I actually look at the working artists in commercial fields (illustration, concept art, animation, comics), a surprisingly large number of them have serious classical or atelier training in their background. Sometimes formal (Watts, Gage, Grand Central, various academies), sometimes self-directed through Bargue plates and cast copies and figure study. The classical foundation shows up in their work whether the final output is a Marvel cover or a Riot Games splash art.

So the question. Is there actually such a thing as wasted classical training for a working artist in a commercial field? Or does the "wasted years" framing come from a misunderstanding of what the training actually gives you?

Clothing has been a huge blind spot for me.

I’ve been getting a lot of my inspiration from video games and movies because I draw a lot of fantasy art lately

but would love to know if anyone has recommendations of books on historical clothing that they use for reference!

I’ve also been getting into sewing my own costumes together and sometimes that really breaks down the structure of various clothes would be fascinating!

Hello!
I’ve recently rediscovered my love of art, and am slowly filling a small sketchbook. I have worked primarily with watercolour paints, but have also dabbled in pencil sketches, fine liners, and oil and soft pastels.

What other mediums would be fun to try? I want as much variety as possible.

A friend is getting me a Lino printing kit for my birthday, and im looking into picking up charcoal over the weekend to experiment with.

Am I missing something obvious? Are there obscure mediums you love? I just want to explore and have fun!

TIA

When you look at your works, what do you feel needs to be fixed?

-When I do gesture drawings, I keep drawing a quick oval for the head and then moving on to the body. Instead, I should either try to actually draw a Loomis head or draw lines indicating the planes of the head

-Also with gestures, I end up slowing down and focusing too much on getting the details right for a specific part rather than ensuring that the gesture successfully communicates the pose first. The forms also have to be better simplified. It can be tough simplifying the foot in a way that looks like a foot with dimension

-Not having clearer separation of light, midtones, and shadow. Sometimes, the shadow values are too light and look closer to midtones, causing the form to lack a sense of volume. I also neglect to shade some areas that should be midtones, so it ends up being too bright and not feeling like a gradation. Some of the shadows are flat and not specifically capturing the form

-Not understanding/visualizing the underlying anatomy well enough to really convey a solid sense of form

I tend to drink tea while I paint and I can't say I've never accidentally reached for my brush cleaning water instead when going for a sip, or almost out my brushes in my tea. Fortunately I never have, but I am curious what it would taste like if I did! Can anyone enlighten me?

Like you feel like sometimes you forget how to draw. Your sketches look a bit off and you notice that when a lot of going on in your life. Is that normal?

I wanted to share some sketches that I did at a figure drawing party this weekend. I don’t usually draw people, and this was my second time drawing figure with a live model. Where can I share work that would not be considered a porn subreddit?

Even less detailed drawings that are more contours than naked people get taken down.

im contemplating whether to buy Painting In Acrylics: An Indispensable Guide by Lorena Kloosterboer (since its sold out at my local store and more expensive online). do you guys have any recommendations similar to this book? preferably about techniques and a guide. thanks! (also heard stuff about Color And Light by James Gurney so lmk if its good)

Hello everyone, I'm looking for an angled drawing board of some sort to help improve my posture. I tend to draw at my desk slouched over my sheet of paper and it hurts my back. 😂

I usually draw on 9 x 12 paper since I don't have a lot of space. I've looked around but all I could find are easels for painting. If you use an angled drawing board or something else, please let me know! I'd love to hear and see what people are using.

I need help pleaseee!!! I was cleaning my paint pallets and now my bathtub looks horrible and is covered in oil paint residue. I have gamsol but it’s not working. I’m trying to use soap but it’s not very effective. I can’t shower in this. What do I do?? :(

I hope this is the right place to ask this but I am trying to figure out if art just isn't for me. I love looking at other people's art but when it comes to trying to do it myself it makes me so irritated and I hate the whole process. I want to know if this is normal for some people or if it means I just don't like doing it

Hi reddit I've always painted in black since I've never had good markers but now I found the opportunity and I'm between two options a 18 set with brush tips and a 24set with highlighter¿ Type tips, Wich ones do you think will be better for a first timer.

Sorry if this is not the correct subreddit Idrk

I’ve noticed that the better someone gets at a particular style, the harder it can seem to break away from it. Do you guys think having a strong recognizable style can eventually become limiting, or is it actually useful to get really comfortable with one approach before experimenting? like Im so curious about it.

Im extremely new to making art and one of the biggest roadblocks I've encountered is feeling silly or dumb while making art. I desperately want to get better to at least be somewhat competent, but I can't combat that feeling while trying to make it, to the point that I can't make any lines on a page or screen to get started. It also prevents any inspiration to try drawing anything

I have a Moleskine sketchbook that I left in my wardrobe unused for a while. I recently went to use it and found really tiny grey bugs in the crevices of the pages, which I believe are dust mites. Has anyone else dealt with this?

Do you put up your own works in your living room/bedroom/etc or is it mostly decor/art you’ve gotten from somewhere else?

Hi Everyone,

I have two sets of acrylic markers. Queenstar - 60 , hero -48. 1 queenstar marker has already dried up. Is it worth investing in enmy 80 markers since I'll get a wide range of colors.

Someone explain to me what is an adoptable and what can you do with them? Are their limitations on what you can use them for?

I would like to ask other professional artists how they handle the return of original artworks after a gallery collaboration ends.

I am currently dealing with this situation with MONAT Gallery in Madrid.

I entered into a paid collaboration with the gallery and sent them original paintings for exhibitions. During the collaboration, some exhibition plans were changed or replaced, and eventually I decided that I did not want to continue the collaboration.

The collaboration has now officially ended. The signed Annex to our contract states that unsold artworks must be collected from the gallery within a specified period after the collaboration ends.

Before that period expired, I started arranging the return of my paintings.

MONAT Gallery provided me with the contact details of a shipping company/person to arrange transportation back to Sweden. I contacted them and was told that they would calculate the shipping cost and send me a quotation.

The quotation never arrived and eventually the responses stopped.

I then contacted MONAT Gallery in writing, explained that the shipping contact they had provided was no longer responding, and asked the gallery to help resolve the return.

The contractual period has now passed and my original paintings are still with the gallery.

I have kept the contract, signed Annex, emails with the gallery and correspondence concerning the return shipment.

My question for artists who work internationally with galleries is:

How do you protect yourself against this situation when signing a gallery agreement?

In particular:

• Do you require the contract to specify who is responsible for arranging return shipping?
• Do you include a specific return deadline?
• Do you require the gallery itself to arrange the shipment rather than referring you to a third party?
• What do you do when the collaboration has ended but the practical return of the artworks is not happening?

I am especially interested in hearing from artists who have had to recover original artworks from a gallery in another country.

I hope this discussion can also help other artists understand what should be clearly agreed in writing before sending original work to a gallery.

I want to start by saying I have heard reasons to not use copy paper. Usually: it’s cheap, it’s flimsy, and treated with acids that will later damage or alter the artwork.

However I’ve recently discovered J burrows premium digital copy paper. It looked good, and I thought if it was intended for printer inks, why not my own inks?
Ya’ll. It’s 250gsm!! And feels so smooth to use with a fountain pen. The paper is uncoated, so the ink soaks in and stays there. It does bleed a bit, but not in a way that disturbs the outcomes of my illustrations.
I was doubtful it was really acid free as it didn’t say on the packaging, but checking their product website, it is! It’s advertised as a paper to be used for documents you want to last.

I’m feeling the need to check here, is there a catch? It feels too good to be true. It’s a hugely affordable option for me as I usually draw a high volume. I’m unsure however if this would be fine for pen and ink artworks I want to frame up and sell. I plan to test some in a window with my inks for lightfastness, but is there anything else I should be aware of on how this paper might behave over time? Is it a bad idea to use this for artworks I want to sell?

I’m happy with my work, but I feel like I spend a long time on pieces. Recently, I’ve found myself comparing my drawing times to others, who draw great work very quickly on top of posting polished pieces multiple times a day! It always makes me cringe seeing the hours logged on a timelapse lol.

Does anyone have general techniques for reducing time on drawings?

Only specifying experienced because the most common reply I get for this question when asking artists is “just practice” — don’t get me wrong, this is very true! But some specific pointers would be fantastic.

Thanks everyone!