SELF-TAUGHT ILLUSTRATORS

[words_to_wow]

I have a question for the illustrators (any form or technique). Is anyone here self-taught?  

If so, what was your experience? I used to draw and paint pretty well when I was younger, but that skill is not like riding a bike. You can't just go back to it after 20 years.

I've been thinking about going to school for art, because I think that skill would help my marketability tremendously. But if I can teach myself, then why not?

If you are self-taught, how did you learn? YouTube? Books? Tracing? And how long did it take for you to be confident in your work? 

[susanchinnaya]

On 1/24/2022 at 9:47 AM, words_to_wow said:

I have a question for the illustrators (any form or technique). Is anyone here self-taught?  

If so, what was your experience? I used to draw and paint pretty well when I was younger, but that skill is not like riding a bike. You can't just go back to it after 20 years.

I've been thinking about going to school for art, because I think that skill would help my marketability tremendously. But if I can teach myself, then why not?

If you are self-taught, how did you learn? YouTube? Books? Tracing? And how long did it take for you to be confident in your work? 

Hi I'm Susan I prefer self learning from different plateform like fb groups YouTube etc . Being a Designer is tough but if you have a Interest and Passion you will like the process of daily learning . I gave my 3-4 hours watching different videos( not contineuesly ) then I note down everything and practice it . Practice makes you better and better . So this is my experience and what I do daily . Have fun be creative . 

[words_to_wow]

Thank you, Susan! I've always had an interest in art, but I lost the passion a long time ago.

I will take your advice and try to get the sparks going again!

 

[imagination7413]

If by self-taught, you mean no formal scholastics education, then I almost count. Took one semester way back in high school, but I really don't feel I learned much from that. I'm good enough to do concept work and get-the-idea-across sketches, cartoons and abstract, but I cannot do (hyper-)realistic and I've never done in-depth anatomy studies.

As for how I learned, I have an older sister who I imitated (she took art classes), and a younger sister (also took art classes), so I guess second-hand education? I sometimes run stuff by them, which then gets picked apart.

Actually, if there's any one thing that can help by leaps and bounds, it's having someone to pick apart and critique your thing before and/or while the work is in progress. Just be sure to ask for it, like 'I think there's something off with this, but I'm not sure what and want a second pair of eyes', rather than a super vague 'what do you think', because the latter won't help you get what you need.

I can say I don't recommend tracing. At least, not in a 'copy the line' kind of way. Structural outlining is (imho) far better for learning the 'how' and 'why'. Especially since people, and living things in general, are squishy and flexible around that otherwise ridged skeletal structure.

(Super rough and quick example):

 

The only other big bit of advice I can offer is to never try to get away with not using reference images, plural. You can get away with sketching from memory for practice, but the internet is an incredible resource and tool. If you can't find what you need, phones have cameras. Ask someone to pose for you, and snap multiple angles. Ask if they're willing to pose twice, with different cloths. (Especially if you're drawing bulky clothing, like in the example photo.)

I can't remember where I read or heard it, and I'm probably miss-quoting, but: "drawing is only 10% pencil-to-paper, the other 90% is observation."

[words_to_wow]

@imagination7413 thank you so much for your advice! I honestly don't want to go back to school, especially if I can learn on my own. I took art for two years in high school and forgot most of what I learned. So, I definitely have a lot of work to do.

I know that many illustrators have a particular style. I need to at least figure out start what style I want to work with. 

Thanks again!

[sesoru]

I recall doing art classes in my high school years, though I do not think I learned overly much as my teacher was more about teaching the kids the bare basic fundamentals and drawing a line there. I never did any college stuff, so everything I know basically past that is self taught from looking at how others do things and mimicking it. I used to draw a lot of things straight from anime screenshots or from using my manga books or other comic books for direction since the internet was not as easily accessible for me back then (this was 2006 around). Once the internet DID become more accessible to me, I remember I'd look up all sorts of art and images and try to mimic them. Then there were streaming services that allowed you to share your screen as you drew, so I'd livestream my process and get all sorts of tips from people watching. I'd also watch other people draw, and even join them at times (Picarto.tv has a function to share multiple artist screens on one stream so people can watch them at once, like a friend get together almost!) which allowed me to learn a lot. Later youtube became more prevalent as a method for artists to showcase their stuff, and I ate it all up. 

 

For me, I had several years where I stopped drawing almost completely. I'd maybe do 1 or 2 sketches/doodles a year, and that's not an underestimate sadly. But, during those years, I never stopped consuming art. I was constantly looking at art feeds, constantly watching youtube vids - not just tutorials, but also drawings done from 0 to 100% in the entire video as a time lapse. I learned a LOT with that, and because I was constantly training my 'inner eye', as well as absorbing all these techniques, I never stopped 'learning.' When I came back to art, I found I was actually slightly better than when I'd stopped, and then I started seeing mass improvements most likely because I'd gained a much better understanding for how things worked technically and mechanically, if that makes sense?

 

My advice for you is to not give up. It may not always be like riding a bike, but I fully believe that if you keep being passionate about your art, and if you keep consuming art (Videos, watching people draw live, asking intuitive questions and visually studying your favorite artists and their techniques etc), you will see that improvement.

 

One of the best things I've come to realize over my many years as an artist is that we all grow at different rates, but there will almost always be one thing we all must confront: we come to a point where we know what we are drawing can be improved upon yet we do not yet see or understand how or why. It frustrates us because our hands do not want to cooperate. BUT - there is a solution that can usually work in my experience and that is to study art. I mean... really study it - that is, consuming art like I mentioned above. There are two things you end up learning by being an artist (or rather, I am simplifying it to these base things), and that is that first you learn the technical things with your hands - your actual physical skill, while the second is your inner mind's eye. A sort of internal library of knowledge that is constantly being upgraded. If you want to see improvement in your actual ability to draw, you must also 'level up' your inner understand and image library as this is what guides your intuition or your 'eye for aesthetics', if that makes sense.

 

I guess it's kind of like if you have a game where you have two skills, but one skill caps the other skill if you don't level it up. Often times people spend way more time training their hands and don't even think about training that inner eye as well. Once I realized this, I think I really started to see a lot more improvement as I was able to finally break things down mentally to understand them at a fundamental value. I am still learning and I still watch loads of videos on art each week, several hours a day sometimes (because it's fun even if I don't feel like I'm learning anything), and this truly has helped my skill level go up even with my not drawing overly much each year.

 

I know this may have all seemed vague, but I hope it was at least interesting to read and offered an interesting different perspective to things for you ^^

[surajkartha]

I am self-taught.. I don't really force myself.. I go with the flow.. 

[aarontgladiator]

1 hour ago, surajkartha said:

I am self-taught.. I don't really force myself.. I go with the flow.. 

I can see so much emotion in this, so wholesome, makes me tear up.

[words_to_wow]

7 hours ago, sesoru said:

I recall doing art classes in my high school years, though I do not think I learned overly much as my teacher was more about teaching the kids the bare basic fundamentals and drawing a line there. I never did any college stuff, so everything I know basically past that is self taught from looking at how others do things and mimicking it. I used to draw a lot of things straight from anime screenshots or from using my manga books or other comic books for direction since the internet was not as easily accessible for me back then (this was 2006 around). Once the internet DID become more accessible to me, I remember I'd look up all sorts of art and images and try to mimic them. Then there were streaming services that allowed you to share your screen as you drew, so I'd livestream my process and get all sorts of tips from people watching. I'd also watch other people draw, and even join them at times (Picarto.tv has a function to share multiple artist screens on one stream so people can watch them at once, like a friend get together almost!) which allowed me to learn a lot. Later youtube became more prevalent as a method for artists to showcase their stuff, and I ate it all up. 

 

For me, I had several years where I stopped drawing almost completely. I'd maybe do 1 or 2 sketches/doodles a year, and that's not an underestimate sadly. But, during those years, I never stopped consuming art. I was constantly looking at art feeds, constantly watching youtube vids - not just tutorials, but also drawings done from 0 to 100% in the entire video as a time lapse. I learned a LOT with that, and because I was constantly training my 'inner eye', as well as absorbing all these techniques, I never stopped 'learning.' When I came back to art, I found I was actually slightly better than when I'd stopped, and then I started seeing mass improvements most likely because I'd gained a much better understanding for how things worked technically and mechanically, if that makes sense?

 

My advice for you is to not give up. It may not always be like riding a bike, but I fully believe that if you keep being passionate about your art, and if you keep consuming art (Videos, watching people draw live, asking intuitive questions and visually studying your favorite artists and their techniques etc), you will see that improvement.

 

One of the best things I've come to realize over my many years as an artist is that we all grow at different rates, but there will almost always be one thing we all must confront: we come to a point where we know what we are drawing can be improved upon yet we do not yet see or understand how or why. It frustrates us because our hands do not want to cooperate. BUT - there is a solution that can usually work in my experience and that is to study art. I mean... really study it - that is, consuming art like I mentioned above. There are two things you end up learning by being an artist (or rather, I am simplifying it to these base things), and that is that first you learn the technical things with your hands - your actual physical skill, while the second is your inner mind's eye. A sort of internal library of knowledge that is constantly being upgraded. If you want to see improvement in your actual ability to draw, you must also 'level up' your inner understand and image library as this is what guides your intuition or your 'eye for aesthetics', if that makes sense.

 

I guess it's kind of like if you have a game where you have two skills, but one skill caps the other skill if you don't level it up. Often times people spend way more time training their hands and don't even think about training that inner eye as well. Once I realized this, I think I really started to see a lot more improvement as I was able to finally break things down mentally to understand them at a fundamental value. I am still learning and I still watch loads of videos on art each week, several hours a day sometimes (because it's fun even if I don't feel like I'm learning anything), and this truly has helped my skill level go up even with my not drawing overly much each year.

 

I know this may have all seemed vague, but I hope it was at least interesting to read and offered an interesting different perspective to things for you ^^

@sesoru this was so helpful! Thank you so much! I believe I need to work on my inner mind's eye which will likely take a while, but with practice, I think I'll be good. I'll definitely start with baby steps 😁.

[frank_d]

The thing I find working for me is practicing as much as possible.

If you love drawing then try to block out some time every day, even if it’s just 10 minutes or so.

It adds up. 
 

Once you are comfortable with how you draw and what you can produce, you can seek out courses or tutorials.

It’s tricky though: watching is easy. Taking notes is simple. Practicing what you saw is the trick.

[words_to_wow]

9 hours ago, surajkartha said:

I am self-taught.. I don't really force myself.. I go with the flow.. 

Is he holding a mirror or is that a baseball glove? Cute. lol

[surajkartha]

7 hours ago, aarontgladiator said:

I can see so much emotion in this, so wholesome, makes me tear up.

Ya it might look like an image with only a single layer.. but no.. by the time I got to adding the finishing touches to it, I was 7 layers deep... I cannot come close to beating the masterpiece though.. this I mean:

[surajkartha]

34 minutes ago, words_to_wow said:

Is he holding a mirror or is that a baseball glove? Cute. lol

It's actually balloon, but ya, mirror makes sense too lol 

[words_to_wow]

1 hour ago, frank_d said:

If you love drawing then try to block out some time every day, even if it’s just 10 minutes or so.

I practiced drawing a circle for 10 minutes yesterday 🤦🏾‍♀️. Some things I can't use a protractor for. Lol. But practicing was almost therapeutic and a nice break from writing. 

[words_to_wow]

48 minutes ago, surajkartha said:

Ya it might look like an image with only a single layer.. but no.. by the time I got to adding the finishing touches to it, I was 7 layers deep... I cannot come close to beating the masterpiece though.. this I mean:

You play too much! Lol. He looks like a cross between Uncle Fester from the Addams Family and an old Pinocchio! And the eyes tell a story. I could write a story from this one drawing. Lol.

[frank_d]

12 minutes ago, words_to_wow said:

I practiced drawing a circle for 10 minutes yesterday 🤦🏾‍♀️. Some things I can't use a protractor for. Lol. But practicing was almost therapeutic and a nice break from writing. 

I have more notebooks that I can count that have pages and pages of basic shapes, until I was able to get them down pat.

Trust the process. A different part of your brain works when you draw vs writing.

It helps on so many levels.

[sesoru]

8 hours ago, words_to_wow said:

@sesoru this was so helpful! Thank you so much! I believe I need to work on my inner mind's eye which will likely take a while, but with practice, I think I'll be good. I'll definitely start with baby steps 😁.

I am so happy to see it helped! ^_^ The best thing with consuming art is that you can definitely start immediately. A lot of the time I watch artists that draw/create what I hope one day I'll be able to, and because of this I pick up a lot of techniques. Even if I don't grasp it at the time of watching it, by watching hundreds of videos and by looking at thousands of images (ik it sounds a lot, but if you think of the amount of content we consume every hour on a normal basis it doesn't seem so much anymore lol) you'll eventually build up a sort of 'sixth sense' for it - especially if you take the time to then practice what you see or imitate it directly for personal use to allow you to apply what you see.

[words_to_wow]

41 minutes ago, sesoru said:

Even if I don't grasp it at the time of watching it, by watching hundreds of videos and by looking at thousands of images (ik it sounds a lot, but if you think of the amount of content we consume every hour on a normal basis it doesn't seem so much anymore lol)

You're absolutely right. Today, I searched through Fiverr and the internet for different art styles. Then I watched some videos on the ones that I liked. There is a lot to take in! But it was time well spent 😊.

[moikchap]

I feel like a lot of it starts with observation skills and time.
Like, one needs to be able to notice the details to reproduce them, and then one can use time (redraws*) to nudge the shapes into a match.
One other way to "cover it", I find, is to work large. Flaws get lost as one steps away to view the whole piece.

I like the idea of just drawing mass quantities of basic shapes to train the hand though. That's probably essential for unlocking "ligne claire" type confidence in drawing.

* Onion paper and tracing light box.

[words_to_wow]

2 hours ago, moikchap said:

I like the idea of just drawing mass quantities of basic shapes to train the hand though. That's probably essential for unlocking "ligne claire" type confidence in drawing.

This makes so much sense. You're not the first artist to mention practicing by drawing shapes. It's such a simple yet effective approach.

Initially I was focused on the final result of the drawing but it always starts with shapes. Baby steps. 

And of course I had to look up what "ligne claire" was. Lol. I am not familiar with art terminology at all. But I learned something new, so thank you!!

[sesoru]

3 hours ago, words_to_wow said:

You're absolutely right. Today, I searched through Fiverr and the internet for different art styles. Then I watched some videos on the ones that I liked. There is a lot to take in! But it was time well spent 😊.

Yea! I'll usually have up some sort of art content on my second monitor while doing stuff on my first too. It means I am often not paying 100% attention to it, but it's still there with my brain taking it in and it really does do a lot imo ^^