Things I’ve learned

Study other artists, most of the accounts I follow on social media are art or photography related. People often tell me they don’t do that because it makes them compare their work to others too much and it feels bad when you’re not as skilled, I understand that feeling but that shouldn’t stop anyone, we all start somewhere, and also we’re probably talking about professional artists that have been drawing for years and years. They do need your support and sometimes they’ll post small tutorials that can help you.

If you like drawing humanoid characters, learn anatomy basics and then twist it your way.

Draw for you, and what you like. Ignore negative comments, they usually come from family or just random people whenever they don’t agree with your choise of topic or character. If cute anime girls are your thing right now, draw cute anime girls and don’t let anyone stop you, but also, you’ll probably move on from them in the future, that happened to me, I didn’t like I was only portraying beautiful characters with long lucious hair and perfect bodies.

That takes me to my next point: draw odd/ imperfect features. This may not be for everyone, or every character you create but it can help your style develop more. For example: Big noses, ears, scrawny limbs, chubby cheeks and bodies, different skin colors, old people... things you don’t see enough of out there. And if, in the end you only want to draw young female characters, that’s ok. But you’ll have a lot more experience.

Also, sign your drawings and put the date somewhere so you can see the progress.