5 Dont's of Digital Art

I've discussed with a few artists on Discord about what I found to be the biggest mistakes I find artists displaying while drawing on a tablet. This applies to users of Procreate, Photoshop, Clip Studio, and just about any other art software.

1. Dont zoom in too much. This is perhaps the most common issue amongst digital artists. A mistake that I often committed. On paper, it's very easy to judge how far you need your face from the page. Details that aren't important require less focus. However, when it comes down to digital art, it's difficult to gauge how zoomed in you should be. When art is a hobby, you can be free as a bird. It doesn't pay the bills, so take all the time you need. But if the aim is to live off your work, then speed is a major factor to be aware of. If a single comic page is taking several days to complete, then you may be zooming in far too much. Pull back a bit and look at your work from a more natural position.

2. Don't clean the artwork too much. You've sketched before on scrap sheets of paper. There was no commitment to perfection. You did as you pleased. Often times, the loose sketch carries more energy and feeling than squeaky clean line art. Be light and loose with your lines. Use a brush that emulates a real pencil, pen, or brush. Some standard Photoshop and procreate brushes feel "too" digital. Humans have been drawing on walls before language was created. We told stories of our hunts, our celebrations, and our myths for tens of thousands of years. We have evolved our hands to grasp natural tools such as charcoal and ink. The gradation of color, the spread of the ink, and the precision of such tools are engrained into our very core. So when deciding on what brush to use, find one that brings with it a sense of realism, that is unless your aim is to create some dope pixel art.

If you have an iPad, I suggest opening the notes app. Play around with the pencil tool there. It'll give you an idea of what a very good digital brush should feel like.

3. Don't speed through the rough sketch. It's become somewhat of a fad to draw without any rough sketch. All thanks to one bald, glasses wearing Korean cutie. However, some of the most incredible artists don't have the ability to jump into the final product. In fact, most artists don't have that ability. Only when you've gotten so good that you understand how things look and function can you then start to draw things while skipping the rough sketch. Kim Jung Gi, Jack Kirby, and Mobius are artists who understood their subjects and were good enough to draw automatically; aka, without a rough sketch. However, this comes at the price of carrying more mistakes within an artpiece. Could it be better? Yes. But that's not what the artist cares about. But, if you're beginning, the rough sketch is where all the hard thinking goes into. Make it clean. You shouldn't have to guess anything once you start inking.

As you can see, my rough sketches lay out all the information, including perspective lines.

4. Don't be afraid of the perspective tools. Every photo has perspective. Even a character in front of a blank background has perspective. Procreate and Clip Studio have fairly good perspective tools too. You've lived your entire life seeing things in perspective. Even if you don't understand it, it's still there and you'll notice if something is off. I preach about drawing more than just characters. It's important to be good at placing characters in a scene. I have a tutorial on perspective from a while back, so look it up and use it to your advantage.

5. Don't draw entirely from imagination. Your imagination is a skill. All skills are developed through practice. With everything, there are the basics. In basketball, it's a layup. In tennis, it's a backhand swing. In art, it's reference drawing. Do you know how a bike works? If you do, and you know absolutely everything about bicycles, then you'll be able to draw a bike no problemo. Here's a story. In college, we went to the zoo for an assignment. We had to draw 10 animals. I drew 9. Towards the end, I got so caught up in the gorilla exhibit, I forgot to draw the silverback. It was time to head back and submit our work, but damn, I only had 9 drawings. See, our professor was an exceptional artist. He would know if something was drawn from reference or not. Luckily, I was practically Jane Goodall. I'd been studying and drawing primates at that point for half a decade. I sat down outside the professor's room and in 20 minutes drew one of my best gorilla sketches I'd ever done. I knew how their nostrils flared compared to a chimps. Their ears were smaller, and they had a ridge on the crown of their skill, giving them their iconic head shape. If I had chosen to draw an animal like a taipir, well then I'd have been screwed because I never drew a damn taipir before. But I had studied gorillas and knew how to draw them like the back of my hand. I trained my imagination.

I hope these Dont's helped you out. I'll be making a Do's list soon. Drink your milk, hug yourself, and tell a stranger they smell nice. Peace out.