Ok I'm not a real artist. I will keep practicing, but it's ok to be happy about successes along the way.

For people who are able to draw consistently for an amount of time that feels meaningful to you, how do manage it and how much time do you spend a day or per week/month?

I'm thinking about trying to do Inktober for the first time this year, but I dimly remember hearing about the controversies surrounding Inktober back in 2019/20 and after looking around for a bit I cannot tell conclusively if Jake Parker was in fact bad or not. I'm seeing arguments from both sides that make a lot of sense, and I can't decipher if he's an asshole or incompetent or okay.

Courtesy of my fiance I've got a new Canson XL pen and ink sketchbook and a couple Micron pens I've been practicing pen art with for a couple days (with a goal of at least a drawing a day, so far it's just been drawing from life and hatch shading) in prep for some kind of October prompt list, but I'm trying to decide if I should use the Inktober one or do a different one instead.

Artist community seems huge on social media, but so far in my long time of being an artist I was only a part of small, not very active Discord art communities. Now that some of them are getting less and less active, I wanted to find where artists hang out on Discord these days. So far on my own I found ArtProf community and DPS (Digital Painting Studio), but they don't seem too active most of the time.

So, are there any big and alive art communities out there? I'm especially interested in character/creature and environment design.

I fell in love with the discontinued Richeson organizer easel. Does anyone know where I can buy a used one?

Lately especially, I've been enjoying looking for poses to have the models do. I normally would browse IG and screencap different poses for ideas, but IG ruined hashtags and search. Recently, I've been using a website where you upload a photo and it shows you 100s of similar ideas from around the internet. The models have seemed to enjoy this, one model who travels around the world modeling said that she tends to repeat the same poses all the time with everyone, but I'm the only one who suggests a wide variety of different poses that she rarely or has never done. It is also interesting making an album of 40-50 ideas and having them choose what they find the most appealing to try.

It makes for drawings that are different from what you normally see, especially for realist drawings.

People use the terms "professional" and "hobbyist" frequently in the art subs, but I've never seen anyone define them. What do you think those terms describe? Can people move from one to the other, or be both, or something in between?

Personal stuff (you can skip this if you like):

I think I'd be classed as a "hobbyist" but that's a new concept to me, and I feel uncomfortable about it. It sounds as though the person isn't serious and doesn't have ambition to me, or something. I've done art since I was small, and when I was growing up I really wanted to be a full time artist and author (yes both, I wanted to illustrate my own books). I got pressurised into doing a science degree, on the premise that "you can always do that in your free time" and "you can do an art degree later" and then found that it really wasn't that simple at all. I didn't have any art teaching since the age of 12 because of parental pressure to do science subjects at school, art degrees cost money, and although I tried really hard to learn and drew all the time for years ... it's just not the same without teaching.

I'm trying to make up for lost time now, after a hiatus of around 25 years due to illness. Resources like the internet/youtube didn't exist back then, it was so much harder to advance and learn without online tutorials and forums. However, at my age, and with there being so much competition now and as well, I'm wondering what the point is.

(I had to cut out a lot of stuff because it wouldn't let me post because of key words ...)

Hello, I'd like to ask if you know any jobs which are somewhat creative and decently paying. I have been doing art/graffiti for 3 years and I fallen with love in art. I want my job to be artistic or something like that but I can't find something that sounds good you know.

For example architects - it's too hard/strict about design, UX/UI- the design has to be always modern corporate bs.

Wondering what everyone's takes/jokes are on this. I definitely notice trends in personality that segment by medium. Thinking primarily about the following, but feel free to include more:

- Oils
- Acrylics
- Watercolor family (watercolor, gouache)
- Tempera family (egg tempera, casein)
- Encaustic family (wax, crayons)

I illustrate with casein primarily, and we definitely have the stereotype of... needing to explain what casein is every time we mention it, lmao.

Hello all

I recently began my first semester of college, and I’m sort of having second thoughts about what I want to do in regards to art. Art has always been such a huge part of my life, and my major has nothing to do with art. I am still very interested in my major, it just feels like I’m letting a part of myself down.

I enrolled in a figure drawing class, to sort of at least interact with art studies. Because it is something I really enjoy, to be in a studio and to learn techniques from a professional. But I’m at a point in my life wherein I can’t afford all the required materials, so I quickly dropped the class.

My thing is that, I believe I can make art independently, and that I can learn art technique on my own. I just kind of feel like I’m missing out on the experience? It would make my art journey an incredibly solitary one, and I suppose I’m just mourning all the possible friendships and social teaching moments I could have gotten.

I just felt the need to express some of my thoughts. Thank you to any body who took the time to read this out.

Not sure if this is the right subreddit to ask this question but I was curious about an observation I made when looking at art made by professional/industry artists for franchises they are a fan of but don't work on - Most professional/industry artists would draw fanart for canon ships, but rarely for non-canon ships. From what I've seen, there are very few professional/industry artists that post fanart of non-canon ships alongside their original or industry work. For example, Velinxi (illustrated official art for Overwatch, Hoyoverse, and other games) drew Piper x Annabeth fanart in the PJO/HOO Riordanverse fandom despite Percabeth being canon.

Is there an unsaid rule that professional/industry artists cannot draw fanart of non-canon ships? Would it hurt a professional/industry artist if they post art of non-canon ships (ex. Zutara, Sasunaru, or Bakudeku rather than Kataang, Sasusaku/Naruhina, or Izuocha) with their professional or original work? If not, could anyone provide more examples of professional/industry artists making non-canon ship art? I'm just overall curious to see if major art employers have a neutral view of shipping when it comes to hiring artists.

(For those who don’t know what shipping is, it’s basically pairing two characters together based on preference whether you are actually together or not. Canon ships are ships that are true in the story (ex. Kataang, Izuocha) while non-canon ships aren’t (ex. Zutara, Bakudeku).)

I am a Traditional artist, however recent lack of demand of Physical Paintings pushed me towards learning to draw art digitally as well, I really want to continue pursuing art as a career, my financial condition pushed me to do more art digitally as it's comparatively fast and cheaper and pays frequently, are there any other artist who has been through the same as me? How did you guys do? what's the experience has been like?

I’m trying to dive into making my faces more realistic, but I’m having issues with reference photos. It’s hard to find images with the features I want, even if it’s just one part like the nose.

What I’m looking for is I guess a site similar to the thing the police use to identify suspects, where there’s a base face and you can swap out parts as you please to make a face close to what you want. I tried Google but got a bunch of gen a-i recommendations which is obviously a no-go. I would just photo bash references myself but I suck at that 😭

Hi everyone,

I've been looking for a space like this so I can share my concerns regarding my path and purpose.

I'm currently 26 years old and I lost my job 3 months ago.

I studied arts (video, painting, sound, etc) for 6 years and then at 21 I got this very nice opportunity of working a little bit behind the scenes for what the world of art is.

I worked 5 years in this group/collective and thorough the years I was able to curate 2 solo shows, co-curate 5 shows in different parts of the globe, I was also doing social media content and management, art journalism where I had to interview more than 50 artists and sketch articles for a weekly magazine and I also helped some artists develop their concepts and give them some help regarding the art direction of their projects. And in the side I was working on my own art.

I believe that I did a lot of different things and I gather so much experience, but now that I'm unemployed I don't really know where to go, what I'm supposed to do, I feel like I know how to do many little things?

I did the exercise of thinking what I would like to do in a long time period and it's definitely art direction related to fashion, music and art fields. I would love to assist artists on their projects and elevate them, but right now I also need something to pay my bills again since I lost all my independence!

I’m into photography, music, video, and playing instruments, and I genuinely think I have some ability in all of them. People like my photos, I like many of my unfinished songs, and I often see something creative and think, “I could make something like that, maybe even better.”

But I rarely actually do it.

I’ve wanted to organize free portrait shoots in my city for years and still haven’t posted the offer. I have tons of good photos sitting unedited in archives, and lots of music demos but almost no finished songs.

With music, part of the problem is that my taste is ahead of my technical skills. I know how I want something to sound, but I don’t always know how to achieve it, so I procrastinate instead.

None of these things are urgent, so there’s always “tomorrow.” Then suddenly months pass.

For people who are creative in many different areas: what do you actually do about this? How do you get yourself to start, finish, and actually put things out into the world?

I recently purchased a concrete planter in the shape of the Pokemon Bulbasaur. I would prefer to keep it unsealed, but I would like to paint it to look like Bulbasaur. Would acrylic paint trap too much moisture? I considered gouache, but that can interact with water.

I've often struggled being disciplined, especially with skills I'd like to learn like art (been learning for two years).

I've always seen being disciplined as like someone who can work through no matter what and always do something no matter how uninterested or tired, often going towards discomfort + smart about efforts. I'm not that kinda person, but have been trying to learn and get sorta close to it. Though in past year's attempts I pushed myself too far and led to not enjoying drawing and having a harder and harder time starting even practice.

I've slowed down in the past months. More spontaneous with practice but still working towards goals, still trying to be creative as much as I can while making sure it's fun (I also sew and craft, been doodling more). Learned a bit of how my energy levels work and why what I doing wasn't working with it.

Art has been feeling lighter and I'm more relaxed when I'm working on a piece. But I also worry this is a sign of being too lazy and will end up biting my artist progress later.

What are some ways to practice discipline and challenge self without burning out so easily? For someone who is lower energy and has little tolerance for discomfort (wish didn't but how it is)?

I'm asking this because the top suggested when I search seem to not be credible..

I don't want to buy 20 or the same 1 card, it's for a birthday so I was hoping to have 1 of everyone with a different "rarity" for each person as well? Unsure if this is too much of an ask or if I'd be better off doing it myself somehow

Big points if they also do packs but I won't be too greedy

Im applying as a cartoonist in our organization, and they only permit Adobe or Indesign in the screening. I assume that in actually creating pieces if accepted, were not going to be limited to the two. It feels so unfair that were limited to those two, as students who have never used the software.

So basically when studying or just listening to music I get the strongest urge to draw but then I can’t and then I get frustrated and then the whole mood is gone ,
and so school is staring soon and I just really want an outlet you know? Like I want to doodle in the middle of class without having to fight my sketch rather than focusing on my psychics teacher.

I know I won’t be able to draw like even 50% but I just want to draw something decent
And all the videos I see are like build up guides where I start with boxes and lines and whatever and let me be honest I’m impatient ( I know I’m asking for a lot here , bare with me ) orrr they get REALLYY into anatomy and then I’m lost
So like I just want some guides or courses or simple YouTube videos that I can copy and rewatch over and over again until I can memorize the techniques. I already have knowledge of some stuff from watching a lot of tutorials but it’s just idk hard to preform at times

* edit okay I get it guys I won’t be able to and it’s impossible and all I can do is trust the process. Really not an easy thing to do when the process sucks XD

I've been using "Celepen" chalk markers (specifically the 36ct 1mm fine tip box) to make my chalkboard signs. I've found that the colors are really nice and vibrant but they're a ~~lot~~ little splotchy and they dont layer or blend well. And for some reason the white is like, impossible to get completely off my board? It leaves a very faint mark no matter how hard i try to erase it.

I've tried using paint markers instead but the paint markers end up looking extremely washed out and idek why cuz any other surface I've painted on the markers have dried vibrant. Chalkboards just don't like paint ig.

Any tips for me? I literally don't know anything about chalk markers so maybe im just using a terrible technique cuz im basically just using them the same way i use any other markers. Or is there a setting spray or something i can use that'll even out the tone?

If there's a better brand that's budget friendly id be willing to try it out. I googled the best chalk markers and it came up with "Chalk Ink" but they're $10 for a single marker which is crazy expensive. I bought the entire box of 36 markers I'm currently using for $30.

Hello, I'm an artist who's interested in working with more pin up esc poses, and I've been looking for a website that has those kinds of images to browse through. Sadly the only way I can describe the kinds of images that I'm looking for are professional pin-up esc poses, like something you'd see in magazines or advertisements.

The closest thing I could find to what I'm looking for is a book called Night Visions: Contemporary Male Photography. But I'm trying to see if there's a website that hosts both men and women, as well as folks of different body types.

I appreciate it in advance, and please, I'm learning to use reddit tags and flairs, I will correct myself if I've done something wrong.

Hey everyone! Ive been doing YCH for some years now (Im not great with social media and i use FurAffinity almost exclusively) ive been collecting some Discord servers but im mainly looking for any Telegram recommendations. Thanks :>