Ask Artie Anything - Answers! March 2021

Here we are, spring seems to be making its way to us in the northwest, horaay! Anyhow, time to answer some questions for this month! Anyone in the AMA tier will be able to ask questions at the start of the month and I draw my answers to them! :3

Big thanks to Evert and Regdeh and Gorgilisk for your questions this month! 

Goodness. I'm not actually into Macro, but Artie would no doubt find himself getting stuck in places, especially if he starts growing in a house haha. 

So, I take for granted I've been doing digital art for over 10 years now, so I feel I'm past that 'learning digital art' and more 'knowing digital art'. But recalling what it was like in the first few years of consistently drawing on screen with a tablet, these 3 things come to mind. 

Firstly you gotta organize your files, have a folder for your Works In Progress, have a folder for each year, get into the habit of naming your layers, all that good stuff. Even if it's just a hobby! It'll save you unneeded headaches or confusion. (Name your files too!)

Second, emulate others! There's a HUGE wealth of tutorials nowadays- search youtube, find an artist who does stuff you think looks great, like something you want in your own work, and see if they have a tutorial on how they approach stuff! Copy it step by step, either by drawin what they're drawing if you don't have ideas at the moment, or using their steps on a picture idea you have! I don't really do this anymore since I've found my style a few years ago, but it's a great way to accelerate your learning. 

The first part helps you out in general, but the second part also helps most with the last one- Analyze! I wish I'd known to do this more consciously because I probably could have cut my learning time in half. When you draw a picture, you did things to create it. Some artists never thing twice about how they go about something, they just slap brushes colors and effects on a picture and call it a day. I've never been like that- any time I tried to go willy-nilly on a digital canvas I go stir-crazy and feel anxious, and typically hate the result. 

So in digital art, I think you need to have a plan of attack, which is a process, as you mentioned. Even if you emulate other artists and copy their process, it's vital you only take what feels GOOD or great to you- maybe you enjoy using a lasso selection tool for flat coloring. Or you prefer to just go painterly with a transparent brush and not bother perfectly coloring everything in. Maybe you like cel shading like animators do, or you use gradients to quickly put down contrast. Write this stuff down in a google doc or in notepad or something. Keep track of your steps, change or exchange steps, see what feels good or doesn't. What helps most with my process these days is *having* a process to begin with! 

I got a bit long winded there, but I hope it helps! :) Feel free to ask follow-ups too aheh!

Seriously, everything I do is like this. I do genuinely think I have ADHD, I just, never noticed it until I was working my old day job. My brain runs around quickly from thought to thought, which can lead me to doing small things in the middle of me trying to accomplish a task.

Yes, that means even as I was working on these drawings and answering the questions, i was distracted by my phone, websites, or things physically around me. I end up getting back on task of course but, I do often divert myself a lot. It's tricky, but I'm trying to tackle it before I rely on medication for it.