How to Practice! - A Solid Plan To Improve Your Art in 2024

Hey everyone,

I have received the question "how to practice" many times, so today I wanted to focus on four practicing or exercise strategies you can apply right away for your new 2024 year resolutions. Let's go!

1. Optimize your thinking

One key aspect of thinking is asking questions. I believe this is a skill that can be improved. Basically, questioning some aspects during your brainstorm process might help you think about interesting visual ideas.

This step is particularly important when seeking unique concepts for your portfolio, regardless of your field or industry. I want you to improve the way you come up with solutions when creating art. These are five questions I answer when creating a new piece, and they might be useful for you:

• What's the mood of this piece? Choose one word to describe how you want to feel when looking at this piece.
• What main color will dominate this piece? Choose one color from the color wheel.
• What reference will be the main inspiration for this piece? Choose one; it can be an animal, a moment, a landscape, or an object. A simple idea that inspires you.
• What action would be performed by characters? This step applies if your piece has characters. Try to think of a particular action for your character to perform; it can be something simple in relation to the mood, aiming to bring some "life" into your piece.
• What costumes will your characters have, or what props will your composition have? This is the last question, as all the previous questions should provide enough context for you to know what certain costumes or props will fill up your piece. Here, you don't need to make an endless list of objects; keep it around 6 to 10. These would act as complementary points of information to accompany the points already addressed in this list.

When answering these questions, keep it simple; use a few words or one. This way, you can avoid unnecessary information. Here is an example:

• Mood: Funny. You also can choose anxious, excited, calm, angry, etc.
• Color: Blue. You also can choose purple, red, orange, yellow, green, and so on. Black and white are values that can serve as companions to the color you choose.
• Reference: Tamagotchi. You can also choose between animals, plants, tools, or a combination of them.
• Action: The character will be feeding a big pixelated creature, similar to the one in the Tamagotchi. Maybe it will be a total mess, like feeding an elephant. Funny to look at.
• Costume: Zookeeper outfit, zoo tools, or animal takers' equipment. Boots, hat, vest, gloves, net, tranquilizer gun, feeding bucket, cleaning supplies, animal enrichment toys, medical supplies, binoculars.

You don't need to answer these questions in the exact same order; often, I start from different points depending on how I feel or from where I get inspired, often by a piece of cloth, a casual situation, a color, etc. You can also sit a few minutes a day to answer these questions, even if you don't plan to make them into paper. The point is for you to stretch out your thinking process when creating new, original ideas.

2. Optimize Your Drawing

This step is about optimizing your shape-building skills using lines. Why? Although it might be difficult at first, it's the quickest way to convey an idea. You don't need to add multiple values, colors, or textures; you mostly will make shapes visually understandable by defining surfaces and silhouettes with a few lines.

You don't need to address this practice with an original/unique idea, as the skill you're polishing is more a technical execution than original conceptual thinking. That being said, make a list of challenges you consider key to improving this next 2024 and save a series of different references in relation to those challenges. You could study them for several days, weeks, or months until you accomplish your goal. For instance:

This 2024, I'll challenge myself to learn how to draw:

1. Face Expressions
2. Body Gesture
3. Costume Drawings 
4. ...
5. ..

and so on...

List of References

• About Face Expressions: Save different face expressions portraits but focus on the effort around the face, keeping loose lines for the rest of the information. Example ref: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369365606952368877/
• About Body Gesture Drawings: Save different body gestures where you can explore drawings about anatomy behavior or expression conveyed throughout body gestures. Example ref: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369365606952650101/
• About Costume Drawings: Save different fashion trends or professions; it could be useful to learn how to build with lines or stroke shapes. Example ref: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369365606951909514/

Having your references set will streamline your process when studying. In the last point, I'll suggest how you can schedule these studies, as collecting them is the first step, but it's just the beginning.

3. Optimize Your Render

In this context, rendering involves using a combination of values, like light and shadows, to create a sense of three-dimensional depth, giving a finalized appearance. While colors aren't fundamental in this phase, and much of the work can feel 'complete' even without them, experimenting with colors is still an option. Just remember, the primary goal is to achieve a sense of depth and dimensionality.

Have you seen those pieces that look finalized, realistic with what seems to be an already finished look, but if you look closer, details are not refined, and the piece was actually a sketch? That happens when the artist provides key information in the sketch that allows the viewer to quickly fill up the rest with information that is not actually there. People might notice after it's a sketch, but it's too late; you already got them.

In order to create this feeling of realism or "detailed" three-dimensional render, you need to understand what makes a piece look finalized. In my experience, it can be different things, but I'll tell you the way of practicing so you can understand it by trying out yourself.

The approach will be similar to the past step: a list of goals and a list of references. The difference is that you will save references to practice shape building with strokes instead of lines, in other words, painting:

This 2024, I'll challenge myself to learn how to paint:

• Faces https://www.pinterest.com/pin/11822017763436798/
• Body https://www.pinterest.com/pin/38702878041312911/
• Objects...

These are just suggestions; remember to adjust the plan accordingly to your needs. I recommend you start with black and white references. Set up a personal deadline for trying these studies so you don't get caught up by details. Remember, your goal is to capture what makes the study look finalized with the most efficient combination of values through strokes. I already have been sharing the way I capture this, but I understand this is a personal journey, and everyone must find their own way. Nevertheless, if you are interested in trying my approach, check for this 30 min execution or consider upgrading to the Mastering Maestro tier, where you would be able to unlock posts with my process videos and PSD files.

4. Schedule and Acknowledge You Progress

All the previous tips are important, but this one is key to actually "see" progress. This point is about planning. Why is this important? Life is complex, and we often get distracted by problems or responsibilities. Making a plan in which you schedule your studies will help you stay consistent and prepared for challenges in your journey. Also, after a few days, weeks, or months, you will be able to look back and compare your progress. This will not only show you that you are improving but also will fill you up with a great sense of accomplishment, providing motivation to keep going. Here is a simple schedule plan:

January 2024
Face Expressions Drawings

Week 1
Day 1: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369365606952650205/
Day 2: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369365606953119344/
Day 3: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369365606952368877/
and so on...

You can adjust your schedule depending on different factors. If you find this difficult, just send me a DM here on Patreon and I'll help you!. Plans not always go exactly the way we predicted, but building this habit and actually trying to achieve it will increase your probability of improving.

Conclusion

While practicing, being able to see progress is a mix of awareness, research, planning, and execution. Awareness to actually see what you need or want to fix. Research to seek knowledge or references to solve this particular visual problem. Planning so you can set some goals and schedule your execution. Execution actually does the work.

Following these steps, it's almost impossible you don't see progress. Keep in mind this is a long-term plan, but this does not mean you cannot see progress on a daily basis. Every time you face a problem, you have the opportunity to learn something new. Be grateful for the opportunities, as if taken, they will enrich this journey we call life.

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Tomorrow, I'll be sharing the process video of this piece along with the files and insights. They will be available for Mastering Maestro tier and above. Feel free to upgrade if you want more insights about my work.

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