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Enkutay

Enkutays Art Journey & Struggles

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6 hours ago, Psycada said:

That's good to hear! I had a friend who would try to constantly get critique for their work, and later they just ended up hating their art since it was never "perfect". So I wanted to warn against that, I feel like a lot of beginner artist fall into that habit.

Wait, what? I'm sorry, are you calling getting critique a bad thing? It's not. People who 'hate' their work, like myself, 'hate' it because we know we can do better. That need pushes us to improve. That push makes them ask for people for tips on how they can go about improving. And if they end up feeling worse after critique, usually that's on them. That means their mind is blocked and they're in the 'woe is me, everybody hates me' mindset. Sometimes I feel worse after somebody helping me, but it sure as hell won't stop me from drawing. As I've stated, it pushed me to improve.

Or I could have interpeted this wrong, idk

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@Morphie Thanks for your time, that was really helpful! You said some things I didn't notice myself and I will try to work on that. Honestly, I mostly drew this from the Storm Dragon sprite with some self interpretation, so there are some parts that couldn't be seen very clearly because it's obviously a very small pixel art, so I didn't know exactly how to draw them. I mostly did it because I wanted to try this pose and I thought it wasn't too complicated. This is the one I used: 

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I see that I should've thought more about some parts myself than just following this picture. I don't really see what you mean with the wings, to me they look fine. Could you maybe explain it further?

 

Do you maybe have any tips for dragons "paws"? I was kinda lost at that point, because I never really thought about how they look :'D

 

5 hours ago, Morphie said:

Wait, what? I'm sorry, are you calling getting critique a bad thing? It's not. People who 'hate' their work, like myself, 'hate' it because we know we can do better. That need pushes us to improve. That push makes them ask for people for tips on how they can go about improving. And if they end up feeling worse after critique, usually that's on them. That means their mind is blocked and they're in the 'woe is me, everybody hates me' mindset. Sometimes I feel worse after somebody helping me, but it sure as hell won't stop me from drawing. As I've stated, it pushed me to improve.

Or I could have interpeted this wrong, idk

 

Of course you're right, but this doesn't apply for everyone. There are people like me who have very low self confidence and give up very easily, and yes, it did stop me from drawing for a longer while. It wasn't the critique by other people, but by myself that brought me down so much that I didn't even want to try. Like I said, I don't want to become a great artist, I just want to have a bit fun and distracting from all the other **** in life. Drawing has always been my therapy until it started making everything even worse. I kinda got out of this again a bit, so I can take critique again. I just won't push myself to it anymore. Would be cool learning to do these things better, but I don't have to :)

Edited by Enkutay

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Okay, let me clear the wing thing up ^^ looking at the pixel, I now see the issue- the wing base itself has the same noodle anatomy as the arm- it should be thicker.
Next, the 'paws.' Tbh, I'm no good at them at all lmao. I tend to panic and end up drawing the same thing instead of it being 3D. But dragon paws in specific have long and thin fingers, and the thumb does not ecced the palm, which brings me to another point; the palm exists! You actually have this quite well, so congratulations on that! And I just realised why the top paw looks so off, instead of pushing upwards like a hill it concaves downward, if that makes any sense?
As for the whole critique thing, yup you're right! You should never get critique if you're not in the mindset for it and you know you'll beat yourself up about it. Drawing shouldn't make you feel worse, you're a really good artist! Most people can't draw that well, especially not when they jump headfirst into a totally new thing! Drawing should be a spark; a light; a passion. I can relate to drawing being a form of therapy, especially vent art, where you draw something, usually a character, expressing how you feel. I've draw Terror being beheaded (Terror is a character of mine) before when I felt I was better of dead, and it actually helped a good amount.

okay that got dark-

Also if you ever need somebody to talk to, my PMs are always open.

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@Morphie I think I see what you mean with the wings now, they are a bit weird. Next time I won't take the whole picture as reference, maybe only the very basic pose ^^ But that's really the hard thing about drawing dragons, the only references you have are drawings of other people that probably aren't perfect as well. ^^

I think I will focus on the "paws" next and try to figure out their anatomy, maybe I'll also post some references and tutorials here that I use. I think it could help other people who are also trying to learn ^^ 

I can also see what you said about the top paw, but I don't really know how I could fix it to look right...

I'm also glad you understand what I'm saying about the critique part :) Taking critique is a social skill that can be very hard to master, and many people don't understand that. I think my own observation is atm trained way better than my actual drawing skill, that's why I would often feel very bad about my own art. But as I said, I'm trying to get in a different mindset so I can enjoy it again while still slowly improving. 

I had a very dark and stressful time in my life too. Everything kept changing and I had no one I could really trust or open up to even if I was still pretty young. I struggled a lot and had a lot of very unhealthy thoughts in my head. I also started to draw during that times, and that's the reason I can still remember some parts of that time with a smile. I processed a lot of it with art. I also isolated myself because of it, but I think it was for the best during that time. So yeah, of course I didn't went through the things that you have, I think I understand :) And same for me, if you need someone to talk, you can always message me! You're really nice ^^

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To fix the top paw, simply make the thumb a teeny bit smaller! That should do it ^^ As for anatomy, try looking at the skeletal system of some animals and others art for reference as well.
Btw, do ping me when you add some more art  : o 
Also, keep on drawing! It's the #1 surefire way to improve. I try to draw at least one peice a day, but sometimes I don't feel up to it and that's totally okay! Work at your own pace and never  force yourself to draw. It'll end up making things worse.

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@Morphie Ok, I'll try that! Taking animals skeletons as reference is a great idea. And yeah I really want to draw every day again. When I started I uploaded like 3 drawings a day on social media or more xD Also thank you so much for all your advice and your interest ^-^

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@Morphie I'm not calling critique a bad thing, no! Sorry for the confusion. Critique is definitely good, I was talking more about beginner artist trying to get constant critique after every single art piece, it's very easy to fall into a habit of never thinking your art is good enough. Especially in reference to art that's just drawn for fun- unless you're doing something like commissions where quality is expected there's no actual NEED for critique, but a lot of beginners feel like they absolutely need to get better in a short amount of time. Since this art is just for fun I was saying don't get carried away to the point that improving is the ONLY reason for drawing. It's nice to improve obviously, but it shouldn't be the absolute main focus.

Edited by Psycada

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@Psycada 100% agree.

 

Btw someone sent me this when I was talking about my art blocks, and I thought it explains a lot. It also kinda motivated me to keep drawing because it gave me hope that it will become better again.

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2 hours ago, Psycada said:

@Morphie I'm not calling critique a bad thing, no! Sorry for the confusion. Critique is definitely good, I was talking more about beginner artist trying to get constant critique after every single art piece, it's very easy to fall into a habit of never thinking your art is good enough. Especially in reference to art that's just drawn for fun- unless you're doing something like commissions where quality is expected there's no actual NEED for critique, but a lot of beginners feel like they absolutely need to get better in a short amount of time. Since this art is just for fun I was saying don't get carried away to the point that improving is the ONLY reason for drawing. It's nice to improve obviously, but it shouldn't be the absolute main focus.

Yeah, totally agree! Some people can indeed be too harsh with critique and yeah, it's not %100 needed.

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What I find really fun is making quick sketches of animals or people within a very limited amount of time. When I draw, I am often a perfectionist and overthink my mistakes, but having short, limited time frames for the sketches and just moving on to the next sketch after that really helps to circumvent that. There are sites designed for this kind of art practice.
I like how you break down the heads into basic shapes. In order to practice poses, maybe you could even attempt to simplify dragons into stick dragons (for example ovals for the head and for the chest, lines for the spine, shoulders, upper arms, forearms, hands, pelvis, thighs, shins and feet).

Trying different art utensils could also be fun, such as using crayons instead of pencils for a change, or ink, or paint and brushes.

 

These are just a few suggestions, of course. Happy drawing and painting! :D

Edited by Mewtie

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@Mewtie Thanks for your suggestions, they sound like great ways to make practicing more fun! I tried the thing with the small sketches, but they usually turn out very bad so I never really kept on doing it. Could you maybe show me a few of the sites you talked about where you can practice this? I'd really like to try it again.

I also kinda do break down dragons into smaller parts in my early sketches. What I do is a draw a circle for the head, then I draw a line for the whole body and tail which defines the pose I want to draw. Then a draw smaller circles for the joints. I don't know if that's the best approach but it works for me so far, although poses are still very hard for me, which is kinda frustrating. Anyway, I'll keep trying. Happy drawing to you too! :)

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