Making this F.A.Q. since people have been asking me a lot of questions lately. Hopefully this answers any of your questions, and if there's something you want to know but isn't in this journal, feel free to ask in the comments.
- - - ART RELATED - - -
• What program do you use?Paint Tool SAI for drawing and Photoshop for color corrections and other effects.
• What tablet do you use?Small Intuos Pen & Touch
(although I have the touch feature disabled)
• What is your canvas/lineart brush size?I always try to work on A3 at 300 dpi since I print most of my works on that size. Sometimes a bit less when my computer can't handle it lol.
I tend to work with very thin lines. I don't have a set size, I just try whatever looks good in each illustration. It tends to be 10-15px with 0% min size and opacity pressure disabled.
• How do you make your lines/art so clean?I do it just.. taking a crapload of time drawing all tiny details in a zoomed canvas, and redoing them until they look nice, instead of doing them quickly.
Clean art is easy to do, if you have the patience for it :')
• What brushes do you use?I use the default SAI round brushes for almost everything, nothing fancy haha. My process is mostly either drawing shadows with a hard brush and smoothing them with the blur tool, or drawing shadows with a big soft brush and erasing as needed to give shape with hard or soft brushes.
Sometimes I use some fancier photoshop brushes for certain background parts (like foliage, etc), but for the characters, it's like 95% with the default brushes.
• Is art your full-time job?Yes
• How long have you been drawing? How old are you?I've had an interest in drawing all my life, but I started taking drawing semi-seriously (drawing more than once a month lol) around 2010, and seriously at early 2014. And as for my age, let's just say I feel I have the body of a 80 years old, and the mind of a 5 years old. Make your guess.
• How long does it take you to finish a piece?A lot. It depends on the complexity, but it's always a lot. I'm very perfectionist with my drawings, so I always spend lots of time correcting tiny mistakes that only I see. That slows me down a bunch.
• Did you study art anywhere?No, I'm 100% self-taught. I'd love to take some art courses someday, but sadly I don't have the time for that currently.
• Can you teach me to draw? Can you give me any tips?Since I didn't study art anywhere, all I can teach you is the same google can in a better way, since that's how I learned. So google would be a better teacher than me haha.
As for general tips:
- Don't make drawing cute anime girls or whatever your style is all your drawing life. You won't get very far if you only produce art, you also have to study it. Read and understand the structure of what you want to draw, and take some time to study it drawing from real life or photos of real things as references, trying to understand them instead of just copying lines. It's ok if all your "finished" pieces are the style you want to draw, but never forget to practice drawing in a more realistic style.
- If you find something is hard to draw, draw it anyway, no matter the outcome. You won't learn anything by just saying "I can't draw it :c". The only way to learn is by practice! So if you want to get better, you absolutely have to get out of your comfort zone and do it. The only thing not doing something because you think you're bad will do, is delay your progress. You will be good at it eventually, so the sooner you start practicing it, the sooner you'll master it!
- Practice, practice and practice. Unless you find a way to sell your soul for drawing skills, practicing is the only way to get good.
As you can see, those are the same boring tips everyone says. Exactly! I have no hidden magic tip that will make you get better in a week (
If you find one pls tell me), and I learned by pretty much the same process everyone did, I think. So really, google has more answers than me on these stuff so you'll have better luck there.
...just don't follow those "how to draw" tutorials that tell you "draw a circle, now some lines, now the face" that explain absolutely nothing. Burn them with fire instead.
Also, please understand, I do not have the time to give individual tips, critiques or classes to every person who asks, since I get a lot of messages like this. I really appreciate you like my work enough you want to learn from me, but I'm just a normal person with responsibilities and little free time, so it's just not possible for me atm. I'm terrible teaching too haha :')
• Do you take request? Do you want to work on my project for free/sharing profits once it sells?No, I don't. Art is my job, I don't do my job for free. When I have free time to draw something non-work related, I highly prefer to draw my own ideas at my own peace.
About projects, I don't care how original, unique, and never seen before the project is. I'm just not interested in taking part of
any project for free/sharing profits. The last thing I want to do in my free time is to meet deadlines and work on other people's ideas.
Please understand and don't ask, there are no exceptions and it annoys me a lot when people go around asking total strangers for free work. No matter how polite the message is, it's still unrespectful to the person's time.
If you're interested in my art and would pay for it, I'm more than willing to work with you! Please check my commission information here:
Commissions Information to see if I'm currently open for work. For commercial projects send me a note to check if I'm available.
• Do you take art trades? Would you like to make a collab with me?I don't. I'm not interested, sorry!
• Can I repost/use your art in another website/tumblr/facebook/etc?PLEASE ASK ME FIRST. I'll most probably say yes as long as credit is given (a visible link to my deviantart would be enough) and it's not in a site I already posted it myself, but ask me first so I have an idea where my art is going, since there are certain sites I do not want my art to be in. You are
NOT allowed to use my art for any commercial use though (this also includes using my art for banners or promotions of your online shop, monetized youtube videos, etc).
• In what other sites can I find your art?
twitter
instagram
facebooktumblrpixiv- - - PERSONAL - - -
• What's your first language?My first language is Spanish. That's why my English can be weird sometimes, sorry ;v;
• Where do you live?Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Do you want to be my friend?Please don't ask this. I have a hard time replying to these comments because I don't want to sound rude, but friendship is not something you simply decide and it's not something I'm actively looking for.
• Dogs or cats?Cats all the way! Specially if they're potato shaped
• Favorite anime?My top favorites are Fate (SN and Zero), Gintama, K-On, Steins;Gate, and a lot more!
• Can I draw your OCs?No need to ask me! I love seeing my OCs drawn by other people. Just don't forget to let me know when you submit so I can see it and fav it!
And I guess that's all. Thanks for reading <3
Skin made by AlexanderPaupoff & mondscheinsonate
