Things to remember when starting an art/animation adventure

Are you the type of colorlover who enjoys watching 50 videos a day of people drawing and animating such cool stuff online? Do you consider starting your own journey through character and visual story creation? Just before setting your mind to start, here are some important points to remember.

 

practice every day

 

Most people lose their motivation at a very early start when their work is not as glamorous and fabulous as they would expect. Looking at the astonishing work of these online artists makes you rethink your choice and lose the belief you will be good enough for your own criteria. Well, believe it or not, the road of every artist is full of countless sketches, many ridiculous drawings and failed attempts of creating something super duper. What takes for you to publish that amazing thing that appeared in your sketch book is hours and hours of practice, experiments and hands-on (or better yet pencil-on) learning from your drawings.

 

Also, don’t be afraid to draw things you’ve never drew before. Draw the things you don’t like as well. This is important for opening your experience and it contributes to your becoming a broader artist.

 

study other artists

 

We all have our favorites. These awesome people who share their techniques, styles, step-by-step projects on the internet. Use this wide resource – watch tutorials and study all the time. It’s free and you can discover so much by trying out things you like and experiencing these styles yourself.

 

 

There are some cool Youtube channels such as Draw With Jazza or Alan Becker Tutorials, where you can learn all kinds of tips regarding your future practice.

 

 

learn on your own

 

Sure, you can start a course, study for hours, watch as many tutorials as you can find, but nothing really matters unless you try it and do it yourself. Watching and understanding someone’s drawing is far from taking a pen and drawing yourself. Nothing will happen unless you start doing and experiment with your own fingers. This is essential for developing your style, learning what you like most, what you’re good at, dive into your sketch book and practice, practice, practice!

 

use references

 

Using images for creating a drawing is not cheating! In fact, this is very important for developing your characters, looking for inspiration and drawing by a model is what can enrich your work and help you find the right colors and clothes for your animation. Just to be on the safe side, we have to mention that developing your own character and coping other characters are two essentially different things – use a model and don’t just change the clothes and call it your character.

 

be patient

 

Just because it’s yours, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be spectacular. Not every work of yours is going to be mind blowing, and that is okay. As long as you keep on doing it and learn from your own lines, your visual story is getting built up and you are slowly getting to the amazing reality.

 

make something every day

 

Our brains learn from repetition and practice. If you really want something, you have to find the time to do it. Be dedicated to your goal and don’t be afraid to start. Stop looking for excuses, keep going and every time before you go to bed grab a pen and draw something.

 

do it out of love

 

Remember why you are doing it, what made you interested in the first place, what got you motivated to start. You are doing it for yourself and because you enjoy it, not because of money or fame or because someone else told you to.

 

Enjoy making content and making characters, enjoy giving them life and sharing them with the world. Every step of this journey is supposed to be fun and creative. Don’t let yourself forget about it.

 

grow an audience

 

So, now that you are on the right track to draw an amazing piece of art, a brand new personality with a name and a fun story line, it is time to consider where to publish your character and how to grow an audience so as many people get to hear your story.

 

Obviously the most practical starting point for drawings and animations is Instagram. Instagram is super useful for the new era of visual thinkers, it’s great for finding inspiration and getting in touch with all the artists you admire. If you are focused on visual storytelling and are developing videos – Youtube is still number one platform for reaching a wide audience. With these two being good places to start, in finding even more people who will fall in love with your work you can rely on Pinterest, which is super easy and these three should be enough to get you started.

 

For further development of your community, in more artistic circles, check out platforms such as Amino, DeviantArt, Behance, Dribble, 500PX.

 

Now, stop procrastinating and grab that sketch book! Good luck!

 

Author: Nina Petrov

Author: ana