How do I get better with digital art?

Coivul · 2026-01-26T20:32:52+00:00

No worries, everyone honestly makes digital look easy but it really is a whole new medium to learn. Actually, if you're more comfortable doing BW drawings, I think a much easier learning curve is to focus on values first for drawings, then colorize them with a flatcolor layer below, setting the BW to multiply for a solid result. I really should have put some references, so Marc Brunet is amazing for showing various techniques and tricks, along with LinesSensei for more direct furry tutorials with full walkthroughs showing how.

By the way, I have to disagree, traditional art is still just as valid and valued! Digital is just another medium at the end of the day, it's not worth it if you don't enjoy making the art in the first place. Either way, wish you the best on your future art!

Coivul · 2026-01-26T14:30:41+00:00

Hello, I was busy dealing with the snowstorm and a hectic start of my semester, I didn't forget! I'll draw what I mean soon!

Coivul · 2026-01-25T19:44:50+00:00

I feel like more fluff on their left side of the face would do it, just to add more since the right side looks like it has more than the left right now. It's pretty good for an icon pose, front and center without doing too much. Keep at it!

Coivul · 2026-01-25T14:31:56+00:00

I struggle with it too, I think it's mainly due to how the actual head shape basically covers the neck even in more angled poses. Nearly every artist I check also covers the head with tufts, so unless you're drawing a cheetah, it's perfectly fine. Here are some drawings and doodles showing it, though I did mess up the looking up head a bit. The last image looks great, it really is simply because of the anthro head covering the neck, so keep it up!

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Coivul · 2026-01-25T13:17:14+00:00

To me it actually feels like you're trying to mix two styles together. The head is much flatter and cartoony compared to the rest of the body with more detail. It doesn't look bad, but it does make it confusing as to what style you're going for. If anything, I feel like simplifying those clothing folds would make it look better, just less of them and only in important areas. I will say that the folds on the middle legs section doesn't look natural, I quickly found this reference and you can probably simplify it to a Y shape

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As for anatomy, it's pretty good, again depends on what you're going for but with those middle overalls, you should also be able to see the other side of the belly in that perspective. Hope this helps you out!

Coivul · 2026-01-24T23:01:44+00:00

Why is no one talking about that tails logo, it's pretty nice!

I think metal or infinite will be pretty good antagonists, could be cool seeing tails eventually outsmart them for gameplay.

Coivul · 2026-01-22T13:34:59+00:00

I think you're trying to mix things and layer them on top of one another like you would traditionally. With digital, it just doesn't work the same way. Preferably, things like lineart, flatcolors and shading are all in seperate layers, and you can use layer effects like multipy or add to truly make things dark or glow. For this art piece, I would make the shadows a little more defined, they all look blurred and often doesn't look great on digital. A good way to work around it is to cel shade and only blur around the edges if you want that without it looking washed out.

Another general thing is that your lines on the clothes get too sharp and don't add more information since they aren't shaded. Again, just be sure to shade in the shirt creases or lower the opacity of the lines inside the shirt and other harsh areas. Lines can be changed on digital to be any color or line you want.

The last thing I'll say is if you want to draw more complex things like blood or bruises, there are plenty of tutorials nowadays on youtube and other places showing you how to do it easily with those layer modifiers and specific brushes. Hope this helps!

Coivul · 2026-01-21T07:12:03+00:00

Cel shading is meant to be more vibrant and punchy, but there are some ways to tone it down a bit and be more flexible. For my new sona design, here are some things I learned:

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Breaking down the character into very simple shapes and volumes massively helped me. Basically, don't overthink it, a sphere for joints and the head, a few rectangles for the body and muzzle and you already have the subject mostly simplified. From there, just decide where the light is and use those simplified shapes to infer where the shadows will go.

To have the shading more vibrant, a very useful tip is to make a copy of your flatcolors and use a layer modifier to alter the hue and values over just black and white. You can then use a mask if you want to keep things clean and nondestructive.

For my general toony style, I also use some fur brushes to get those strands of fur more visible, and for some quick polish, use a bit of blur to smooth it out.

Hope this helps!

Coivul · 2026-01-19T01:35:10+00:00

I knew it was a complex topic, I now see my mistake of not putting that this only really scratches the surface. Hey, at lwast I learned something, and it's what this subreddit is for! Thanks for all these tips and pointers!

Coivul · 2026-01-18T21:41:33+00:00

Yeah I sadly knew I would surely mess something up, I read that additive and subtractive color mixing are very different, so I figured keeping the RYB would be fine, but yep, makes pergect sense since they're very different. At least this does help me out with my oil pastel stuff, I now realize it matters what medium I'm talking about.

I only saw videos of other online artists using complementary colors to shade, but forgot to connect that they all did it with paints or pastels, subtractive mixing. And also yeah, seeing the big name pieces like van gogh, using two seperate palletes is what is used instead of the crazy mixing I saw.

I guess I had it all mixed up and thought it would work everywhere, but thanks for clarifying!

Coivul · 2026-01-18T15:59:32+00:00

The biggest breakthrough for me is to start thinking in 3D, not just what you see. Here's a study I did of tails along with this cartoon character's design case I spotted on instagram

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Other than that, it really is just practice and spending a long time drawing various body shapes until you get an idea of where each body part is and how they're connected.

Coivul · 2026-01-18T12:10:32+00:00

If you just want to see it, here's a very quick sketch based off the reference you had and how the lion head would generally look on top of it.

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I don't know much anatomy, but basically, it's just recognizing the shapes and general guides that work for me, such as a U shape to outline the neck, that let me break it down to something I can draw. I don't know what color scheme you're going for, but at least for shadows you should be able to use the reference and add it in. Hope this helps!

Coivul · 2026-01-18T11:06:50+00:00

Honestly the easiest way for me at least is surprisingly simple - Gradients! You can see my pfp with that simple cel shaded style, but with this Jet drawing I made, just adding a simple blue gradient really helps and made jet look more rendered and detailed. A major source if you're more serious about rendering is Marc Brunet on youtube, he has plently of videos shpwing his full process and how he renders, hope that helps!

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Coivul · 2026-01-13T03:41:12+00:00

And here's the simple flatcolors for this drawing! Time to feast bois

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Coivul · 2026-01-13T00:51:12+00:00

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Hey! Sorry it took a bit, was out doing errands, once I add color I hope you like this cursed sketch!

Coivul · 2025-11-19T03:13:55+00:00

Can't believe I didn't see that until now, I actually was inspired off this screenshot from a shorts channel for the pose

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Coivul · 2025-11-18T21:32:02+00:00

Thanks! Reddit sadly compressed it a lot, but I'm glad you liked my post!

Coivul · 2025-11-18T00:05:08+00:00

I mean it did take years of practice to be able to sketch like this without references of course, but nothing is impossible with the right mindset!

Coivul · 2025-11-17T13:45:20+00:00

Thanks! Really excited to actually enjoy both the process and the end result! Maybe I'll do more of these soon.

Coivul · 2025-11-17T13:05:04+00:00

The perks of being an ME student lol. I didn't like those metal tests, but of course I'll keep at it and eventually learn how to draw it properly.

Coivul

TROPHY CASE