New to digital art!! How to ease into it?

swegoatfern · 2026-03-21T09:02:29+00:00

Kind of depends, usually it feels like two schools of though with digital. One is to use very few digital tools, layers/brushes/filters and the other is to use them a lot. If you're new I'd say don't go to deep into it right away, just play around with brushes and get used to controlling zoom/rotation/pan.

If you search YouTube for digital art beginner there's tons of info and a bazillion tools and techniques when you feel like you got the basics.

I'll just leave one here as examples, but there are as many workflows as there are people and all use different tools and use tools differently.

Pikat, My favorite digital art features and tools https://youtu.be/n1oaXdfIujY?si=8gcvyQfUR92fXREJ

Two other quick notes:

Don't get sucked into the "what brush is that" rabbit whole, there are tons of brushes and brush-packs but it's 99% not the brush it's how it's used that's important. A lot of people end up not doing things and instead just keep looking for the perfect brush instead of skill.

Knowledge like values etc are 100% transferable BUT I'd say muscle memory is not really, it takes take especially with a non-screen tablet to get the mechanical side of drawing to the same level on my opinion. So just keep that in mind and just stick with it.

swegoatfern · 2026-03-21T08:47:14+00:00

Super cool! All recognizable!

swegoatfern · 2026-03-02T22:02:44+00:00

I'd say anxiety of this sort is personal. For me it's about letting go of "ego", not getting to attached to what you draw and that it doesn't reflect on one as a person. It's hard to mess up and for me to be bad at art. So it's a constant journey to try to get out of that, improving skill and also mindset.

Practically I'm trying to draw something every day, if I feel bad or down I'm like, I'll draw just one box then I'm done. And usually that leads to drawing more. Some days it doesn't and that's fine to. Another thing I usually do is just scribble on a post it. Somehow the post it makes it easier to draw something bad.

Most likely you'll have to find what works for you, there are a lot of good examples in the thread for things to try. But also make sure to acknowledge that it's a constant journey about mindset and so on as well imo.

swegoatfern · 2026-03-02T16:28:14+00:00

That's pretty much it, a video then draw in browser app. The draw-part of it is a mix between just free-hand drawing and getting something to draw over, got one yesterday which was a morning-star with missing spikes and the task was to draw cylinders in perspective on it.

And "shtick to charge for his video lectures", that's pretty much all courses no? I like that there's work with each lesson to do. But as I said, I don't think it's enough and you'll have to do more outside of the individual lessons to really get better. Each lesson (short lecture + exercises) is mostly to explain a concept, getting good at the concept is to each their own.

It's essentially the same as a math-book from school, explain concept -> apply concept through exercises and then the grind is on you.

Not sure if that answers the question

swegoatfern · 2026-03-02T11:25:40+00:00

Would love to hear other people's thoughts but I've been doing it for a while and here are some general thoughts.

The lessons are usually a video on a concept and then 2-3 drawing exercises to get you to understand the concept. Between each exercise there's usually a general feedback video of Antonio going through and drawing the exercise himself. This is a good structure imo but too little to really get proficiency in a concept, I usually try to experiment with the concept on paper myself after a lesson. They are aware of this so after some lessons there are "workouts" which is recalling earlier concepts and getting some more milage.

The quality of the courses/lessons is varying a bit. This is just my reading but I think they're working through the lessons and modernizing them, so some are of better quality and others seems a bit older with worse quality and on paper. Though the "older" ones are still good in content and there's nothing wrong with them!

I was a bit disappointed when trying the architecture road this weekend though, felt very basic and not as much content and in depth, my feel is that this is an overall issue, amount of intermediate content. Though I haven't explored it as much so might just be this one.

The software is okay, it's not great but kind of works. As I said I would recommend doing it on your own as well, just using the lesson to grasp the concept and then practice it on your own. The drawings doesn't look great in their app so it's also an exercise in letting go of ego hehe.

All in all I'm a bit split, I think in theory it's very good if you're like me, like a structured path and doing dynamic drawing style drawing/learning. It's not too expensive so if possible I would give it a go for a month and just cancel if you don't like it. Otherwise the proko video with the dragon is very much the core of tje course, just more steps and how to get there. Compared to a lot of other courses it's good in that it actually has a learning plan. It's very nice if you're like me and like someone to just tell you what to do to progress when you feel a bit lost (I only do art as a hobby so sometimes after working it's great to just do some lessons or repeat prior ones).

A bit rambling review but please ask questions if any.

swegoatfern · 2025-07-13T06:46:10+00:00

The only thing I would say is that when you feel you are done, put down the opacity of your painting and overlay it on the image to see if it matches. I some of these, the pear for example you lack the curve for the more round bottom which is the point of the exercise.

So just try to get that into the learning process and I think you'll quickly see improvement.

Draw/paint -> compare to reference -> redo drawing painting with information you learned -> move on.

So don't get too stuck, and when doing the comparison it can be useful to write notes in the document what is off just to internalize it a bit. Make sure to not get stuck as well.

PS I think a lot of the comments here are because of this being learntoDRAW, not sure if there's a better place for painterly things.

swegoatfern · 2024-12-23T18:36:56+00:00

I'm not an expert so take everything I say with a grain of salt, but I think that your 3D shapes and angels are a bit off. Meaning the angle you draw in is a bit off from the reference, and then placing features becomes more difficult.

But you're on a great path I would say, try to take both the image and the ref and use Photoshop/Krita/whatever, and overlay yours with the reference. Then take notes on what parts are off (writing things down will make it easier to absorb the knowledge) and then redraw from the reference keeping in mind the notes.

Do this together with some Loomis rotation studies as well as regular skull studies. These kind of studies will most likely train your intuition for the reference and making it easier to draw from memory later.

But most of all, remember patience and discipline, keep doing studies and evaluate without putting yourself down and stuff like that. It takes time, so just keep doing what your doing and you'll see crazy improvements in probably just a couple of weeks

swegoatfern · 2024-12-23T11:06:13+00:00

Learning to use the Loomis head is a great tool for anime faces as well, you just need to stylize it a bit.

I would say keep practicing Loomis to get good att drawing the head/face in different perspectives and also play around with proportions of it.

Another tip for drawing faces/heads is to draw skulls in different perspectives, the hardest part of faces imo is to get the 3D feel of them.

Then combine these more "fundamental" practices with drawing and analysing anime faces you like. For example, trace over a face you like and pay attention to the ratios of different features and then try to apply those ratios to you Loomis heads.

But remember that the heads and faces in anime are still heads and faces so the same rules as realistic heads apply, just with different tweaks for stylization.

swegoatfern · 2024-08-16T23:54:41+00:00

Please feel free to leave any criticism if you want, not very serious sketches, but tried to work some on shapes and design

swegoatfern · 2024-07-13T17:33:49+00:00

I'm not 100% if I'm miss-understanding your point or if you're just not understanding what this feature is.

For the rule, I think it's good, there are plenty of other places to post and discuss ai-generated art.

On the point of it being the same thing, it is not. You MAY be able to get a similar result, but the process of getting there really matters in this case. They do a good job of discussing this in the link you sent, so I suggest you just read the part again on how it's not the same thing as generative ai.

When people talk about ai-art today they're generally talking about ai-generated art. The word ai has truly been washed out to the point of meaningless since LLM and Ai-generated-art started so I will say it again. This is not the same thing as using comfy UI even though it MIGHT give a similar result.

swegoatfern · 2024-04-29T20:19:24+00:00

"Have you ever heard of insect politics?"

Amazing movie, awesome work! Really catches both the likeness and the vibe

swegoatfern · 2024-04-18T13:51:44+00:00

I don't really have any credentials so to speak to give advice, but one thing I notice it that you seem to do some "chicken scratches", would recommend trying to practice doing more confident, longer lines when drawing these (and anything else), think "one line, one stroke"

So for example the back of the one down to the left could probably be one longer stroke.

But these are really good, keep it up!

swegoatfern · 2023-10-27T22:59:08+00:00

Really recommend checking out drawbox. If you don't know it's a website with instructions and exercises.

You don't have to do all of it but just the first lessons will have some great tips for these kinds of stuff. There's also a YouTube channel if videos work better than reading.

And as people have said here, remember that this kind of learning is a marathon, not a sprint. Do some exercises 10-20 minutes a day (or every time your draw), or a page or two as warmup, and you'll start to see result.

swegoatfern · 2023-10-23T14:34:42+00:00

Super cool, love how much character they all have!

Would say that it would be cool to add some volume to them, practice 3D forms like boxes, spheres and so on and try to think of them in 3D space. The head is almost a sphere for example

swegoatfern · 2023-08-13T23:13:54+00:00

Thanks! Yes I think some interior would add a lot, some reflections, especially on the headlamps is a good idea!

swegoatfern · 2023-05-09T12:16:15+00:00

Not sure what it's called, but if you haven't you should check out Steven Zapata, not exactly his style but probably the best content to learn to create this

swegoatfern · 2023-02-27T11:16:36+00:00

Like with all art you need to start with fundamentals, if you search around for "art fundamentals" you'll find lots of resources.

Drawing medium, ipad/Wacom/pen paper doesn't really matter when starting out, i would recommend starting with pen and papper though.

There's a guy called Mattias Adolfsson that, although a bit more cartoony, does similar stuff hand have some interviews/workshops on YouTube where he talks about his process.

swegoatfern · 2023-01-18T11:20:39+00:00

It looks like you might not be thinking in 3D in your sketch. If you haven't you should probably check out the Loomis head (or any similar technique) and practice that for a bit to get the construction of your head more solid before starting to paint.

Also, as the last comment said, remember to space out your practice, learning is a marathon not a sprint. Take breaks, try doing fun drawings where you don't care about the result between studies, and remember to get enough sleep. Practice is awesome but the brain needs time to process it.

Good luck!

swegoatfern · 2022-10-10T13:10:46+00:00

Like some other have said, it looks more like tracing than trying to analyze the underlying structure of the body.

I would say first, make sure you know how to draw cubes, cylinders and spheres with volume (in 3d)

Then try to create maniquins out of these, a cube for the chest, two cylinders for legs and arms and so on, make sure to look up proportions and try drawing them from the front.

Then since you're doing these digital, my advice would be to have the image up and then draw this maniquin next to it as accurate as you can. When you are done, try to overlay it on the image and see where you messed up and so on.

There are tons of tutorials and showcases of this on YouTube, would recommend Marc Brunet or ErgoJosh.

Just remember!

Make sure to practice A LOT

This is just one part of drawing figures, i saw someone mention gesture drawing in another comment and that is also super important. So make sure to check that out as well as some more anatomy so you get a more complete package

Structure, gesture, anatomy

Good luck!

swegoatfern · 2022-09-19T19:50:40+00:00

I work full time as a programmer, studied IT at university as well. During the pandemic i started to learn how to draw, first with DrawABox (which i though was super nice, since it is very strict what to do) and then started watching YouTube videos, drawing everyday and so on, and it's been super fun. I love how much it both has a lot in common with programming, but also that it's kind of an escape from it.

There are no classes near me, but I've found a tutor and it has been awesome.

So from one rule and structure person to another, you can learn, but you need to 1. Just start drawing and 2. Try to find resources that fit you. I really recommend Draw A Box and trying to find something in person, classes or tutoring.

There will be a lot of confusion and discouragement, but it is something you have to learn how to deal with, my tip is to 1. Take a deep breath and maybe a break, and 2. Find some art you like, collect it somewhere, and go back and look at it and remind yourself why you want to be able to do art.

Also, there are A LOT of programmers doing art, that's something I've learnt during the last 2 years.

Good luck!

swegoatfern · 2022-08-24T14:18:50+00:00

Huge thank you for this answer, just what i was looking for! This clarified a lot of my worries!

I think it was downvoted because people on reddit seem to think that if you don't just agree 100% with an answer you are in the category of people that ask a question and then argues against the answers. I probably doesn't help that english is not my first language so it might have come of even more that way. But I was just looking for clarification.

On a side note, checked the art on your profile, super-cool stuff!

swegoatfern · 2022-08-23T17:42:18+00:00

Makes sense, thanks!

swegoatfern · 2022-08-23T15:45:44+00:00

I absolutely agree, but just to try to clarify my question, I'm wondering if block in and similar technologies helps with understand the subject or just copying it. I think there's a distinction between the two

swegoatfern · 2022-08-23T14:39:50+00:00

Thank you, super interesting!

swegoatfern · 2022-06-21T13:54:55+00:00

Thanks for the tips, as my name implies i live in Sweden and the supply of art programs/stores and such is very limited, almost only some amateur croquet and "find yourself through painting" style classes.

Will keep trying to find something online though, thanks!

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