2 answers
Pearl
Student
5
Questions
Updated
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How to be a pro artist?
I'm an aspiring artist, and I want to learn animation and art in general. I want to make my own series when I get older, and I don't know what webs/places to learn from. (I take art class by the way). What are some tips to improve?
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2 answers
Chinyere Okafor
Educationist and Counseling Psychologist
535
Answers
Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Updated
Chinyere’s Answer
Hello Pearl,
That’s an awesome goal! Becoming a professional artist and learning animation is a rewarding journey, and there are many paths to develop your skills. Here are some steps and tips to help you improve:
1. Master the Basics
- Drawing Fundamentals: Focus on learning anatomy, perspective, proportions, shading, and color theory. Understanding these will make your art more realistic and dynamic.
- Practice Gesture Drawing: Draw quick poses to improve your ability to capture movement and energy in a figure.
- Study Light and Shadow: Observing how light interacts with objects and people will improve your ability to add depth to your work.
2. Learn Animation Basics
- Start with 2D Animation: This will give you a solid foundation in timing, movement, and how to make characters feel alive.
- Principles of Animation: Learn the 12 basic principles of animation (e.g., squash and stretch, anticipation, follow-through) which are the building blocks of all animation.
- Software: Familiarize yourself with animation tools like:
- Krita (free and great for 2D animation)
- Toon Boom Harmony (professional software)
- Adobe Animate (another popular option)
3. Use Online Resources
- YouTube Tutorials: Many channels provide free tutorials on both art and animation:
- Proko for anatomy and figure drawing.
- Jazza for fun, beginner-to-intermediate art and animation tutorials.
- The Animator’s Survival Kit (book) is essential for anyone serious about animation.
- Online Courses:
- Skillshare and Udemy have affordable courses on art and animation.
- ArtStation Learning for professional art development.
- School of Motion for more advanced animation tutorials.
4. Join Online Communities
- DeviantArt, ArtStation, and Instagram: Post your work to get feedback, connect with other artists, and learn from critiques.
- Discord: Join art and animation-related servers where you can share your progress and get real-time feedback.
5. Study Other Artists
- Watch animated series or movies and analyze them. Pay attention to character design, backgrounds, and animation techniques. Some great examples include Disney, Studio Ghibli, and newer shows like Arcane.
- Copy to Learn: Recreate other artists’ work (with credit) to learn their techniques, but use it as a learning tool rather than passing it off as your own.
6. Stay Consistent and Practice
- Daily Sketching: Draw something every day, even if it’s small. Consistency is key to improving.
- Challenge Yourself: Try different mediums (digital, watercolor, graphite) or styles to expand your skills.
- Take Breaks: Don’t burn out! Give yourself time to rest so you can come back fresh.
7. Create Your Own Projects
- Start small by creating short animations or comic strips. This will give you experience in storytelling and character design, which is essential for making your own series.
- Collaborate: If possible, work with other artists, writers, or animators to create something together. This will prepare you for team-based projects in the future.
8. Build a Portfolio
- As you grow, compile your best work into a portfolio. This is what you’ll show to clients, schools, or studios when you’re ready to work professionally.
- Include various art forms: character design, backgrounds, animations, and short stories.
9. Study Animation Schools
- If you want to pursue formal education in animation, research schools like:
- CalArts
- Ringling College of Art and Design
- SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design)
Building your own series takes time and dedication, but with passion, patience, and practice, you can definitely achieve it! Keep pushing your limits, seek out feedback, and never stop learning.
Best wishes!
That’s an awesome goal! Becoming a professional artist and learning animation is a rewarding journey, and there are many paths to develop your skills. Here are some steps and tips to help you improve:
1. Master the Basics
- Drawing Fundamentals: Focus on learning anatomy, perspective, proportions, shading, and color theory. Understanding these will make your art more realistic and dynamic.
- Practice Gesture Drawing: Draw quick poses to improve your ability to capture movement and energy in a figure.
- Study Light and Shadow: Observing how light interacts with objects and people will improve your ability to add depth to your work.
2. Learn Animation Basics
- Start with 2D Animation: This will give you a solid foundation in timing, movement, and how to make characters feel alive.
- Principles of Animation: Learn the 12 basic principles of animation (e.g., squash and stretch, anticipation, follow-through) which are the building blocks of all animation.
- Software: Familiarize yourself with animation tools like:
- Krita (free and great for 2D animation)
- Toon Boom Harmony (professional software)
- Adobe Animate (another popular option)
3. Use Online Resources
- YouTube Tutorials: Many channels provide free tutorials on both art and animation:
- Proko for anatomy and figure drawing.
- Jazza for fun, beginner-to-intermediate art and animation tutorials.
- The Animator’s Survival Kit (book) is essential for anyone serious about animation.
- Online Courses:
- Skillshare and Udemy have affordable courses on art and animation.
- ArtStation Learning for professional art development.
- School of Motion for more advanced animation tutorials.
4. Join Online Communities
- DeviantArt, ArtStation, and Instagram: Post your work to get feedback, connect with other artists, and learn from critiques.
- Discord: Join art and animation-related servers where you can share your progress and get real-time feedback.
5. Study Other Artists
- Watch animated series or movies and analyze them. Pay attention to character design, backgrounds, and animation techniques. Some great examples include Disney, Studio Ghibli, and newer shows like Arcane.
- Copy to Learn: Recreate other artists’ work (with credit) to learn their techniques, but use it as a learning tool rather than passing it off as your own.
6. Stay Consistent and Practice
- Daily Sketching: Draw something every day, even if it’s small. Consistency is key to improving.
- Challenge Yourself: Try different mediums (digital, watercolor, graphite) or styles to expand your skills.
- Take Breaks: Don’t burn out! Give yourself time to rest so you can come back fresh.
7. Create Your Own Projects
- Start small by creating short animations or comic strips. This will give you experience in storytelling and character design, which is essential for making your own series.
- Collaborate: If possible, work with other artists, writers, or animators to create something together. This will prepare you for team-based projects in the future.
8. Build a Portfolio
- As you grow, compile your best work into a portfolio. This is what you’ll show to clients, schools, or studios when you’re ready to work professionally.
- Include various art forms: character design, backgrounds, animations, and short stories.
9. Study Animation Schools
- If you want to pursue formal education in animation, research schools like:
- CalArts
- Ringling College of Art and Design
- SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design)
Building your own series takes time and dedication, but with passion, patience, and practice, you can definitely achieve it! Keep pushing your limits, seek out feedback, and never stop learning.
Best wishes!
Robert Waters
2
Answers
Updated
Robert’s Answer
Great to meet you! Digital art is such a fun career path.
The biggest thing you can do is build your visual library....this is probably the most important and least talked about aspects of being a good digital artist.
To build your visual library there are many things you can do. Firstly you want to focusing on seeing many things, go to museums, spend lots of time outdoors in nature, look at things closely, sketch them, take notes, learn about them and how they work. Find picture books about various things, motercycles, cars, weapons and armor, historical clothing, research how these things were made, get close looks at the textures of these things, try to understand many things on a fairly deep level.
Read a lot of fantasy and science fiction novels, things that have very interesting things described in words then take those things and draw them from your imagination.
Begin a reference library on your computer of phone of images of things you find interesting, then use those things to refer to when you are drawing so your artwork is grounded in reality at the same time as being imaginative.
This video by FDZ school is a fantastic video discussing these principals in depth - watch all of their videos, but this on in particular is amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnflBERf2zM&t=244s
your visual library is your greatest tool for creativity....always be building and developing it!
Master your fundamentals! Master perspective, anatomy, color theory, design, lighting exc and practice with purpose...it's not enough to simply practice, you have to practice doing things by the rules so you understand the rules and then you can break them. Draw from life, spend time sitting in a subway or at the park or downtown in your city and draw the passers by, draw the landscapes, draw facial expressions, draw the places and the architecture exc try to fill up at least one sketch book every month.
Another way to improve your skills is to take up photography, there's no better way to learn lighting than setting up lighting for portrait photography.
Next get super familiar with The 12 Principles of Animation they will be your life blood as an animator.
Study the greats in animation, study animation history, learn about early Disney, Warner Bros and Tex Avery. read books on the subject
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull
are two great books
Show off your work and get real feedback, don't be afraid of real and harsh critique....avoid critique from people who aren't willing to give you honest feedback. One of the easiest ways to stagnate your progress is to constantly listen to people telling you how good your are...resist the urge to exclusively seek this type of validation....it feels good but too much is unhelplful.
The biggest thing you can do is build your visual library....this is probably the most important and least talked about aspects of being a good digital artist.
To build your visual library there are many things you can do. Firstly you want to focusing on seeing many things, go to museums, spend lots of time outdoors in nature, look at things closely, sketch them, take notes, learn about them and how they work. Find picture books about various things, motercycles, cars, weapons and armor, historical clothing, research how these things were made, get close looks at the textures of these things, try to understand many things on a fairly deep level.
Read a lot of fantasy and science fiction novels, things that have very interesting things described in words then take those things and draw them from your imagination.
Begin a reference library on your computer of phone of images of things you find interesting, then use those things to refer to when you are drawing so your artwork is grounded in reality at the same time as being imaginative.
This video by FDZ school is a fantastic video discussing these principals in depth - watch all of their videos, but this on in particular is amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnflBERf2zM&t=244s
your visual library is your greatest tool for creativity....always be building and developing it!
Master your fundamentals! Master perspective, anatomy, color theory, design, lighting exc and practice with purpose...it's not enough to simply practice, you have to practice doing things by the rules so you understand the rules and then you can break them. Draw from life, spend time sitting in a subway or at the park or downtown in your city and draw the passers by, draw the landscapes, draw facial expressions, draw the places and the architecture exc try to fill up at least one sketch book every month.
Another way to improve your skills is to take up photography, there's no better way to learn lighting than setting up lighting for portrait photography.
Next get super familiar with The 12 Principles of Animation they will be your life blood as an animator.
Study the greats in animation, study animation history, learn about early Disney, Warner Bros and Tex Avery. read books on the subject
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull
are two great books
Show off your work and get real feedback, don't be afraid of real and harsh critique....avoid critique from people who aren't willing to give you honest feedback. One of the easiest ways to stagnate your progress is to constantly listen to people telling you how good your are...resist the urge to exclusively seek this type of validation....it feels good but too much is unhelplful.
Thank you so much!
Pearl