Artists! Illustrators! Show your stuff to the forum!

So good! I want to see more

Do you have a website I can check out?

Superb. Excellent drafting and interpretation of light and shade on what is, in its entirety, a pale subject.

First sketch for years

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Thanks all for the positive responses.

https://www.instagram.com/williamwyld_artist/

Missing the forest.

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Nice. Followed

something else that, lovely - I'd buy that, so glad it wasn't called a tern for the worst.

SPAM ALERT

Finally got round to getting some prints of my work done. Perfect Christmas presents for your ambiguous architecture/anatomically incorrect animal loving loved ones.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/alexdimondart

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Are there any artists on here looking for a paid job? We are after a large piece to go in a new dining room- approx 1.5metre wide x 1 metre tall. Something peak district themed ideally, maybe even the view out of our window. Willing to pay. I got quoted £2.5k for some similar stuff to buy an existing piece that i didn’t fully like so less than that and bespoke would be great! PM me if interested?

I call this one Peak District IV. £900. I can add more sheep for £50 each.

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I love it! Looks exactly like the view from our window. You’re undercharging
Also, I think I’ve sorted this thanks to @AlexD but thanks to everyone else who sent recommendations, lots of good pages saved now for future purchases.
What talented people this forum has!

So, thought I’d revive this thread and ask a question or two if that’s cool?

I’ve never been an artist, naturally left handed as a tot(both parents lefties) but strict CofE/High Anglican education in my early years meant I’m now right handed for writing but ambi(ish) for tool use. Basically I’m shit with both hands.

Fast forward to secondary school where the only acceptable art was ‘still life that looks like what it’s supposed to look like’ and anyone who fell short had their homework ripped up in front of the class(my teacher was a massive prick and eventually got weighed in by a 6th former) which undoubtedly killed the aspirations of many kids in my town.

Based on those experiences I’ve never really felt anything arty was for me but this week I got fucking stressed at work and decided I might need a little drawing in my life.

Now, this might sound ridiculous but where on earth do I start? I have a passing interest in 50s atomic futurism/atomic age kitsch etc and have spent years loitering around in tattoo shops so have been exposed to a lot of pen and ink illustration.

This is the first thing I’ve attempted in about 20yrs, obviously the anchors were traced first but at this point I’m just interested in baby steps and learning a little hand eye coordination.

Any advice on a book/YouTube series/any other starting points? Of course a big part is practice practice but ummm.... yeah 🤷‍♂️

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I would say that while you have preferences for certain aesthetic styles, try not to ape those styles. I wasted a lot of time (actually that’s a bit harsh, but it’s how it feels now!) trying to mimic styles I liked and in hindsight it stopped me progressing as much as I could have done. Influences will seep in organically.

Just draw in a way that feels right to you and in a way that you enjoy. Don’t worry about style - the way you draw is your style.

Find a medium that you like and perhaps more importantly that is easy/accessible for you - probably pencil! - and just start drawing stuff. Pick subjects you like and that feel fun to draw. Then after a while pick subjects that are out of your comfort zone.

Give yourself little tasks, like doing a drawing a day (my ‘non-artistic’ uncle has been doing this for a year now and is really enjoying it and constantly improving). Keep a sketchbook - find a nice one with paper that feels nice to draw on (moleskines make people roll their eyes but they have decent paper and feel nice to hold!).

Not an art teacher, but I regularly do freehand technical drawing as part of my job. And have had some pretty talented teachers try to help me with drawing/painting etc. Some tips from what I've learned from those infinitely better than me:

Do lots of free hand drawing on paper. Lots, and lots. Leave the drawings to one side for a bit then come back to look at it with fresh eyes and think about what you are pleased with, then think about why. Also don't be afraid to draw over something, ruin something, and stop before you are happy. Every now and again something that brings you joy will come out of it.

Another excersize that I liked was doing several studies of the same subject in a very quick time frame 2min or 5min. Maybe do 5 very fast drawings of the same object. It limbers you up and stops you being worried about doing things wrong.

Try different scales every now and again. Blow something up or shrink it down. Draw something on a big bit of paper sometimes and really free up you arm for large gestural movements.

The key thing is to enjoy it, because otherwise you won't keep going. Sometimes to clear my head I just doodle wierd patterns and try different ways of making a mark.

Long reply this, hope it's not boring or condescending. I'm sure people who are both better at drawing, and better at helping will be along soon.

several studies of the same subject in a very quick time frame 2min or 5min.

Yeah this is a good one. Helps with fear of a blank page and as you say, good for limbering up and getting the creative juices flowing.

Don’t be precious - you’re just drawing and it doesn’t have to be perfect or even legible.

Thanks to you both!
Yes, I certainly don’t want to start mimicking anyone’s style or anything. I traced those anchors simply as an exercising in seeing what my hand was capable of for the first time in years. Will try and go freehand from here.

I also have a little bit of tech drawing experience thru my work but it’s not particularly creative but at least know my way around a compass and isometric paper ;)

As for medium I have plenty of mechanical pencils, rotring pens and sharpies to hand so I guess that’s what I’ll be using for the foreseeable.

I think seeing as there’s no end goal I’ll hopefully enjoy it as it will just be for stress relief in theory.

I know the trick is just to draw draw draw but I was wondering if there’s any obvious/basic fundamentals it’s worth reading/watching about.

Thanks again, really appreciated.

I'm sure there are rules about composition and techniques you could learn. But in personal experience just putting pencil/pen/paintbrush to paper and trying really hard to observe, or invent is more fun. And keep ahold of your efforts to look back at, every now and again it pays to think about it.

A sketchbook as mentioned by @AlexD is great for this. I also would focus on the positive, not the negative. Look at the things you have done that you like, not so much at the bits you don't. But that's a personal preference.

To add to the others' sage advice:

Drawing humans (or, indeed, other living beings, but we have the clearest perception of ourselves and other humans, so this makes it hard to live up to the clarity of our perception, and therefore valuable) is the best school of drawing. You can practise perspective, movement, proportion, detail, light and shadowing, and surface structure all in one. Even if you fail repeatedly at attempting something very hard to draw, like hands, it'll teach you something. There's a reason why people go to life drawing classes.

As you have done a lot of hard physical work, your wrist may need loosening up at times and becoming more supple. Maybe not, you be the judge. What I like to do when I feel as if I need to get into drawing again is to take a blank sheet and start randomly drawing lines, trying to shape them into something, like doodling, but less absent-mindedly and more dynamically. Sometimes, that results in things I want to keep.

Finally, I really like these lines from a song by Lou Reed and John Cale:

I like the druggy downtown kids that spray paint walls and trains.
I like their lack of training, their primitive technique.
I think sometimes it hurts you when you stay too long in school.
I think sometimes it hurts you when you're afraid to be called a fool.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Li6NaDax7g0

So, yeah, just draw what you like. No-one's about to judge you, it's for your enjoyment. As with everything, finding what you enjoy may take a while, but that's half the fun.

Haha thanks Oliver. I think you’re right about the wrist, I was aching like anything after about 45mins with pins and needles in my ring and little fingers.
A good friend from uni who works as a cartoonist/illustrator reckoned I’m death gripping my pen as well from the look of my lines.
I lack pressure sensitivity which will hopefully improve.

Gonna go find an art shop tomorrow and pick up a little a5 sketchbook.

If you’ve not already spotted it, this thread might be worth perusing and posting some drawing to if you feel like some feedback