7 Ways to Improve Your Art Fast

There was a time when I used to think that I would never be able to draw a face that actually looks like a face without using a reference, but fortunately now I can, not just that, now I also know I can draw anything I want if I spend enough time practising. However, I don’t practice a lot of things that I don’t enjoy drawing and, as a result, I am still bad at drawing them😅 but, I believe I have become much better at drawing few things that I was never good at before. And today I’m going to share with you few ways I have tried myself that helped me improve my drawing. If you follow these I guarantee you that you will see the difference pretty fast. By fast I don’t mean it will happen overnight, it will still take time, but, if followed on a continuous basis, I assure you you will see improvement a lot quicker.

1. Practice is the KEY: I know everyone knows it, but I guess for our subconscious it’s hard to believe unless we see proof and, when we don’t see results or be completely sure that it will work we tend to get demotivated pretty quickly. Therefore we need to practice in such a way that we can witness the improvement as fast as possible. And, that’s why I recommend practicing often, but practice small, what I mean to say is avoid  working on big things from the very start. When you work on small areas and do it several times you can see the difference pretty quickly and it will encourage you to draw more, but when you start with something big, like completing a full body drawing it puts more pressure on you and it’s very possible that before you even get half the job done you will get bored. So it’s better to it easy and start small. You don’t have to keep drawing day and night, but few minutes every day, even just for 15 minutes is fine, and always remember to start with something small, for example, if you want to get better at drawing faces than start with getting the anatomy right instead of trying to draw all the facial features perfectly from the very first time.
2. Use reference : Most beginners make this mistake, drawing everyday won’t help you if you are not doing it the right way. You must use references, use as many as required but try to avoid copying it completely and definitely avoid tracing it, tracing a picture is a huge no no if your motive is to improve. Most beginners don’t use references( at least not enough) and get frustrated when they see no improvements. So next time you draw something be sure to use references whenever you have any doubts or have no clue whether you are doing it right or not, it can be a simple thing like a flower or something complex like anatomy, no matter what it is if you are unsure use reference. You can observe real things around you(living and non living), another way to find reference for poses and anatomy is to observe your own body, pose in front of a mirror and observe. I use this approach mostly for hands. You can also use Pinterest. You can find a huge stock of reference images created especially for artists. Simply type what exactly you are searching for and it will show you hundreds of pictures related to the topic, it might not be exactly how you want but you will still get an idea. You can follow reference boards to keep exploring different poses or images  from different views every day
3. Study light and shadows: You can take your art to another level with the proper use of light and shadows, and, the best way to study light and shadow is to study your surroundings, nature, and do some photo study time to time to understand light and shadows better
4. Use colors carefully: Colors alone can make a huge difference if you know how to use effectively, so always try to pick your colors carefully. I still don’t have enough knowledge in cOlof theory, but keeping in mind few simple things has helped me choose the right colors, for instance, before you start coloring you can determine what type of colors you want to use, it can be anything starting from pastels to bright and vibrant colors, then pick the colors based on your preferred type. Secondly, don’t use too many colors in the same drawing, I usually stick to 2-3 primary colors and then use different shades of the primary colors. Also, you can find tons of color inspirations or palettes online by simply typing your preference in the search bar, I do it all the time, then I mix it up with some of my favourite colors, mostly I like to use bright and complementary colors, and, whenever I feel stuck I do some research online to clear things out
5. Consider checking your art in black and white : When a drawing looks good in black and white it’s very likely that it will look good in color. Determining and fixing color values of a black and white picture is much easier than trying to fix them in color. I have figured it out not very long ago, and I highly recommend you to try this if you want to improve faster
6. Take a break and observe later: Another thing I didn’t realise until a few months ago, some of you might have experienced it yourself, it’s kinda hard to find the mistakes in your own drawing while you are continuously working on it, you might get the idea that something is not right but a lot of artists including myself can’t spot it right away. But, when you take a break and review after a while you will be surprised how you can notice what wasn’t working almost instantly.
7. Use criticism in your favour: Criticism can be quite hard to deal with sometime, but, when it’s constructive it can actually be used as a tool for improvement, so if your art is being criticised first try to figure out if what people are saying is actually right, if yes you should totally consider working on it to make improvements. But, if they are just saying negative stuff about your art without even having any knowledge about the topic themselves, or only trying to make you feel like you are not good enough then the best option is just ignore them. Believe me, no matter how much you try you cannot impress everyone with your art and you don’t have to. Some people actually enjoy finding flaws and they will always overlook the good and enjoy being busy showing you what’s gone wrong. 

So these are some of the ways I personally find very helpful, and,  I’m sure you guys will benefit from these if applied on a regular basis. Do let me know if you have any questions or, any topic recommendation for my next blogpost.

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