Wingardium Leviosa

[rynling]

I'd really like to draw fan art for my friends. I suck at drawing, but I'm trying to get better. The way I've been doing this is to draw things over and over while attempting to build stamina and figure out how light works. The more I work on perspective and shading, though, the more I realize how much I love flatness as an aesthetic. Still, even if I intend to keep my designs and colors super flat, it would be nice to have a better grasp of anatomy and action lines.

In any case I'm worried about offending people by drawing shitty garbage. Last year I gradually became friendly with two artists on Tumblr, and over the summer I sent them postcards from Japan with sketchy doodles of characters from their comics. After that both of them stopped talking to me, true story. Art is hard, but friendship is harder.

Comments

[drmarcus]

The last paragraph made me laugh out loud (sorry). I don't believe your innocent postcard doodles were so atrociously bad that your artist friends literally couldn't bear talking to you again, but the thought is pretty hilarious. It reminds me of this re-cut of Star Trek in which Captain Picard draws a saxophone-playing horse, leading Data to conclude that life must be a mistake for something so awful to have come into existence. (Again, sorry about the parallel. Your art is surely better than the saxophone-playing horse.)

Anyways. Good luck and 頑張って! I think it's so cool when people can express themselves in drawing. Or for that matter, draw anything remotely attractive. I am really shitty at drawing but a couple of times a year I have an urge to draw and/or a wish to Be Really Good at Drawing. It usually results in ten or fifteen sketches of poorly proportioned sailor soldiers or apples casting shadows straight out of a You Can Draw in 30 Days exercise before I give up (so, I'm impressed with you for hanging in there in improving your technique - if you aren't actually awesome at drawing and just being modest, that is).

[rynling]

I just wanted you to know, a month and a half later, that I have shown that Picard video to everyone I know. Granted, I don't know that many people, but I still feel that this is an accomplishment.

My art is terrible, and it's only getting worse. But in any case...

It usually results in ten or fifteen sketches of poorly proportioned sailor soldiers

...this is 100% my jam. Let me know if you ever start an account somewhere to host your art, and I promise to only say nice things forever.

[drmarcus]

Your art is wonderful. Zelda comics make me so happy. If I had any idea how to use Tumblr I would like your posts or reblog them or whatever it is you kids do with these things, but I don't, so I'm going to add it to my news feed aggregator and follow it in appreciative silence.

I appreciate the sentiment of only saying nice things, but the things I draw (I would not call it "art") really are horse-with-saxophone level. They will never see the light of day anywhere, and that is as it should be.

NO SHAME ALLOWED

[rynling]

I was going to reply with a witty GIF, but instead let me share with you this cross stitch pattern I found on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197449277/pdf-pattern-talk-dirty-to-me-saxophone

Now we can all learn to draw horses and saxophones pixel by pixel for the low low price of five US dollars. CORRECT ANSWER!