By Kassidy Weber
Artists may have certain inherent skills when it comes to drawing traditionally or digitally, but there’s always room for improvement. If they want to make their work stand out from others, there are many exercises and tips that can help strengthen art skills.
“There’s always something to improve on no matter what your art style or skill is,” Adrien Vanzuela, sophomore, said.
One way artists can practice is a repetitive recreation exercise. This process helps those who want to improve on a specific character and helps to develop personal style. First draw out an image, then try to recreate that drawing over and over, then challenge yourself by putting in time limits. Start with 10 minutes, then one minute, then 10 seconds. This will allow artists to train themselves to create images faster. By looking through drawings from first to last, you can see the difference, focusing on the most important aspects of the drawing itself.
“The repetitive recreation challenge helps you practice your overall design and shows how much effort you put into your art,” Ingrid Chen, senior, said.
An accessible way to help answer art questions is to do a tutorial marathon. Take some time to sit down and binge watch multiple tutorials on structure design, colors, shading and any other aspects that need improvement. Follow along with the artist and take down tips and information. Make sure when doing this to focus on one theme at a time: otherwise, it will be more difficult to take in all the different information.
“A tutorial marathon shows you what you’re doing wrong or right, and it helps me explore new art territories,” Vanzuela said.
Another helpful exercise is to construct a drawing. Many people get so focused on the look of their art that they start to miss the basis of their figure. Use a formation of shapes and draw in details to create a picture of what those shapes represent. It’s similar to the way artists use wooden dolls to create a body structure when drawing people. Artists can also deconstruct drawings as well. Take an image of your drawing and break it down into simple shapes. This technique will help you improve on proportion design.
“Constructing a drawing helps with proportions and placement which is an important part of drawing,” Darren Johnson, sophomore, said.
An extremely useful exercise is drawing from life. Go around and pick an item or person and replicate exactly what you see. This will help you draw different items, perspectives, lighting, and proportions more accurately.
“Drawing from life allows you to expand on your art style and explore new ideas,“ Nick Ferrer, sophomore, said
For any professional, it takes a lot of time and hard work to get to where they are now. People sometimes give up drawing because they feel like they won’t be as admired as their idol, but don’t compare yourself to others because every art style is unique.
