This Is Not A Tutorial This Is Just Me Rambling

Repeat after me:

The first draft just needs to exist

The second draft needs to be functional

The third draft needs to be effective

The first draft just needs to exist

The second draft needs to be functional

The third draft needs to be effective

The first draft just needs to exist

The second draft needs to be functional

The third draft needs to be effective

Remember, the second and third can't happen if you don't have something to work with. Your first draft will always be shit compared to your third, but at least it exists. The worst first draft is an unfinished one. The best first draft is a just completed one.

You read books/stories not in their first draft form-- only in their finished form (third, fourth, sometimes fifteenth draft). So stop comparing your first draft with a final one.

So, just write--you can make it better later. Perfectionism is the greatest weight a creator can carry.

How to avoid White Room Syndrome

by Writerthreads on Instagram

A common problem writers face is "white room syndrome"—when scenes feel like they’re happening in an empty white room. To avoid this, it's important to describe settings in a way that makes them feel real and alive, without overloading readers with too much detail. Here are a few tips below to help!

Focus on a few key details

You don’t need to describe everything in the scene—just pick a couple of specific, memorable details to bring the setting to life. Maybe it’s the creaky floorboards in an old house, the musty smell of a forgotten attic, or the soft hum of a refrigerator in a small kitchen. These little details help anchor the scene and give readers something to picture, without dragging the action with heaps of descriptions.

Engage the senses

Instead of just focusing on what characters can see, try to incorporate all five senses—what do they hear, smell, feel, or even taste? Describe the smell of fresh bread from a nearby bakery, or the damp chill of a foggy morning. This adds a lot of depth and make the location feel more real and imaginable.

Mix descriptions with actions

Have characters interact with the environment. How do your characters move through the space? Are they brushing their hands over a dusty bookshelf, shuffling through fallen leaves, or squeezing through a crowded subway car? Instead of dumping a paragraph of description, mix it in with the action or dialogue.

Use the setting to reflect a mood or theme

Sometimes, the setting can do more than just provide a backdrop—it can reinforce the mood of a scene or even reflect a theme in the story. A stormy night might enhance tension, while a warm, sunny day might highlight a moment of peace. The environment can add an extra layer to what’s happening symbolically.

Here's an example of writing a description that hopefully feels alive and realistic, without dragging the action:

The bookstore was tucked between two brick buildings, its faded sign creaking with every gust of wind. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of worn paper and dust, mingling with the faint aroma of freshly brewed coffee from a corner café down the street. The wooden floorboards groaned as Ella wandered between the shelves, her fingertips brushing the spines of forgotten novels. Somewhere in the back, the soft sound of jazz crackled from an ancient radio.

Hope these tips help in your writing!

[1] Color Zones of the Face [Tried to find source, I think it’s here ] 

[2] Navate’s Skin Chart Supplement – the actual tutorials are:  Section I: Skin Basics &  Section II: Skin tones

Two brilliant skin tutorials. Do not use flat colors for skin! Underpainting is important for realistic, vivid skin. Remember, underneath your skin is fat, muscles, red blood, blue veins, bones. 

Consider reblogging this to support the original artist. I recommend following them as well!

More Helpful links: Ask a Question/Request a Tut | Submit a Tutorial | Promote Your Art Commissions to +18.3 K Dashes | Stay Updated on DeviantArt! | Visit me @astrikos

“How do I become a better artist?”

By knowing what you want to become better at making art of and practicing.

”uh- that’s a really vague answer actually and [indignant response about how artists should be better at helping that hasn’t been original since that one post talked about it years ago etc etc]”

Okay and that’s fair but can I in response then request people ask less vague questions? Because, coming from an anonymous messenger, whom I know nothing about, not what their current level is, not what their end goal is, not what art style exactly they want to get better in… how are we supposed to help someone who seems to ask what the magic secret is to unlock their artist powers is? Which none of us know either! That’s something that’s deeply personal and subjective, something everyone has to figure out for themselves.

It’s completely different from when someone asks us for advice or tips on something specific, like how light falls on different objects, how to recreate that in different art styles and with different media. Or tips for drawings faces that are more realistic or more cartoony or more anime, etc. Or tips for drawing landscapes. Maybe a step by step guide of how a specific artist draws their specific style. What tips did we follow when we were starting out, what helped us to get to the style we use today. You can ask most of your favourite artists for any specific tips, and they’ll give them to you happily!

But this whole thing of artists getting shit because anons ask them vaguely how is become artist gooder…. We don’t know the secret either! We give you the secret we DO know: know what you want, do research, practice until it’s second nature. That YOU don’t accept that as a good enough answer is because you might not have been specific enough. And it’s unfair that artists have to take shit because of it.

Made this lil thing to celebrate hitting 1500 followers on twitter.

hehe

monkey brain like round number  

being a self-taught artist with no formal training is having done art seriously since you were a young teenager and only finding out that you’re supposed to do warm up sketches every time you’re about to work on serious art when you’re fuckin twenty-five

Heres a MEGA folder filled with art book pdfs, if anyone has some others that you'd like me to add to it thats missing, please let me know and send me the link

EDIT 1: If you're a bit new to art and you're super overwhelmed by the options and you don't know where to start, I highly recommend the morpho series of books

Edit 2:No more Google Drive, just the MEGA folder now, so don't panic if the stuff on Google ain't there no more, its still up, just in a different location

This is just a reference of what the most complicated parts of the TF look like.

There is not and will not be a step-by-step drawing here, because you have to figure out for yourself how this or that part of the robot works just by looking at the drawing.

If you found this post helpful, well, good for you)

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.