The answer to this question will vary somewhat based on the background and skills of the person asking it. Some people start out with more inherent abilities. But let’s just say that you have basic, medium abilities, like most people. What now?

I am a very strong believer in taking art classes. If you have not, you should. Real, in-person classes. If you live in a remote area, and that is not possible, find some on youtube. But in-person is best, because you can get actual one-on-one critiques of your work. You really need courses in composition, anatomy, drawing, color theory and painting. Those are the barest minimums.

If you have these basics, then when you get a creative notion, you will have the basic toolkit that will enable you to take that concept or that vision and turn it into a real work of art, or at least the beginnings of one.

The next thing I believe in is drawing every single day - and using real life as your model. Do not draw from internet models - unless, as a kind Quora user pointed out to me, you want to draw a tiger. Go out into the world and take your own photographs. Draw from those. Learn to observe the world as though you were going to draw it,. And then do it. Daily.

Be patient and forgiving. Know that even the greatest artists began by making lesser works and even made their share of real clunkers. History and those artists themselves have wisely consigned most of them to the garbage heap, so we don’t see them - but they were there. They have to have been. No one springs fully formed into masterpiece level in art. If you waste time - and energy - beating yourself up, that’s time and energy that could be devoted to improving. Don’t do it.

Be determined. Understand that art is a long journey and that the main ingredient is persistence.

And lastly, don’t forget to have fun. A good life is about joy. Art should especially fall into that category, so that when you create, that spirit will be reflected and help provide succor to the world.

Thanks Leigh, for the compliment of the A2A.

i worked as a technical director in vfx (lighting/compositing, and dynamics simulations), coming from a background in math and scientific research, and some experience in photography. for any strategy that you choose to adopt, a core component of it will be that you need to spend some time away from the computer. as good as current tools may be, the computer by its nature prioritizes language over perception. you are trying to break away from language and abstraction and take perception more seriously, so being away from the computer is what will allow you to do so in a natural way

if you are uneasy with drawing and want to try something to get started that you can correspond to technical art, maybe try photography first. you want to train your eyes and gain an inner sense for lighting and composition, so emulate what you see in photography that you like.

however, if you actually want to take the art side more seriously, there is no way around the fact that, if you actually want to train your senses, at some point you will have to draw. to engage the physical process of building up brain material that allows you to translate perceptions into actions that reproduce their likeness in another format, there are no shortcuts. you have to put in the time doing exercises that induce the process of engaging mental activity that builds up the brain material. so, to get from the cartoonish drawings that you might start out with (like people with circles for heads like children draw), to something that accurately captures perspective transformations, textural information, lighting phenomena, atmospheric effects, etc., you have to put in the time. the cartoonish drawings are prioritizing abstraction; the later ones are prioritizing perception. this is what people mean when they say that you are learning how to “see.”

at the end of this, you will be able to, for example, take seriously the fact that the sky you “see” should be represented as a shade of red, even though everything you “know” about the sky tells you that it should be blue. in the sense of what you’re going for, this is what it means to be a better artist

What you should do (ideally) to improve your art style will largely depend on what phase you are in as an artist.

If you are a beginner, you should take classes - composition, color theory, anatomy, at a minimum. When you take a class, you not only have the opportunity to mess around with a quantity of materials (which you will be unlikely to ever buy for yourself), but you also get critiquing from a real human, plus of course, the information.

If you are a bit further along, you should engage in activities to broaden your life experience. Your style is coupled to your life - and you want to be broad and expansive, not small and cramped. Be with people, of all kinds. Travel, try new things - foods, experiences. Fall in love and out again. Observe the world carefully, as though your were going to draw every single molecule of it. Especially note people’s expressions and movements, and how things are arranged and organized - structures.

All the time you are doing this, you should be trying out a variety of styles. After all, you must discover which one suits you best. Like the womens’ joke goes, “you have to kiss a lot of toads before you find the prince”. So try all those toady styles and try them in many ways. This is a necessary step to building your style.

Eventually - usually about age 40 - you settle down into a mature style. You make a decision about which of all those styles you can modify to suit the things you have learned and truly want to express seriously into the world. You also want a style that will not stay static. To your initial question, it will remain consistent and recognizable, but it will also change, gradually over time, as you do - as you continue to learn and grow.

How can you possibly accomplish this? First you have to do all the exploration. Because if you do not, you will not be capable of choosing wisely. Then, you will develop your style around 3 elements: the things you do well, compensation for the things you don’t do so well, and the best way to express what you have decided is important to you. Also, your style must be a large enough “container” to allow you to grow. So look, too, for that. It must have many possibilities in the elements it contains and few limitations. Stay away from stylistic gimmicks. They can give you quick recognition and trap you in no time at all.

If you choose wisely, and if you become a reasonably mature human being, your style will: 1) suit you and 2) change with you in a consistent way. and 3) never become boring.

However, if it does end up boring you, then you change styles - as Picasso did. And you go through the same process to do so. That is also reasonable, if you have artistically explored one style and exhausted its possibiities for you,

Digital art is hard to get used to at first. I’m not going to say to ‘practise haaaarder’ because that’s simply not how things go.

1. Practise anatomy before developing a style
2. avoid tracing or copying other people’s art unless it’s a reference
3. Take breaks every hour or so. Stand up, walk around your room, get some water.
4. try and invest in a program like Clip Studio Paint
5. Avoid MSpaint
6. Learn how to use layers! They seem scary at first but remember. Line art is always the top layer and colouring is on another layer -under- the line art layer.
7. Have different layers for parts of the body like the eyes, skin, hair, and clothes.
8. Learn your art program.
9. Try to avoid extremely bright colours like neons.
10. And most importantly! USE YOUR REFERENCES !

Yes, I believe so, but with the criterion that you practice similar techniques of rendering and of observation in digital art as you do in your traditional media.

In example, here I have done a figure study in digital means, but using approaches and techniques very similar to traditional media:

You can probably see the relationship in style and approach to my traditional work:

If however you do not use digital media for emphasis on similar styles, you may not see much carry-over benefit to your traditional media praxis.

My recommendation is to seek out different sources of stylized / traditional fine art for your inspiration, rather than the slick 3D CGI hyperrealistic art you see in Pixar/Disney. Study the art history behind the artists who work on this style, and their motivations for painting like this.

Having a pallets of different art styles under your belt, and being able to determine the best C++ scripts for lighting, shading, and texturing, gives you and your art directors an incredible amount of leverage regarding what type of art style your film, animation, or game will be produced with.

Image Source: kashimAstro/WaterColor & Watercolor Paintings Can Be Made With Code

Ah, all these questions asking to learn an ability quickly! The impatience!

Well, skills are built on experience. And experience is acquired through time and practice…

There is no magical syringe to inject some skill / knowledge in you overnight.

So, my best advice, beside studying some art-related tutorials for the base techniques (perspective, anatomy, wrinkles, expressions, etc.), is to draw. A lot. From reference. Live if possible, photos otherwise. The more you draw, the faster you will evolve.

PS.: Since you asked me, I assumed it was about drawing; but this is true for other arts, music, dance, etc.

I’m not a great artist, but I’ve found things that have helped me out a ton:

1. Find a style. Sure, you might improve if you can continue to pencil sketch, but I found that making art was much more enjoyable if I played around with the vast types of art I could make. I used watercolor and dabbled in acrylics, tried lining pictures in with a pen, and tried hyper-realistic art. Every style I tried I enjoyed, and I finally found a type of art I was comfortable with to just use all the time.
2. Focus on your weaknesses. By no means was I ever good at drawing faces. Or human bodies, for that matter. Dragons, skeletons, other fantastical creatures, sure, but for whatever reason, I could not draw a human. For the longest while I avoided it, but then I began to search. I watched other successful artists on youtube, and tried to see what they did to make their art look good. I mixed and matched other artists’ styles until I found mine, a sort of amalgamation of other styles, which is fine, mind you (Copying someone’s style will never help you grow artistically, but it’s okay to use something you’ve seen before to draw). Now, I draw humans whenever I please, and I don’t have any of that difficulty that I had before.
3. Draw Backgrounds. A lot of people just draw things willy-nilly and never think about the world around them. Ever have a sheet with a character, then white space around them? Go back to that picture, and try to think about what kind of environment that character would be in. Redraw the character, but this time, with a world to go with them. You’ll find this makes your art look a lot more professional, thought-out, and pretty.
4. If you’re bored, try something else. If you feel like you’ve mastered your style, mastered every area of weakness you’ve previously had, and gotten the hang of drawing backgrounds, you’ll probably get bored. If that’s the case, try something new! You’ll find that there can be more than just one type of art that you enjoy creating. You probably have a favorite artist that uses a different style than you, but you like to look at that type of art. Why just look at it when you can make it? If you draw anime, but think that hyper-realistic is an amazing type of art, try doing some pieces of your own. Explore the art world- don’t just focus on styles. Look into the different types of painting- watercolor, oil, acrylic, etc. You can work on sculptures as well! I promise, if you just keep exploring, you’ll never get bored.

There are many ways in which you can improve artistically:

Observe: Art is all around you. Look at designs that catch your eye, note down what it is about the design that intrigues or fascinates you. Is it the colour, the shapes, the direction that the design gives you or the font? These designs could be on advertisements, signboards or anywhere you look.

Photograph: Taking a picture or screenshots is a great way to remember these designs. There have been times where I have gone back and looked at old screenshots for inspiration for new pieces. Going through these pictures later could even help you through a creative block.

Explore: As much as you can and in your capacity, explore different art forms. There is so much to learn and so many different techniques that could later be merged to form a mixed media piece or a beautiful fusion. Exploring will help you find what interests you most.

Find the right resources: A plethora of resources are available but choosing the right ones could help you go a long way. Look for good quality resources, even if they cover only the basics.

Research: Researching and finding the best materials, resources and other things required for an art form will decrease the frustration you would otherwise go through to find the right thing for you.

And most importantly,

Practice: Practice what you have learnt that interests you. There is no improvement without practice. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ‘Every artist was once an amateur.’

Please let me know if this helps or if you have any further questions in the comments below.

Improving your art skills is a lifelong journey that requires dedication and hard work. While there is no shortcut to becoming a great artist, there are some techniques you can use to rapidly enhance your artistic abilities. we'll explore some practical tips on how to improve your art skills quickly.

• Practice regularly: One of the most effective ways to improve your art skills quickly is to practice regularly. Set aside a specific time each day to work on your art and stick to it. Consistency is key, and the more you practice, the faster you'll improve.
• Study the work of other artists: Studying the work of other artists can be an excellent way to learn new techniques and gain inspiration. Analyze the work of artists you admire and try to replicate their style in your own work.
• Experiment with different mediums: Trying out different mediums can help you discover new techniques and styles that you may not have considered before. Experiment with watercolors, oils, acrylics, pencils, or any other medium that interests you.
• Attend art workshops and classes: Attending workshops and classes led by experienced artists can be an excellent way to gain new insights and techniques. Look for local art schools or studios that offer classes in your area.
• Use online resources: The internet is a treasure trove of information and resources for artists. You can find countless tutorials, courses, and forums online that can help you improve your art skills quickly.
• Seek feedback: Getting feedback on your work from other artists can be incredibly valuable. Join art communities or forums online, share your work, and ask for feedback.

TO KNOW MORE YOU CAN VISIT- KALAARTSY.COM

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Thanks

For me to improve, I have to be immersed in it and practice my craft on a regular. Anything you want to be great at, you must practice. I also make it a point to Google/YouTube everything to death, especially when I start struggling or getting frustrated because I can’t execute something I envisioned. I end up finding helpful methods and tips online and use it to expand my craft.

Also… this is really important! Get a mentor and/or find a circle of artist who you respect and value and allow them to help when you need it. At times I find that my family isn’t able to follow me down the artistic rabbit hole, so it helps to surround yourself with other creatives. You’ll be surprised at how much you will improve artistically.

How do you know what you’re doing? Well, are you happy with your piece/project after? If the answer is no then it sounds like you have some work to do. And if yes, well you probably didn’t know what you were doing but it doesn’t matter at this point… as long as you like the outcome. There’s no right way to create, just enjoy yourself, practice, and improvement is around the corner for you!

Just draw!

Tutorials and guides can only get you so far.

Get advice from people who have been at things like anatomy, shading, coloring, backgrounds, etc for many many years, analyse drawings from other artists, whether they would be popular or unknown and see what you can learn from them!

Try out new brushes and the techniques they use and try to emulate them with no tutorials whatsoever.

Digital art is vast and ever changing, if you dont like one type of digital art, try another you might struggle with!

Create a 3D sculpture, a comic book, sprite art, animation, anything that will give you a real challenge!

Just for curiosity, what art do you do?

Go back to the basics.

I know everyone hates to hear that, but look for some really in-depth tutorials. Youtube is your best friend with this, and I recommend checking out some of the lectures by Istebrak and some of the videos by Sycra.

Once you’ve refined your skills a little, try to learn about things that are a little more difficult. I don't have any idea what your art is like so I can't really give specific instructions here, but say you don't really draw backgrounds that much. If you want to improve on that, learn perspective and how to make your backgrounds interesting but not too distracting from the foreground. Along with that, look over your composition. Does it make sense, or is there too much added space, or not enough?

This video by Sycra helps to outline what skills you need as an artist, depending on the kind of artist you want to be:

Do you understand some of these things? Try to master them to the best of your ability. Have you never heard of some of them? Work on learning what they are and how to get better at them. There is always room for improvement, whether you know what you need to improve on or not. All you need to do is take a close look and figure out what needs to be better.

I think yes. My personal experience was so.

I couldn’t get the color theory in art college. I knew the basics, the theory from the book, but I could never apply it properly. I finished art college somehow, then started to work as a digital artist, and it really helped me with colors. Once I really got how they work, it was a gamechanger.

After years, I came back to plain airs. And discovered, that these new knowledge improved my traditional works too! I had regular oil painting practice for 2 months only, but when I cam back to digital work, I noticed that those plain air sessions have positive impact on my digital works!

Digital and traditional art are not so different as it used to consider. Getting better in one, we always improve the other, if we practice meaningfully and regularly.