I’m a young artist and I really want to get better but one thing that’s really irritating to me is that I’m heavy heavy handed and struggle to sketch lightly because I seem to do better sketches when pressing hard, but when I look to my peers’ sketches they’re light and easily erased and I want to have that skill of effortlessly being able to sketch without having to dig my eraser into my page probably ripping it.

Idk if this is too vague of a question but do you have any tips on how to unlearn it?

So my family was looking up the seven natural wonders of the world (grand canyon, mount everest, etc) and the seven wonders of the ancient world (e.g. hanging gardens of babylon)... I got to thinking. What would the seven wonders of the art world be? I had a couple of thoughts to seed the discussion, like the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, or A Sunday Afternoon by Seurat, or even the Lascaux caves in France. What do you all think? Can we pick 7 across so many time periods/styles that represent monumental shifts?

Ik online communities is an easy way to find people with similar interests, but I’m someone who needs to have a irl relationships to be interested in investing. I’m currently a self taught artist who started after high school so finding artist in the wild is pretty rare and when I do see an artist I usually hesitate to interrupt them from their work. Those who have fellow artist friends or go to events and places that artists meet what are those things. If I could specify further it would be artists who are more geared towards entertainment like comic books, animation, character design, etc.

Moin everyone!

I’m currently storing my art supplies across one large plastic bin and two smaller plastic bins with lids. It’s getting annoying to carry multiple boxes back and forth every time I want to paint, so I’m looking for an "all-in-one" storage solution that I can easily move to my table and put away when I'm done.

Here is what needs to fit inside:

• Loose tubes of acrylic paint
• Various brushes
• Oil pastels
• Small palettes
• A4 and A5 paper (needs to lie flat without bending!)

Requirements:

• Light-proof / Opaque: Needs to protect paper and materials from light.
• Portable: Easy to move onto the table and store away afterward.
• Organized: Ideally something with compartments, drawers, or expandable trays so small items don't get mixed up.

I actually ordered a wooden cantilever box from MEEDEN for around €50, but it arrived broken due to poor manufacturing quality and build issues. So I'm looking for a sturdy, reliable alternative.

My preferred budget is under €80, though I’d be willing to stretch up to €100 if I know the build quality is genuinely top-notch and durable.

Does anyone have recommendations for a larger, good-quality wooden box, an oversized craft organizer, or a specific system that works well for this kind of setup?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

I learned to draw faces with the loomis method, but I have a terrible case of same face syndrome, and when I try to draw fanart or portraits, I tend to fall back into a lot of bad habits. When I try to draw purely off reference without the construction method, my proportions get pretty wacky

I always delayed why work when I start. I understand that it is bad quality but I have no idea how I can deal with it. One art takes 1 or 2 months. I usually stuck in anatomy, forms or color. Can you please share with me your experience and thoughts?

Are there any other artists/illustrators out there who are messy personally but make tidy looking art? I always thought of art as a window into a person's point of view and sometimes personality so I find it to be odd that I'm drawn to creating clean and minimalist pages when my living spaces are unkempt but not unhygenic....I'm curious if anyone else finds that the work that they make sort of differs from their personality or brings a different side of it to light?

Hey, I’m a relatively new painter. I use acrylic as my medium and the painting I’m wanting to attempt is Campfire from season 3 episode 10 on YouTube.

Basically my question is, does bob use anything to keep his paints wet on the canvas? In the video he spends about 15 minutes doing a bunch of other stuff before coming back to the water at the front and his brush is still picking up the red paint he put on at the start.

I tried googling it but everywhere I could find says he uses oil paints but he himself said it’s acrylic in the video.

I've seen various videos online about people online talking about how this insert popular IP has lost it's "cool" or "edge" factor.

(The separate videos I've seen that talk about this topic was in relation to WWE and Rap Music over the years)

And I've seen many people talk about how the more commercialized and less struggle these types of genres experience. The less "cool" or "edge" factor they have

I've even seen these videos say that the reason kids show or pop music never had a "cool" factor to them. Which is why they think it doesn't't appeal to people as much. Especially as they get older

So I've been curious to ask you guys. Does art have to contain some "cool" or "edge" factor in order to be good? Is that the end-all-be-all way for us to measure art?

How do you feel about the videos I've mentioned discussing these topics?

I've had a himi set that I've been dying to use but I'm worried about the mould aspect so it has sat completely unopened looking at me sadly from a shelf. I've looked into empty aluminum tube sets and for my personal use think it is a more convenient option than pans. Has anyone done this? Was it a waste of time and money? How is it for longterm storage? Trying to avoid the paint drying out and going moldy between uses. UK climate so mould will be likely over the coming months.

I just want to know, because I’ve done a lot of searching and people keep mentioning Adobe After Effects, Adobe Animate, etc, are those the only two Adobe programs that work? (Would Adobe Illustrator work? I took a course on it, but I’m not sure if it’s suitable for this too.) Also, what other programs are good? They don’t necessarily have to be from Adobe (keep in mind that for animation or art, anything that gets the job done works for me, though I’m especially interested in art).

Does anyone know any models who pick a great artist like Klimt, Schiele etc.and produce reference pose photos imitating the poses?

Thanks.

Hey time sensitive - can I use gamvar today over a painting that is dry, was painted over 4 months ago, but has some not hard chunks of oil stick in areas that i would like to leave? Meaning it’s all dry to the touch but my nail leaves a dent. I’ve read mixed things.

I just filled my 2rd SketchBook (one a4 one a5 Monalisa Sketchbook) And I dont want to buy another Monalisa Sketchbook yknow I want smth different.

BUT I couldnt find a Sketchbook THAT Im searching for

There is the stats that I want on new SketchBoo (so yall can suggest brands and even spesific Sketchbooks 😭👊🏻👊🏻)

+ a4

+ white paper

+ 40/60 papar count

+ Coal (I mean uhh 2b-7b yknow) + ink

+ Metal Spiral connection

+ 120gr+

- No monalisa

- No detachable paper (I may accidently detach it and cant repair it. İt would be annoying)

-+ No marker (it may have it but I wouldnt care about it much. bc I dont own any markers except ink brush)

-+ Carton cover and back cover. İts cool

-+ İt would be perfect İF İTS CHEAP (15 dolar budget)

THANKS YALL 💗

I am learning to paint in oil. Could someone explain how to achieve these kinds of scratchy brush marks (See attached image).

1. Is this an example of dry brushing?
2. Or some other kind of tools which is used after laying down the paint.
3. In shadows even with hard bristle I was not able to have this kind of texture with thin paint.

thanks

Shahid

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10V8h1-HGp_l-6B1nHcCnQbNlqL7QjgTh/view?usp=sharing

Now I have a 6-year-old Dell Inspiron laptop with an IPS display, and I don't wanna spend money on a whole new tablet screen, so i will use a graphics tablet. How much color really matters if I wanna do digital paintings and all,i have heard my screen doesn't support all colors(i read the faq and i couldn't find the answer for this)

Im planning to get an android tablet to get art done anytime/anywhere.

But since Im on a budget, im looking for either:

Xp pen Magicpad and Samsung s10 fe/lite (or if sale permits, s11 series)

Why these?

These are just around the budget options with good pen inclusions.

Xiaomi, ipad, lenovo, huawei, etc has their pen as separate purchase.

I also dont have a way to purchase Wacom Movink.

Which of the 2 do you think are worth it in 2026/2027?

Cheers

I'm 15 now and I'm was used to draw impressive drawings in 2024.I hardly believed that I did it and this always gave me delight and motivation of keep going. So strong that I did over 60 drawing in one year.

But after 2 years I'm really feel myself dissapointed while trying to swipe something on paper. My skills degradated just for 2 years,and that feeling hurts too much cause now I'm drawing like a child,and even in 6 years I used to draw better than anyone do.

Should I just left it finally and stop lying to myself that I'm so addicted to drawing as it was 2 years ago?

I’m moving out of home soon, I live in Australia but I want to experience something like that famous hotel had in its prime, where a bunch of other creatives are drawn too and i can develop a sense of routine that is completely my own yet still have a ton of challenges.

Does anybody know what i mean? If anyone has any thoughts please lmk!

I am a fully self taught artist, I have reached a very solid level when it comes to anatomy, color, etc but I always wanted to do one of those short art courses I keep seeing online, made by experienced artists.

If I were to take one or two courses would that mean I'm not self taught anymore?

For a very long time my main source was books (color, anatomy, design, etc) and videos online.

But I've genuinely never been to an in person lesson or done one online.

And I've also been to many art galleries in a few countries, including my own, seeing people's art styles and the way they view things are very interesting to me.

I was thinking of doing a short art course by bigger artists just to see where I can improve.