Doodles

Hey Jake! 
I just gotta ask— Which direction do YOU want to take? It’s not a matter of what other people want to push you into, it’s a matter of doing what YOU want with your work.

Practicing “Realism“ isn’t really the only way to learn, it certainly is a way to learn for some people, specially those who have the skills, patience and passion to do it. Not everyone can do realism. I can’t do realism xD I tried for a while— it didn’t go well haha. But what I think, and I hope, they are trying to suggest you to do is practicing Anatomy, which to me is different. Realism is an aesthetic choice, artists that practice it try their best to represent their subject matter as accurate and truthful as possible (For example: The fantastic Euclase). 
Anatomy in the other hand is the basic understanding of the human form which is a necessary skill to know to draw people accurately. 

You seem to have a very graphic style, and that’s ok. 80% of my favorite (and very successful) artists are like that as well. If you like to render but not make things photo-realistically then go for it, that’s totally okay too.
Whatever way you want to work you just have to own it. Let it become you. If that’s how you wanna work, push your self, push your shapes more, improve as much as you can and repeat. Listen to what YOU want to do as opposed to what other people want you to do.

Regarding studies, I suggest you do life-drawing/Figure drawing. Try to find life-drawing sessions near you so you can draw from a model and compare your work with a group. If it’s an instructed session is even better. Gesture drawings are also a very good way to learn, it also teaches you about balance, movement and quick thinking. If you can’t do any of this, every time you are on the train or outside, draw the people you see, it’s a fantastic exercise. 

If you are going to do a study, don’t do a study for the sake of doing a study. If that made any sense. If you have a weakness or something to improve— or even something you’ve never tried before!, do a study for that. Research how different people approached it and learn from them, there are many ways to do one thing.

I hope my ramble of words helps you in any way! xD 
Thank you for stopping by! :) 

*EDIT* Sorry,  I got a little off-track trying to get another point across. You don’t need to do photo-realism to learn color/values. Just do it in the style YOU feel comfortable. A smart way to approach it is picking a painting you find successful and translating it in YOUR style, that will help you on value, color etc. I would learn from the Masters or illustrators from the golden age because they are truly inspirational.

Also: This is a cool color study using limited color pallets and in no-way photo realistic. This one too. Just jump on google for tutorials or find classes to study color theory! there are a ton! 

Yep!! that’s very true~ 
But the problem is that we can’t look at them together as a series =O 

The Musical and the movie have different writers/producers etc. and do not exist in the same timeline. For instance, the musical takes place in NYC because the Addams live in the middle of central park. In the musical Wednesday also gets a haircut and has short hair 95% of the musical. This is very different from the movie and very different from my version, if you notice.

They can take their creative liberties and pretend the other didn’t exist, if that makes sense. That’s why they can create movies/musicals based on the original cartoons by Charles Addams and that’s also why I can create a “new Wednesday” based on by my taste and design influences using the musical as reference. Same for the musical, same for the movie. 

So yeah XD fun stuff haha

Thanks for stopping by~ :) *hugs* 

Hey! 

Thank you very much for the kind words <3 

Let me tell you, the first time I did work on a tablet I sucked so much I didn’t want to look at it. Unfortunately for me my step-mother saved the drawing for herself and it haunts me around the house ever since. Although in a way I have to admit I’m glad she did because it’s a reminder of humble beginnings. 

The way I learned is through tutorials, watching livestreams, getting art-books that show the process of my favorite artists and watching how other people work on the medium. Many people approach it in different ways, there’s really not a right way to do it, you’ll be surprised.

I do wanna say: don’t feel discouraged, pick yourself up and keep trying because you have to learn to walk before you run, right? I’m sure it was tough to work traditionally at first but you got the hang of it. Digital is the same thing. Just find out the look you want for your art, find artists that have that look and study their work 24/7. If you keep trying you’ll get it, I’m sure.

About a tablet- the model doesn’t matter at all, specially when you are just starting. Getting an updated tablet will only make you more comfortable because that’s what technology does. I’ve seen people do wonders with very little resources so unless you have the money to buy a new one, don’t open your piggy bank unless you absolutely have to (if breaks etc). 

Thank you for your question! and I wish you luck! :D 

Hello~ 

I might be a bad example because I do at least one fan-art a week thanks to Sketch Dailies hahahha xD

However I do understand where you are coming from and, In my opinion, I think not doing what you love because you fear no one will notice is not fair for you and your work.

I say you draw what you want and whatever character(s) you have created all the times you want. I think storytelling through characters and environments is one of the hardest things to do when illustrating, but if you master that skill and you are consistent – meaning, you draw pretty regularly and show your work to people– you will find a crowd/audience that will enjoy the work you do. But you kind of have to commit… I learned sine I joined twitter that drawing once a week and sharing work occasionally will not get you anywhere, so I had to level up and improve at the same time other artists were improving. 

Also, join art communities! like sketch dailies! True, sometimes they have fan-arts, but a tip I suggest is adding a personal touch to the character, make it your own or maybe re-design it… idk, play with it xD

Well, I hope I helped a little bit haha :) 
Thank you for your question!! :D 

Hello there~ 

In my opinion it is very different to draw from life than to draw from a picture. I personally can’t draw from a photo/image unless is a painting from the masters in a museum. 
The problem with drawing from a photo is that the drawings will always end up stiff/without life. When you draw from a real person you can tell their mood, attitude or personality in real time, which forces you to think fast because a person will always move. So I say Life > photo 

Hmmm.. How I developed the style it’s a little complicated/long, but I’ll make it kinda short. 

In Art-school they teach you anatomy and how to draw from life, which helped a lot – but only on my draftsmanship, not style. What you need to understand about anatomy is that it teaches you the basics of the human form and once you learned the rules you can break them as you please. 

The “style” comes out of you naturally. If you have to force something into your work is probably not doing you any good. I noticed I would draw things a certain way in my sketchbook (simpler, with fun shapes etc) but when I went to a final piece I would change it completely for w/e reason (I was trying to fit in etc). I stopped doing that and I stayed truth to my personal taste. I also surrounded myself with artistic influences of all sorts and my favorite things from each and every one of them got engraved in my brain. Some stayed to this day and some didn’t.

I think everything clicked when I realized what I wanted to do for a living. My biggest dream is to work for the animation industry. I bought every art-book I could, studied every movie etc and well, I’m still learning xD I still have soooo much to learn, I struggle so much with sooo many things, but I guess the more you practice the more it becomes second nature. 

I hope this somewhat answered your question xD 
Good luck! :D