Beginning Artist

[Cyber Burn]

   Are there any good websites that a beginning artist could check out to learn different techniques? Thanks.

[captainspud]

What kind of art? Drawing, sculpting, painting, digital art, etc..?

[Tomato]

Depends on what you're looking to do and how much time you have to learn it. In terms of tutorials Deviantart is a good place to start with, but I've had more success with just googling tutorials for some more advanced stuff.

However, as a word of advice... most of the more useful stuff you'll learn as an artist is stuff you get just by goofing off with a program, learning what all the filters do, etc.

[Sevenforce]

What Tomato said. The things I learnt with PSP just by messing around :wub:

[Cyber Burn]

   Thanks for the responses. I guess I should have been more specific. I want to find something that is for drawing with a pencil. Mostly for learning how to create/draw my own superheroes. Thanks.

[tommyboy]

Number one best tutorial in my opinion, =Practice.
Just sit in a room, or outdoors, and draw. Do quick sketches, or slower, more detailed ones. Start to look at things, to see the shapes, and shadows and colours and textures.
If comics are your 'thing' there are several books, like 'how to draw comics the marvel way' that will school you in some of the basics. But although others can give you many tips and hints and info, I don't think that you can be taught to draw, I think that you have to learn yourself.
My analogy would be walking or swimming. The physical movements can be described precisely, in the right order, and by closely following those instructions you could learn to do either. But most people learn both by doing, because a good deal of it is instinctive muscle memory skills and subconscious calculations of distance and velocity.
Drawing is a bit like that, I can tell you to draw an oval, bisect it horizontally for eyes, vertically to place a nose and so on, and you will get a face, but you still have to do the drawing. If your oval is poor, the face will look odd. Over time, drawing the oval over and over, you learn to do it better. Some people seem to have innate artistic talent, and it comes easily to them. Others struggle and may never become as good as they hope.
It can be a pain, but try to draw from life, or at least photos, as much as you can, rather than from comic books. As good as other artists are, every copy of a copy degrades the quality a little, like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. And ultimately it's your style, your view of the world that will emerge. As much as I love several artists, I love that there are as many styles as there are artists. And though you may at first not like your own 'style', because you may think it doesn't look as good as someone elses, even if you devote yourself to being a Jack Kirby 'clone', your own style of Kirby 'clone' will emerge. I can tell Buckler 'Kirby', from Giffen 'Kirby' from any other 'clone' of The King, because in the end something of the artist comes through, even when they try not to.

[Cyber Burn]

Number one best tutorial in my opinion, =Practice.
Just sit in a room, or outdoors, and draw. Do quick sketches, or slower, more detailed ones. Start to look at things, to see the shapes, and shadows and colours and textures.
If comics are your 'thing' there are several books, like 'how to draw comics the marvel way' that will school you in some of the basics. But although others can give you many tips and hints and info, I don't think that you can be taught to draw, I think that you have to learn yourself.
My analogy would be walking or swimming. The physical movements can be described precisely, in the right order, and by closely following those instructions you could learn to do either. But most people learn both by doing, because a good deal of it is instinctive muscle memory skills and subconscious calculations of distance and velocity.
Drawing is a bit like that, I can tell you to draw an oval, bisect it horizontally for eyes, vertically to place a nose and so on, and you will get a face, but you still have to do the drawing. If your oval is poor, the face will look odd. Over time, drawing the oval over and over, you learn to do it better. Some people seem to have innate artistic talent, and it comes easily to them. Others struggle and may never become as good as they hope.
It can be a pain, but try to draw from life, or at least photos, as much as you can, rather than from comic books. As good as other artists are, every copy of a copy degrades the quality a little, like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy. And ultimately it's your style, your view of the world that will emerge. As much as I love several artists, I love that there are as many styles as there are artists. And though you may at first not like your own 'style', because you may think it doesn't look as good as someone elses, even if you devote yourself to being a Jack Kirby 'clone', your own style of Kirby 'clone' will emerge. I can tell Buckler 'Kirby', from Giffen 'Kirby' from any other 'clone' of The King, because in the end something of the artist comes through, even when they try not to.

   Thanks Tom, this is really great advice.