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Note: This is a free PDF. You can read it here, and also download it. There is a paid download option too, however - which will give you the exact same PDF. Think of it as a way to give me a small tip if you find my tutorials really useful. (Obviously, it's not required! Just appreciated )

Another PDF? Yup - and this time about Artists' Problems.

Like any other field, making art is filled with questions. Along with the obvious “how do I draw X?”, “how was this effect made?” and “how do I get my materials to behave as I want?” you also have meta questions – or what I have nicknamed “Artists’ Problems”. How do you improve faster? How do you find your art style? How can you avoid feeling terrible and thinking everyone else is better than you?

These are the questions I aim to answer in this booklet – or, at least, I attempt to answer the most common ones, and the ones most artists will wonder about sometime.

Parts of the texts are previously written and posted – and now also improved – articles, other parts are new and written explicitly for this project. So the little collection was meant to be short and concise, and ended up being almost 50 pages and 17 000 words long. However, I’m of the opinion that it’s better to be thorough than to answer things quickly, so here we are.

While I’ve tried to include everything that I consider relevant or common, I’m also sure I have missed parts – maybe entire questions, maybe tips or tricks, maybe different arguments or angles to approach the various issues from. I’d appreciate it if you’d contact me if anything is unclear or you feel something should be added!

This booklet wouldn’t have been as good – or as long – without the help of various other people, who have offered advice, shared their own experiences, shared their knowledge, asked questions, or just discussed these topics with me. A huge thanks goes to all of them! In no particular order:

Tinselfire and BATTLEFAIRIES for feedback about the booklet itself, and whether I had forgotten to include something. (Which, it turned out, I had!)

GeaAusten , RohvannynShaw and ChimeraDragonfang for various tips I had forgotten to include in various articles.

TigressyDragon , The-Long-Feline , Tinselfire , JuniperBloomsArt and Meduwyn for inspiring me to write about various topics, and PeponeNRC for encouragement.

Everyone who has more or less accidentally taught me stuff over the years, often without their knowledge. YouTube tutorials are a fantastic resource, and I have read many many “proper” tutorials and articles outside YouTube as well. I wouldn’t have been at this point without you.

And obviously GrimAlpaca – for feedback about pretty much everything, as well as for a lot of proofreading. This thing wouldn’t have been as good as it is without you.

A list of all my tutorials is found here:
List of all my tutorialsThe complete list of all the tutorials I have written/made - at least the ones still worth sharing, as some are really old at this point. It just got so hard to find them after a while, and there are so many - so here we are. A complete masterlist.The tutorials are not in chronological order, but rather in (a more) logical order Some of them are rather old, so the formatting may be off - or the quality lower. I've still included the decent ones, though, and they may serve as an example that writing tutorials also is a skill you improve in as time goes on and you do it more. ,Rambles about being an artist, and typical Artist Problems:Unfair comparisons and being your own worst critic A word or two about practice and practicing art Some about talent, skill and marketingSome about finding your own drawing style Artists and social media The "right" way to improve We all start out as beginners Creativity, imagination, skill and art Materials vs skill Quick list of tips on how to improve your art Tutorials about drawing (parts of) animals:The (I hope) complete guide to drawing animal eyes How to draw animal ears Tips about how to draw animal paws/feet/hooves How to draw realistic (feathery) wings Tips for drawing the heads of common carnivores Tips (and a lot of rambling) about drawing deerHow to draw birds How to draw animal noses Sketchpage - Mule deer and whitetail antlers Sketchpage - Color variants of wild red foxes Sketchpage - Partially white red fox variants Sketchpage - The different lynx species + caracal Sketchpage - Summer vs. winter fur The (I hope) ultimate guide to drawing fur More tips and tricks about drawing fur The actual ultimate guide to drawing fur (title - it includes everything and then some, PDF)How to draw feathers/feather texture How to draw scales A quick guide to basic animal anatomy (new, more in-depth, more correct - read this one!)Quick guide on basic animal anatomy (older, not that good, broken formatting - read the one above!)Basic animal anatomy and how animals move (older, alright enough)Tutorials about traditional art: Tips about drawing on black paper Tips about drawing accurate traditional sketches Basics about colored pencils - layers and blending How to draw white whiskers with colored pencils Some basics about graphite and colored pencils (OLD!)An introduction to scratchboard (older)GIFs:Lynx process - step by step GIF Lynx eye process - step by step GIF Cat eye on black paper - step by step GIF How I draw fur 1 - closeup of tiger stripes - GIF How I draw fur 2 - solid-colored fur closeup - GIF How I draw fur 3 - long fur closeup GIF How I draw fur 4 - fur at a distance GIF Tutorials about using reference photos, editing those, and compositions:Finding and sorting reference photos Reference photos and how to use them: part 1 Reference photos and how to use them: part 2 Reference photos and how to use them: part 3 Some about improving bad quality reference photosThe (reference) photo always lies a little Making your subject fit into the backgroundTips to improve your compositions Some about compositions with multiple subjects Changing references when drawing realism - Examples Other art-related things which don't fit anywhere else:A tutorial about writing tutorials Some basics about drawing mountains Beginner's Guide to Animal Photography Short guide on values and hues How to draw blurred and bokeh backgrounds How to draw realistic art Some about comments and critique The process behind Lynx Portrait IV The process behind Caturdays 25 - Black and GoldRed Fox - Fire and Frost WIP Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP 2 Different art questions, and my answers - part 1 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 2 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 3 (older)Art critique collections:Art critique collection I Art critique collection II Art critique collection III Art critique collection IV My "critiqued" favorites collection...

Description

Note: This is a free PDF. You can read it here, and also download it. There is a paid download option too, however - which will give you the exact same PDF. Think of it as a way to give me a small tip if you find my tutorials really useful. (Obviously, it's not required! Just appreciated )

Another PDF? Yup - and this time about Artists' Problems.

Like any other field, making art is filled with questions. Along with the obvious “how do I draw X?”, “how was this effect made?” and “how do I get my materials to behave as I want?” you also have meta questions – or what I have nicknamed “Artists’ Problems”. How do you improve faster? How do you find your art style? How can you avoid feeling terrible and thinking everyone else is better than you?

These are the questions I aim to answer in this booklet – or, at least, I attempt to answer the most common ones, and the ones most artists will wonder about sometime.

Parts of the texts are previously written and posted – and now also improved – articles, other parts are new and written explicitly for this project. So the little collection was meant to be short and concise, and ended up being almost 50 pages and 17 000 words long. However, I’m of the opinion that it’s better to be thorough than to answer things quickly, so here we are.

While I’ve tried to include everything that I consider relevant or common, I’m also sure I have missed parts – maybe entire questions, maybe tips or tricks, maybe different arguments or angles to approach the various issues from. I’d appreciate it if you’d contact me if anything is unclear or you feel something should be added!

This booklet wouldn’t have been as good – or as long – without the help of various other people, who have offered advice, shared their own experiences, shared their knowledge, asked questions, or just discussed these topics with me. A huge thanks goes to all of them! In no particular order:

Tinselfire and BATTLEFAIRIES for feedback about the booklet itself, and whether I had forgotten to include something. (Which, it turned out, I had!)

GeaAusten , RohvannynShaw and ChimeraDragonfang for various tips I had forgotten to include in various articles.

TigressyDragon , The-Long-Feline , Tinselfire , JuniperBloomsArt and Meduwyn for inspiring me to write about various topics, and PeponeNRC for encouragement.

Everyone who has more or less accidentally taught me stuff over the years, often without their knowledge. YouTube tutorials are a fantastic resource, and I have read many many “proper” tutorials and articles outside YouTube as well. I wouldn’t have been at this point without you.

And obviously GrimAlpaca – for feedback about pretty much everything, as well as for a lot of proofreading. This thing wouldn’t have been as good as it is without you.

A list of all my tutorials is found here:
List of all my tutorialsThe complete list of all the tutorials I have written/made - at least the ones still worth sharing, as some are really old at this point. It just got so hard to find them after a while, and there are so many - so here we are. A complete masterlist.The tutorials are not in chronological order, but rather in (a more) logical order Some of them are rather old, so the formatting may be off - or the quality lower. I've still included the decent ones, though, and they may serve as an example that writing tutorials also is a skill you improve in as time goes on and you do it more. ,Rambles about being an artist, and typical Artist Problems:Unfair comparisons and being your own worst critic A word or two about practice and practicing art Some about talent, skill and marketingSome about finding your own drawing style Artists and social media The "right" way to improve We all start out as beginners Creativity, imagination, skill and art Materials vs skill Quick list of tips on how to improve your art Tutorials about drawing (parts of) animals:The (I hope) complete guide to drawing animal eyes How to draw animal ears Tips about how to draw animal paws/feet/hooves How to draw realistic (feathery) wings Tips for drawing the heads of common carnivores Tips (and a lot of rambling) about drawing deerHow to draw birds How to draw animal noses Sketchpage - Mule deer and whitetail antlers Sketchpage - Color variants of wild red foxes Sketchpage - Partially white red fox variants Sketchpage - The different lynx species + caracal Sketchpage - Summer vs. winter fur The (I hope) ultimate guide to drawing fur More tips and tricks about drawing fur The actual ultimate guide to drawing fur (title - it includes everything and then some, PDF)How to draw feathers/feather texture How to draw scales A quick guide to basic animal anatomy (new, more in-depth, more correct - read this one!)Quick guide on basic animal anatomy (older, not that good, broken formatting - read the one above!)Basic animal anatomy and how animals move (older, alright enough)Tutorials about traditional art: Tips about drawing on black paper Tips about drawing accurate traditional sketches Basics about colored pencils - layers and blending How to draw white whiskers with colored pencils Some basics about graphite and colored pencils (OLD!)An introduction to scratchboard (older)GIFs:Lynx process - step by step GIF Lynx eye process - step by step GIF Cat eye on black paper - step by step GIF How I draw fur 1 - closeup of tiger stripes - GIF How I draw fur 2 - solid-colored fur closeup - GIF How I draw fur 3 - long fur closeup GIF How I draw fur 4 - fur at a distance GIF Tutorials about using reference photos, editing those, and compositions:Finding and sorting reference photos Reference photos and how to use them: part 1 Reference photos and how to use them: part 2 Reference photos and how to use them: part 3 Some about improving bad quality reference photosThe (reference) photo always lies a little Making your subject fit into the backgroundTips to improve your compositions Some about compositions with multiple subjects Changing references when drawing realism - Examples Other art-related things which don't fit anywhere else:A tutorial about writing tutorials Some basics about drawing mountains Beginner's Guide to Animal Photography Short guide on values and hues How to draw blurred and bokeh backgrounds How to draw realistic art Some about comments and critique The process behind Lynx Portrait IV The process behind Caturdays 25 - Black and GoldRed Fox - Fire and Frost WIP Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP 2 Different art questions, and my answers - part 1 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 2 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 3 (older)Art critique collections:Art critique collection I Art critique collection II Art critique collection III Art critique collection IV My "critiqued" favorites collection...