Heya, my name's Zenith, nice to meet ya! I love the way this site looks already and I'm excited for what the future holds for it. Let's drop some of our art down in the replies and a little message introducing yourself if you want. Here are some of mine:

Seeking feedback is necessary for artistic growth, but it is also possibly the hardest thing to find reliably. Good teachers and excellent peers can lead you on the path to having a thorough understanding of your craft. Being a helpful teacher yourself is another acquired skill-set. How do you know when you have helpful advice, or just a personal preference? It’s worthwhile to make the effort to be a helpful peer to your fellow artists. You’ll make good connections, broaden your appreciation for different art and ideas, and strengthen your understanding of art concepts by verbalizing them to others. === HOW DO I GIVE A GOOD CRITIQUE? === A good critique tries to consider the artist and their goals. Give context for your opinions, and try to be objective about what is technical vs. your own personal tastes and biases. Ask artists what they want to improve on, and be curious about their interests. Try to frame things positively, and push people to have hope and want to work hard. “I like this pose, but the shoulder is looking dislocated. You might need to move it forward to make it feel more natural, like in this reference.” “There’s a ton of detail going on here, but it can be better to have a few places of lower detail to balance out the composition, here’s an example.” “What sort of art do you admire? I feel like you are aiming for this style, but knowing more about your goals might help us give advice.” === WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF BAD CRITIQUES? === Bad advice does not consider the person receiving it. Critiques shouldn’t be designed to crush someone's spirit or make them feel hopeless. If something just isn’t your thing, it may be better to let people comment who are more experienced and interested in that area of art. Even if someone is picking up concepts slowly or getting frustrated, it’s not an open invitation to treat them poorly. “There is nothing I can say to you other than read lots of Loomis books.” “Stop drawing anime.” “Fan art is unoriginal.” “This style is a fad that will go away, you should just do something else.” “You just need to try harder.” “You’re too much of an amateur for me to even start critiquing” === HOW DO I GET USEFUL FEEDBACK ON MY WORK? === Help us cater to your artistic needs and goals. When posting work, consider including this information for context: - Tell us what your objectives where with the piece you want critiques. - Share anything you were struggling with while you were working on it. - Tell us what your goals are as an artist. Are you a hobbyist learning landscapes for fun? Putting together a portfolio to get into art school? A professional refining your skills in a certain area? - How long have you been practicing this form of art? - Who are some artists you admire who's style you strive to have in your own work? === HOW SHOULD I RESPOND TO CRITICISM? === There are a lot of ways you can respond. Generally, it is polite to show that you appreciate that someone took the time to give you feedback on your work. It’s important to keep in mind that critiques on your work aren’t personal attacks. Feedback is meant to help you see things from a different point of view. An artist might be trying to guide you away from mistakes they feel they made in the past. Arguing with the person critiquing you won’t be productive. It is their opinion based on their knowledge (or lack thereof). Think of them as simply opinions intended to help you out. You don’t have to accept every critique that comes your way, especially if the critique is subjective rather than objective. With time and experience you’ll have a better understanding of where you want to go with your work. Try to keep an open mind, but also have confidence to shed advice that doesn’t serve you. If someone is being hostile and rude or is actively trying to discourage you, report it. === KEEPING YOUR EGO IN BALANCE? === Egos come with being an artist. It is just a fact. If you didn't feel good about your work and didn't enjoy creating it, why would you do it? The sense of accomplishment is a great feeling, and you SHOULD feel good about the hard work you do. In communities, it’s easy for egos to get a little out of control. When a bunch of artists in a room, each with their own opinion of what is good art and what isn't is always bound to lead to a bit of head butting. This is a community that is meant to be friendly and helpful. Be proud of yourself, be proud of the work you do, but keep it in check. Be respectful to your fellow artists who are different from you. As much as possible, be open to criticism from people of various skill levels. Whether you choose to use them or not is up to you, but be open to the fact that they're going to happen. If you accept them with courtesy and grace, and maybe try to learn a bit from them and open your mind, you will help make this a strong community. If you choose to disregard everyone who gives you advice because you consider yourself better than everyone here, then this is not the community for you. Finally, people who post rude, off point or otherwise useless comments posed as criticism will be penalized by the mods. If you see posts such as this, use the "Report" feature to get the attention of the moderators. === WAIT, WHAT IF I THINK I SUCK? === Everyone has to start somewhere! Art takes hard work, and it doesn’t help to get down on yourself. Being humble is fine, but remember that having a little confidence is sometimes needed for motivation. Believe that you are worthy of kindness and that your art has value, even if it's just to you. Find enjoyment in learning and studying, it’ll guide you through the times when you are getting down on yourself. Just remember, begging (or demanding) praise, attention, or sympathy won’t generally go over well with your peers. Wanting to work hard is what gets you support. Embrace your work ethic and show effort whenever you can.

Woa, last time I joined an art community was in 2005, the long since forgotten UCM URDrawing... I am a generalist overall but do put more effort in some sort of hybrid manga/anime stuff. I've shared a couple of things I've done as an introduction. Definitely looking for a place to grow online, I had no idea Proko had a forum format artist community, and looking to give it a shot!

Check it out, I started teaching my own drawing class in Ashland Virginia. I recorded this video as a rehearsal earlier this week. It turned out pretty good, so I put it on YouTube. You guys might like it: https://youtu.be/E4anTYln7jE?si=4SPTb_cawTx3Liru

Hey everyone! My name is Tommy. I am a 31 year old artist currently learning my foundation on proko drawing basics course. I started drawing seriously a year ago. I completed a 1 year art challenge which I had to teach myself how to draw. After doing that, I wanted to enroll in a art program that I can learn with structure and organized assignments and practice. I am glad I found Proko! :D For me, drawing is a way to be creative, sure. But more than that... its how I've coped with a lot of heavy feelings I've experienced over the past three years. It helped me navigate loneliness, anxiety, and self doubt in a way nothing else really could. At times its not about the final piece, but having somewhere to put those emotions too. So! I am curious why do you draw? is it purely for the love of the craft? for fun? for healing? I would love to hear everyone's stories, no matter how simple or complex. I look forward to meeting and seeing your art :)

Hey everyone, In high school, I worked hard on my portfolio and was accepted into several art schools. However, the intense application process left me feeling burnt out, and I struggled with imposter syndrome. I initially wanted to study animation to tell my own stories, but after seeing how competitive the industry is, the uninspired projects being produced, and the ideological leanings of many studios, I started to question whether pursuing animation professionally was the right choice. Eventually, I convinced myself that art should remain a hobby rather than a career. Because of this, I sold my iPad Pro and the laptop I used for digital animation and chose not to pursue an animation degree. Instead, I enrolled in a construction management program. While I find aspects of it interesting, it’s a demanding, technical field with a heavy emphasis on mathematics and problem-solving rather than aesthetics and storytelling. Now, in my second year of college, I still feel uncertain about my future. Lately, I’ve been questioning whether I let fear of failure, adversity, and imposter syndrome push me away from an artistic career. Despite my efforts to move on, I still feel drawn to creative work. Even with the rise of AI-generated imagery and the instability of the entertainment industry, I’m beginning to realize that staying true to my artistic aspirations might matter more than financial security alone. Next year, I’ll be attending a yeshiva (seminary) in Israel that includes an internship, which has given me time to reflect. I’m now wondering—should I pivot to a more creative field like filmmaking or journalism, or should I stay on my current path with construction? On one hand, construction management offers financial stability, but I worry that I’d just be an average professional making good money rather than an artist with true passion. I don’t want to live a life that feels like settling. Recently, I’ve started making comics again and genuinely enjoying it. However, I recognize that industries like animation and game development, while more aligned with my creative interests, also have significant financial and structural challenges. I’d love to hear from others who have faced a similar dilemma. How did you balance artistic passion with practical career considerations? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I'm currently trying to figure out what skills, attributes, habits and resources would a master of storytelling illustration have to know where I need to go and what I need to learn. Could you guys offer some insight on what I already have? I have worked only on the skills at the moment. - First image (the simple table), is the general idea I have for the skills and sub skills needed (had a lot of help from ChatGPT but had to change a lot of stuff that didn't made sense to me). - Second image is my final "dashboard" that I want to create by having a rating on each skill for 1 to 10. The green rating is from the "ideal" master and the blue one where I feel I'm currently. The rating I picked is based on the description I put on top, I tried to answer the question "what a rating of 1/10, a rating of 5/10 and 10/10" would mean to me. So in the end, I would need to have an idea of the skills and what rating that "master" would have on that skill.

I feel my art is getting better and I want to focus on becoming a writer making comic on par with Alan Moore or screenplay to studio Ghibli.

Hello fellow art learners, trying to get a group of people together to form a little study group! This is for dedicated learners who want to improve their skills… with critiques from others etc. if ur interested send me a message and i will link over the discord!

I was just wondering if it’s OK to use certain tools with AI to save time in the process or if not what are some ways to stylize your art so it makes it harder for AI to copy it

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but does anybody know what brush Proko uses when sketching digitally in his Drawing Basics course? I know he uses a physical pencil in a lot of those lessons, but when he's doing a demo digitally (such as in the "Critique - Learning to Sketch from Observation" lesson, from the lines section of the course), I really love how expressive and versatile that brush seems. I attached a screenshot of something he drew with the brush to help identify it. If anybody knows where I could find it, I'd really appreciate it!

Anyone else feels like everything in life makes sense when drawing? When I'm not drawing though that feeling seems absurd to me...

Need help. I'm using Infinite Painter and have Sketchbook apps on my Samsung Tablet. But what is the best of all Android Drawing apps that you can suggest? Thanks :D

This is a (pretty cool) dragon that I drew with some poscas. If anyone has a feedback please share, thank you!

Had some fun making this today. Hope this is helpful for someone out there.

Last night, I attended a live figure drawing session at a local art gallery. The model was a new guy and seemed to have no clue what he was doing. I was just grateful to be there so I accepted the challenge and worked to make him look as good as I could in my drawings. I got this lovely angle. Which was an unexpected surprise I guess. I took a deep breath and here’s what I managed to get in a 5 minute pose. Im actually happy with how it came out and I think I figured something out in the process. Sometimes lessons click in your head at the oddest moments… Anyways, here’s some of my notes about drawing foreshortened poses quickly and effectively.

This a a rough draft of a tattoo style i’m working on

A couple days ago, I got an e-mail from an artist whose work I've admired for long and from whom I hadn’t heard in a while. He used to call himself an "art hacker" and seemed to be what many of us would call "succesful" - he had good jobs in the entertainment industry, got well paid for them and was able to create amazing illustrations with innovative concepts, solid construction and beautiful rendering. Then, around 2020, at what he said was the peak of his career, he quit. No, he didn't die - in fact, he said he was "alive and well". But he did quit his art jobs, "killed" his artistic persona, completely left the art industry and openly donated 90GB of his stunning digital artwork to public domain. He said it was a deliberate decision of "creative destruction" in face of realizing that, basically, mass-production entertainment was a flawed institution in our society. By quitting his career as an industry-standard concept artist, he said he could free his creative energy from restraints and direct it to fulfill other objectives. As generative AI came around and started becoming more popular in the latest years, he wrote again. He said “AI is killing art” and seemed very concerned not only about the future of art jobs, but also about the future of humanity and modern society overall. And below is the most recent message I got from him: — “By the end of 2025, most traditional artist jobs will be gone, replaced by a handful of AI-augmented art directors. Right now, around 5 out of 6 concept art jobs are being eliminated, and it's even more brutal for illustrators. This isn't speculation: it's happening right now, in real-time, across studios worldwide. At this point, dogmatic thinking is our worst enemy. If we want to survive the AI tsunami of 2025, we need to prepare for a brutal cyberpunk reality that isn’t waiting for permission to arrive. This isn't sci-fi or catastrophism. This is a clear-eyed recognition of the exponential impact AI will have on society, hitting a hockey stick inflection point around April-May this year. By July, February will already feel like a decade ago. This also means that we have a narrow window to adapt, to evolve, and to build something new. Let me make five predictions for the end of 2025 to nail this out: 1 Every major film company will have its first 100% AI-generated blockbuster in production or on screen. 2 Next-gen smartphones will run GPT-4o-level reasoning AI locally. 3 The first full AI game engine will generate infinite, custom-made worlds tailored to individual profiles and desires. 4 Unique art objects will reach industrial scale: entire production chains will mass-produce one-of-a-kind pieces. Uniqueness will be the new mass market. 5 Synthetic AI-generated data will exceed the sum total of all epistemic data (true knowledge) created by humanity throughout recorded history. We will be drowning in a sea of artificial ‘truths’. For us artists, this means a stark choice: adapt to real-world craftsmanship or high-level creative thinking roles, because mid-level art skills will be replaced by cheaper, AI-augmented computing power. But this is not the end. This is just another challenge to tackle. Many will say we need legal solutions. They're not wrong, but they're missing the bigger picture: Do you think China, Pakistan, or North Korea will suddenly play nice with Western copyright laws? Will a "legal" dataset somehow magically protect our jobs? And most crucially, what happens when AI becomes just another tool of control? Here's the thing - boycotting AI feels right, I get it. But it sounds like punks refusing to learn power chords because guitars are electrified by corporations. The systemic shift at stake doesn't care if we stay "pure", it will only change if we hack it. Now, the empowerment part: artists have always been hackers of narratives. This is what we do best: we break into the symbolic fabric of the world, weaving meaning from signs, emotions, and ideas. We've always taken tools never meant for art and turned them into instruments of creativity. We've always found ways to carve out meaning in systems designed to erase it. This isn't just about survival. This is about hacking the future itself. We, artists, are the pirates of the collective imaginary. It’s time to set sail and raise the black flag. I don't come with a ready-made solution. I don't come with a FOR or AGAINST. That would be like being against the wood axe because it can crush skulls. I come with a battle cry: let’s flood the internet with debate, creative thinking, and unconventional wisdom. Let’s dream impossible futures. Let’s build stories of resilience - where humanity remains free from the technological guardianship of AI or synthetic superintelligence. Let’s hack the very fabric of what is deemed ‘possible’. And let’s do it together. It is time to fight back. Let us be the HumaNet. Let’s show tech enthusiasts, engineers, and investors that we are not just assets, but the neurons of the most powerful superintelligence ever created: the artist community.” — Now I’m a fan of creative debates, so I figure bringing this discussion here could help put our minds to think together. So what do you guys think? Do these predictions make sense to you? Do you think “AI is killing art”? Do you feel empowered enough as part of an art community to “hack the future” or so? And how do you feel about this whole scenario we’re currently living and witnessing? Stay well! <3 And let’s share ideas!

What makes bad art bad? Before you start guessing, let me explain. There are many new artists that quit because their art is “Subjectively” bad. (Just look at abstract art, it’ll make you feel better about your art) But just because YOU think YOUR art is bad, doesn’t mean it is. Bad art is defined by this: “A piece of art that tries to be X but fails miserably at it.” SO, if abstract IS trying to be abstract, it's good, it’s not trying to be a realistic portrait. We judge so much of what WE think art should look like, even though it might be trying to be something else. I hope this helps someone who’s (hypothetically) making a comic but being judged because it doesn't look like the Mona Lisa. P.S. you also might be judging yourself compared to a professional’s work. So of course it won’t look like their’s.

These are two drawings I did with Posca paint pens. It’s a new style I’m working with, these are also inspired by a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu vibe. The red guy I call Strength and the Japanese next to him says “Hatamoto.” The Green one I call technique, and the japanese above him say “Bushido,” which means the Way of the Warrior, or Samurai.

A drawing of a classic car that I did with some Cool grey toned markers. (20%, 60%. and 80%. I sadly did not have a 40% grey)

Just some wave drawings I drew with ink, then colored in photoshop. Any critiques?

Hi, I'm kiko. I've been considering going to Art Atelier specifically in US, more specifically Watt's. And I struggle to figure it out how to get there. I found that it's quite difficult to get a Visa. Is there anyone who is having the same trouble or had before? Thank you.

I cannot seem to make them work. I am talking about these kinds of things: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OPQZ2A8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title This is the second one I have had and have similar problems. I need one for adjustable diameter pencils as some of mine, especialy charcoal ones, are too thick for normal sharpeners. So I use it by just sticking the pencil in and turning the handle on the back. The first one I had had adjustable settings for thin and thick, I tried both. I hold the pencil so it doesn't rotate as I turn the handle. The result always seems to be the tip of the pencil gets cut off and the "base" of the tip gets sharpend. So the pencil ends up with a broad flat head. Can anybody tell what I am doing wrong? Does anybody know of any good sharpeners that take pencils of any size that work? Please and thank you of course :)

Pretty happy with how this came out. I included the reference image from New Masters Academy. Im going to work on a male counterpart to this drawing later today. I love digging into the anatomy and abstracting it into interesting shapes that flow all through the figure. I try to design, not copy from the reference. It’s way more fun that way. I may have gone a little overboard with the pink, but I guess I was just in the mood for a bunch of pink when i drew this. I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine’s Day this week ❤️

Hello people, critters and creatures. Just looking for any thoughts or recommendations for scanners specifically for scanning in traditional work (pencil, pen, watercolor etc.). There seems to be a wide range of anything from a few hundred up to over a grand as far as the price range. I've been recommended a pretty good Epson that was on the expensive side, and maybe it is the way to go, but want to get more opinions before I pull the trigger on something in the thousand dollar price range. Bonus would be that it can handle scanning in film negatives as I hope to start developing my own black and white film at some point in the future.

Would love feedback !

Working on a Graphic novel about Jews living in an artificial shtetl in the desert. Inside they are forced to perform in a human zoo and learn science and math so that the regime can use there skills. the robot guy is Rabbi Mendy. The girl’s name is Leah. And the boy’s name is Yoav. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m taking the marvel course. Hopefully I succeed.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8D4kNb81VIE

I want to create my own manga, in my own style. No hurry to get there, but I am not sure how. I once had a teacher that told me I should start with the fundamentals, but what are those exactly, and what should be the learning order?

Hello friends today is my birthday

I have decided to started working on my first comic book. I am not sure what will really come of it but I want to do it anyway. I am caught in something right now, so I am waiting until next summer when I will finally have time to work on it. So far I am only sure about two thing - One, the length; I want it to be a single volume book, about 150-200 pages. I think that should be manageable for my first project. And I am guessing it would take me about a year to finish it. Two, the theme; I want to draw fairy tale-esque fantasy stories. I do have a lot of other things going on in my head, but these are the only two things I have locked on. There is one other question that I think I should decide on right now. That is the format. At first I had thought of doing a collection of short stories, called "one-shots" in comic book terms. Each one-shot would be 40-50 pages and 3-4 stories will fill a volume. I could pitch individual one-shots to be published in comic magazines or similar publications before being compiled into a volume. It might be easier to get published for a newcomer in that way. Alternatively, I could just do a 150-200 page long story. It will be somewhat comparable to a movie. These kind of stories are called "graphic novels" in the west (I don't like that term). Seeing how there aren't many "comic magazines" in english, this format might actually have better odds of drawing a publisher's interest. I am still brainstorming story ideas and haven't decided on anything yet. Then it suddenly occurred to me that the format I am going for (collection of short stories) might not find many takers. So I am trying to settle this question first.

I'm practicing portrait drawing using references (photos) purchased on the Proko site. I intend to post the drawings on Reddit as well as Proko. Is there any rule against posting the reference along side the drawing?

I am inspired by work of Freud, I am sure many of you have experimented in Surreal art. Since i am just at beginning i try to keep a pen paper near my bed and draw what i could remember from my dream. Thats lot of wierd stuff i draw but unconscious is all about that. Can you please share if you have gone down the path of surreal art and what is your process for that?

Drew the same face twice and tried to shade on of them but i just cant seem to get this right. How many times should i draw this face / angle to truly understand it? Also i just cant understand shading. The value scale helps very little because i still dont understand values. But i would love some critique. Thx. sry bout the bad image. I use a h3 when i sketch.

Hello everyone i want to know what is the fair price to charge for the following in the American market please can anyone tell me!!! 1.portrait for a3 size and A4(also carricature) 2-single page comic strip with 5 panels(a3 and A4) 3-book cover design and for character design I do not know the fair price and I am confused how much to charge based on American market

hi! i'll keep it short. In my country art stores don´t sell newsprint paper pads to practice with charcoal and shipping is too expensive. Do you guy know of an alternative paper to practice with?

Hi! I'm new to this site but I would like to talk about some things that have been stuck in my head for quiet some time now. I've always had an interest in classical approach to art. I love the feeling of being in an art gallery and really just studying by looking at paintings from last centuries. My most favorite period is baroque. Especially baroque painting and architecture. And what I also find very interesting is how we actually ended up from very classical approach to contemporary, conceptual art today - postmodernism. I find it so fascinating how the art world was changing during different times. Anyways the main reason for this topic is that I would love to meet people with same/similiar interest when it comes to art history, classical approach to painting, drawing. I want to improve as a classical painter (Even though I'm still a student) but I also try to think more conceptual in art. I think that connections are the most important thing when it comes to this field. You can introduce yourself under this topic if you're interested. I'm excited to meet new people who I could talk to about art history, classical painting and so on. :))))

Because I'd sure like to see what others have dreamed up for the prompts.....

What was the app for organizing your reference photos that Stan recommends in a video? Its a free one

So I am not very experienced with art. I am currently doing the figure drawing fundamentals course. I would really love to do some paintings of portraits or characters (e.g. like samdoesarts). I really don't have time to commit to a project and do the course at the same time. The course will probably benefit me in the long run but I want to do something else aside from course work. I am not very confident in my abilities and I kinda expect a perfect drawing after seeing the stuff on instagram. I know it is not realistic. Is there any beginner friendly personal projects I could do? I personally like Ink, portraits and figures/characters. Big fan of 2d animation as well Would appreciate any advice. Have a good one and thanks for reading

https://restofworld.org/2022/ai-backlash-anime-artists/

Hi I've been working and studying art for 3 years. So at the beginning I was so eager to get better and improve. I mostly spend 8hrs at work and 6 more hrs for practice in the first 1-2.5 yrs. I wanted to create my own pj for myself but after a time I just hate whatever I did. And the 4th year in my career coming and I somehow just got too tired and have no more motivation to do any pj or even practice and study. I still love drawing and art so much, but I've been stopped drawing for 5 months (aside of work), I'm working full time now so I want to spend the rest of the night to relax and I lost the motivation to do anything else. Can someone give me any advices, I would appreciate that. Thank you so much!

This is the start of a new art community, so it's important to have fun and introduce ourselves! People can use this post to say who they are, what they like drawing/painting, and maybe show off a piece of theirs or two (or three!). Thanks everyone! o/

Hi guys. Where can I find full concept art of games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown?

Very often (too often!) I see young artists obsessed with the canons demanded by social networks such as Instagram: having to produce a new original drawing EVERY DAY, calling anything that hasn't taken a month of work "a sketch " (as if there is time left for articulated projects having to, for example, meet the crazy parameters imposed by Instagram's algorithm!) and being subjected to prices that are insane to say the least. It was quite shocking a couple of months ago to see a very good painter being insulted because, in a private message asking her how much she wanted for a portrait, she replied $400.  This artist paints in oils in a realistic style reminiscent of the Flemish masters, yet recognisable and very original. A portrait of her would not be out of place in any museum, but for this "client" it was not worth more than 20 dollars, because these are the prices people have become accustomed to on social networks. If you ask for a fair price, you will be insulted, pilloried on social media, accused of being greedy and having no talent, shouting "Even the poor have a right to beautiful things!". Absolutely true, so much so that the net is full of free content that EVERYONE can enjoy but, or you can easily buy cheap prints. The point is that when you ask someone for a custom painting or drawing what you are asking for is a luxury. A tailor-made suit definitely costs more than the T-shirt bought on the market stall. People have convinced themselves that everyone is entitled to free or very cheap art (because young people are convinced that this is the case and sell out their work) without realising that often the artists they are insulting have a lower annual income than they do (and in many cases a crazy student loan to pay back). In the past few months a creative collective in my country (Italy) has finally done a survey on the annual income of comic book artists. 95% of them earn LESS than 5000 euros gross per year (on which you have to pay taxes even if in other cases under 5000 euros per year you don't fall into the taxable income bracket). That was my income in 2020, this year was much worse, I think at the end of the year I'll be lucky if I get to 1000 euros (our category is also excluded from state aid, not being recognized as a profession. Exactly, in the country of the great Renaissance masters, creative people are not recognised as workers. But they do pay taxes) In short, when people talk about poor people deserving to have our jobs for 20 dollars they ignore the fact that WE struggle to pay our bills and rent (I'm lucky that my husband, a journalist, has been very busy covering the news of the pandemic, otherwise I couldn't even afford to buy food) Everyone deserves nice things but we deserve to be able to support ourselves with our work, which takes years of study and practice. So please stop devaluing your work and calling sketches what are actually finished drawings that took you hours to complete! On social media they call them sketches just so they can be paid cheaply!

Hey guys, I'm once again trying to carve out time to sit down and get back on the art learning train. I've been doodling in my spare time but at a point now where I feel I've began to stagnate. There is obviously a lot to learning art so I was wondering if anyone has any recommendation on how they balance all the different methods and theories when they are learning. For example I've more experience with figure drawing and characters but when it comes to portraits and drawing landscapes I kinda suck. So ideally I'd like to tackle the weakest areas but I worry that If I focus to much on one area I may end up neglecting another. How can I approach learning scenery and landscapes without letting figure drawing fall by the wayside. Is it even possible? Any tips on workflows and approaches on how to keep everything balanced would be appreciated. :)

Edit. I put the picture of my little bird in the comments. I can't see where to attach on mobile to the main post. I've been learning to draw for about 6 months now, on and off. A tree destroyed half of my house in a storm, and that's the only time I took off a month to, well, survive. We had to evac. Even three months after that, we still don't have full power. I have to practice drawing before the sun goes down haha. I say all that because after all this time I just kept at it the best I could. And today at work, I doodled a little bird head. It's not great. But it's not half bad! I don't know shading or textures yet, but I used big planes to map it out and then refined it the best I could. If someone out there is on the fence about their work and they think it's "bad", PLEASE KEEP GOING. You'll never know how good you can be if you stop, or how much joy it can bring you. Just pick up the pencil, even when you're supplies are covered in dirt and soot from your house collapsing. I love you all and I love this site!

Hey everybody! I've seen a few questions regarding the purpose of doing master studies recently and would really like to hear everyone's approach when it comes to studying other artists' work. What mindset do you go in with, what are you trying to get out of it? Any tips or tricks you have or general observations about the process. Thanks!

Hello everyone I recently made an youtube channel and here I'll be uploading process videos, original animation series etc and would y'all please like share and subscribe thank you https://youtu.be/7Cld2CmThCI?si=c8-0NLdC9FoJG2Ks

I had the chance to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA this week. Not only have I been dying to visit this Museum to see the main Rockwell exhibition, but they currently have a special exhibition celebrating the art and humor of MAD Magazine illustrators which included four entire galleries packed with originals from “The Usual Gang of Idiots” such as Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Norman Mingo, Don Martin, Duck Edwing, Sam Viviano, Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragonés, and others. There was an incredible collection of Rockwell’s work on display, in addition to the main galleries we had the opportunity to tour Rockwell’s fastidiously kept studio where he painted for the last 21 years of his career. The MAD exhibit exceeded expectations. I was unaware that Rockwell was commissioned to paint a “definitive” portrait of Alfred E. Newman but politely declined in his own humorous way. More on that in the link. Seeing these pieces in person was an incredible experience. I didn’t take as many photos as I now wish I had, but here are a few highlights from both exhibits as well as a link to the gallery documentary about the MAD Magazine exhibit and it's connection to Rockwell. https://youtu.be/IUbYa5eTHOY?si=qjwwVZk0E_HefTax

Hello! I recently started doing Proko's figure drawing course and eventually will move onto the anatomy course after. My goal is to make pixel art for the game I'm making so I want to get better fast, as I need to start making the assets for it as soon as possible. I'm not completely new to drawing and I do have experience doing gesture drawing through 4 years of college. However, I am new to anatomy. I'm putting about 3-5 hours into the course each day to finish it quickly, however I know this is rushing and it takes time to really grasp these concepts. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? Of course, I will keep practicing gestures everyday, but I can't spend a week on each section of the course. Any advice would be great. Cheers, Kevin

Hello! I'm Wibly, and I'm looking for some like minded people to work on improving as artist with. I haven't met anyone around me who has any interest in art so I kinda feel like I'm alone in pursuing this ridiculous carrier that no one else seems to think is a "real job". Anyway... to those interested, introduce yourself below and lets start a thread doing a weekly drawing prompt and offering helpful critiques! Don't worry about style or skill level, we all have something to offer and learn!

I’ve been having a hard time staying focused with my art of late and being more productive any tips or suggestions and how to improve it?

Looking for people that are interested in building habits to be consistent in drawing/painting on the weekends. My time zone is EST and do this from 8:30am to 12:30. If you are interested, please leave me a DM or just reply to this post! I started this 2 years ago, only putting 1hour on Sundays and I'm pretty proud that after so much effort I draw/paint for 7hours consistently on the weekends. Programs/website needed: - Discord and Magma (it's like a website base "photoshop" where you draw along with other people).

Like the topic says i just dont know what to do anymore. 7 month in and i'm just not learning anything. Watched the proko video about proporsions / divide the face in to three and make sure the circle is the same lenght and with. But i still get it wrong and i am at the end of my rope here. I see people do amazing stuff with in 3 to 4 months and i still cant even do a face that looks okay. I know you shouldnt compare yourself to others but you can thank social media for making that very hard not to wanna do just that. I hate my drawings all of them and i cant get past this stage no matter how much i draw. Is this it? is this all i will ever be able to do? It scares me. I want to draw. And i want to draw well. But i am just not getting any better. I dont want to give up. but this is making me question my abilitys. I just want to be able to draw cool characters and i am just not seeing it happening atm. I am platooing completely and i dont know what to do. This is a cry for help. Sry for taking upp your time.

I was curious if anyone knew when that was might be coming out?

Hi, I write this while I usually would have my daily drawing session. But today I couldn't bring myself to do it. Still working on the Drawing Basics Course. I caught up to the most recent lessons. I put in a lot of work. And to be honest: I don't care anymore. I think that I cared more about catching up with the course than about the actual drawing. I wanted to get into portrait drawing and started doing a lot of lay ins. I don't like it anymore. I don't really feel a reason to do art at all. I want to go back to music. Funnily enough this situation ocurred to me already. I used to play the drums, band split up and I had no reason to play anymore. I dabbled a little bit in music production but didn't have anything I wanted to express in the form of music. I became bored. So I decided to pick up drawing because I sometimes saw pictures of some good artists and I told myself that I want to be able to do that too. Now I want to do the same stuff again but going back to music. I fear that I will "waste" my time doing a little bit of music and then being sick of it again. I personally feel like I am a fraud for wanting to quit art to do something else which is kinda crazy because it's a hobby I do in my spare time. Wanted to know what your experiences on this topic are and if you got any advice for me. Thanks for reading Have a good one

Hello community, So, I am making this post to share some of my goals to get some feedback and advice as well as for some self-motivation. For the past month and a half, I have been experiencing some severe burnout and art block which is disappointing because way back in April I was making pretty good progress and was drawing, sketching, and studying during almost all my free time. Then I hit a long and hard work period at my job, and I had to put my drawing progress on the shelf for a few weeks. Since then, however, things have calmed down, but I find my drive has dwindled and I am hardly drawing at all. I’m hoping to get some advice on how to help get my drive back. I know that down periods are common when learning art and even art in general, but I don’t want to fall off completely. Below I will explain my goals, both big and small, and where I am right now to help give an idea on maybe what I can do to both regain the drive and improve as well as any advice for reaching these goals overall. The Big Goals: The reason I got back into drawing (used to draw some as a kid and in high school) is because I recently got inspired by the indie animation scene on YouTube and as someone who has always been a daydreamer coming up with his own little stories, fanfics, and characters I wanted to finally try my hand at bringing them into the world (at least on paper lol). In short, I want to bring my stories and characters to life. Initially I would like to try producing my own webcomics as I think it’s a great way to get my stories out there. Then further down the road I want to try my hand at 2d animation to really bring some life into my stories. Smaller Goals/Current Progress: Now, I am focused on improving on the fundamental skills of drawing and am currently in the Drawing Basics course. Other than that, I am mostly focused on character design and recently completed a smaller course on character design fundamentals. Outside of studies I have mostly been doing some small observation drawing as well as reference drawing some of my favorite characters from other shows/movies (not tracing). I am sticking to traditional pencil and paper since I feel that will help me improve my fundamental skill more in the long term but want to eventually switch to digital. Once I complete the basics course I am considering moving to anatomy and maybe some more advanced character design courses. So that is pretty much where I am at and where I am heading to. Hoping to get some advice on ways to progress as well as tips on overcoming this burnout. If you have made it this far in the post I wanna say thanks for taking the time to read it and hope you have a great day. Some notes: ·      I know my big goals are not going to happen overnight and will take probably years so just know I am taking the long view with them. ·      I am doing this as a hobby for now as I have a job/career that is keeping me stable now, so I don’t have any pressure as far as needing to make money goes. ·      Despite that, I do still want to pursue this as best I can because I believe it is something that can bring me a lot of personal joy and excitement Thank you.

I currently purchased https://www.proko.com/course/painting-light-101/overview https://www.proko.com/course/digital-painting-fundamentals/overview I would like to go over the concepts with someone to get abetter understanding

As the topic says. I really want to learn to draw in the style of say Yusuke murata / tite kubo ((Mangaka artists)) But i am not sure on when you should start doing master studies or even how. I take it you need to know the "shapes" that the artist is using in his or her style in order to learn it / copy it. But when should i even delv in to this? Can i do it as a newbie or do i have to master the fundementals before even trying to "find a style"?

I am learning to animate and what to use studio Ghibli as inspiration. So my question how do I paint and color int my drawing to look more like studio Ghibli.

Hello everyone I just got hired recently and I would like to thank proko family and to every who helped me along the way and a very special thanks to Steve lenze and liandro and proko without y'all this could not have been possible again thank you very much

Hi, I picked up drawing again December last year. Following the Drawing Basics Course to get my fundamentals down. weird questions: I am not very passionate about drawing. I find art interesting and I am fascinated by good art. I sometimes feel like I want to also be able to make pretty pictures but that's it. I don't really have a reason to do art in the first place and I have a hard time coming up with things because I don't have anything I want to communicate. Is that an issue I can resolve? Is it a deal breaker for doing art in general? Would like to hear your advice on this.

Yeah I'm looking to set up my studio for digital art to create webcomic and animation.

As the topic says i am just trying to learn by myself and its a struggle cus it feels like i am just winging it. And i need to find some form of help how to help me learn faster and to see as an artist. Thats why i want some recomendations on good books for the subject that i could buy and read. Thx in Advance.

It been about two weeks and I really want to jump on the shading stuff.

I’m trying to find ways to achieve perfect focus and not get distracted

Its a character i drew but i cant seem to do well with line Weight. i really like it but i dont have a good arm / hand. No i have not forgotten to shade it. I just havent done it yet. But lets get to the point what would you change to make this pop more or make it look better?. PS: yea the eyes are flat and dont follow perspective. I have a hard time with eyes.

I really need some help focusing where I'd like to work. I want to be a freelance illustrator but I don't know where my art fits! I'd like to someday do a lot of things, but I need to pick a lane at least to start. I'm just not sure where my art fits? If anywhere! Or if it'd even good enough.. I started with a lot of portraiture but I've been wanting to do more narrative/illustrative work. Attached are various pieces that you could say are my "rough portfolio"? Any feedback will help! Thanks! FYI, the one with the bear is unfinished!

So i am wanting to create a short animation. but i know i'll need a team to make it happen. A few question i have How do i organize my idea so i can take take it to production? Where can i find a team of animators and voice actors? How much would it cost?

Hello name's Mohammad and I am just a beginner in the art field and have been drawing for about three years now and i have been following on Proko's free art drawing lesions which have helped me build up my confidence in drawing but I was thinking of taking my skills to the next level with the thing i adore doing the most and that is character designing and was looking into to finally buying and doing some the courses here but there are quite a lot and I don't know where to start. Is there any courses that y'all would recommend for me to start out in this faithful art journey? Thanks!

And no! I don't mean mature in *that* way. I want my art to look more adult, more professional. I'm not sure exactly what that pertains. I've been feeling dissatisfied with my art for a while. I don't feel like I'm challenging myself enough. I still haven't made any big strides towards learning environments or perspectives. And most important of all, I feel embarrassed to show my art to people in my life. I feel like it looks very teenage-y, like something only a niche internet community enjoys. I don't know how to remedy this, do I change my art style? Do I do more traditional art? Do I do more 3D art? Do I draw horror, or dark and gritty things? I don't know how to get out of this slump, I need a concrete plan. Instead of me attaching images, you can get a quick overview of my art here (if you want): https://instagram.com/snokkart?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg== Thank you in advance for any input :')

https://www.instagram.com/dbot500/ what do you think and give a follow if you like

Hey, im looking for beginner artists who are in the process of learning art. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in joining a discord were we could share our work progress and discuss improvements as well as doing regular exercises, looking at our favourite artists and have many other topic discussions, Basically think of it as a classroom and getting to know and grow with other fellow students.

Hello everyone, my name is Anthony and I wanted to take the time to show some of the artworks I've worked on over the past 1-2 years. I first started learning through Proko's anatomy videos and would mainly ever draw anatomy figures and diagrams. However, after some time, I had the strong urge to create what I was seeing in my head and even if I doubted my ability, I chose to at least try and even if they weren't what I wanted them to be yet, I was proud of myself for creating something that looked even vaguely like what was on my mind. Pictures are from oldest to most recent and I also took a break from drawing for music after image 10 so I forgot a lot of important surface lines. I know I have a lifetime of practice, but I thought it was time to at least put my drawings out into the world and would appreciate critiques as well as general, helpful information :))). p.s sorry if i posted this in the wrong spot

Hey everyone, new to this community. Hoping to upload lots and get feedback. I drew this Jean Grey a little while back. What do you guys think? What specific areas can I work on?

with all this new ai stuff coming out I have to ask is their any point in traditional since people sims to prefer ai over it,

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7vjtNyXQm-8

Hello everyone, As someone who is just starting out in drawing, my future goal is to become a comic book artist. Currently, I have taken the basic drawing lessons on the site and I want to improve my skills in this direction. However, I don't know what my next step should be. Should I take lessons for digital drawing or for ink? Should I draw my basic lessons in a digital environment? I have a lot of questions like these :) I would be very happy if you could guide me on this journey.

hopefully you’ll check it out and give some feed back https://www.instagram.com/dbot500/

I was hoping to use AI to color them in to help with my workflow .but I’m kind of seeing that might not been a good idea but what do you think?

Ok so my goal is to get a following so I can get support for my projects and put them on kickstarter or something like that.

I'm curiously when its coming out

I never been to a art show before and wonder if my art good to take to a show?

It's that time of year when people generally take stock of where they are and set some goals for the new year. I figured it would be a good time to talk about what we all want to accomplish artistically in the next 12 months. Courses I'd like to complete (or at least be current on): 1. Drawing Basics 2. Portrait Drawing Fundamentals 3. Figure Drawing Fundamentals 4. The Color Survival Guide 5. One more (TBD) Other art goals: 1. Steve Rude master study in gouache 2. Submit portfolio for acceptance in the the Marine Corps Combat Art Program 3. Continue progress in watercolor 4. Continue progress in gouache 5. Complete rough cut of issues #7 and #8 of Space Corps comic and publish on Ka-Blam. Issue #7 is almost done, so this isn't crazy. 6. Publish comic book anthology with friends on Ka-Blam. This one, too, is almost done, but I nee to get it across the finish line. 7. Make progress in Anatomy of the Human Body course. That's plenty. Much of it is already underway, so it's not as much as it seems. We'll see how much gets checked off. Who's next?

Hi drafts people. I thought it would be fun to start a thread on sketching in public, to share results, challenges and experiences. I've been going to the mall on the weekend which is a great place to observe humanity and such a range of wonderful faces. One challenge of course is being low key, and not making people uncomfortable. People seem to have a sixth sense for when someone's eyes are on them. So best to work quickly and allow for unfinished sketches. Here's a few pages from yesterday's adventure.

Hello friends today is my birthday

i used three my drawings and use ai to enhance it

Hello my fellow artists, how are you? Well... I've already written to this community, always asking for help and advice, because I know that here I will find artists who understand what the artist goes through, I'll try not to write too much, but I really wanted help from you... I've always drawn both on paper and on the PC, and I used to have a dream of becoming a professional illustrator, but... You know when you're doing something and suddenly it doesn't give you as much pleasure as it used to? Unfortunately, anxiety and excessive self-demand for something "perfect" made me reduce the frequency with which I drew. In the past, I would have looked at everything I did with pride, but today nothing I do pleases me, I only like what others do (like what Stan Prokopenko himself does). I want to be like the professionals and teach like them. But I don't even know where I am on this journey (if I'm an amateur, beginner or intermediate) and the worst part is that you don't like your style, your way of doing things... Well... I hope you can help me with this... What do I do? I've looked everywhere for a "solution", but all the answers are just repetition... I'll leave here the few drawings I have on my ArtStation. Thanks

Just wanted to share a cool story. For anyone familiar with the hidden camera show Impractical Jokers, I had the opportunity to meet Joe Gatto recently. He’s an avid dog lover. He has over 15 dogs that he adopts and gives a good home to live out the remainder of their lives. And these are two of his favorites dogs from the whole pack. Giving Joe this gift was one of the coolest moments in my art career. He seemed genuinely moved and excited and told me he planned to hang it up at home. I’ll never know if he really did, but it’s really cool to think my drawing could be bringing Joe a level of happiness that he has brought me over the years that I’ve been watching him. I’m curious, what are other artists high points throughout their career? What’s one moment you can reflect back on that made you realize why all this hard work is worth it?

Lately I been having a hard time getting inspiration to draw. It doesn’t help many people are disinterested with my progress. So my question how do get motivated to improve?

My buddy says I should record my drawing and put them on YouTube or TikTok.

So i when will I learn to paint lol. Ive been doing this for a few years, most of it without studying. Then i started using proko, new master academy so on. Ive learned to draw, paint figures and something. But it feels like ive gone nowhere and cant do the things i want. Also i really dont know what to paint, id love to do fantasy but to sell/show that genre it would have to be online. I cant really stop doing art, but i feel like im wasting my time because ill never be good enough to do for example book covers. Id love to create art hat would give other people enjoyment/peace/emotions that ive had especially when i was younger and had Mtg cards or fantasy books. I dont know what im saying, im kinda burned out? Chasing after the skills needed, feeling like im an idiot, forgetting about what ive learned before. Just last week i watched https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqs7ye6KJ5Y and felt like all ive done before has been a toddler trying to emulate somethings he has no idea off. You can look at some of my work and studyin at my instagram https://www.instagram.com/anttikallinen/?hl=fi . Is this the end of the road for me, or will there be a time i can create something im proud of and people will like? Im not a youngster like most people learning art in proko or elsewehere, so yeah. I also live in a small industrial town, cant really move easily, never had a lot of money and not daredevil/desperate enough yet. I dont know, just wanted to vent my feelings ;).

I was wondering if it’s still possible to become a career artist or is this going to be hobby?

Quick question: are you given access to the MedsMaps Discord when buying the course here or is that only through Aldoori’s own site?

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a 6B option? I have clutch and 0.5 mechanicals in 2H, HB, 2B, and 4B and was looking to get something truly dark. I’m thinking a General’s Layout or 9xxb would work here but I’m not sure how they’d fair in my soft pencil pouch if I try to draw on the go though.

I draw sloppy lines, and it’s super ingrained in me to redraw a line multiple times. Has anyone had much success with breaking such habits? I want to keep a good flow while drawing nice lines, but I struggle to just do a nice smooth line and move on. I’ve included some 60 second gesture drawings from today. Any feedback and advice would be appreciated.