viking here, ill try to give a very basic intro if anyones interested. 29 years old, drew off/on my whole life, started taking it seriously in my early 20s, stopped for awhile, came back with a vengeance hitting the books hard and studying as much as i could while i was out of work. 

lot of personal stuff happened, struggled a lot with addiction and other issues, lost interest in most things i enjoyed. naturally, drawing took a huge hit. still feel pretty low so i signed up here to check out what other people are doing. struggle a lot with mood swings so i go from drawing a lot to spending most of my spare time sleeping. 

gonna try to draw through my struggles this time around. it is very satisfying for me when i complete drawings and get something decent., and also frustrating when i draw like shit. nowadays i mostly draw from imagination and life observation. i used to have all these huge goals and aspirations but i think right now i just want to get into a habit of drawing a lot and making improvements in my work. its always interesting to me to see what other people are creating. we'll see what happens

Great blistering barnacles. After having followed the epic daggers for some time (see my sketchbook post) I find myself posting here. It's both exciting and terrifying. I've been hiding in my own little artists trench for some time and thought it about time I poked my head above ground.

So, on that note, please accept my warmest hello and a hug! Handshakes certainly acceptable if hugs aren't your thing. And I totally enjoy a good 'awkward silence' now and again if neither of those work out! 

I'm looking forward to sharing advice/insights/other after my many years of self-imposed artists isolation/escape.

All the best!

My name is Anastasia, I'm 31 and I'm from Russia. I've been drawing since I can remember myself.
But because I lived in industrial city I've never considered the posibility to do it for living. 
I graduated from the industrial University and even worked in the factory for a while where I actualy realised that it's not mine at all. 
So I started to learn art. In time I got job in game development company. Where I've been doing overhelming amount of routine work and could study a little.
Recently I made a bit savings and quit my job to work as a freelancer and to have more time for study. But study by yourself alone is quite unproductive.

I've first heard about the forums through one of Level Up sessions at youtube channel. Now filnally I decided to make an account.
It is more fun to fill the gaps in knowledge together :)

Hello! My name's Pedro, I'm a 19-year-old guy who lives in Brazil and I've been drawing as a hobby since I was 14.

 Two years ago, I made the decision that I wanted to live my life as a professional Concept Artist/Illustrator, because art is one of the things in my life that I honestly can't see myself without. I love creating concepts and working on drawings/paintings that can tell a story without a single word. Only last year I started taking it seriously by studying and practicing the fundamentals at a local traditional drawing course in my city, but because I was barely getting any sleep the whole semester, I got burned out, and stopped drawing kind of as soon as I completed the course. 

Last year, in november, I started drawing and painting again and also started reading Drawing With the Right Side of the Brain to try and improve my observational skills (I used to be really bad at it and I still am, but I've improved a bit), and I haven't finished it because of some later exercises that require specific materials that I haven't got yet, but I'm working on that and definitely will finish the book this year.

I've first heard about the forums through one of Dave Rapoza's interviews, but after seeing a blog post about Mike Azevedo some days ago on Brushwork Atelier, I decided to make an account to constantly keep myself motivated! 

This week I've just made a schedule for myself after days of research about how to do it most effectively, aiming to sleep early and wake up at 5:30am every day, studying 6 hours a day (followed by 3 additional hours of working on my own personal projects), and I also gave myself a good kick in the ass and started practicing Peter Han's dynamic sketching exercises to better my linework before April starts, where I'll begin taking Watts Atelier's online classes and continue to work my way up, giving my best in becoming the Illustrator/Concept Artist I aspire to become! 

Thanks for taking the time to read!


I hope we can all get along and get to work on our dreams, see you guys around!!

hiya! my name is gina, i'm 19, from the united states, and i've been at this whole art thing for pretty much my whole life. being professional isn't my goal, but being professional-LEVEL is. i've gone through phases of being "serious" about art, but over the past few months, i have been putting the hours in and tackling my weaknesses one by one. it's mostly been stuff like anatomy and facial construction, reinforcing the skills i already have. 

i think i'm pretty decent at line-drawings of characters. HOWEVER! i've recently broached an area of study wayyy outside of my comfort zone: backgrounds and painting. i've never really drawn backgrounds, and my coloring is atrocious. i've always admired people who painted, but i've never been able to do it myself.

i thought that joining a community would be a good way to get feedback and document my progress as i struggle my way through what has always been the hardest thing for me. i hope to get to know lots of cool people and grow alongside you all!

A wholesome hello to all, 

     I'm MoodDoodler, and as the name kind of explains I tend to draw when I'm in the mood. Its something I'm personally not proud of but want to work towards changing as a long-term goal of mine. 

     I fell in love with the creative arts a few years back doing graphic design and the urge to improve led to me attempting to teach myself to draw. Unfortunately, the area of my education wasn't equipped with that kind of expertise and being an antisocial dumbass, I stayed away from the web when it came to seeking critiques and helpful advice. Over the years I pushed my personal boundaries and got better with asking for criticism. I eventually pushed myself toward joining a portrait drawing class which helped me understand how to use a pencil and get an idea on how to draw.

     Work and college got in the way of continuing the class and I regrettably fell farther away from the improvement I desired. I tried continuing but I ran into this predicament of not knowing what I want anymore.
Should I draw things that look good to others?

     Will it help me find work?
     What kind of work do I want?
     What kind of career do I want? 
     Am I wasting my time ?
     I'm turning 19, is it too late to learn now?
     How the hell do you do a study?

     Hilariously enough, I figured the answer to most of the career questions. Still a little confused on what should I focus on at this moment to get better? I would draw faces but it'd look bad cause I haven't drawn in a while so it sent me into the loop of "I'm bad cause I don't practice. I don't practice cause I'm bad. I also know that keeping my drawings/doodles to myself is obviously not helping me. That led me to seeking out other more established artists. Seeing their beginnings and what they did to improve themselves. I eventually get word of this place, think this seems like a lovely little community, and here I am, attempting to introduce myself. 


I'd like to thank the community in advance for this opportunity and say a fine, how do you do?

Quicky FAQ:
Location: East Coast, USA
Long-term Career Goal: Art director/Show Runner 
Age: 19, I turn twenty sometime this year.
General Interests: Video games (Currently playing Dead Rising), animation (Cartoons, anime, etc...), television shows, Documentaries (Finished Abstract on Netflix), film (Saw Logan), Graphic novels/Comics, small techie stuff, photography, Graphic Design, Music (Currently obsessed with the 80s and some Vaporwave)

Little list of General Goals.
I wanna be a better story teller.
Learn to paint. 
Draw at least an hour a day.

Hi everyone!

This forum is overwhelming, but I need to start somewhere, right?
My name's Hannes, I'm from Germany. I'm living in Berlin for my whole live (around 27 years) and I want to get better with arts.
Everything started with my wish to do pixel art. I joined the pixelation forums and there I was told to learn to draw on paper first. Now I'm following "draw a box" since 11.11.2016. It really changed my live and I try to draw every day. I only missed about ten days since start. (Did not count, heh. ^^)
It's an up and down, some exercises really make me feel bad while others feel easier.

Uff. This isn't easy to talk about. I wish to get good with something because I need to express myself. When I left school with my A level, I was pretty sure I want to be a voice actor.
I followed this road for a long period and standing in front of a microphone made me so happy every time. I've spend a lot of money and energy into coaches, a private school and my own record technique. But it wasn't enough and my unhealthy ways of thinking, my shrinking nest egg and the overwhelming feeling of being all on my own made me brake up with my dream. I'm kind of sad about it but this is like it is and now I have to overcome my fears of not making the right decisions.
Drawing is different to voice acting. It's easier to do every day. It's way cheaper and there is a bigger community to talk to. That's why I'm feeling way better about it. It's still hard for someone like me, I'm very self-critical and serious about everything I do. But I bet I'm not the only one like this around here. ^^

For now, I'm just want to get better with art. I still have to go to my part time job, and I'm running a relationship so it's a challenging balance act. When I come through all this, with sparing some money from my job, maybe I can start another private schooling for gamedesing. But I don't want to think of it to much. Just having fun and drawing as much as possible is my main goal for now.

What I need is regular feedback. And that's why I'm here. I give the creator of "draw a box" some money via patreon and he is offering feedback in return. But just for a whole finished lesson.
I think I can get some feedback with starting a sketchbook, right?

Thank you for reading through this. It was kind of personal, but that's how I am.
Don't get fooled. I have a strong easygoing part too. ^^
So don't be afraid to talk to me. I'm interested in almost everything and I love to earn some new insights.

Have a good time!

Hey guys, pekoe here. \(^w^)/

My real name is Shen Jia and  once upon a time in a previous life, I've actually frequented here.

I hope that this forum can replace some other online communities that I'm addicted to, so I'm at least somewhat productive when I'm procrastinating from my drawings. Don't know if that makes any sense. :P
 
Looking forward to hanging out with all of you. 

Cheers! o(^_^)b

My name is Vlad and I am currently and actively learning how to draw at the age of 28.
My goal is to be able to design characters, environments and much more.
I love games, movies, shows, anime and traveling. (If I have the money lol)
I think the artist that really sparked my interest was  Hyung-Tae Kim. Something about his style really moved me.

Right now I am drawing primitive shapes and lines. I don't Know what a decent practice schedule looks like when drawing but I might come up something soon.

Another worry I have is when do I move on to drawing eyes and body parts...I don't know what the progression looks like.  Some say start now while I do the fundamentals and some say start later.  Any help and guidance is greatly appreciated.