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Sketching a lot lately while trying to come up with ideas for some fully rendered illustrations.

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Azura

lovely work Nat :3

Magenta Magica

Loving this Pandora, Nat. I'm still curious how your tackle painting, I read in another post that you're not the reader type when it comes to studying to I'm interesting how you managed to master painting? thanks

Nat_the_Lich

I very much appreciate the kind words, but I still have a long way to go when it comes to mastering anything art related. Before I speak about my personal experience with learning how to paint, I want to emphasize that I strongly encourage other artists to give academic art books a chance; what doesn't work for me, might work for others. As I have mentioned before, I am a -mostly- self taught artist. And I say mostly, because I have, technically, a couple years of traditional art classes under the belt. I don't bring up that fact often because, unfortunately, much like books, I did not gain much from that style of teaching (or lack thereof, but that is a whole other can of worms I am reluctant to share). I did, however, get to train my observation/memorization skills through repetition, by drawing and painting bust after bust, bowls of fruit and the occasional live model (something that anyone can do from home as well). The skill of observation is, in my opinion, the key to improving. To paint, one must observe how the light interacts with the world, memorize it, then apply it. Easier said than done, but I believe that's all there is to it; be a sponge of visual information. When in doubt, reference is your best friend, even though pictures are inferior to their real life counterparts. Stylization, color palettes and the like can also be improved through observation. To develop a painting style and taste for things, one must consume a lot of art, notice the things that click and try to apply them in their own work. Going back to studying books, all the information you gain by observing on your own could be provided to you by reading a professional's insight on light, color and painting, which could lead to faster growth as an artist, but like I mentioned, not all methods work for all people. Being stubborn to the bone, I personally choose to stare at things till they are burned in my retina, then transfer them on canvas, digital or otherwise. ... aaand that's my approach on painting naked pretty people. Thank you for reading my wall of text. In all seriousness, while I am happy to talk about art related things, please keep in mind that I am not a teacher, so everything said should be taken with a grain of salt.

Magenta Magica

Thanks for taking the time to go give your thoughts on the subject, Nat! You may not be a teacher but your insight is golden as someone who had to learn mostly everything on your own, especially since it's the path most of have to take as artist. Again, I appreciate your thoughts on the matter :D