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[birdy51]

Did someone say birds? Because they please me. Bring me more birds.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

Hey Jopax, I can't remember: do you use PS or GIMP???

[Cheesecake]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Random notebook art. PS, sorry for bad photo quality :p Damn non-apple phone.

[FArgHalfnr]

I have not in fact stopped arting, I've been doing quite a lot of it, but most of it is traditional. There's some digital stuff too but I'm keeping that stuff hidden until It's done. Have a sneak peek at something I hope to finish this summer.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

:O

[Jopax]

Hey Jopax, I can't remember: do you use PS or GIMP???

Photoshop CS 6.  I did try GIMP a long time ago when I first got into digital but it just never sat right with me for some reason.
Anyways, have another relatively quick piece:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[FArgHalfnr]

I finally got my lazy ass to do something, again from the same forum game:

Spoiler: size matters (click to show/hide)

What's your secret Jopax? Your stuff is a billion time better than anything I can do. :c

[Jopax]

There's that one quote by someone from the forums:

"Everyone sucks at everything. Until they don't. Not sucking is a product of time invested."

It applies to art especially. Keep at it and actively study and try to get better and you'll see results eventually ^^

Edit:
Take me and portraits for example, I used to suck at them, then I did a bunch so now I don't suck as much:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(and I totally didn't use myself for reference, totally)

[Arx]

I'm not Jopax, but the thing that's helped me most other than raw practice and that I'm pretty sure I've seen him posting about is actively studying what makes a good artwork. I managed to go from not being able to draw faces to decent at portraiture (I'll post pics soon) in the space of six to twelve hours, because I had nothing to do in exams except study my ID photo and work out exactly how the shadows and contours fitted together. Practice is a lot more useful if you have a target and know what to change.

[Jopax]

Yeah, studying smart can cut down on a lot of time, especially when you have someone point some things out to you along the way, that's why mentors are so damn swish, other than pushing you to work harder and being a second pair of eyes to spot what you're doing wrong they also teach you things that they took hours upon hours to figure out. And it's up to you to take that knowledge and use it.

Another good thing to do while studying this stuff is to test yourself often. Whenever you think you got something, put it into practice and then compare with what you were aiming for, this is the easiest and quickest way to spot what you're doing wrong and that's most of the work right there, once you have the question it's pretty easy to figure out the answer, either by yourself or with the help of the internet/someone else.

[Itnetlolor]

I generally chalk things up to chance.

No matter how good you are at something, there's always a chance you'll suck terribly, or excel incredibly, or hell, not make a difference at all; no matter how much effort you put into it. Kinda a reason I never practice anything. What's the point?

In summary: There's a reason why I don't see rank nor skill in anything I see or do. I mean, if 'Beginner's Luck' exists, then 'Expert's Misfortune' also exists. Level of awareness (education) is still a contributing factor, however; which separates arts from sciences.

EDIT:
To clear things up more; I never practice, I prefer to have fun, or keep myself busy. My best works are not work, at all.

[Urist McScoopbeard]

@FArgHalfnr, I am also not Jopax, but I would still advocate practice. Practice is fun after all, as long as you are drawing what you want to be drawing. MY contribution to this suggestion smorgasbord is that you should practice drawing a diverse array of things. It feels pretty bad when you can draw a really cool side of a mountain, but then the rest of the landscape is shite. Same goes for figure drawing, draw the face epically, but everything thing else is wonky, it feels awful.

You can start anywhere really, Bay12 is a good jumping off point. Just ask around this thread, which has become the new de facto art thread, or ye olde engraver's guild. Once you feel like you've got the ball rolling check out Conceptart.org (WARNING: very professional and oftentimes needlessly harsh in the name of criticism) or even Cartographersguild.com if you're into maps. Another site you can try is DeviantArt (mixed feelings and results here, but a lot of good guide material can be found amidst the sea of ,"what am I looking at?")

If you really do just like art and want to get better consider taking some art classes either in your school (if you're going to school that is) or even in a community college/arts college around you (that's what I did. I did both actually, but they were both extensively pencil-drawing courses and as such its really the only medium i'm half competent in.) Another piece of advice is to not start with digital art, using a mouse is ridiculous and something that's really just gonna hamper you forever and learning to use a tablet is actually rather tough due to it not being 100% accurate and quick as your arm would like, even experienced artists have a tough time going digital if they never used a tablet before.

EDIT: speaking of digital art, my current Wacom Bamboo is starting to get a little old and to compound the matter i've bent its USB plug some and in the next year or so i'll try and maybe weasel my way to the proper familial authorities to buy me a new tablet as a Christmas gift or something. Anyone try those fancy new tablets where the computer screen is ON the tablet? I've looked a number of these and at the moment the Ugee 19" seems like my best bet for an art-related gift.

[Shook]

Only ever heard of the Cintiq being such a thing, so no, can't say i have any experience. :v

Also re: arting, can confirm that as long as you keep drawing more things, you'll get better. Intensive studies gives you MUCH faster progress, but depending on your personality, might not be as fun as just dicking around and experimenting at your own pace and behest. I know i belong to that group, but others might relish the feeling of working hard for it, and the results of said work even more. The beauty of it is that there's room for both (and more) approaches.

Also also Jopax i'm pleased to see how gud you're gitting, i wouldn't be surprised if i saw your artings on an MtG card in the future. c:

in other news, here's a confused dog

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

his name is MURDERBAGEL

Also refining my signature to be something that doesn't require me to wobble my hand in the middle of it. :v

[AlleeCat]

Yo, Jopax. I may have to comission some stuff from you sometime in the future, if you do that sorta thing~

[Arx]

(I'll post pics soon)

Now is soon. Here's one, which I've made quite a few changes to since scanning, and the scanner washes out a little. [/excuses]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It bears a more than passing resemblance to the subject, I think. If people can point out issues (preferably ones that aren't too likely to just be the subject looking odd (I keep getting caught by reality being unrealistic)), I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Spehss _]

It bears a more than passing resemblance to the subject, I think. If people can point out issues (preferably ones that aren't too likely to just be the subject looking odd (I keep getting caught by reality being unrealistic)), I'd greatly appreciate it.

Arx, push your contrasts more. Make the darkest parts darker to stand out more from the light parts and the somewhat dark parts. I tend to do the same thing in non-digital media. My art teacher in high school (took her classes for all 4 years) was always telling me the same thing, push your contrasts, everything blurs together from smudging and a lack of contrast, don't do that, push your dark values to stand out more, etc etc.

Edit:
Take me and portraits for example, I used to suck at them, then I did a bunch so now I don't suck as much:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

(and I totally didn't use myself for reference, totally)

Woah. Woah. Wooooooaaaaaaah. Wow. Dude. That's. Woah. Excuse me while I geek out a bit.