So... I Have A Problem...

First and foremost---- keep things ROUGH!!

A lot of the boards I've been posting are overly clean because they're just done for fun! On the day to day, my work is a lot more gestural because we gotta draw quick! Get your ideas down as fast as possible!

Storyboards are like handwriting, ya know? You can have the most scribbly, ugly-lookin' handwriting but if you're writing beautiful poetry then who really cares what the words look like on the page? It's much easier to cross out and change sections of it when you're not writing in calligraphy. You only need to make sure it's legible and the rest can slide!

I think that's what's really wonderful about storyboarding! You don't necessarily have to be the best drawer to be a stellar board artist! First and foremost, always focus on the story and how you want to tell it!

Some other tips off the top of my head:

- you can start boarding in ANY drawing program!!

- learn the basic types of shots (close, medium, wide, etc)

- learn the basics about how to cut between shots

- learn the 180 rule in screen direction (where to place your camera so people don't get confused where things are)

- learn basic perspective drawing (1-point, 2-point, 3-point) for backgrounds

- always thumbnail things before jumping in straight to boards (will save you a lot of work/pain in the long run)

Four years ago I decided that “I’m too old to learn how to draw” is a pointless lie I’d believed for too long and you’re never too old to learn something new. I still definitely consider myself a novice and a learner but I’m at a very happy place with my art and I’m having a ton of fun so I thought I’d pass along the tips/resources that helped me get started and kept me motivated. 

I’ll get into resources under the cut, but here are personal tips I lined up for myself that helped during the early stages of frustration and wanting to give up. obviously they won’t work for everyone, but they really kept me going

fill 14 sketchbooks. if you still want to give up after that you can (I’m currently at 13 sketchbooks and could not imagine ever letting it go)

what specifically do you want to be able to draw? For me my goal has always been characters and cats. I’ve added things to it here and there, but starting out overwhelmed with how much you don’t know isn’t great. find a handful of things you really want to draw and see where it takes you.

get yourself a sketchbook fancy enough that you feel cool as heck but cheap enough that you don’t mind absolutely destroying it. Personally, I love EXCEED bullet journals. the dotted paper keeps me from being too picky but are less intrusive than lined paper. From my experience, EXCEED bullet journals takes acrylic and ink like a champ, and they’ve got nice covers that just make you “feel” cool. confidence is important!

acrylic paint and post-it notes are great ways to cover mistakes. I personally love anything that makes my sketchbooks feel “sketchbooky” so this is super fun. 

it is okay to “waste”/”ruin” pages. one time I was in “I’m a failure” artblock and so I poured black coffee onto my sketchbook. (it was gonna get dumped out anyway and I was Very frustrated with my art.) then when the pages dried I just kept right along using it. taught me a lot about not being perfect. sketchbooks are about learning and love, not about perfection.

try drawing in pen. seriously, draw in pen. it’s scary as frick to not be able to go back on mistakes but that’s what the post-it acrylic-paint tip is for, and it’ll help with all sorts of stuff like lineweight and line confidence. it takes some of the stress off too because, you screw up? oh well! Try again! it encourages “try again” over “meticulously nitpick until it’s perfect” and has done wonders for me. I started out my first two sketchbooks in pencil before making the switch and I’ve never gone back. 

(also sketching in highlighter and lining with pen is super fun and cool and satisfying!)

the first page doesn’t matter. I usually just use the first page of the sketchbook to write my favorite songs at the time and then do the same thing on the last page. first page jitters begone. 

(starting in the middle of the sketchbook also gets rid of those jitters pretty nicely. I tried this a couple times and personally still prefer the linear front-to-back but it was fun for a while.)

picking a color theme for your sketchbook can make it feel more “sketchbooky” too. I usually go with blue or orange- blue acrylic paint, blue post-it notes, those cheap blue BIC pens, etc. I like this bc it makes the sketchbook feel like a sketchbook and is very satisfying.

And figure out why you’re doing it. I did it because I always wanted to make cool art and draw my characters, but if you’re doing it for a career then obviously the path to that looks much different. Don’t compare yourself to others. Be inspired by people who are better than you. Acknowledge where you need to grow and where you’re strongest. Lean into those strengths. Adapt to those weaknesses. Be proud of being a beginner- you won’t be one for long. 

Now: some of my favorite creatives and resources!

hmmmm well, usually it's best you set a goal of what you want to draw, try to sketch it out and realize all the skills you lack for drawing and then try to practice the specific skill you need to make your idea come to life

or thats what ive been doing for the longest time because what you want to be able to draw is your motivator for anything

do you want to make cool illustrations? you will probably need to check how to make cool compositions and how the size of shapes work or the placement of shapes work and then color values if you wanna make dramatic art

do you wanna make cool characters in badass poses? you'll probably need to learn basic shapes of human body and anatomy and the stylisation of human anatomy, expressions, how clothes work and how to make cool designs etc.

do you wanna make comics, animations etc? you probably need to learn how compositions and the flow of movements work and how to make storytelling legible and how to place characters in shots to make the story work

and if you want to make cool backgrounds or environment you probably need basic perspective and understanding of 3d objects and shapes and placement

now this all sounds like a lot but once you start you will definetly find something you enjoy creating

if you want cool tutorials i always recommend these 3 dudes who have really cool tutorials:

Ethan becker

don't be fooled by his titles, he is not shitting on other artists, he is just breaking down their tips to beginners and how to properly use their tips

Proko

he has proper anatomy tips that helped me more than trying to ask my art school teachers, bless this man, also he has interviews with a lot of artists that actually work in the field and you can see their comments

Sinix Design

he has shorter anatomy quick tips but he gives you that one information that will make you scream OH THATS HOW IT WORKS HOW DIDNT I SEE THAT BEFORE OMG WHAT

bonus:

Pear Fleur

General Anatomy/Human stuff:

body quick tips

painting/drawing straight hair

how to draw eyes

arm squish/bend tip

chest/pecks with raised arms tip

long hair how to

male torso anatomy (back)

learn manga male anatomy (torso & arm)

male torso anatomy (front)

head and hair tips (scroll  a bit, it’s in one of the images!)

how to draw noses

ears tilty tip

arm tips

two tips for drawing women’s hair

drawing teeth

anatomy tips

random hair and mouth ref anime

leg muscle anatomy ref

arm muscles anatomy ref

knees reference

arm ref study

quick arm tut tip

how to draw arm

shoulders n sleeves

Poses:

umbrella poses

random female poses

random anatomy pose thing

chibi sleeping in hands pose

laying poses

elf (?) with staff poses

holding phone half bod

peeny wolf pose set

perspective pose sheet

anatomy poses 

crossed arms ref sheet

holding baby poses

Hands:

how to draw hands 1

hand refs & tutorial 2

hand tutorial 3

hand tutorial 4

36 hands

how to draw hands in 10 minutes

hands ref 2

hand gestures and simplifying the hand

arm & hand ref

500 hands

Diversity:

stop drawing natives red

wheelchair tutorial

drawing fat people

vitiligo notes for artists

darkskin palms

epicanthic folds

biracial characters

do’s and don’ts of thick lips

Animals/Creatures:

how to draw falcon beaks

canine studies (broken down into parts)

feline tiger ref

Insect wing venation

Musculature of a T-Rex

Pony bodies tutorial

Hyena Nose tutorial

horse reference

drawing horns

Flesh tutorial

bird tips

wing basics

making mythical creatures look realistic

pony heads tutorial 

dragon designing tutorial pt 3/3

pony wings tutorial

hedgie bodies

Furry/Anthro:

dogquest’s pixel tutorial

furry portrait tutorial

furry pants tutorial

how to draw paws/pawhands

fur direction reference

anthro tips

muzzle shapes

furry styles

anthro expressions

f2u chibi-ish furry base

furry / cartoon head tutorial

f2u furry base/pose w three different ears

drawing humans! for animal artists

Backgrounds:

how to draw debris

fire tutorial

night sky tutorial

materials study with notes

tree tutorial

water tutorial

tangents??

ocean painting

clouds tutorial

bubbles

painty background studies tips

peony tutorial

lakeside tutorial

quick flowers for the lazy

mistletoe vs holly

Perspective:

foreshortening coil technique

foreshortening tutorial

Webcomic:

medibang comic panel tutorial

how i make webcomics/webtoons

how to color comics

the art of lettering comics

comic/doujinshi paneling

in depth webcomic tutorial

Coloring:

The colorpicking problem

72 Color Combinations

How ViPOP uses color

Hair coloring tutorial by rosuuri

Gurochii moe quick eye tutorial

Anime eye tutorial

Mermaid tail tutorial

Grayscale to Color painting tutorial

chibi eye walkthrough

skin tone tutorial 1

curly hair tutorial

color palette

coloring tutorial

light, it gets everywhere

comfort color

skin coloring tutorial

holographic tutorial

dappled lighting effect

cute/bright coloring tutorial 

pattern trick

arcana character coloring tut

Expressions/ Meme / style:

small body language study

expressions reference

how to cute

Platonic cuddles meme

expression reference : nervous

flustered expression meme

drawing expressions tutorial/key

Pixel Art:

Pixel icon tutorial

Ice cream

Moving clouds tutorial

50x50 pixel doll tutorial

pixelin’s pixel process

pixel expression ref

pixel eye blinking tutorial

how to pixel liquids

Clothing / Accessories:

Shoes

Fancy color tip / ref

Chainmail

short reference

learn manga basic pleated skirt tutorial

learn manga basic frills

random clothing refs

chainmail brush

clothing ref masterpost

pinstripes tips

cloth texture tips

how to clothing folds

Misc:

Sketchfab 3d Models

Mikeymegamega on YT for anime/ecchi/etc

Gentei_sozai on twitter for chibi poses

S0zalsan on twitter for random poses

mecha basics

75 tutorials

Obvious art tips you might have forgotten

Mosaic effect

how to draw a cute chibi

fighting artblock

cute pikachu base

painting a face tutorial

volume commissions mini tutorial

arcana characters tutorial reference

notes from the “animators survival kit”

concept art tutorial

another art resource masterpost

MS paint tips and tricks

Reference table for drawing CONSISTENT faces

@hanari0716 on twitter for HELLA references

animation guide for beginners

Brushes:

Foliage brushes

cityscape brushes

ghibli brushes

clip studio paint assets

IS FRICKIN AMAZING

I LOVE IT

Why do I only ever draw during classes fkdjfkdnfmf

I was scrolling through Tumblr and came across a post of KNOWN PEDOPHILES ON TUMBLR (many of which have or want to rape actual children/minors)

THERE ARE ACTUAL PEDOPHILES ON TUMBLR TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH MINORS ON TUMBLR

BUT HE HAD 7 KIDS AND A WIFE TO FEED SO HE ENDED UP OWNING A GROCERY STORE AFTER SERVING IN WW2

TODAY MY DAD WAS CLEANING THE HOUSE AND FOUND SOME PENCIL DRAWINGS THAT MY GRANDPA DID AND ASKED IF I WANTED TO HAVE THEM AND I

CAN WE JUST LOOK AT THIS

MY BAD WEBCAM PICTURES DON’T EVEN DO THEM JUSTICE LIKE LOOK AT THESE

MY GRANDPA NEVER BECAME A FAMOUS ARTIST