Fallen Angel

Reference. Use so much reference. Get so devoted to reference. Have daily lunch with reference. Hands are the easiest thing to find reference for because for most people they're only a reach away. Do no waste your flowstate in meticulously fine-tuning a single pair of hands when there is so much material existing to SOLELY aid you.

On my workdesk i have a dedicated book stand for artist guide books, i use image sites, free posing programs like DesignDoll and i take my own photos to figure hands out. Statistically speaking, if you draw you have at least one semi-working hand so you can take your own hand reference photos if the angle you need is tricky.

Sans reference, I'm not particularly talented in the hand department but i have few basic rules for myself:

-young artist

That's nice to hear! While I won't claim to be any sort of expert, my ask box is open for art related question.

For young or starting artists, the single most important advice I can give is to learn how to analyze art you see. When seeing a cool piece of art, instead of going "wow cool!", figure out WHY the piece is good. Does it have a palette that pops? Is the composition intriguing? Does the artist know how to draw bodies particularly well and if so what makes them slay so hard? In reverse this will help you notice what about your own art you need to practice, without falling into self-deprecating ideas like "my art sucks :( "

Lot of current online audiences consume art within seconds with little thought given to it. Knowing how to properly digest art you see will help you apply the techniques that grabbed your attention into your own art.

This all sounds rather high-brow and pretentious but I assure you it's easy to learn and immensely helpful when it comes to growing your own skillset.

sources: l.e.s. by donald glover // this year by the mountain goats // maya hornbacher, madness // watchisjawdrop on tumblr // wuntrum on tumblr // kim kardashian // unknown // godblessryankent on tiktok // nayyirah waheed // unknown // lev st. valentine

My gift for the @dishonoredgiftexchange, for @greyfromthefog ! 🐋✨

The prompt I chose was : "young Outsider being comforted by whales after he became the Outsider"

( all the prompts were great, it was hard to choose ! 👀 )