Pokemon Crossroads' Art-icle #2 - Pokémon Crossroads

Hello ,and welcome to PXR’s second monthly art article. This article focuses on hints and tips for artists and we also have an Artist of the Month to promote Artists doing well here on this site.

Would you like to find out some useful tips to help you with your art? Would you like to know some secrets that many artists use in their work? Of course you would, so In this section, we will show you how to overcome some simple obstacles and improve your work one step at a time.

Now, we will start will traditional art and we will do some overall tips, however, if you want to know something specific, you can message me and it could be featured in the next article.

Issue: When I am drawing, I can’t get the shading to look natural

Tip : If you are drawing from imagination, draw a faint circle where you wish for the sun to be in the image, unless you already have the sun in the image. Then, draw some faint straight lines going from the sun to the item you wish to shade, then you can find the light areas and go from those areas and gradually get darker and darker as you go. This works well with traditional art, digital art and even spriting so it is a very helpful method in find what way you need to shade to get a realistic shading look.

Issue: I’m doing a piece of art and I need straight lines and circles and I can’t get them perfect

Tip: Remember, art in not about being perfect, it is an interpretation and even though every artist strives for perfection, it is hard to react as no picture is ever as good as the real thing as there will be some type of imperfection. This is not to mean that it will not be good. Draw the circle freehand and just keep practicing until you get to a stage where you are satisfied. When drawing a circle, maybe do a circular motion multiple times so you have a few sketchy lines and then create a neat circle out of the lines you have. With the line, just keep practicing and practicing, you will get it one day. If not, a ruler and compass (A piece of Mathematical equipment to draw a circle, not a Compass which shows the direction you are facing) are your best friends and you can get a perfect line and circle in no time, but doing it freehand will give a more rewarding feel as it gives you a skill in art.

Issue: I am colouring in a drawing I did, and every time I try with colouring in a drawing, when it is finished it looks flat, even if I have tried to apply shading.

Tip: This can be quite common as many people colour in with just one colour. To refine it and add shade, remember to use more than one colour. For example, if you were drawing something yellow and needed there to be a shadow, add some brown to the yellow to make it give the yellow a darker tone. The only issue with this is that white does not usually lighten a colour as the colour is too bright, especially colouring pencils. Therefore it is best to have the original colour of the pencil as the lightest shade and gradually add darker colours. The only colours which are an exception are dark colours such as black and brown as these are dark enough to allow the white to show.

So there are three overall tips to solve some issues that people may come across, however, you may already know these, but that is where you come in. feel free to PM me with a question and I will PM you back and I could feature it on the next article for other people to benefit from it too!

So this is a section which is new and hopefully it will be quite popular. This is where an artist on this site is chosen at random and their work is showcased. This will give them a bit of publicity so they can get credit for their hard work that I think deserves to be noticed.

So, April’s Artist of the Month is: