Art can be a dreadful time suck, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are my top 10 things every artist needs.

1. A Hobby: I’m an Illustrator and I love to draw, but when I’m not working on a commission, I find myself needing something else to draw for fun. This is where my hobby comes in handy. Once a week I pick up a pencil and draw something just for the heck of it. My drawings don’t need to be pretty or perfect, they just need to be drawn. While I’m sketching out cartoons and caricatures of people around me, I’m practicing my skills and keeping that creative energy flowing.

2. Reference Materials: You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on art books and reference materials, but you do need some materials that will inspire you to create good work. Artists have used everything from their own photos to the works of DaVinci as references. Just be sure whatever materials you use are inspiring to YOU; if they’re not, then they won’t help you learn anything new or improve upon your current technique.

3. Time: The best way to become a better artist is to practice! But it’s hard to practice your art when you’re trying to make

* 1. Art Supplies

To create art, you will need art supplies. While the supplies themselves are important, they are only as good as the artist using them. If you want to be a great artist, you will have to invest in your supplies and treat them with respect.

1. A pencil.

2. A sketchbook.

3. A pen.

4. A lightbox.

5. A scanner or camera with macro lens functionality and a tripod (or, if you’re ancient school like me, a copystand).

6. An understanding that it’s all about the process, not the product (and you don’t need the latest tools to do that).

7. A portfolio to show your work in (either physical, or online).

8. A good attitude about criticism and learning from your mistakes and bad drawings (or paintings).

9. The discipline to draw every day (whether it’s for one minute or an hour.)

10. An ability to be critical of yourself so that you can improve as an artist

I’ve been a professional artist for over 15 years, and over the years I’ve realized that there are some things that every artist needs to know. I decided to write a blog about them and offer my advice on how to become better at your craft.

Trying to hone your craft is something that will never end. An artist can always learn more and improve their skills. All it takes is practice, a willingness to try new things, and discovering the things you enjoy the most.

Are you an artist or do you know someone who is? What tips would you offer someone looking to improve their skills? Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.*

*I don’t expect anyone to want to read this when I post it – I’m writing it as a sort of exercise for myself, so I can refer back to it later – but if anyone actually does read it, please feel free to comment on any errors in tone, spelling, grammar or punctuation. Thanks!

The more you know about art, the better you will be at creating art.

Art is a universal form of communication. It is performed and viewed by people from all walks of life, from blue collar construction workers to white collar businessmen and women, even to royalty. We often think of famous artists as people who have learned the art world inside out, but it is also true that there are artists who can sell their work for millions of dollars without ever showing their work publicly.

Art has been around since the dawn of time, and it will never be obsolete. Just like music, art is a universal language that transcends barriers of race, nationality, religion and culture. It connects us as human beings with one another and helps us communicate our emotions with others.

Art is something that can be done by anyone, at any time in their life. It does not have to be something that you “grow into” or “learn how to do”. It is a language that everyone understands with time and practice.

Tone:friendly

I have been working with an artist named Beeple who has taken the art of 3d modeling to a new level by combining it with photography to create some of the most surreal images I have ever seen. A few months ago he posted this video on youtube and it went viral overnight.

Towards the end of the video you can see a small glimpse of his workspace and the desk that he uses for his workstation. I got in touch with him to ask him about what tools he uses and what things help make his process easier. He was kind of enough to send me this unedited response:

“My setup is pretty simple, just a wacom intuos mouse (medium) which has a pen tablet that you draw directly onto your computer using photoshop or other software. It’s really helpful when you’re drawing or painting directly into photoshop as opposed to using a mouse or tablet you have to constantly lift up your pen so you lose flow and sometimes precision.”

“I use an old Apple 17 inch Studio Display, this monitor is pretty old (maybe 9-10 years) but I love it. It’s gorgeous and has built in speakers that sound surprisingly good! You can’t really go wrong with Apple stuff if you want high quality,

By the time I was 7 years old, I was already halfway to becoming an artist. My pencil drawings of dinosaurs and giant robots were, by the standards of my small town first grade class, pretty damn good.

The problem was that I’d been drawing for less than six months. And yet all of my classmates had produced dozens of large-format works on construction paper so elaborate that you could hardly see the white between the colored lines. They drew pictures every day and brought them in to show their parents at night. They were artists, in other words, whereas I was just a kid with a pencil who liked to draw pictures of robots.

Was there something wrong with me? Did I not care about art? Was I just doing this for fun?