Expand your skills

Why am I drawing hands?

Part of expanding your artistic skills means deep diving into a style, or technique, or tool.

If I told you how many things you need to learn to do this for a living, you’d likely quit before starting. And tbh, there is no one-way to do what we do.

Art isn’t a linear path with predictable outcomes.

The best way, IMO, to learn is to choose something that you’re naturally curious to explore. If it’s posing, practice gesture drawing. If it’s colors, practice color theory. If it’s anatomy, practice individual body parts. If it’s lighting, practice values over shape and form.

Sometimes you’ll study one of these areas and get bored. That’s when it’s time to move onto the next thing. And then the next. And then maybe come back around and see how much you’ve grown in that first area.

Rinse and repeat.

I’m doing hands because I had a chance to try something different. Doing it immediately provided me with new joy and inspiration to do more. So I’m following that.

When I’m done, I will have grown in my skills and understanding in ways that I could not have predicted prior to starting.

Just chase your curiosity, be patient, and be an artist.