I’m currently working on the first Inkscape tutorial, but in the mean time, I thought I’d share a few more tips.

Contrary to what a surprising amount of people believe, no-one is born knowing how to draw. No-one is perfect, and we all have to work at it. Exceptionally hard. For those of you who I haven’t convinced just yet, I thought I’d provide a few examples of my first drawings as evidence. And by first, I do actually mean first. I’m clearly not the greatest living artist, but I like to think I’ve improved a little since 1994:

 Click if you actually want to see my ‘art’ from when I was 4 years old.

I have no idea. I’m assuming their dinosaurs. I went through a brief (read: extended) phase of wating to be a Stegosaurus when I was younger. I’m particularly liking how the one on the left seems refreshingly optimistic about his impending extinction. I also have a scan of my first ever portrait (I use the term loosely), and a scan of a card I made my Mom, featuring one three-legged giraffe, and another five-legged one. If anything else, at least I can congratulate myself on the fact that they balance each other out quite nicely.

So! If you’re looking to improve (which, naturally, I think most artists constantly are to some degree, unless they’re egotistical), here’s 5 straight forward ideas that should point you in the right direction.

Practice

Yes, this is insultingly obvious, but it needs to be said. There’s no magic wand – If you really want to improve, it’s only logical that you practice as much as you can. You don’t have to be excessive, just doodle whenever you get a free moment. It may be cliche, and over-suggested, but that’s probably because it actually works.

Try drawing by hand

You might think this is pointless if your focus is on digital media, but drawing by hand can really help. There’s no undo button when it comes to acrylics or pastels, for example, so this should force you to think before you draw. Software often makes the whole process a lot quicker and smoother, so if you can learn to master the pencil, you should be able master the pen tool, as well.

Don’t limit yourself

The saying goes “Jack of all trades, master of none”, but sometimes, it doesn’t hurt to be diverse. Try not to stick to just one programme. Sit down and learn how to navigate a new one. Do your research on other artists and differing styles and draw inspiration from them. The more you look at different styles, the better a chance you have of incorporating elements of them into your work and finding your own as a result. Sure, you’ll want to focus on certain methods until you perfect them, but there’s a fine line between perfecting and dwelling in a comfort zone. Think about where your weak points lie and tackle them. Have you tried a more cartoony piece yet? How about realism? It might not be what you’re going to be producing on a regular basis, but in trying out something different, you’ll usually learn a lot of new tricks that can be applied to other projects, and you never know when a potential commissioner might be looking for something along those lines, so think of it as preparation.

Set some realistic goals

Plan. If you don’t know how to do something – find out how! You can use online tutorials or trial and error. Tell yourself that by the end of the week, you’ll have learnt a new skill, and then actually learn it. Being self-taught involves teaching yourself, so set yourself some homework, but be careful not to be too ambitious. A good example of an achievable aim, although more relevant to photography than Graphics, is project 365, which I recommend taking a look at regardless of your preference.

Try kicking your own ass

This isn’t as masochistic as it first sounds, I promise. It can be really demoralising to feel like you’re putting in all the effort and just not improving however hard you try, but we’re often are own worst critics. One of the best ways to reassure yourself of your progress is to take a deep breath, and look over your work from two or three years ago (one of the reason’s why it’s always a good idea to store the majority of it somewhere safe and not discard of it, even though it’s tempting to). Pick one piece in particular, and redraw it from scratch. This isn’t a waste of time – make a note of all the flaws you see in the original and amend them in the new piece as you go along.

I’ve done it myself, to prove the point. Although it pains and shames me to admit, I drew this horrific ’self portrait’ in 2007. Now, obviously my hair and dress sesnse has changed, but I re-drew it this week, trying to stick to the sketchy, cartoon feel, and complete it in about the same amount of time that the original took me. I ended up with this:

 I didn’t think I sucked quite that badly, but apparently I was incapable of drawing straight lines, and I likened fingers to miss-shapen sausages two years ago. I like the 2009 version much better, my style of working has clearly changed, as well.

Like I said, these are 5 simple ways to improve, but they should help none-the-less!