Starting out as an artist is tough for anyone, but it’s even tougher if you want to be successful at it. There are so many different mediums artists use in their craft, all with totally unique rules and regulations! Some people start by drawing from life, some draw using the same method over and over again, while others create elaborate stories or characters that have never been seen before.
Whatever style you choose to pursue, your best bet is to learn the basics of art, figure out what styles appeal to you, and then develop your skills in those areas. You can always add digital illustration to your repertoire later!
There are several ways to begin practicing your hand-drawn designs. This article will go into more detail about one way to get started – how to start digital illustration.
Learn to use a computer
A lot of people start digital illustration by taking pictures they want to design, editing them in software like Photoshop or Gimp, and then creating designs and illustrations based off those images.
This can be done directly from photos you take with your phone or through websites that will turn your image into something new.
The best way to learn how to do this is by doing! Take as many pictures you want and look for different styles and techniques that other artists have created. There are plenty of free resources online and YouTube videos about various artistic mediums so there is no need to spend money unless you want to.
Learn to use the computer with a mouse
Many people begin digital illustration by drawing from an already existing source or style, then adding their own touches to it. Starting off using the computer without first learning how to use a mouse is limiting your potential as an artist.
A mouse allows you to manipulate objects on a screen easily. You can move windows, shapes, and images around and combine them together. A cursor comes with every mouse that users get attached to, but any object you place onto your screen will have one built in for you to use.
The easiest way to learn how to use a mouse is through YouTube. There are many artists who upload videos showing different ways to do things on the platform. They usually start with holding the mouse up and moving it side to side or back and forward, and eventually add a circle or triangle shape at the end of each motion.
Learn to use the computer with a pen
A lot of people start digital illustration by taking photos or videos that they then edit on a computer using editing software. This is definitely a great way to begin, but there’s an easy alternative if you don’t have any experience doing this yet.
The first step in starting out as a digital artist is learning how to draw. No matter what kind of art you want to produce, from cartoon characters to landscapes to still life pieces, drawing is at the core of all artistic expression.
Once you learn how to draw well, you can move onto designing your own pictures or even creating whole illustrations! There are many ways to get into drawing, so whatever style you like most, try experimenting with it for making art.
Some artists started off painting completely without ever touching a brush before giving themselves to producing masterpieces. You don’t need to go down that path, but picking up a new skill is always worth it.
Practice drawing shapes
A very important part of digital illustration is learning how to draw basic shapes. You will want to be familiar with at least the outline, rounded rectangle, square, circle, triangle, and heart shape!
The easiest way to learn how to draw these shapes is by practicing, practice, practice! Pick any image online that features one of these shapes and trace it or copy it several times.
You can now go back and edit those tracings to make them your own. Once you are able to create your own unique version of the shape, move onto another shape! Keep doing this until you feel comfortable creating your own versions of these shapes.
There are many ways to learn how to draw simple shapes- YouTube videos, books, apps, and through experimenting with your computer software like Photoshop or Gimp! The best way depends on your personal style and what types of things you want to do with your art.
Practice drawing people
A very important part of digital illustration is being able to draw people well. You will probably have to do some in-depth research and studies on human anatomy before getting really good at it!
There are many great sites with free pictures you can use for practice, but nothing compares to doing real drawings.
By practicing drawing humans head on, you’ll be improving your drawing speed as well!
Many artists start by learning how to draw eyes, noses, and mouths first before moving onto other parts of the face such as shapes and proportions.
The same goes for studying body figures. By drawing lots of different positions and types of bodies, you’ll get better at it.
But remember, don’t worry about perfecting every small detail just yet! Chipping away at the surface level details is fine until you feel more confident in your drawing skills.
Overall appearance and shape are much more important than looking like a professional artist.
Learn to use color
Color is one of the most important tools in digital illustration. There are many ways to learn how to use colors effectively in art. One of the easiest ways to start learning about using color in drawing or painting is by studying basic shapes.
Basic shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles all contain their own internal structure that contains information about what kind of shape they are. This info can be used to determine the color of the shape, thus defining your palette!
By looking at repeated examples of these shapes, you will begin to recognize patterns in hue, value, and intensity.
Make a wish list of things you want to buy
It’s easy to get distracted by all the beautiful artwork out there, so it can be hard to know where to start investing in your drawing skills.
Start with something simple! We recommend trying some basic shapes like squares, triangles, circles, and rectangles. Then, add lines (stroke) to round off the shape.
After that, use a good quality text tool to create your own signature logo or illustration. You can also take inspiration from other artists’ logos for new ideas.
And don’t forget to save your work as JPG files so they will not lose any detail.
Make a list of your skills
It’s great to start digital illustration, but you have to be aware of what you already know before you can begin. You don’t want to dive in unless you are sure that you can handle all the steps needed to take good pictures and design beautiful images.
The first thing you need to do is make a list of your existing skills. These could include anything from creating graphics using Photoshop or other software, to drawing and painting, to writing.
By being familiar with at least one element of each part of this field, you will know how to combine them into something new. Starting off by learning only visual elements may limit your opportunities later if you can’t write well or knowledge of technology is limited.
