Realistic painting / digital art training/tips

July 8, 2018 3:08 AM

I have an idea for illustrations I'd like to make but I would want them to be in a highly-detailed, realistic style. Can you recommend any resources to help me get better at that style?

I'm not a bad artist, but I'm not great either, definitely amateur. My style tends to be quite sketchy/loose, even abstract these days. But I've got some ideas I'd love to be able to bring to life, yet they just don't really fit my style. Can I change/develop/evolve my style? I doubt I'll have time/resources to go to external classes but online resource, book, general advice etc would be helpful.
I'm thinking these would probably be digital paintings. I have Photoshop and a Wacom tablet.

posted by KateViolet to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

If you're new to realistic drawing, try turning a photo upside down and copying it. If you're going to explore shading, you'll want to start simple - set up an egg and a light source and go at that. Afterwards, you can assemble a little stage of items with a light source that you can come back to repeatedly.

I think it's much easier to focus on learning when you work with physical materials. There's tactile feedback, no issues with hand/eye coordination, no lag, no clicking, no looking around to find menus.

If these ideas include people and if you'd rather not enroll in a course, I'll push you to at least attend some open life drawing classes. Seeing how other people handle the subject can be illuminating.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:35 AM on July 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Look at old masters like Titian, Michelangelo, or whomever appeals to you and copy their drawings. Look at lots and lots and lots of drawings. Make sure you know of the basic foundations of every drawing: lines, gesture, composition, values. With each drawing start loose and then get “tighter” and more detailed as you go. Look at the subject more than your own drawing as you draw. Join a community like wetcanvas to get critiques and encouragement. If you feel like it post your work here and we can let you know what you might want to improve on.
posted by shalom at 6:13 AM on July 8, 2018

If you don’t want to join an irl class, Lisa at Lachri Fine Art is a mostly-realistic artist with many free videos to watch on YouTube, and many helpful demos and discussions on her blog. She uses a variety of tools including colored pencil, graphite, acrylic, and oil.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is a perennial favorite book for improving our ability to see accurately.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 6:50 AM on July 8, 2018

Best answer: James Gurney wrote two excellent books on the subject, Imaginative Realism (2009), a book about drawing and painting things that don't exist, and Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter (2010)
posted by nickggully at 7:04 AM on July 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

creative bug Might have some sessions for you. I mostly look at the sewing stuff, but they have a wide variety of online classes/courses and really neat artists teaching the course.
posted by Swisstine at 11:06 AM on July 8, 2018

Best answer: Practice drawing in the style you want to develop, again and again. Don't stop when it's still loose. Realism takes a LOT more time, constant refinement, and lots of tiny marks and changes in value/color. Patience and practice are the main requirements. Use gridding if you have issues with scale/perspective/contour line accuracy. Consider doing some representational sculpture (sculpture really furthers drawing and painting abilities through improved understanding of form and three-dimensionality which not only affects the contour line but also understanding of value/color changes).
posted by vegartanipla at 12:03 PM on July 8, 2018

Best answer: Here are some web sites I frequent that have material that may be relevant:
Muddy Colors
Schoolism
Watts Atelier
Proko
posted by overeducated_alligator at 2:07 PM on July 8, 2018