HOW do you practice better?

[DokiDokiTsuna]

So a common response to the advice 'draw every day' or 'just draw more' is to explain that constant work is not actually as valuable purposeful study. If you want to get better at art, it's better to spend your time specifically on things that will actually make you better..

But what are those things...? ^^; Very few people ever explain that far.

I'm asking for myself as well as to spark discussion...you see, I was one of those 'gifted kids' for whom things just 'clicked' 90% of the time (I'm sure some of you can relate). So I don't really know how to study. Like, at all. ^^;

As I grew up and fewer and fewer things 'clicked', this got me into trouble at school (college was hell...) but even now that I am free from the prison of academia, I still don't know how to study. And I'm an artist in multiple forms of media. 6_6;

The other day I actually was trying to study something, and I collected a bunch of reference pics that had the 'energy' I was looking for. I was all ready to analyze them and copy them and figure out what I was missing in my art...and then things 'clicked', and I was like...welp. =/
Now not only did I waste time and file space finding and organizing those pictures, I'm not even sure what I learned from them. I 'get' it now, but I could hardly explain it to anyone else, and if I forget it in the future, I wouldn't know how to get it back. >_<

And it was at that point I decided, "there has to be a better way". So that's what this topic is for.

[feuersichel]

In my case I learn best, when I'm in one of those "down" phases. You know, the drawing you really loved just weeks ago and now, the nose looks off or the collors are all over the place. Those times, although are kinda depressing, helped me tremendous to find my next focuspoints. Then I usually get a "super- awesome-my-art-is-the-best"- phase. Until I get back down and see a new problem to improve on.

[_calm]

How to study or practice better?
I didn't know people did that. Naw just kidding.

I just watch a lot of how to videos especially with regards to concepts that I struggle with such as perspective and such. Its much better than you think and will help you in the long run.

Now, as I'm working on my comic, I just use physical everyday things to help me draw specific things so that I'm not wasting too much time. In the past something I found incredibly helpful was I legit just made my own how to draw book based on things that I wanted to learn. This was when I was first beginning but it helped keep it in my mind as I attempted to explain to my future self exactly what I was doing and drawing in the book. It's like a different way of taking notes for class.

That is the better way in my opinion what y'all got?

[igneriss]

For me what worked the best was figuring out what I don't like in my arts and practise different ways to improve it. Not 'just draw more', but 'draw more with a specific goal in mind'.
In my case, I felt that my drawings were really boring. I started practising perspective, various angles and composition types, which already made it better, and once I got okay with it I started paying more attention to backgrounds are details.
Now I want to step back from drawings with complicated perspective & details, and figure out how to make static drawings less boring. Probably with colours, but that's still something I want to experiment with : D

[Aleksei]

as @_calm has said before, I also go through a lot of videos, and try to apply what they teach. If that doesn't suit me, then try another video. I keep doing that until I catch a technique that really helps me improve my art. I also have others helpers. For body reference I go to image search, or...

...I use this little buddy here...

Also try to check different learning sites, like Domestika and if any course catch my eye, I go for it. Some are good, others not much, but anyway you might learn something.
Finally, I try to learn in a pace. As I add some things to my drawings, I keep doing it until I have it already on my brain engraved, and then I see in what other area I can advance. If I try to do to much to soon, I would just collapse.

As a result, I have...

...this to show.

Those are my tips.
Hope you find them useful =D

[SeraphicMayin]

I don't think collecting the refs was a waste of time.

As someone who hasn't done classical "studying" of art for like years, I can safely say that all things you look at, if you're really paying attention is a form of passive studying. The brain is always processing things when you don't realize it. That's why drawing every day actually works as a form of improving what your brain knows. IT's also why just looking and observing other images, good content, etc also helps you improve. But it's so small and in the background it doesn't feel like you've learned something 'major.' Even so it adds up.

But when it comes to improving at something you don't know, That's where deliberate practice comes in. Deliberate Practice is a good thing to look into a as method of improving at some specific thing ; as opposed to repetitive practice, which can be mindless repetition and not very directed at a goal of improving something specific; often it's just vaguely about 'getting better'.

Imo, all studying is is defining where you are ignorant then going out to learn what you know you don't know--and in so doing find out more of what you don't know, and so on. Sometimes you have to re-learn how to study or change the way you study, and that's all part of the process too.

The way I see it, 'spending time on things that will make you better' is just honing in on what you don't do well and going out to find resources that teach that particular thing. Outside of schooling, the way to learn is haphazard with lots of dead ends, weird leaps, and a TON of experimentation that can feel like a waste of time but you end up learning from it anyway if it's done in earnest. You're in charge basically of your own curriculum.

And of course there comes a point where you have to get out of study mode and just finish creating the thing you intended to create because isn't that what the practice and study is for? I still believe you do just get better at drawing...by drawing, focused study or not.

It's probably not a useful answer, but as indie creators we really are responsible for figuring out the best way for ourselves. What worked for me is Deliberate Practice, which is systematic and purposeful and has the kind of structure I personally need to stay focused. My goals were never just 'get better at art' it was usually "get better at drawing the muscles of the back and nothing else today". Break to pieces, then put it back together. Then put that all to the side and create something, finish it, THEN do some study to fill in areas I lacked.

[LCT_m_a_d]

The key for me is just to start focusing on organic skills. These are small skillsets specific to projects I'm actively working on, or wondering about. As opposed to general drawing studies. Sometimes people learn the fundamentals of something and thing "Where do I learn the advanced fundamentals". Instead of learning how to make better use of the fundamentals (which is actually the next step to improving).

I think at some point, learning (is supposed to) look and feel completely different than art/drawing foundational studies. In place is experimental development and making things you couldn't make without foundational skills.

For me instead of doing drawing studies like I did for years in art school, I've just been studying about specific Art history theories that follow my art progression. 80% of problems don't "require" art history. Just drawing techniques are sufficient. However, once you get past the fundamentals you aren't dealing with that 80% anymore so you have to explore the little things, or things unique to you as an individual.

[rajillustration]

Everyone learns a different way. Me, I'm a kinesthetic learner and I also like to follow a plan I make myself. It means I have to take notes to learn, or physically do the thing that I need to learn. So, I keep journals to see how my goals are coming along. What I work on in my own art practice is directly related to my long-term goals, and that gives me the plan of what, when, and how I should be practicing.

[Kaydreamer]

I'm also a 'quick study' - it doesn't take me very long to get an artistic or musical skill to a serviceable level - if I'm focused on it. So these methods of practising I use may not work for everyone, but they definitely help me.

Burst Practice: I'll practice a new skill in 10-minute 'bursts' over a number of days. This is really helpful when you're time-starved! If I'm learning a new song on piano, every couple of hours I'll go play it in a loop for 10 minutes. If I'm trying to draw hands better, I'll draw one from reference following that same pattern.

Short-term Intense Practice: This is focusing a substantial amount of time every day over a few weeks to pull a skill from a poor to a decent level. When I decided to switch careers into illustration, one major point of weakness I had was backgrounds. So I dedicated two weeks to digitally painting one landscape a day. After that two weeks was up, I was waaaay better at backgrounds, to the point where I'd go out of my way to include them in my regular work from then on.