How do YOU practice?

[Puck]

I practice way more than doing finished drawings.
I did a lot gesture drawings, for a while I did 100 every day.
The last thing I did was perspective practice after breakfast, I have some simple forms
at my breakfast table and I draw them from all angles.
I used to have a practice sheet I did every day from memory. One standing figures for proportions,
hands, simple forms in perspective and so on.
Gesture drawing and perspective are the 2 most important practice routines that I had.
Proportions were really messed up in my drawings and I filled many sketchbooks just with
the 8 head proportions until I became better at it.

It makes sense to split the week in different training units, monday heads, tuesday torsos and
so on. It´s a good way to get better

[GloamingCat]

I... don't lol. At least, not "inbetween doing finished works and comic panels". My finished drawings are my practice, I'd say.
I guess that's why my illustrations look so random and inconsistent

[Jenny-Toons]

I don't draw every day, so that's a start. I give my mind time to process and give my body time to energy. Most of my improvement came when I didn't force myself to draw every day.

I also improved my work by experimenting with different mediums. I see-saw between traditional and digital, though it all comes back to my comics. For traditional stuff, it's mostly art concepts and comic sketches. I apply what I learned with digital art to this medium. For digital stuff, it's mostly all of my comic steps. But I still apply what I learned with traditional here, especially when it comes to panel arrangement.

I do some gesture shots, but I've mostly learned how to do better character concept work by referencing images and breaking them down. I also find images that are flexible and flowing in motion rather than dynamic. Understanding the human body is chill and all, but for what I do, I need more than that. I need to see the body in motion. I need to see it with its flaws and humanity.

My practicing isn't everyday, and it's off-beat. It often happens when I'm interested in learning something new or need it for a comic scene. Maybe I ever get inspired by someone else and go "hmm, how can I apply that to what I do?" Just being relaxed about it helped me get better throughout the years.

[mickpaulusma]

I love gesture drawings.

[migxmeg]

Every day (no exceptions): low key sketch at the breakfast table. We're planning for our next project, so it's a good time to work out ideas for that, but as long as I do something with the pencil for 15-45 minutes, it's whatever I feel like!

Twice per week (most weeks): panel study from someone else's comic. Great way to try new things and engage with other work.

Then there's comic work, which itself is practice.

[elyss]

Currently stuck in the writing stages again, but when I did draw, my warm up was either requests from my spouse of her OCs or doodles of my characters. I'd also do some monotonous wrist warm ups like drawing circles and lines.

[Rhonder]

If there's a specific area that I want to target, then I try to find time to sit down and just draw a bunch of the thing and do some studies. I recently did this with both arms and legs, for example. Trace several, sketch several, trace over some muscle diagrams, etc.

I don't do much general practice, although I probably should. I'm in the camp of people that looks at the projects I'm doing at this stage in my creator journey as "practice projects" so I try to just look at the whole process of making my comic as practice of sorts.

That said I've recently tried to get back into doing some gesture drawing warm ups and have been thinking about trying some of those wrist warm ups that an earlier reply mentioned as well (lines, circles, line weight control/variation, etc. )

[MeltingCORE]

I also do gesture drawings but other than that, I kinda just go with the flow. And my flow usually ends up with me drawing almost every day anyways lol! With writing, I do write every day around noon for a bit. More rigid with that.

[arxianfall]

2 comics, 1 book, keeping up with actually being an extreme sports athlete and filming that, Social media work so I become relevant enough to get a tip one day,
I literally don't have time to practice!

[Black_Conscious]

tbh I just do whatever and if it looks good than I go with it

[ble]

Mostly it happens when i see a great art someone else made, and i try my absurd intent to copy it, to maybe learn some of their techniques or something, then what i made always results 10x times worse than what i was trying to copy, but i guess i learn some stuff from doing it.

[rajillustration]

My practice routine is making my comic, actually. The other things I do tend to be a lot more detailed and particular. The comic is more streamlined, I can kinda go into autopilot, and just...focus on bits at a time.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I draw something every day. Even if it's only a quick sketch.
I'm the kind of person who only gets better by grinding day in and day out. When I take a day off it's really rare and I always feel ashamed for being lazy xD

[Jophiel]

Not as much as I'd like to tbh I am dealing with mostly other creative/art-related stuff often so I don't have much energy to draw for myself at times. Idk i just found for myself that the last thing i'd think after doing something art-related is "Man, i wanna draw again". I just draw and go.

[Eiranyx]

Since I'm doing comics, I'm drawing everyday so I guess that's practice itself? however, I sketch it all digitally to save time so I guess not really(?)... but when I draw in between breaks from doing my comic, I usually practice by drawing on paper to catch up on my traditional drawing skills using different mediums like watercolor, ink painting(like those sumi and gongbi painting) -- I recently got hooked on it btw, its so relaxing~ ^^ , acrylic painting ,markers, and of course the usual pencil sketches.

[Rhonder]

however, I sketch it all digitally to save time so I guess not really(?)

Nah, definitely really Digital drawing still counts as practice for sure!

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

Right now I get a lot of practice in by drawing my fursona in different scenarios. Right now I’m practicing facial expressions by drawing a big ref sheet with lots of different emotes. Having a dedicated character that represents me is a great motivator for practicing different poses etc.

[Kiweevil]

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[Puck]

I don´t want to open a new topic in the forum but maybe someone reads my question here.
How do you guys practice writing? Is there any good practice for that besides "just write"?

[Kiweevil]

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