8 Things Artists Shouldn't Do But Probably Still Do

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There are a lot of things we know as artists that we shouldn't do but still probably do them. I know I am guilty of a lot of these 8 mistakes myself. Here are 8 things you shouldn't do as an artist and why they could be holding your drawings back from improving.
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[@JamieBoots]

To prevent smudging your work the best thing you can put under your hand is glassine paper it’s used for interleaving and is designed to protect artwork. This Is much better than just using a sheet of paper as this will still smudge. Glassine is relatively inexpensive as it's only about 40 - 50p a sheet. Also if you want to get dark tone from graphite, paper is what really makes the difference so I always recommend St Cuthbert Saunders waterford. Hope this is also helpful.

[@Blick_Art]

So well said! Life is too short to just use #2 writing pencils for drawing- there's a full range of value available if you just have the right tools! Drawing pencils are so affordable and long-lasting, it's one high quality art material that's within the budget of any artist.

[@mjpete27]

Hullo Kirsty, I have enjoyed watching your videos for quite some time! You are so inspirational and you have never shown bad techniques. You are truly appreciated and I am glad that you are creating more content. You have a tremendous library of videos and so many wonderful videos, Thank you! I hope you are enjoying your new regimen and being with your family. I hope you are able to continue to create new content, I know that it can feel repetitive, but your a wonderful instructor. Please take care, be safe and enjoy your day.

[@CuriosityRocks]

I recommend that if you’re a user of markers or colour pencils that a mechanical pencil and kneadable eraser is what you need, you can make really light lines which are easy to erase and adjust.

[@skylarwarren2496]

2H pencil saved my life when it came down to the sketch.

[@yumanol]

I plead guilty. For the last year the majority of my artworks were inks, with few exceptions. In my defence though I must say that I was not staying in the comfort zone but rather grinding to get to the zone where I can finally feel comfortable. And I did it! Very recently. And now I should probably focus on something new, like colour theory.

[@Bassbarbie]

I'm hating the sketching and loving the shading too. I spent forever yesterday sketching a dog. I'm so pleased because I seem to have the proportions correct, but I'm finding it's hard to commit to the shading now 🤣 ... what's more it's from an iPhone photo ha ha!

[@Haideraliahmedsart]

It’s been a long time. Where have you been?

[@KartikSharma-jo5vg]

Yeah

[@Marcelasvideos]

and she’s not even back, she only posts when she wants more money, if you join her paid curse, she doesn’t respond to any questions you have, even though you are paying for her teaching service. They are pre recorded videos and she’s trying to make money with 5 year old videos

[@RifsArt]

A while ago she explained why she’s less active on KZbin etc.

[@mokomadz]

@@Marcelasvideosbro chill…

[@abby2674]

​@Marcelasvideos then why are you here?

[@brianvanderspuy4514]

My problem has always been that I simply cannot see whether my sketch is accurate or not. It is only once the drawing has reached the point of no return when I begin to notice errors. :-)

[@platoschauvet]

one thing you can do is take a picture, so often I notice issues once I take a picture. If you're drawing directly from reference, turning your drawing and reference upside down can help. Also leaving it and coming back later can help, but that's not always practical

[@cuongluong8984]

If you like to see your drawing and don't want to use a piece of paper to cover your drawing. I personally use a sheet of clear binding cover. It's reusable and easy to clean. Hope this helps someone.

[@Aqs-sketch]

Hii Kirsty,I am glad that you are back

[@user-cw7bk8wv2y]

Thank you Kirsty ! Olen juuri tälläisessa iässä, eli tarvitsen taidetta ja se tuntuu olevan hyvin terapeuttista. Aiheesi oli todella hyvä ja voimia päiviisi! Maire Suomesta.

[@dianeo]

This is my biggest artistic hurdle --> 8:50 ! You need to push through those bad drawings in order to reach a higher level of skill, but oh, can that be painful!

[@cynthiamarston2208]

Agree. I allow my failures (learning experiences) to discourage me more than half the time. I tend to be all,or nothing. Even in relationships and stuff

[@lionelcosgrove9877]

The best drawing tutorials you could wish for ❤ Thank you very much

[@Shilo2020]

As a hobby photographer and artist, I totally get focusing on your subject with a blurred background that you achieve in using the F3 aperature range where you get a shallower depth of field. It's a good way to get rid of a messy background as in bird or flower photography or any subject that you are focusing on. I need to get back to more drawing using some of my images. I love your videos!

[@jillhatcher8619]

Thank you so much for for this great video,, Kirsty! You are so knowledgeable, skilled and helpful!!

[@trodat07]

I wasted most of my teen years using HB pencils because I thought it was the right thing to use. It took me a while to understand it's not intended for smooth artistic drawing.

[@StevenDempseyArtist]

Excellent set of tips. It’s hard to inject new life into this kind of topic but your presentation made it sound fresh.

[@joemomma7]

Wax paper under your hand. There are digital gloves that I wear even without it being actually digital, one of my gloves I got wax paper fabricated on it. It's perfect, for me anyways

[@elisabethherzog9369]

I have one of those gloves and I don’t even do any digital, I got it just for the purpose of not smudging. It really works great.

[@PursuingHeaven]

You can be too dependent on the reference photo. How many of the masters had their subjects the entire time? And no synthetic light was available at the time, how did they figure out their values? Studying light and how it realistically falls is a key element to progressing as an artist. Creating realistic shadows is about observation of real life and if all we ever do is look at a photo we may improve in some skills but its not going to advance us far. There are apps that can fix a photo if you really must have that, but learning to fill in the pieces is part of the process.

[@JavierAlbertos]

Thanks for your advices😊

[@gunteshver]

It really helped thanks 😊.....so happy to see ur new video 😀 ,I was waiting ...

[@emeraldqueen1994]

My last 5 drawings were all original character portraits, but each character was a different species

[@KArtandCraft]

Such a wonderful sharing 😊

[@tajwaradil9846]

Hi kirsty i love your art so much keep up the awesome work

[@sandeepkumar-gr5fn]

Nice to see you again

[@simplyDanesha]

You are so talented!!!

[@RyRyDKing1234]

thank god you are back.i am improving in my art.

[@sunnaarnadottir5384]

Here's a take I haven't heard anyone else mention before but I noticed how every one of these I don't do is because of things like adhd or ocd, for example I can't just keep drawing the same things over and over or stay in the same medium too long or I'll get bored because that's just how adhd works. It's nice these things finally come in handy for something. I have to admit I still do some of these though

[@GraemeTroutCatcher]

Thankyou , i am quite heavy handed and messy, this might help me tidy up my technique . Last pastel drawing i tried was using metalic pastels doing a kingfisher bird. I couldn't get detail and was a hot mess. I do remember tho different drafts can make a masterpiece

[@DirkOhde]

Glad that you are back again, Kirsty .... as your are one of my favourite artists here on KZbin. Please keep up your good work and thank you very much for all your tips which really helped me a lot with.my own drrawings. 😊

[@scenepunk09]

Another i think would be storing finished artwork improperly. Tempting because u may be in a hurry, trying to tidy things up and fit in a small place or u do not want to buy an expensive portfolio bag or box.

[@troygoggans5495]

Two things I have found that improved my sketches is lighting, day light through a window is best, and start with a outline started by using proportions to match the subjects I am not much at portraits but sketching a animal I start by drawing by drawing Two or three circles to get the basic body to head proportions.

[@okuhlenojiyeaza9962]

Thank You🙏

[@jimcorbett3764]

Good advice- I find myself doing these things.

[@charlotteboy6783]

Rushing the Sketch is a major thing for me. I've found splitting the sketching step and the "rendering" step into separate sessions. Ill say "I'm only sketching today" and then go back and decide which sketch to render the next time I want to do art.

[@unimaginative_artist]

Blending with a micro fiber cloth now and will never go back

[@sricharcoalworks]

Back 😅...you look beautiful 😉 nice tips.. Awaiting more...😊😍

[@tatumtate]

use HB because you dont want to sharpen a 2B every 2 minutes..

[@sarahb.6475]

I drew a field of tiger lilies, a winter scene of a street, a study if 2 types of trees (oak + locust), some mythological creatures and a campfire scene with 3 people. Its all good practice.

[@yasminehsan727]

Your videos are great. I enjoy it a lot when watching it. What do you think about using makeup instead of pan pastels 🙂✨

[@DavidWilson-me6bs]

Excellent vidieo of what not to do. 99% of the time I use Clip Studio Paint and the one thing that stuck me in this discussion was the 'comfy slippers' part. I've got my work flow for Sketching or painting. Each project I start is the same as previous, so the pencils are the same shade as before and I very rarely go very dark - just more opacity. which is not the same, so I'm not experimenting. Thank for the nudge and sharing. 👍

[@bdmgallery]

Love your contents

[@laurakopu8970]

Thank you for great advice, Kirsty!! What is that pen eraser you use in the video? Thank you

[@brianedwards7142]

I made a bridge to go over my paper. It's pretty rough, just 2 short pieces of floorboard screwed at each end of a long one that reaches right over a sheet of A3 paper but even putting paper under your hand can smudge graphite and rubbing a graphite impregnated paper all over the place does no good.

[@scamp7887]

If you want to see the full drawing couldn't you use a thin piece of clear acrylic to rest your hand?

[@c.c3375]

Even though I think most of these are more common with artists specializing in realism, I still relate quite a few of them!

[@mikepolo2887]

I would agree and disagree with the first point. It is true that bad references yield suboptimal results, but low resolution does not make the reference bad unless you are aiming for hyper realism. What makes references really problematic are things like short focal length, bad lighting (loss of detail in shadows and/or highlights). But these issues are far more difficult to solve than just resolution.

[@bessiecorrell]

Hi there so gland that you have uploaded again,can you upload more

[@ana_maria9946]

You are amazing

[@vaishnaviartofficial8774]

Hello ma'am you are such a great artist 🥰🥰 and I from India

[@angilinajensen3088]

Thank you I am guilty of all these.

[@SevenDeMagnus]

Coo, thanks Kirsty- extreme skills. I found the most buttery smooth graphite pencil by the way :-) (thanks to another KZbinr). What's your most buttery smooth writing and/or drawing instrument? God bless you.

[@ryanolaughlin2556]

The HB pencil is so great for practicing different tonal ranges, but unless you're trying to add to it with watercolor or something like that, a softer, darker pencil is going to produce a better sense of depth and contrast, as this video demonstrates. I'd recommend the HB pencil for small sketchbooks, though, as they aren't as smudgy in a book that opens and closes.

[@paulwoodford1984]

Or compromise and use a 2b and get a little more depth but still have that nice ability of erasing the lines. But i quite like the HB look over the darker depth of tone.

[@mehashi]

Slightly misleading on one point. You can go as dark with an HB as you can with a 14B. You just have to layer more, or press harder. To be clear for a learner - the B's are not darker graphite, they are just softer. Working on big areas it makes sense to use the softer pencil, you will fill the area to the proper tone faster. Where you need finer detail those softer pencil tips really suck though. You can make half a stroke and the tip is blunted and your line widens. A harder pencil will maintain a finer tip, and you can simply work and rework the line. You will still be able to get to your darkest value.

[@opart]

you cannot go as dark with HP as you go with 14B, no matter how much you try. Although you probably can make a hole in your paper )

[@mehashi]

@@opart You can only go as dark as the graphite within the binder, which is the same in all grades of pencil. The difference is in the amount of binder, or the consistency of the binder. You can indeed get to 100% graphite coverage with an HB pencil. It's not even difficult, you can test this yourself right now. The only way to get darker than graphite is to start putting charcoal or other additives into the mix.

[@opart]

​@@mehashi you are talking theory, but in practice it is all very different. No matter how much you go over the same spot, clay binder is also mixed in into the stroke, and it does not magically disappear, leaving "100% graphite" coverage. Also, by the time you think you'll achieve the darkness of 14B with your HB your paper will be in shambles. Main point though is that this video is pointless. The only way to get good is to stop copying bad photos, and start analyzing what is being drawn. Drawing from photos is the last thing a beginner should be doing.

[@saranevillerogueart9627]

That was a good photo

[@Exsecrabilis]

-07/02/2023 @ 0931- I'm trying to practice drawing with my hand hovering over the paper.

[@shanamoens822]

Hi, Kirsty or anyone who can answer this question. I am very interested in the Colored pencil Academy course, but I don't see anywhere what pencils should be used. In the FAQ it says that you mention in the course which 12 pencils we can buy, but then I already would have to buy the course. I recently purchased the 120 Polychromos set which cost me a lot of money already. So I would like to follow a course that can be done with these pencils. Thank you for reading!

[@mohanpoondii1988]

beautiful 😍😍 kids lovely family all the best

[@dudemcmuffing1954]

where have you been glad your back t

[@primulusart]

Ouh I always forget to do something under my hand

[@Saad_Drawings]

There is an update on WhatsApp photo quality options: You can now send the HD quality of any picture simply after choosing a photo and go on the top icons and choose HD+.

[@joeblankenship377]

Nothing wrong with finger blending if you're drawing for the enjoyment of drawing.

[@opart]

All these tips are for copying photographs, and the main tip should've been... don't call yourself an "artist".

[@benjman]

What paper do you use for your portraits?

[@rajansanghera6490]

@Kirsty Partridge Art Hello Kirsty! I was wondering, could you do a drawing tutorial on Lionel Messi please!!

[@Nashmum]

Like that eraser doing the dots - does anyone know what type it is?

[@abby2674]

It looks like an AFMAT electric eraser, they're great!

[@sarahb.6475]

My last 5 drawings were of different things...

[@icantchooseaname6903]

OMG HIIIIII LOVE YO VIDS

[@Bergerons_Review]

Blue pencil and no eraser. That's how you learn to draw.

[@KODIAK-ij4yg]

I went straight to the comment section😂😂😂

[@abby2674]

There's lots of angry, jealous people that follow her. I don't know why they're here if they are so easily offended

[@KODIAK-ij4yg]

​@abby2674 Well, the Art Community are a Funky Bunch...🤣🤣🤣

[@LeadandInkArt]

Sometimes you don't realize your proportions are off til it's half shaded...

[@user-iy4it6wq7e]

😊😊😊😊❤❤

[@stevelawrence4722]

I would like to send you some drawings for you to correct. . I’m no artist. I just do it to relax. I live alone, except for my dog and cat. I’m not sure how to send you something? I have an old I phone my sister gave me . I know this sounds ridiculous but I’m serious. I have an email if that works?

[@brannonmcclure6970]

Hi cutie. You got impeccable skill.🏇🧑‍🎨🙏🏻

[@cizbasa1987]

Aaah, but what if.....what if your hands are dry as a bone because you've got extremely dry skin? Haha. I'm just trying to find myself an excuse....😬😬

[@Caltemp80]

Anyone else think she looks like Thea from Arrow?

[@knob-xeno]

Ive been fighting hard with those blurred whatsaap photos

[@theladyofheaven4366]

hii

[@DroDro3]

No its just that hb pencils are cheap and everywhere whereas 14B are really hard to get

[@jacksonbarton9013]

I think it’s honestly sad nowadays that so many artist rely on just recreating things and drawing off a reference and can’t create anything from their imagination. I never use reference and prefer fantasy art.

[@kashiomi_art]

I don't think there are things that artists *shouldn't* do. Art is subjective and all of the things you mentioned can work well in certain circumstances. Most of your advice works best for realism, but there are far more art out there. That's why there are artists that still do those things, because there's no one to stop them. This video ended up being mildly annoying, because i had an itch to object all the time. I should really stop clicking these "if you are an artist, never do this!" clickbait videos

[@godlinejoelie]

Hi girl you said I'm join family feud group game on Roblox and I'm poor in Roblox please help me

[@mkatakm]

The biggest mistake is to use a pencil. I got my lesson and now I am using a camera. Much better results.

[@skitkatis4666]

To much talking but you are very good artist 👍

[@noellapresents6315]

Whoo! I'm the 178th person who liked this video!❤🎉

[@Exsecrabilis]

-07/02/2023 @ 0930- 🤔🤨🤔

[@power-oe7tr]

I just trace my drawing

[@ladyethyme]

Wb

[@saranevillerogueart9627]

Drarring

[@vermis8344]

"Just lower your expectations" Is that what we should tell the client, too? 🤔

[@loati94]

You should tell the client you can't do a piece with a poor quality reference photo, for starters.

[@angela_tarantulas]

No, but you can tell them, that it’s not possible to get a very sharp detailed drawing from a low quality photo.

[@garrytrinh3062]

Don't aim for realism, life's too short. Problem solved.

[@donnaleroy1717]

Everyone has their own need and style and what they enjoy

[@paulareilly912]

I needed that, thank you ❤

[@Phoebe-gt7ur]

I totally agree, I have ended up actually hating doing art because I’m trying for realism, where I was much more loose and free when I was younger, until a narcissistic boyfriend said, “But it’s not very real looking,”! So I thought, “I’ll show you real!!” and I’ve been stuck and blocked for years as a result, hating it to the point I stopped altogether!! I’m now learning ink and wash to see how I get on…

[@mmmmsandwich9723]

I do freestyle realism using charcoal. I also draw mostly without any reference.

[@ericsart6474]

Tip number 9. Draw from life, not photographs.

[@abby2674]

Tip #10, do what makes you happy.

[@royall358]

Life is also too short to not enjoy these mistakes.

[@joelando1559]

I don't normally do this but my goodness you're beautiful.

[@blackimp4987]

by the cover pic I thought you were suggesting not usign Faber Castel but only Staedtler instead. I love both so I was wondering why ... then I realized you were talking about the mine width

[@casscamden740]

heres one you shouldnt do the stupid angle switching when making tutorial videos theyre annoyimg & do not help

[@PropsOutProductions]

Should have titled it "8 tips for replicating photos" because realistic replications of photos ain't fuckin' art, they express nothing, they have all the artistic merit of a coloring book.

[@ivmara9987]

Well, I'm using a transparent ruler📏