Break Free from Bad Digital Art Habits with These Proven Strategies!

[@bionicloaf]

it took many many hours and even a good 6 months of working in procreate to realize i needed to focus less on details and also to never use the straight line function. you're spot on here

[@chris-piascik]

In the scheme of things, 6 months isn’t too bad! I made mistakes for years and years.

[@TheMockatiel]

I spent a year down this rabbit hole before realizing I wasn’t producing art … I was crystallizing perfectionism and the inability to ever finish anything. Started to feel ragey and depressed. The straight line feature made everything else i rendered look sloppy and the endless undo function meant I could go back and fix that… right? 😂 Picked up a sketch pad and artist pencils for the first time in 10 years, now have a hand drawn comic series online for the first time ever 😂🎉 Thanks Procreate!

[@dianalisarobinson3714]

The explanation of pixels , inches, resolution and dpi … is so helpful 😊

[@chris-piascik]

Oh cool, I’m glad!

[@TheMockatiel]

7:00 dang that whole pixels / inches / dpi thing was crazy - kinda vital info that rarely gets explained- 🙏

[@adriancarb]

Appreciate these kind of videos!

[@KeeptheFlow_SM]

Zooming out is one of those tips that I think applies to all sorts of creative work. As a composer I can get way too hung up on one bar when in the context of the whole composition it makes little to no difference. Making detailed changes to one aspect of any creation can throw the work out of balance. Great tip!

[@edmundsgn111]

8:55 I agree.. I used to take vectors over to Photoshop and blurred them a little to soften up my illustrations. It kinda worked most of the time :) ps: ill definitely apply the zoom out trick the next time im drawing in pixels thanks for sharing :)

[@sylviehart]

Thanks so much for this! It’s definitely food for thought. I like mixing some stuff but it’s smart to think of the focus. Always a good reminder to hear it out loud.

[@kitsinclair675]

Super helpful tips thanks Chris!! Thinking of a minimum brush size and your unpacking of resolution are big takeaways for me. Thanks for helping my brain!

[@Vanitasmortedigital]

Chris,as a digital artist of many years,this was a great video,I did the same thing eith yhe brushes I use most,and the zoom our,zoom in is definitly something really getting into the habit of doing as you are working. (Matt) P s many programmes allow you to customize your digital workspace to suit how you work,this is something I recommend doing as well

[@projectambr]

Love these kinds of videos. Thanks Chris!

[@chris-piascik]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bethortman27]

This is great, thank you! Your idea of a "locked brush size" is great. I do the same... it would be cool if you could lock it in the UI as an option/feature.

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks! Yeah that would be a helpful thing.

[@ClarePatrick-Creative]

This was so helpful. Thank you for making this video.

[@adriennepriceart]

I think another good tip is to flip the canvas horizontally to see if there's something "wrong". Sometimes I open my phone camera and look at it through that lens also, as a way to see it as another person

[@chris-piascik]

Ah yeah that’s a great one.

[@jotajotasaval2853]

Thank you brother

[@Lovely_lulu_]

thank you

[@chris-piascik]

No problem!

[@ElvinoMovies]

merci pour le tutoriel 💜

[@naohumilde]

Nice tips ! thx!

[@chris-piascik]

Glad you found them helpful!

[@WayneThePoet]

Gah! Great site Chris, wish I’d run into your site a couple years ago. But totally off topic: what Wacom pen model do you use? And, can you import images (even photos) into your drawing program to combine with an illustration or to use as reference to draw over? I swear I looked through your other videos!

[@scranman5330]

Your tips have been very helpful! I illustrated two kids books for clients last year using an iPad pro w/Fresco, and the transition has been kinda rough. I recently settled on 2-3 brushes to work with going forward. I've probably made every mistake you mentioned here, but hey...progress I guess 😂

[@chris-piascik]

There’s definitely a learning curve! Glad my tips have been helpful!

[@FL85106]

I've been working with vector most of the time and sometimes I get fed up with manipulating control points and twisting the bezier curves. It tends to loose the tactile vibe you have with pixel brushes. Maybe I should upgrage to Adobe Fresco and draw vectors with the Apple pencil instead.

[@AussieFigment]

“You can’t have as much pressure sensitivity when there aren’t as many pixels there to… accept that… brush… you need more dots.” This. This is basically how I speak when someone new to digital art asks me a question about why a thing works the way it does, and I’m trying to figure out how to word it so they’ll understand! 😂😂😂

[@TILB]

Do you have a skateboard file that show's the full screen/where the "bleeds" would be? I found a photoshop file but it's tiny. Would love to see an example of one that's "actual size" or at least hte best way to design for it in actual size. Thanks if so.

[@ShortRedCat]

Hey Chris is there a reason why you don't have a brand logo introduction to your youtube videos?

[@IgnorantGang]

I worked on one illustration for a month and finally finished it. However, many other drawings were left unfinished because I got lost in the details and ended up burnt out. I want to switch my profession and become an illustrator, but I find it hard to stop working on a drawing until it completely satisfies me. I feel like I’m unable to be productive.

[@chris-piascik]

I know I mention the daily drawing thing a lot, but for me it really helped to give myself a hard deadline. And also take the pressure off. I didn’t feel like it needed to be perfect because I knew I’d make something else tomorrow.

[@Mihailo_55]

13:14 reminds me of those creepy hyper realistic movies in early 2000's like Garfield movie

[@chris-piascik]

Haha yeah def

[@FilomenaJackStudio]

Yup! The "we need vector" thing is almost always wrong :)

[@utmostkibbles9125]

being overwhelmed by brushes hit me hard early on lol. I wish there were better tools for brush organization. I have like 3000 brushes for tons of different things, but it's difficult organizing and culling them using Photoshop's and CSP's rudimentary tools. I want like an entire brush organizer suite :p

[@chris-piascik]

Yeah it’s cool there’s so many, but definitely can be a lot to deal with. I found Photoshop to be pretty straight forward for making groups and folders though.

[@utmostkibbles9125]

@@chris-piascik for sure - it's really more of a tedious situation for me, now, give how many brushes I randomly downloaded in mega packs over the past 15 years or so that I still need to vet haha... I'm addicted to collecting them T__T

[@ravizzle]

One of the tips AngryMikko gave, which you kind of said, was your entire painting (or illustration) shouldn't be detailed. You allude to detail, but make the painting focused where you want the viewer to focus and add the detail there. I did this on one painting of an eagle. I put a LOT of detail into the Eagle since it was the focus, and not as much detail into the background. I just tested it, and it's one of my top-viewed artworks on Facebook, lol.

[@chris-piascik]

👍👍👍

[@RebNoFunArt]

Thank you! I was designing a beer can and they were requiring vector, even though the can is the only thing it will be used for, and I'm like why do you need vector for a 2.5 inch wide design? 😂

[@chris-piascik]

Haha yeah. The other issue is sometimes they want vector so they have the ability to do whatever they want with it in the future which isn’t ideal for illustrators that charge based on usage.

[@art512-i5i]

I'm guilty of all the mentioned things ... but I'm a newbie.

[@chris-piascik]

I certainly was at the beginning too.

[@erdegora]

Zoom in zoom out and sometimes not even need 😅 just looks crazy like me 😂

[@MikeAndDawnGineseMusic]

Did you see the cool animated ADHD ad previous to your vid? I think you might have created it. 😂😎🎵💜

[@chris-piascik]

Hah no I haven’t seen that one

[@VernardNuncioFields]

Explain the artistic decision of combining so many art styles in The Amazing World of Gumball. It works somehow. What are your thoughts?

[@TarotUpsidedown]

finn mckenty found a new grift? digital art mba.

[@chris-piascik]

I don't know what that means but thanks for the comment!

[@TarotUpsidedown]

@ finn mckenty was a youtuber known as the "punk rock mba" talked about music- had a background in marketing. he came out a few months ago saying he was going to end his channel because he ultimately isnt that interested in music and he met his financial goals. the latter fact really upset a lot of people so they labeled him a "grifter". personally, i enjoyed much of his efforts and i dont believe him when he says he never really cared about music... i admire him as a youtuber that helped me realize a lot about the music i listen to- even if his opinions seemed to be engineered in a way that deliberately contrived disagreement. anyways, you look like him. yall share more than a small resemblance in aesthetic.

[@chris-piascik]

Oh ok, so what’s my grift? What am I trying to rip people off with here?

[@TarotUpsidedown]

@@chris-piascik being the personality i see you are- i know for certain that me saying you look like the guy i mentioned is the only point i have, and that isnt lost on you.

[@scurvyport]

I'm gonna make bad art now just to spite you for that awkward stammering. If you're gonna shit on peoples' lack of technical skills, do it with more confidence than a nervous tween.

[@chris-piascik]

lol, when did I shit on people’s lack of skills? I have ADHD I lose my train of thought, instead of hyper editing I like to leave in my mix-ups or highlight them for fun because it makes me laugh. Thanks for your comment!

[@-The-Golden-God-]

That's the most unhinged comment that I've seen in a while 😵‍💫