Real Talk:

>>2991176
the mentioning of cgp
the sticky to a degree
las
and the d/ic/ky attitude

Ref threads are often pretty good, occasional tutorial threads, the book thread has been excellent. I got some decent answers from the QTDDTOT threads. I found some good blogs / got some followers from the self promo threads.

In terms of critique, no. I rarely got any when I posted my work, when I did a majority of it was very vague and not particularly useful.

>>2991176
To a certain point, then the usual trolls started to shitpost every time I posted something (turns out my shit is more recognizable than I thought) and now I only come here for the resources and some few threads, I feel I have become better at recognizing and fixing my own mistakes now that I don't post my wips here

>>2991176
/ic/ is a SJW of art

>>2991176
The stupid high standards in /beg/ are now mine and has helped me improved quite a lot.

>>2991176
Yeah it's definitely helped me improve.

Just by nature of it being a place I visit regularly which is geared toward my interests.

I am thinking about my art more, spending more time on it. Learning from others mistakes and my own.

Social media in general helps me improve since I never want to upload anything that's shit, but I do want people to see what I'm making, so I'm forced to work harder and polish stuff

/ic/ itself hasn't helped me but it makes me spend more of my day thinking about drawing, so that helps

>>2991176
Ironically, everything but the critiques are extremely useful, just to name a few
>tuts thread
>LAS
>cgpeers
>discussion in general
>exposition to a ton of artist I didn't know
Also, is the only place I found I could interact with people of "intermediate" skill and wanna be pros like myself.

>>2991176
Harsh critique in /beg/ helped me realize some of my grave errors in a very short span of time. Other feedback also helped me realize what I'm good at.
In /artbook/ there were some useful books that I didn't have.
And helping others made me happier, not to mention that I, too, learned some things from their work and finding the right sources to help them fix it.

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>tfw you realize /ic/'s negativity is also its strongest merit

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>>2991306
>intermediate

i only come here to get books and tutorials about drawing

the rest of the board is trash

>>2991176
Told me to go read the first few pages of loomis. Hasn't helped since, because I already hated myself enough to critique my own work honestly.

>>2991176
When people dump artbooks or videos and the sticky. Anything outside of a general is shitposting.

This board isn't any good for anything outside of that. Other than the occasional tip here and there, /ic/ is mainly for shitposting.

>>2991176
Got a lot of useful resources & read a bunch of very wise comments on art's journey.
If both things happened more often, this place would be like gold...

>>2991176
the book thread has been immensly useful to me
the mentioning of cgpeers
I posted in the progress thread and got some good feedback
I post in the beg thread and I get decent critique

that being said I don't think I've really improved all that much. But that's fault in my work ethic. I think since coming here I have a much more solid sense of what to do though. And I'm headed in a much better direction. Sometimes you guys can be really depressing though, and as an insecure depressing person myself I fall for it everytime. I find that when that happens I just need to distance myself from ic for a bit.

I think I'll stick around this place for a while more. It's kinda cozy

>>2991318

It's not, though. /ic/'s negativity is baby-tier negativity, it's shit-talk rather than scathing critique in a majority of cases. /ic/ loves the idea of being 'tough but honest' so much that they lay in so hard on being 'tough' that they forget to include the fucking difficult part of it to any significant degree, the critique.

No-nonsense critique that doesn't care about hurting your feelings is one thing, /ic/ generally lacks that and replaces it with venomous shitflinging.

>>2991765
>critique = it's shit
what more critique does one honestly need? there's a free book that goes in depth on nearly everything except for classical/traditional oil painting techniques.

Study first, read a book and take notes, actually practice, etc. THEN come for critique. if you didn't already figure out what you were struggling with by actually practicing, then you honestly didn't practice as hard as you thought.

You will almost never "get" anything right away. It CAN happen, but usually doesn't.
Your brain eventually just needs time to free up more RAM by making habits of the things you do constantly.

>No-nonsense critique that doesn't care about hurting your feelings is one thing, /ic/ generally lacks that and replaces it with venomous shitflinging.

It's a lot better than the parroted. padded out, useless, compliment-sandwich you'd get from the average delusional "intermediate" artist.
>it's really cool but you need more color zones love the backgrounds and the way you draw eyes OMG im soo jealous1!

>>2991318
/ic/'s negativity is one its weak points. How many times have you seen people shit on artists that are regularly selling commissions, or work in the industry because of /ic/'s ridiculously high standards?

I really think that attitude is holding some artists here back, because they are putting anatomy above everything else. A lot of artist here don't even get to the point where they seriously practice rendering. It's sad, because while anatomy is important, how an artist renders their drawings is what most people that view art care about.

so far no. i mean i got good advice but havent been implementing it yet. also ic doesnt provide what i want from an art community. i want friends who are atleast decent at art so we can motivate eachother to improve.

>>2991807
what book

>has /ic/ actually helped you to improve?
yes, I would say so.
although it's also a good place to procrastinate

>what parts were the most helpful to you?
prompted me to start learning perspective and drawing scenes from a plane/in boxes rather than just in space

..I've had one useful critique, but as others have said, for a board for artwork/critique, it's laughable how useless most of it is.

definitely the book thread has been fantastic.
also the one time I asked if anyone had a gumroad pdf, some anon actually bought it and shared it, bless you

other than that, gaining more art inspo, being encouraged to life draw more

/ic/ has helped me improve in a kind of roundabout way. I've found artists here I probably wouldn't have otherwise seen, downloaded lots of good reference pictures, kind anons have shared books and tutorials, and of course the ever-present knowledge that my very best work would be shit on mercilessly here is a sort of encouragement to get good so I can prove to all you bastards that I am too gonna make it.

love you guys

I've been floating around /ic/ for a couple of days now (just found out about this bored honestly) anons suck loomis' dick hard, for a reason though. I don't think the harshness in most critiques is all that beneficial to anyone. I mean, everyone starts somewhere and when you're working everyday to get better and better at it just to have someone shit all over you and go out of their way to be the least bit encouraging as possible is seriously a dick move.

That said, studying the fundamentals in art is really important and if you want to be a good artist you gotta understand how rules around you work. I understand the frustration of having to say that over and over and over because people think there are shortcuts, when there just isn't.

When i first started drawing a year and half ago, i sat down with my 70 dollar wacom tablet and photoshop and thought i could just whip some shit out, i failed, obviously.

My first fault was thinking that I could do this shit easily with no training and no studying when people who have been doing this shit for years and years and still struggle to understand the rules. It's basically a punch in the dangle bits to people who have been going hard on this for their whole life.

Anyways, I think the most helpful thing /ic/ does is draw over peoples mistakes and show them where/how they are messing up. Those tid-bits of real critque, you can't fucking beat that my dude.

The book thread helped a lot
I was introduced to Krenz Cushart's techniques through here and was able to get countless books without forking over a single dime

I hate how ambiguous both critiques and advice is here but complaining will usually start a fight so I just leave it alone.

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A piece of advice that helped me level up. My god I used to be so blind. Also two paintovers that anons gave me were a huge boost (I think it connects with you better because it's personal).

>>2992180
post work

>>2991176
Not really, i just come on here to feel better about myself because at least i'm not about to take an xacto knife to my wrist over not being able to draw perfectly.

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>>2992183
Left is the work he was talking about. Right is now

>>2992189
nice man!
how long between these 2 pieces?

>>2991176
helped me realize I'm not gonna make it.

>>2992206
The date on the advice that I saved says December of last year. So 5 months today. Kinda slow improvement in /ic/'s eyes but progress is progress...

>>2992180
Now this is actually good advice. It sounds harsh, but he states the problem and THEN tells them how to fix it.

>>2992221
I hear this is how /ic/ was like years ago. In myths.

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>>2992220
/ic/ really thinks this much improvement is slow for 5 months?

jesus wtf. So was it just that advice that helped you out? I suck at using reference and haven't figured out what to do to get better. Did you acutally do the grid like the advice said? did you squint? is taking off glasses and squinting almost the same?
I'd like to see improvement in half a year.

/ic/ is good for resources and the technical aspects.

It's shit for actual art. Creativity, design, expressiveness, and making something visually appealing is essentially unheard of.

Worse, the constant negative feedback will at most help those that are fueled by their own feelings of inadequacy and will simply drive others away from art for good.

>has /ic/ actually helped you to improve?
Some of the resources I found here + inspiration from the posted references. I have never gotten any sort of feedback that would translate into improvement.

>>2991840
all books

libgen bro

>>2991176
Im a lazy fuck but a natural
so yes , this board has helped just as motivation to start working on things like original style/your style
Its always better to to do than to not do

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>>2991176
i actually genuiely think /ic/ is the best inexclusive art board/forum. Every other one I've been on is a fucking hugbox. Most people that give crit here are severely critical (be it a good thing or not), and I think a lot of artists that come here NEED that. They need to get shat on to have contrast with what they probably get in real life (countless compliments for mediocre art). The no-bullshit attitude is nice.

...unless it comes to "meme" artists like Vetyr or something, and then it becomes a contest on who can eat the most ass.

>>2991176
In order:
Tearing my ass off first time I posted here
Loomis
LAS

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>>2991176
for me yes, not so much any actual critique but i do get to see artists and styles i wouldn't have cared about otherwise here, and also opinions about art which are like the opposite of my own which is a useful thing to see.

i also personally take heart in seeing the young people and the outsiders trying to make their lives better by learning how to draw anime cheesecake.

pic by craig mullins

Yeah. I'm self-taught and learned from /ic/ about the fundamentals, downloaded a shitload of books i wouldn't have been able to afford (and if it weren't for that i would know shit about proper anatomy and probably brushed off the need to learn perspective), also got way more critical about the quality of my work thanks to mean critique. where normies would praise my work, /ic/ would tear it apart... and they were right.

>>2991201
>high standards
>/beg/
choose one

>>2992267
i said this a while ago... its the ultimate place to train as an artist if you know how to handle it.

>>2992241
I didn't squint then. Instead (this might be a bad habit) I put my ref on a blur filter in photoshop. It's basically the same thing in the idea that it forces it into big blobs of color that are more easily handled.

>>2991176
Learned a shit ton from the artbooks I got on artbook threads.

>>2992180
Now THIS is what I call a good critique. It's to the point, it's helpful, and never gets personal. If I saw a lot more of these detailed critiques here instead of the Shitposting, I'd be a happy anon.

>>2991176
I improved a lot since I came to Ic. If not for the countless art books that can be found here, the straight to the point critiques and the advice that's usually given with them are great to decide what your next step should be in trying to improve. obviously /beg/ is a great way to start, but even after that, the other threads usually provide fun and creative ways to practice through stuff like "my style, your style" or the tower girls threads. These help in moments when you don't feel like just doing mind boggling studies and want something creative to spark that passion again.

>>2992316
>Stupidly high amounts of unnecessary rudeness while giving ''critique''
>meme answers 90% of the time

hugboxes aren't productive but neither are toxic waste dumps

>b-but people on /ic/ are different!
Most good artists lurk in the shadows and barely post, some people can give good critique but they can't really draw so they get stupidly salty when people give no fuck for their critique ( mostly because they probably worded themselves badly at first place ) and the rest majority are just shitposters who come here to vent their frustations

>>2992533
>Stupidly high amounts of unnecessary rudeness while giving ''critique''
desu this helped me become more thick-skinned. not everyone can handle being barraged with insults and memes, so if you can take it just to wait for that 1 useful critique, then at least it means you're not one of those over-sensitive like a lot of artists are.

I remember when I made my first post and it was torn apart. I was told that my drawing was utter shit, the colors looked like a corpse, and to just delete it because there was no helping it. I got so upset, it put me off from drawing for about a week. That was 2 years ago, and nowadays I wouldn't feel anything getting a comment like that, just ignore it and keep refreshing until something useful comes.

>>2991176
No. It's only made me procrastinate when I could have worked on my art instead.

I tried participating positively by giving and asking for critique but in the first case I got angry "post your work" responses despite only speaking up about subjects I was 100% sure about (and backing it up with sources) and in the second I got no meaningful critique whatsoever. I should really stop shitposting and leave.

>>2992557
Getting desensitized is awesome!...?
Wtf is with you...

>>2991176
There's a lot of people here on suicide watch that just want to let out frustrations. Drowns out a lot of the valuable tidbits of information and tips that are to be found.
There aren't many or any places where you can post art and get a new asshole ripped out. It's not for everyone. Personally I find it helpful.

ic stagnated and helped me at the same time

When i was 14 and discovered ic, i wish i had just look at loomis, bridgman, and vilppu as a reference and to still continue to upload work on tumblr to build a fanbase.

But instead, i gave up 4 years of my life doing stupid perspective exercises and copying loomis line by line.

So, now, after 4 years of wasting my life, i realize all those books ic rec'd me are supposed to just be references you look at for an hour a day, and not to dedicate 5 hours a day transcribing it for no one to see.

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its the only place to talk about art that isnt a safe space where peoples feelings done come before the art.

there are trolls on every site, just ignore the obvious b8 and its a place that inspires me when i dont feel like drawing.

It has helped me improve, oddly enough, by osmosis. As in, I'll see or read a few things on here, and when I next draw I try to keep them in mind.

The whole d/ic/kish attitude towards most art also helped, because normies don't really appreciate effort or originality, but seeing the people who post here gives me hope. So many idiots think art is "talent", some weird, fleeting concept, when in fact it's just another craft. One that you need tons of practice in.

One thing that fucked me over is the whole digital painting thing. I discovered I absolutely love it, it's like being a kid again - magical access to all the colours you can imagine, effects, brushes... but since I started waiting to buy a tablet, I pretty much stopped drawing. Only doodles here and there.

>>2991176
I learned nothing of art from /ic/, but a lot about wannabe artists, and I don't mean that in a negative way. But most people here are seeking self-validation, whether it be those posting art for critique or those who give critiques.

A good number of posters have convinced themselves that giving mean responses is contribution. Seems to me they are taking the easiest form of participation, without making themselves vulnerable in any way. But in the end it's mostly low-tier artists goading other low-tier artists, and building an odd camaraderie on shared anxiety and insecurity.

It's an endless cycle of hazing. I guess that builds motivation for some people, and that's good. But I really wouldn't suggest /ic/ as a site for learning, especially to beginners. For every one truly incisive critique or redline, there are 10 worthless amateurish critiques and 20 shitposts, and novices can't tell which is which.

>>2991318
There's good negativity and bad negativity. Tough love is a real thing but often times this board is just being venomous for the sake of it.

It certainly says something about the board when someone with hardly any skill feels compelled to give harsh critique that they themselves don't fully understand. Since they don't understand it, they can't even explain their reasoning properly so you get some pretty vapid posts on this board fairly often.

The wiki and beginner's guide are pretty damn good but they could do with an update. The book share thread is also excellent, although a lot of requests involve really tacky stuff.

Which leads me to the real point, which is that this board is terrible. I'm only popping in right now to see if someone got that Facial Anatomy for Sculptors book and this thread also caught my eye. It's a case of the blind leading the blind, and it's a very unsupportive and I would say outright toxic community. I'm not trying to be a wet blanket here, if this place motivates you then more power to you, but I don't know how you do it. It's really not a community that fosters learning.

If you want to improve, I suggest you get yourself to an art class or a sketching group. Or, fuck it, go out with a sketchbook and sketch people yourself.

>>2991176
not really

I found out about loomis long before /ic/ even existed and loomis is pretty much the only worthwhile thing I have seen this board say anyway

>>2992180
How would I apply this to linework drawings? laying shit in is a lot harder with a pencil.

>>2993676
>A good number of posters have convinced themselves that giving mean responses is contribution. Seems to me they are taking the easiest form of participation, without making themselves vulnerable in any way.

This is why you only trust critiques that redraw your work or redline it

>>2991306
This
I get more motivation from work that is just a notch over my level than i do from super high level stuff

>>2991176
Not really.
I just come here to shill my tumblr and patreon.
I haven't learned anything in my 6 years of lurking on this board. No one knows what they are talking about and all the talented people like thdark never even practiced the teaching methods of Loomis or any other meme teachers.

>>2991176
All that 'you're not gonna make it' shit made me make it, that's the only thing I've ever gained from /ic/. It was mainly jealousy that got me into art in the first place so the road to improving really kept me unhappy but it worked, so I guess I'm a masochist or something. At least I'm making big bucks, living alone, and enjoying the work from home lifestyle instead of becoming a depressed office drone. Those two hours driving a car getting stuck in traffic is nicely spent on vidya instead

>>2994350
You don't. A rendered piece and an entirely linework piece need two different mindsets.

>>2996114
Then how do I start doing lay ins for drawing from life? Utilizing a pencil, of course.

>>2991176
No.

This place is terrible for feedback as in not getting any. But it does have some funny stuff from time to time.

>>2994419
>This is why you only trust critiques that redraw your work or redline it

Looking at the current quality of redlines in those general threads, I would highly recommend against that.

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No, I really improve when i don't use the site. i only come on here when i don't feel like drawing to shitpost and help other people get better

>>2991176
the /ic/ law of returns:

The more you lurk here the worse your art will become

how it works:

Constantly stimulating yourself with bad art conditions you to think in terms of bad art. If your muse is shit so will be your work. If you don't believe this try going without /ic/ for an entire week, see if you make an improvement

>>2997520
Could you be specific with an example we can judge from or are you just bitching about being redlined?

>>2991180
>las

what do you mean by this? I don't understand

This board and it's people are shit, but I can give them credit for leading me to some good art books I bought.

>>2991176
/ic/ is shit and just about everything recommended here is shit. Especially loomis.

>>2991176
>tfw not listening to /ic/ unironically helped me improve

>>2997558
>are you just bitching about being redlined?
I take it from your defensiveness you're a redliner? Come on now.

Go look at those general threads right now, especially ones where redliners get into a pissing match redlining each other. If you can't see which ones are worthless, then you're proving my point.

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>>2997819
I almost come here just to see what NOT to do these days.

Not in the least.

Having to do good work so I could pay my rent and not be homeless helped much more.

>>2997868

I was being specific about you while you were bitching about everyone who redlines. It seems like you have a personal grudge and the only way you could insult that one anon is to insult everyone.

I'm not going to watch through all threads to find redlines but I'm having a hard time believing they all suck. (It's been years since I last redlined anything, since you are curious.)

The only thing your attitude leads to is that no new people will start redlining.

>>2999646
It's the opposite. I don't have a grudge, that's why I don't feel the need to call anyone out.

You're the one who accused me about having some personal ulterior motive in a thread where we are just being real.

If you don't have the time to go check things out, why the fuck are you here calling people out?

>>2991176
the sticky, it gave me a road to follow because I didn't where to start as a beginner.

>>2999690
It's hard for you to play saint when you started out by bitching at a random group of anons.

>>2999707
I started by saying that there is a high ratio of bad posts to good posts, such that a beginner would have a hard time distinguishing them. If you think that's bitching, you need either better reading comprehension and logic skills, or a thicker skin.

I'm not playing a saint, I'm just responding specifically to your stupidity and strawmen.