Morning Warmup and a Few Tips

Mornin' everybody. Just thought I'd show you the warmups I do in the morning. VERY rough sketches, but they help to work out those kinks. I believe strongly that an artist needs to "warm up" before he or she gets down to business. Warm ups help to loosen up the hands and sharpen the mind... and keep it sharp! You gotsta practice everyday, like an athlete who stretches and takes practice shots before a game. I usually spend about an 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours on random, not pleasing to the eye sketches before I get serious.

Here are some helpful tips when warming up and Drawing:

1. GET COMFY. Trust me on this. You won't want to draw if you're not comfortable. Find a happy spot and position, and get to it!

2. BE LOOSE. Don't worry too much about the style when you're warming up. Just concentrate on the form. You're just trying to exercise your hands and mind.

3. TAKE YOUR TIME. This applies to the post-warmup.... when you're actually working on a piece. Don't expect it to look like a full on Marvel comic in the first few hours, or even days. Take time on your work, keep a good pace. Most of my drawings take about 10 hours to draw, another 5 or so to ink, then another million to color. So don't feel bad if your piece doesn't turn out right in the first 5 minutes. Which brings me to my next point...

4. HAVE FUN!!! That really is a litle harder some days than others, but it's a key factor in producing good stuff. I do have my bad days, but most of the time it's because I try to get right to a finish line when I haven't even started. Out on some music, a movie, watch some youtube vids... whatever! Just have fun doing what you're doing. Otherwise, it's just plain ol' work.

I'm gonna get on every week to post some more art advice, and I have promised a few tutorials, so expect those as well. Stay tuned! and subscribe to the blog to get updates n stuff.

Thanks for reading... peace!

- Dayne