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My friend in Chicago said my art was 'too clean' and it clicked
I was showing him a new piece I made in Procreate, a detailed portrait, and he pointed out how every line was perfect but felt stiff. He told me, 'Try a brush that smudges on purpose, like Kyle's Gouache pack, and leave some sketch lines in.' I've been trying to make everything polished for so long, but maybe showing the process makes it more real? Has anyone else had a moment where a messy or rough style actually worked better?
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barbarahill2mo ago
Isn't that true for most things, though?
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price.tyler2mo ago
I read an article about how Pixar leaves in some rough animation tests on purpose, like in the movie Soul. It makes the art feel more alive, like you can see the hand of the artist. That's what @michael895 is getting at with messy sketches. My own stuff used to look so overworked until I forced myself to stop cleaning up every single stray pencil mark. Now the lines have some energy, and it doesn't look like it was made by a robot.
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