How to Art When You're Bad at Art
 

How to ART When You're Bad at ART; A List Compiled by an Amateur

Hello and welcome to my portfolio thread. Let me make very clear that all I claim to be is someone who enjoys mucking around creatively. I lay no claim to being good at anything. In fact, I'm sort of shy about sharing because it's just 'goofing around' for me, but some very lovely SSers have shown an interest and encouragement and, honestly, I can't take their bullying anymore. (Looking at you, Kath).

I'll be sharing some things I've been working on, and also some tips on how to flex creatively when you have absolutely no skill to do so.

So. Be kind, and be sure to visit often and wave at me, because I love to wave back.

Lessons

• Lesson 1
• Lesson 2
• Lesson 3
• Lesson 4
• Lesson 5
• Lesson 6
• Lesson 7
• Lesson 8
• Lesson 9
• Lesson 10
• Lesson 11
• Lesson 12
• Lesson 13
• Lesson 14
• Lesson 15
• Lesson 16
• Lesson 17
• Lesson 18
• Lesson 19
• Lesson 20
• Lesson 21
• Lesson 22
• Lesson 23
• Lesson 24
• Lesson 25
• Lesson 26
• Lesson 27
• Lesson 28
• Lesson 29
• Lesson 30
• Lesson 31
• Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria
• Andorra, Angola, Antigua
• Argentina, Armenia, Australia
• Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas
• Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados
• Belarus, Belgium, Belize
• Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia
• Bosnia Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil
• Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso
• Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia
• Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic
• Chad, Chile, China
• Columbia, Comores, Congo (Democratic Republic of the)
• Congo (Republic of the), Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire
• Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus
• Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti
• Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor
• Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia
• Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji
• Finland, France, Gabon
• The Gambia, Georgia, Germany
• Ghana, Greece, Grenada
• Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana, Haiti, Honduras
• Hungary, Iceland, India
• Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland
• Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan
• Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati
• N. Korea, S. Korea, Kosovo, Kuwait
• Kyrgzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon
• Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein
• Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia
• Malawi, Maldive, Mali, Malta
• Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico
• Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia
• Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar
• Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands
• New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria
• North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan
• Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay
• Peru, Philipines, Poland, Portugal
• Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda
• Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa
• San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal
• Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore
• Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia
• South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan
• South Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland
• Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania
• Thailand, Tibet, Togo, Tonga
• Trinidad & Tobogo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan
• Tuvaru, Uganda, Ukraine, UAE
• United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam
• Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
• I don't know what I'm doing with this list anymore
• GET YOUR FREE BOOKMARKS
• More and more bookmarks

EEEEEEEEP! YOU FINALLY DID IT AND I AM SO HAPPY :sprinkleslove:

Welcome to the Couture Closet, Ern :glomp:

Psssh. I'm pretty sure you're not at all bad. It's just your imagination. I can't wait to see all the pretties! :woot:

Lesson 1: When in doubt, fill it out.



No, for real. Some people are minimalists. I love minimalism. I do not love it in doodle-art (sometimes known as zen tangles). This is obviously taken from a page in a notebook, completed over time in meetings and over phone calls. When I didn't like what I was doing or didn't think something looked the way I wanted, I just hid it amid a bunch of other details.

Also, in some mediums, just paint over the darn thing. Erasers are good too.

But I prefer a hundred things to see to one poorly executed one.

Ooooooooooooh, I love this, Ern! Beautiful! :glomp: So excited for you to have a portfolio here! :loved:

Oh my gosh, this is gorgeous. I love zentangles. Nice work!

I literally never knew that these things had a name...so I learned something. Love this when you first showed it to me and still love it now. I've personally never done one of these myself but...I'm curious now!

FIRST OF ALL i'm so excited about this portfolio thread. ALSO you know how much i love your doodlebop zen tangle pages. and if you forgot how much i love them. it's a whole lot. i'm a big fan. i could stare at them all day EVERY CORNER IS DIFFERENT they are v pleasing to the eye. big fan. 10/10

Zentanglleeeee :loved:

I used to sit and do these all the time. If I'm doing something like this, my brain seems to listen better... never understood it but I always loved these and yours is beautifulll.

You should make this a printable coloring sheet Nern

OHMYGOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Firstly, I LOVE that you have a portfolio thread! THIS IS SO EXCITING!

And secondly, that zentangle design is so beautiful holy crap! I'm in awe of that level of detailing. Honestly, it just makes me want to keep looking at it forever

Also, I agree with Tegan about making it a printable colouring sheet

THANKS, RORO. Stop back again soon and realize I have no talent for anything at all!

Aren't they so fun? Thank you thank you!

I think it's one of those terms that can be loosely used for any doodling you may want to do on a mass scale. You should doodle some doodles with your fancy new markers!

Hello, small and lovely one. Your kind words are very much appreciated. Please do stare all day and tell me what things you discover in the depths of the doodleydoos.

You should do them again! It's such a good way to detach from your brain.

I have no idea how to do that, but by all means... anyone who wants to color is welcome to do so. <3

Scan it and gimme it I'll make it colourable for u fren

Lesson 2: Materials matter.



I love a good ink pen. Good roll, smooth ink distribution without being overly wet, and NOT scratchy. You can tell from this doodle where I couldn't find one of my 'good' pens and had to use a regular ink pen a few times - ick. It makes all the difference, doesn't it?

I'm still in search of the perfect pen, so if you have some suggestions for me... I'm all ears! (Eyes? Fingers?)

You are ridiculous. OBVIOUSLY you have talent. You're the one and only Ern-la, the wizard behind the curtain! :whaa:

Also, my faaaaaaaaavorite pens are Papermate Flair. I love all the colors they come in, and I also like them in black. I guard them with my life and buy them off amazon at the start of every school year.

that little robot in the bottom right is my fav :whaa:

AShhhh <3 I love that Bwahahaha XD And your name and that flooweeerrr <3

Lesson 3: Materials don't matter.



In a direct contradiction to HOW MUCH I LOVE A GOOD PEN, I want to talk about my art journal (also I'm so shy about sharing these so like... be nice). I've been seeing those repurposed book art journals on Pinterest, and it looked like FUN. When I discovered a stack of old Reader's Digest condensed books with pretty covers and boring stories, it seemed like serendipity. And then nothing nothing nothing, because I wanted to read every tutorial and find the right supplies and prep the book and...

In spite of those tutorials and buying gesso and prepping pages (ugh, so time consuming), I didn't start to enjoy the process until I stopped trying to find the right materials and the right inspiration and just have fun. Plus I got to destroy a LOT of magazines in the process.

"We are stardust with people names"

*sits and sobs in a corner* oh mannnn. This is gorgeous <3

I KNOW, RIGHT? It's a paraphrase from a Nikita Gill poem that I love.

"We have calcium in our bones, iron in our veins, carbon in our souls, and nitrogen in our brains. 93 percent stardust, with souls made of flames, we are all just stars that have people names."

I love these SO much Ern :sprinklelove: thank you so much for sharing. I'm like...super keen on giving this a go but it feels so DAUNTING to me for some reason and I don't think I could even begin to express why :lmao:

what are like...5 tips or tricks you would give a novice like me to get into this sort of thing?

I'm thinking of maybe taking a peek at the used goods store next time I can go out and check out their used books

Hey, fren! You're so good at encouraging and kind words. I appreciate you so much <3

The tips and tricks are my lessons in this THREAD, silly. Which is mostly just 'use what you've got' and 'don't let your own brain intimidate you'. I'm not sure if that's what you mean, but it's what helps me.

Lesson 4: I actually just want to show you this thing.



Okay, hi, I learned to cross stitch when I was a baby because my mom and grandma did it... and then relearned a year or so ago when my friend got me a cross stitch kit. I'm super proud of this little guy, because I found the pattern for free on Pinterest and made it using floss I already had... so it felt like a perfect quarantine project. Anyway, please enjoy this commercial break.

he's so sassy

Ahhh. He's awesome! I love the colours you had for him :loved:

mannn. I haven't cross stitched in years... The backs used to always end up looking like spagetti junction haha.

There's a lot of expression in those little stitches, huh?

Trust me, the back of this puppy is a knotted mess. I read someone say that the back should look as good as the front... I have never succeeded at that. But thanks for your love <3


Lesson 5: This is his little friend



I'm completing 'minis' during quarantine, and this is my second project done. I'll show some of my bigger things at some point, and I promise to get back to doodle works SOON.

Also, YES THOSE ARE MY FEET.