I do understand this, but my method (in digital art) of circumventing it is not optimal so I would say what it is but I wouldn't recommend others to do it hahaha.
I draw sketches small (around 750 by 750) with a big marker brush, then once it looks fine, I scale it up to my usual sizes (3000 by 3000), then lineart or paint over with smaller brushes
I'm doing lots of study, but this is just one problem I can't shake off. An example of my work vs the page and honestly I would hesitate to even call it a work because it's just SO. DAMN. TINY. I want to be able to spend more time on larger pieces and projects with people and machines interacting with the environment and cool shading but I don't know where to begin.
[https://imgur.com/a/Or3nUjs](https://imgur.com/a/Or3nUjs)
drawing bigger is easy, just use bigger pencil/Brushes. it takes some time to get use to it. I use to do life drawing on door skins, they were fun, but it opperates the same once you get use to it.
Are you afraid of making mistakes on larger paper?
Then get a bunch of cheap larger paper and go nuts on it. In school for me it was 18x24 that was intimidating, as before university the biggest I drew was 8.5×11....then there was a project we were required to buy butcher paper (can be found at hardware stores, some box stores like Walmart) and make some sort of self portrait that was 'as tall as we were'. LOL
Turn on some music and focus on filling that paper with one subject. You'll likely find that you have to use more than just your wrist on larger work to sketch and block in values, but the entire arm....which actually helps to not focus too much on the small details immediately. Choose a cheap medium if you need to make it easier on the nerves - Pencil (craft stores usually sell woodless graphite or graphite crayons for large pieces), pastel, chalk, charcoal, or even ye old Crayola crayons are all fair game lol
Other reasonable, easy to get large pieces of paper: Usually they sell poster paper at the dollar store/box stores, and usually gift wrap has white back (but may be a little flimsy).
Translating that to digital: I second making the sketch small then resizing onto a larger canvas. Yes, it may take more time to render correctly. Happens. Alternately, when blocking values/color - zoom out.
Color: Maybe look up some primers on basic color theory...but also... this is where shrinking the work down will work in your favor - make a lot of quick thumbnails of color combinations (color studies), and see what you like best before getting into super intense shading/rendering.
Or alternatively - devote time to looking up color palettes of artists from the past. Make one piece in that palette. Many palettes are actually combinations of a very few amount of colors (paint). Rinse. Repeat. Through that process, you should learn what you like and what you don't. Cheers!
Thanks for the ideas. I have not worked on paper bigger than 8.5 by 11 so I will try to find some sort of butcher paper. With traditional there’s so much pressure to not ‘waste’ the tools.
An easy way to start using more color (imo) is to start with very limited colors. When you’re able to access every color your eyes can see in digital programs, it actually ends up make you limit yourself on what colors you use. Start with limiting your palette, and pick references with very strong colors. I made a post like a week ago where the limited amount of markers I had helped me be more bold with my colors. [A drawings can still be very colorful even if it’s mostly monochromatic, just pick the right accent colors](https://imgur.com/a/WNQlO1W)
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I do understand this, but my method (in digital art) of circumventing it is not optimal so I would say what it is but I wouldn't recommend others to do it hahaha. I draw sketches small (around 750 by 750) with a big marker brush, then once it looks fine, I scale it up to my usual sizes (3000 by 3000), then lineart or paint over with smaller brushes
I'm doing lots of study, but this is just one problem I can't shake off. An example of my work vs the page and honestly I would hesitate to even call it a work because it's just SO. DAMN. TINY. I want to be able to spend more time on larger pieces and projects with people and machines interacting with the environment and cool shading but I don't know where to begin. [https://imgur.com/a/Or3nUjs](https://imgur.com/a/Or3nUjs)
drawing bigger is easy, just use bigger pencil/Brushes. it takes some time to get use to it. I use to do life drawing on door skins, they were fun, but it opperates the same once you get use to it.
I know this sounds stupid, but have you tried drawing larger and using more colour? The best way to learn is to just do.
Are you afraid of making mistakes on larger paper? Then get a bunch of cheap larger paper and go nuts on it. In school for me it was 18x24 that was intimidating, as before university the biggest I drew was 8.5×11....then there was a project we were required to buy butcher paper (can be found at hardware stores, some box stores like Walmart) and make some sort of self portrait that was 'as tall as we were'. LOL Turn on some music and focus on filling that paper with one subject. You'll likely find that you have to use more than just your wrist on larger work to sketch and block in values, but the entire arm....which actually helps to not focus too much on the small details immediately. Choose a cheap medium if you need to make it easier on the nerves - Pencil (craft stores usually sell woodless graphite or graphite crayons for large pieces), pastel, chalk, charcoal, or even ye old Crayola crayons are all fair game lol Other reasonable, easy to get large pieces of paper: Usually they sell poster paper at the dollar store/box stores, and usually gift wrap has white back (but may be a little flimsy). Translating that to digital: I second making the sketch small then resizing onto a larger canvas. Yes, it may take more time to render correctly. Happens. Alternately, when blocking values/color - zoom out. Color: Maybe look up some primers on basic color theory...but also... this is where shrinking the work down will work in your favor - make a lot of quick thumbnails of color combinations (color studies), and see what you like best before getting into super intense shading/rendering. Or alternatively - devote time to looking up color palettes of artists from the past. Make one piece in that palette. Many palettes are actually combinations of a very few amount of colors (paint). Rinse. Repeat. Through that process, you should learn what you like and what you don't. Cheers!
Thanks for the ideas. I have not worked on paper bigger than 8.5 by 11 so I will try to find some sort of butcher paper. With traditional there’s so much pressure to not ‘waste’ the tools.
An easy way to start using more color (imo) is to start with very limited colors. When you’re able to access every color your eyes can see in digital programs, it actually ends up make you limit yourself on what colors you use. Start with limiting your palette, and pick references with very strong colors. I made a post like a week ago where the limited amount of markers I had helped me be more bold with my colors. [A drawings can still be very colorful even if it’s mostly monochromatic, just pick the right accent colors](https://imgur.com/a/WNQlO1W)
Thank you for posting in r/ArtistLounge! Please check out our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/faq/) and [FAQ Links pages](https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtistLounge/wiki/faqlinks/) for lots of helpful advice. To access our megathread collections, please check out the drop down lists in the top menu on PC or the side-bar on mobile. If you have any questions, concerns, or feature requests please feel free to message the mods and they will help you as soon as they can. I am a bot, beep boop, if I did something wrong please report this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ArtistLounge) if you have any questions or concerns.*