r/ArtistLounge

I'll try to keep it short and to the point. I'm in the 4th year of a relationship. I'm an engineer but have an overwhelmingly active brain when it comes to creativity outside of work. I have a hobby shop in my garage where I do metalwork, woodwork, I make music, I draw, write. Nearly anything that involves creating or working with my hands I can easily pick up or find interest in. I arguable have too many hobbies, and too many projects going on at once. But it keeps me sane. I can't turn it off.

My girlfriend is quite the opposite. Her main hobby is reading fantasy books and browsing Tik-Tok for foodie stuff. Not really any interest in making anything or creative outlets. I slightly envy her ability to just...relax.

Deep down, It kind of kills me that she takes no interest in a creative outlet. I think I've just always wanted a partner to collaborate with, share projects, just understand the lifestyle and be inspired by whatever they are creating. A Muse of sorts.

Maybe, it's a me problem and I just need to learn to accept her for who she is and what she already brings to the relationship.

What is your dynamic like with your significant other? Are they also the Creative/Artistic type? or do you find yourself more in a balance of opposites?

I got a comment under a tiktok of mine of a lady saying she had a proposal. In DMS I asked her what it was and she said that she would be willing in to offer 15000 USD to sell my art as nfts and would be willing to give me a rundown of how it works. The accounts name was Luis with Spanish flag and another next to it. They have about 3 vids up all about being an entrepreneur or sum ish.

I know it's probably a scam but I want to be sure with smth so possibly large. How does this type of scam work does anybody know

I'm pretty sure my oc is engraved into their head, is this a form of torture, or are they okay? I feel bad it's like keeping a pet artist in a cage and forcing them to draw for you .

I'd love to make my art into keychain charms or acrylic stands so bad but don't have much money or know any way to make them. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd also like to sell them in the future when I get better.

Hello there! I would like to ask what kind of sketchbook i should buy? I recently bought my 24 miya himi gaouche paint set. I heard 150 gsm should be enough for gaouche paint? Need thoughts, thank you.

Hi!

Could you please recommend an appropriate masking fluid and any tips that come alongside using it? Preferably something that would work well whilst I use gouache paints? I’ve never used masking fluid before!

I make these illustrative gouache paintings and I want to paint the background to resemble space but don’t want to waste any materials or the time I’ve spent drawing.

Thank you🪐

I am just starting and I honestly thought that my very close circle would be supportive of my efforts. I’ve wanted to do art for my whole life and now that i finally have a chance to do it, it is challenging when my close people don’t even care or they don’t even comment and the only comment i got was from my twin sibling that it looks like child’s drawing. It feels lonely and i have no one to share my passion with and my process . I am a full time working in corporate ,mum with 2 kids and the time I have for art is very limited and for the time I have, I believe im doing amazingly good.

Hello, I've recently started oil painting and I really enjoy it. I want to buy professional Rembrandt oil paints and price isn't a huge deal for me; but everyone trying to dissuade me from buying them is making me feel bad about it.

The reason why I want to get professional oil paint is because I wanna enjoy the oil painting experience to the fullest.

Note: I've been painting digitally for years and I'm intermediate in overall fundamentals.

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I'm someone that loves versatility I wanna try each and every style. I've gotten decently good in realism with graphite and sometimes I want to draw via ink so when I draw the reference first as a sketch and that sketch is too accurate I become hesitant on whether to continue with graphite or just stay loyal to the original concept 😭. Does anyone else relate?

I’ve been following a specific fandom for quite a while now, but lately, I’ve been feeling really conflicted about my feed. ​Most of the artists in the community are genuinely nice people with immense passion for the characters. However, from a technical standpoint, their skills (anatomy, composition, color theory) are lacking.

As someone with a professional background in visual design, my eyes are highly sensitive to aesthetics. I care deeply about pure visual beauty, and it honestly drains my creative energy to see low-quality art cluttering my feed.

​I recently decided to unfollow several people—not because I dislike them as individuals, but because I simply cannot tolerate looking at poorly executed artwork anymore.

​Does anyone else strictly curate their feed based on artistic quality, even if the community itself is wholesome? How do you deal with prioritizing pure aesthetics over fandom passion?

For those of you who scan their art such as canvas paintings etc, what do you use to scan/ photograph your work? I am ready to invest in a scanner or whatever is needed but I am unsure what exactly I need for this. What do you guys use and what are the pros and cons? Thanks for any advice.

Recently, I've been mixing spray paint, acrylics, pen and acrylic ink, and Posca markers. It's been a lot of fun working in such different media that can be layered and interworked in ways I just hadn't experienced before.

My current beef, however, is with acrylic paint markers like Posca. The colors, at least those in the 24 pack I got, are washed out, like they're all mixed with white for opaqueness. They're inconsistent, finicky and limited in line variation. They have a lot of potential, but I'm just never as happy with the mark making as I am with other media.

What I want is something like an acrylic crayon. Is there anything like that that plays well with acrylics?

Wax Crayons, oil pastels and soft pastels all have binders that simply won't work with acrylics except as a final layer. I know that acrylics probably dry too quickly to work as something as soft as an oil pastel, but I hope there's something else I can use.

Despite drawing for myself (and my potential viewers), I realize that I don't want to work as an artist. I hate strict rules, I hate being bossed around, I hate deadlines, I get burned out easily, I hate constantly discussing my ideas with others or depend on others. I also heard that some people who turn art into their only source of income tend to lose passion because they perceive it as a necessity rather than something to do in free time. So I wonder how other people find comfort in creative jobs (animator, graphic designer) and how others combine job with hobbies.

As the title says, I did a piece in watercolor pencils and now I'm wondering whether I should list the media as watercolors or watercolor pencils. I feel like the pencils may fall into the "watercolor" category because I did, in fact, add water with a paintbrush and mix/paint with the colors that way. This is for an AP art piece but this is also just a question in general. What would you guys list? Why?

I feel like I don't have anything to draw. I haven't created a single OC for years, I don't have motivation to create OCs, I don't have motivation to draw my old OCs. So starting to draw fanarts felt like a good start to get into drawing again. I did. I created art accounts, gained likes and managed to get some good attention. But at some point I started to do art for likes, and not getting the same amount of attention to my every piece made me miserable lmao. I realized I need to put an end to it and I deleted all my art accounts.

I'm proud of myself to do that. But the damage was done. Whenever I try to draw my favorite characters I still have that anxiety to make it perfect so people will like it. Even though I won't share it. Whenever I try to draw a unpopular character I feel anxiety. I feel like I need to draw a well known character.

Those feelings making it impossible to draw. Any advice?

What I’m trying to plan out with drawing. I’m trying to draw a Kobold I’m making Named Rose.

She is a crimson scaled/feathered Kobold Scribe. She uses a bow staff. It’s mainly the head shape that’s confusing me. Well head shapes and pose ideas. I’m still fleshing out the character of Rose I’m just stuck.

Any ideas?

I like to paint a variety of skin tones put struggle to find a variety of skin tones. I currently know of POC poses, croquets cafe have some good models too. Do you also struggle with this?

I’ve checked out Bridgman, Andrew Loomis, Michael Hampton and other great artists books but I find them quite difficult, my goal is to find my own style but it’s more of a mix of manga and comic so I’m looking for an easier anatomy book, kinda like draw with Jazza or drawlikeasir but they don’t fully cover anatomy.

Are there any books you guys would recommend?

I am working on a mural & im thinking of drawing out some stencils to make sure everything is symmetrical and accurate. ( such as; circles & flower petals) For some reason im worried people will say my art is not valid because i used stencils or think i'm cheating. Does anyone have any opinions to offer on using stencils. & how do customers react?