My cousin said my art looked 'too clean' and it made me pause

He was talking about my last Procreate piece, saying the perfect linework felt a bit cold. Anyone else get feedback that made you shift your style a bit?

4 comments

4 Comments

luna_wright1mo ago

My friend had this happen with her tattoo flash sheets. She was so good at making these perfect, sharp designs that they started to look like clip art. Someone told her to try drawing with her non-dominant hand for the first sketch. The lines were all shaky and weird, but when she cleaned it up, the soul of that messy first try was still there. Her art got this cool, energetic vibe that was missing before. It totally changed how she works now.

michaeltorres1mo ago

Wait, drawing with your other hand? That's wild.

taylorshah1mo ago

Got that exact comment on a comic panel once. Try turning off streamline for a bit, it forces you to draw with your whole arm and leaves those little wobbles that feel human. Sometimes I'll do the linework on paper, take a photo, and trace it in Procreate just to keep that messy energy. It's a hard habit to break but the "flaws" end up giving your art way more life.

betty_kelly925d ago

Honestly this whole thing reminds me of how we want everything to be perfect and smooth these days. Like I noticed people started buying those round toothpicks instead of the flat ones because they look cleaner, but the flat ones actually work better for picking up food. We sand down all the rough edges in our art and our lives and then wonder why nothing feels real anymore.