Old Geezers United...Support group for late bloomers.

[TheOxMan No.3874604]

36 here and I’ve been drawing since last year. Been seeing a bit of talk about older guys/gals getting into drawing, art, lewds and whatnot. Figured we could have a spot to post, chat and exchange.

I’ve been focusing a lot on proportions and lightning/shading the last few months. I’m having problems with facial expressions and figuring out what my style is among other things.

What do you guys use? Im on the iPad Pro with the apple pen using Procreate, Autodesk and affiliate photo. But I’ve read the other topic about the Wacom products and they seem interesting but I’ve never used professional products like that.

All in all I’m just loving this creative process and seeing improvements are always a great thiting.

Any older folks out there who recently jumped into this stuff?

[Anonymous No.3874608]

Has anyone that has literally never drawn before the age of 30 "made it" (reached a high skill in drawing)?

[Anonymous No.3874611]

Whenever I try searching for examples of late learning artists I just tons of results of 21 year olds asking if its too late and then I get mad.

[Anonymous No.3874617]

>>3874604
>>3874608
i mean what do you consider a high skill ceiling? it only takes a few years to grasp the foundations of representational art at a solid level. maybe i'm naive, but art isn't really something with any kind of ceiling as far as age goes. your commitments might be different than mine & your taste is probably more developed, but falling short of arthritis and dementia, the barriers don't really change. you still probably have the majority of you life left, so disqualifying yourself from building skills at 30 or even 40 seems very limiting
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFpdJsIG1UM

[Anonymous No.3874618]

>>3874604
I'm not "just jumping in" by any means, but am turning 30 this year and pretty amateur still due to lack of practice/applied effort.
Not quite who you're looking for, sorry.

Mainly use a Intuos 3 6x8 and Photoshop. Would like to try Corel Painter more seriously but the software lags.

Have been focusing on sketch drawings from reference, mostly of people, my major weak spot

[TheOxMan No.3874624]

>>3874617
Well said

I watched that video you posted and when he said “when I was 70 I REALLY got into working out” that really got me. lol good shit right there.

[TheOxMan No.3874628]

>>3874618
Ya I’ve heard wonderful things about photoshop and I’ve heard it’s coming to iPad so I might check that out when it drops.

[Anonymous No.3874682]

Might as well make this a regular thread called /old/?

[Anonymous No.3874685]

>>3874682
I'd like an /old/ thread, personally.

[Anonymous No.3874735]

I just hit 28 in March.. I can't even draw often because of wrist issues.. I might have to become a leftie if this doesn't get better..

[Anonymous No.3874744]

>>3874735
30 here.
I don't have wrist pain even though I'm the pencil mover, but my wife used to have CTS pain.
She does this routinely:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/67t5js/suffering_from_wrist_pain_or_carpal_tunnel/

Other than that she uses Ice packs for soothing the pain and dip her hands in hot water at night for therapy.

Took her +-2 years for the pain to disappear completely.

[Anonymous No.3874749]

>>3874608
You can probably get to a point where you're happy with your art. I am 31 and started in 2013 and I thought it was too late but I'm happy now.
I completely gave up on being a professional though.

[Anonymous No.3874861]

>>3874608
Never drawn is a hard criteria but Masakazu Katsura took drawing "seriously" in his 30s for what it's worth.

[Anonymous No.3874929]

>>3874608
I drew some in my teens and picked it up more seriously in fits and spurts thoughout my early 20s so I'm not irredeemably terrible, but I don't feel like I put in more than a year worth of consistent drawing up to this point. I'm 29 and decided to get consistent for a year or two and see where it goes. It's been like 5 months and I've already seen major improvement just drawing what I want regularly and busting my ass with gesture and proportion. I'm not all that good now but I can see how to get there and what it takes.

>>3874861
>Never drawn is a hard criteria
This is the problem. You can't make a claim about hard criteria like that. I think that the only thing having some fundamentals and history drawing shows is that you like doing it and can theoretically improve.

[Anonymous No.3874937]

>>3874604
What is the lower age limit for /old/?

[Anonymous No.3874944]

>>3874937
maybe 26 or something, late twenties/early 30s is old for /ic/ since most of /ic/ is late teens/early 20s

[Anonymous No.3874945]

>>3874604
I'm 18 hehehe

[Anonymous No.3874946]

>>3874944
Nice, then I made the cut. I do feel old when I'm here even though 26 isn't old in the real world.

[Anonymous No.3874958]

>>3874929
I will say that with some skills you either have them or you don't and drawing early on is a sort of self selection for being able to draw well. I'm not saying that if you never drew before---you won't be able to draw, but that you have to dabble to know what it's about and if you have the aptitude for it. There is a large percentage of people who flunk out of art early into it for very similar reasons to flunking out of college.

>>3874937
25 is when the brain finally finishes maturing.

[Anonymous No.3874981]

>>3874944
I'm 48.
You lot are mere babes.

[Anonymous No.3874983]

>>3874981
D-Dad!?

[Anonymous No.3874984]

>>3874981
choke me daddy
h
o
k
e

m
e

d
a
d
d
y

[Anonymous No.3874991]

This "old" shit is a millennial meme. To be fair though, the young have been giving shit to their elders ever since we started viewing youth as the ultimate pinnacle of human achievement instead of looking up to the learned, experienced seniors. The only thing the young have over the old is a physical beauty that is rapidly diminishing. A 20 something has no more potential than someone 30-90 when it comes to art.

[Anonymous No.3874992]

>>3874984
Why are all the men I want to fuck are in their mid-40s

[Anonymous No.3874994]

>>3874983
>>3874984
Nope, I'm your mom.

[Anonymous No.3874997]

>>3874992
You've got more than your fundies to work on.

[Anonymous No.3874998]

>>3874994
PLEASE DON'T BE A TRANNY PLEASE DON'T BE A TRANNY

[Anonymous No.3874999]

>>3874994
Mommy milkies!

[Anonymous No.3875003]

>>3874994
Damnit Mom how did you know I am here?

[Anonymous No.3875012]

30 here. Just getting into it over the past few months. Have more recently trying to figure out what medium would be suitable to add color to my stuff.

Have tried oil pastels and coloring pencils. The former seems too imprecise and the latter doesn't blend well/at all. Paint seems too messy (wife does acrylic.) Guess I should try hard pastels or just go digital.

[Anonymous No.3875016]

>>3874998
Don't think I am
>>3874999
Indeed. Nice gets.
>>3875003
I always know what you're doing.

[TheOxMan No.3875054]

>>3875012
Go digital. I did about 4 months ago and It’s great. You can “technically” work in multiple mediums. Clean and unlimited “paint”

[TheOxMan No.3875100]

How often do you guys draw? Since I’ve got my iPad I’ve been easily knocking out 4 hours a day and the weekend it’s all I really do. And now that I don’t start my new job till June 1st, all my free time gets dumped into drawing, reading on here, looking up tutorials and stuff. I’ve really been diving in. Lol I feel like my grandpa who got into fly fishing after he retrired. He went from basic minimal dock fishing to converting a whole room to it where he would make his own lewrs and building custom poles.

[Anonymous No.3875105]

>>3875100
Pretty much the same here, day every day and all day on weekends. I'm between jobs right now so I'm trying to get enough material together that I can advertise for commissions. I don't need the money to live but it would be nice to be doing something productive with my time.

[TheOxMan No.3875111]

>>3875105

Ya I’m fine money wise too which is great. But I’ve never once thought about doing commissions, I’m soul motivation is the fun of it. But if I ever got good enough where someone wanted to pay me for stuff I’d happily do it lol.

You don’t think practicing for the sake of practice is “productive”?

[Anonymous No.3875119]

>>3875111
No, practicing just to have fun or improve yourself is productive too. But for myself, I'm pretty goal-oriented so I like to have clear benchmarks to work towards. If I just practice I tend to lose motivation/direction pretty easily, especially if it's an area of art where I improve slowly.

[Anonymous No.3875130]

>>3875100
Like an hour or two most days right now. Same feeling about the iPad, makes fucking around for hours easy.

[TheOxMan No.3875136]

>>3875130
Seriously the truth. I sit on the couch or lay in bed, watch TV with this thing and next thing you know I’m halfway though a season of Signfeild and my hand hurts.

[Anonymous No.3875140]

>>3874604
29 here, started in October and stopped in December, just picking it back up again recently, I know im not oldold but I still feel like a late starter just due to how many teens/college/uni students are posting there shit, and some good tutorials being made by people younger than me.

>>3874735
I started back in October and had to periodically stop because of wrist pain, i found that taking more breaks and using a compression glove and a massage ball helped a lot, I think its just because I haven't even used a pen in so many years for anything more than ticking boxes on forms I need to build the muscles back up

>>3875100
Not huge amounts at the moment, Ive mainly been going through tonnes of resources and taking screenshots to refer back to later so i dont have to sit and flick through hours of footage again to find the things that are relevant when i need them, Its also helped to see the bigger picture, even in my little sketches and mini-attempts at some of the stuff shown I can see large jumps in progress, its also doing wonders for my motivation as things really seem attainable

[Anonymous No.3875153]

>>3875140
>had to periodically stop because of wrist pain
You're probably squeezing your pencil too hard, plus over usage of computer mouse.

[Anonymous No.3875163]

Painted and drew in my mid 20's and stopped around 25 to get my life together. Turned 40 last year and started back again. I don't think I'll ever be a professional, but it was really something that I missed.

[Anonymous No.3875165]

>>3875153
It was fine with pencil and paper, I had issues with the stylus, I have a really really light and very angled grip with pencil, but I cant get a stylus to register a press holding it the same way even with maxed out sensitivity, then you add in having to position the tablet weird due to low desk space at that time, it caused me to stop a lot

[Anonymous No.3875604]

>>3875165
I heard some artists padded their pencils for a thicker grip to help with wrist pain.

[TheOxMan No.3875704]

>>3875604
I have one for my apple pen. Feels great in the hand.

[Anonymous No.3876247]

I'm now 30, started at 28/29 when i Broke my back, I can't remember exactly as learning to read and write took the bulk of my memory, cant actually remember picking a pen up i.e I can remember the day i started reading and writing but drawing/art kind of fades into my memory. There's no definitive start, just a fade upto today.

[Anonymous No.3876252]

>>3876247

Just to add context i had a car crash and snapped the car i half with my pregnant wife and son in the car, they were fine but I had a terrible head injury, spine injury and just got fucked up.

[Anonymous No.3876260]

>>3876247
>>3876252

Btw i know im a scrub and its not anywhere near good, no idea what progression is supposed to look like in the space of 2/3 years. But I too am experimenting with Photoshop, Wacom studio Pro, Corel painter, values, form, tone, composition im avoiding using lines to start though I find it beneficial to not do every single line but more so just draw blobs for light and dark or lines representative of form direction.

Good reference attached ( least i think it is )

[TheOxMan No.3876261]

>>3876252
Glad to hear you’re ok anon.

[Anonymous No.3876304]

Sup, 36 here, i don't really want to get as far as painting, i only want to be able to illustrate my ideas. I grasp the fundamentals really fast but struggle to apply them if that makes some sense.

[Anonymous No.3876471]

>>3874604
I was listening to suggested donation podcast and they mentioned a lady that was mid 50 starting out, and she, after a year, was really really good at drawing. She drew for 12 hours a day for a straight year.
So I imagine it can be done. I’m doing between 4 and 6 hours a day sometimes more, and expect to be good in about 2 years.
But this is from a trad perspective using from life references.

[Anonymous No.3876472]

>>3875136
> halfway though a season of Signfeild
Ma nigga - it’s such a soothing show to have on as background noise. I haven’t found another quite like it, everything else is too distracting

[Anonymous No.3876473]

>>3874981
I thought I was the oldest. 47.

[Anonymous No.3876485]

>>3874992
I know that feel
>>3874997
Lmao but seriously, you can't just change preferences on a whim

[Anonymous No.3876494]

>>3874981
>>3876473
Sweet Christ I'm never leaving here am I?

[TheOxMan No.3876502]

>>3876472
Lol that exactly way it’s on. It’s by far the best background noise ever. Love that show.

[Anonymous No.3876506]

>>3874981
holy crap you're older than my parents, grandpa

[Anonymous No.3876508]

>>3876506
grandma*

[Anonymous No.3876510]

>tfw you could literally be shitposting with your parents and calling them faggots

[Anonymous No.3876686]

>>3876494
The ride never ends Anon

[Anonymous No.3877107]

30 year old boomer here and this thread is making me feel better

[Anonymous No.3877147]

Not technically old but is 24 too old to try to be professional? I feel like the only people who get anywhere always have some story about how they "started drawing seriously" when they were like 13 or something, makes me feel like a geezer for starting now at like 24, fucking 10 years late even though it seems so young.
I used to really like drawing but fell into a pit mentally and blah blah blah now i'm better and want to step up to the only thing I really can imagine myself having passion for.

Is it possible if I grind like a chink 5+ hours a day or is it too late? Aside from work and sleep I legit have 7 hours of free time in a day. Are all the employers gonna look at my shit when i'm in my late 20's and tell me there are kids 10 years younger who are as good as me so they're gonna hire them instead since they have more promise?

I can probably manage 5 hours a day since there's literally nothing else in my life other than vidya and hanging out with the one or two friends I have like once a week. Just gotta replace vidya with draw and bam there's a fat ass 5 hours.

[Anonymous No.3877154]

>>3877147
Hey look at it like this. If you hold off on it for 2 years you'll be starting at 26. Would you regret starting then rather than now? Probably. A "Damn, if I started those 2 years ago like I should have, I could have been ___already." Best time is to start is always now. Don't worry about the kids, they have their own struggles. Just focus on your own progression and journey. Only thing worrying about others does is slow you down.

[Anonymous No.3877171]

>>3877147
>>3877154

Also yes, if you spend a legit 5 hours per day drawing, you're gonna definitely see improvement. Of course, this is assuming at least 2 hours of that drawing you're really putting in that full mental effort to improve and work on your weaknesses. Watch out for burnout though. Try starting out with like an hour a day and gradually work your way up to that 5 hours.

[TheOxMan No.3877175]

All these people worried and stressed about getting better, but not for themselves, because you think it’s to late really bums me out :(

What do y’all think about the people who retire after decades of office work then pick up something they love cuz they now have time. Do you think they are wasting there time? I find it uplifting that I found the time and motivation to start now...I know when I retire this is what I would of jumped into anyway so I fell like I got a head start really :)

You worry about it because you enjoy it...You care...So if you care so much then start slapping that pen to paper and lets start knocking shit out. (Myself included)

[Anonymous No.3877194]

>>3877175
First and foremost, drawing is something you can enjoy spending the time learning and improving your craft. Its a fun hobby. I think ultimately people need to realize they enjoy it as a hobby first and its the same as any hobby like playing sports collecting things or building model kits. By itself, its a fun past time.

[Anonymous No.3877206]

>>3877154
>>3877171
That's a great way of thinking about it.
If I had started _ years ago i'd be as good as my friend who's started making money off commissions now. I'll be 26 and on the road to making money off of something I like with someone already experienced in that willing to help me out.
I'm gonna try to keep a book from the sticky or a youtube vid like sycra open all the time while I draw so that should help with the mental effort front. Good point on keeping away burnout though, definitely gotta watch out for that.
>>3877175
Just ranting cuz it makes the feels hurt less.
I feel like it's great to find something new to be passionate about at any point in life. Never a waste of time to do something you love.
I just want to replace the whole decades of office work with decades of paid art work lol

[Anonymous No.3877225]

>>3877206
I recommend Aaron Blaise on youtube as well, he streams himself drawing frequently and he answers questions too. He generally streams a good hour or two as well, so I find it nice just to draw along to.

[Anonymous No.3877328]

37. drew all my life pretty much but not out of passion more out of boredom cuz i hated school then as a way to make money. i tattoo for a living now

[Anonymous No.3877381]

>>3876473
>>3876494
>>3876506
>>3876508
heh
Yes I'm getting on, and can't make it in the way you lot would like, but I make some money from art right now, and have a family to raise and run my own business, so I'm happy with where art stands in that. I turned down art college in the 80's because it looked shit, I didn't know/think that anyone taught trad fine art anymore.
Youngsters now have greater opportunities. Things were rough there for a while for anyone wanting to make it with an oil brush in their hand, and a desire to learn traditional methods.

[Anonymous No.3877456]

>>3875100
>>3875130
>>3875136
I should get an ipad
Any advice on model? I know jack shit about Apple stuff other than it being overpriced

[Anonymous No.3877508]

>>3877147
My man I was in your same situation but one year older and completely replaced vidya with drawing, haven't touched a videogame in months. And it wasn't like going cold turkey from some kind of drug and craving it either, I just got so into drawing after seriously starting that I completely forgot there even exist other things to do in your free time. For all practical purposes none of the worries matter, all that matters is that you draw like a madman without caring about anything else

[Anonymous No.3877514]

>>3874994
MOMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[Anonymous No.3877520]

>>3877147
You are like little baby.

[Anonymous No.3877523]

>>3877456
The 12.9 Pro was the only one I felt comfortable wasting money on. I had an old 12 inch Thinkpad tablet with the same aspect ratio so I knew I wouldn't like anything smaller. Only the pros and one of the regular ones use the Pencil and only the current gen pros have the magnetic charging for it. You're paying 1400 dollars for a screen with some drawing programs if you go that route. Every complaint like the lack of a filesystem and only being good for drawing and youtube are true. Its a fucking gucci experience though.

[Anonymous No.3877642]

>>3877508
Thats the goal my dude.

[Anonymous No.3877695]

>>3876247
Another wip from me

[Anonymous No.3877714]

>>3877695
clearly a /beg/, doesn’t even know how the skull fits in the head. You need Loomis, then Jesus.

[Anonymous No.3877722]

>>3877714
Yeh i struggle with anatomy, I always thought the bones were the other way round, organs were all upside down and muscles were soft bags of water.

Shidd.

[Anonymous No.3877843]

>>3876494
47 here. I just started drawing last summer. I found this place about that time and stayed cause I couldn’t seem to register for WC.

[Anonymous No.3877861]

>>3877695

Parasitic twin?

[Anonymous No.3877874]

>>3874604

My story of getting back in to digital art starts when I turn 31 and finally save up enough money to get a medium intuos wacom, shortly afterwards I buy a license of Manga Studio 5 (both which I still use). My progress is good for a couple years until I was diagnosed with schizotypical disorder - this means new medication and lots and lots of resting time. I stop doing art for a while, concentrating on getting my shit together since I can't work a normal job anymore. I am now at 37 years old and gone back to sketching stuff on my intuos and re-named Clip Studio Paint.

This week has been just me testing brushes and shading techniques with sketching mostly garbage I won't show anybody else in the world.

[Anonymous No.3878109]

>>3877861

I'm not sure, I found the ref on Instagram, there's soo many good pages to grab a screen shot from, I think this could be a anatomical display in the museum of death (i think thats what its called, not sure)

[TheOxMan No.3878382]

! That feel when you see improvement! Been doing some shading today and I’m quite happy with it.

But

My god I take forever to do stuff lol sometimes I feel like I’m spending way to much time on something. Is that bad? Am I hindering myself by not caring about speed?

[Anonymous No.3878400]

>>3878382
Rendering takes for fucking ever.

[TheOxMan No.3878415]

>>3878400
Rendering?

[TheOxMan No.3878418]

>>3878400
>>3878415
Nvm I looked it up. Did not know there was a specific term. #learnedsomethingnewtoday

[Anonymous No.3878419]

>>3877843
Hurrah.
You started painting yet?

[Anonymous No.3878421]

>with the apple pen

If you mean the newer model Apple Pencil, the white matte one with the flat doubletap zone, forget about Wacom. None of their styluses feel as good to use as that Pencil. But if it’s the old shiny Pencil, then it’s not too late to convert without hating yourself.

[TheOxMan No.3878423]

>>3878421
Nope I got the new one with the dub tap. Really great feel. Now I’ve never used any other product so it good to hear that it’s a viable tool. I’ve found quite a few vids about pros reall happy about the iPad Pro/pen setup.

[Anonymous No.3878470]

>>3878423
It's better than a number of off brands and some low end wacoms as far as pressure sensitivity and balance. They tend to be fat and oddly weighted as well as having some kind of atrocious spring pressure. Some people like the fat stylus and buttons though.

[TheOxMan No.3878530]

Here some shading work that I’ve done. Figured I should start sharing work. I would love to see what everyone is currently working on.

[Anonymous No.3878534]

43 here. GFYourselves.

[TheOxMan No.3878542]

>>3878530
oh sorry need to update my new vocabulary lol

“Rendering”

I’m using this correctly right?

[Anonymous No.3879409]

>>3878419
I had to wait till it got warm. I’m working on a pencil still life right now then I think I’ll transfer to something and paint it.

[TheOxMan No.3879845]

What color/opacity do y’all sketch in?(digital) I’ve been doing just hard black with 100 opacity, and I just switched to a lighter blue as I heard is a better color for that. My sketch’s do look better and I know I did not magically get better the last few hours.

What’s with that?

[Anonymous No.3879854]

>>3879845
Brown on a mid beige at about half opacity. Ends up looking black but keeps the sketch light and midtones where they should be if I decide to dig in and render.

[Anonymous No.3880587]

>>3878530
It's not bad, looks like a lot of airbrush, also the shadow on the right hand (chars right) doesn't add up too well with the light source, however it's better than most stuff on IC, i personally found it miles more beneficial to study light shadow and form.from a photo/model than i did trying to think it out in my head or try and get something from the mind right, if you do this it'll be a repeat of the same errors.

[TheOxMan No.3880636]

>>3880587
Thanks for the input and yes you called it. Lots of air brush tool (is that bad?)

[Anonymous No.3880899]

>>3879845

I keep the paper layer in Clip Studio at a reddish tan

I sketch with a rough pencil brush, I forgot where I got it, probably from Ray Frenden's pack - 50 opacity and 0 amount of anti-aliasing

This week I have been mostly just sketching to get back in to the feel of a pen tablet. Training my accuracy and fluidity, if that makes any sense. I am not showing any of this stuff - they will not be finished either way. Just sketching for the sake of sketching.

[Anonymous No.3881001]

>>3874608
Is Brad Rigney close enough? Started drawing at around 30 or so and does loads of professional work. Though to be fair at that point he was already heavily used to disciplining himself; beating alcoholism is basically like crawling out of the pits of hell.

[Anonymous No.3881048]

I'm 38 but I've been drawing on and off since I was a kid, except I never actually tried to learn or analyze my work up until...a few years ago?
And even then, depression always stops me at some point and I take a break.
This time I feel like putting my whole into drawing and I got a tiny bit better in the past months even if I'm still pitiful and worse than most /beg/s.
Worst thing is, I like drawing but I can never go on and finish and actual clean illustration and I'm not sure why. Maybe bcause I never color and I don't even know whre to start, colors are scary as fuck.
I also basically never post anything or show anyone cause I know my flaws and have a decent eye but my skills don't match at all so it makes me depressed.
I really have to find a way to produce something I can put online this year or my brain will end up giving up and just going back to lazy consumer brain.
I want to produce something but I don't know what and how aaaaaaaah.
Ok, I'll shut the fuck up and go back to drawing.
Also, what are your goals, /a/nons?
I just want to make a tiny bit of money so I can maybe have another half time job and draw most of the time. (of course I'd say ideally make enough money with drawing so I can live off it, even it barely, but I'm pretty far from it).

[Anonymous No.3881079]

>>3881001
>Brad Rigney
Holy shit, just saw him, his work is superb if he doesn't trace. God damn

[Anonymous No.3881173]

>>3881079
He does some photobash stuff on recent work but a lot of shit he does, mainly his rendering, is just from his head.

[Anonymous No.3881397]

>>3881048
The Da Vinci Initiative. YouTube.
Bargue Plates.

[Anonymous No.3881601]

>>3881397
Looks nice, thanks

[Anonymous No.3881738]

>>3874608
If you don't start drawing 5 weeks after being born, you'll never make it, sorry mate.

[Anonymous No.3881942]

>>3881738
This, and the magical law of talent.