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Description

The right coyote from my little materials test, now posted on their own. This is the one done with expensive materials, which can - among others - be seen in the true black areas.

Also - grass. It's been a while since I drew grass like this - and it turned out to be less intimidating than I remembered

Read about the experiment here:

Materials vs skill"A good artist can do good art no matter how cheap the supplies" or "it's all in the artist's skill, and materials don't matter" are statements you hear from time to time - but are they actually true? Well, I decided to put that to the test - and obviously write about it too The experimentFirst, let's take a little look at my experiment, as this is the example we will be looking at throughout most of the article. Fear not, a lot of what's written here is also general stuff which applies to any medium - but it shows how the theory mentioned here works in practice.I drew two coyotes, one with cheap materials and one with expensive ones. More specifically:A 12-pack of Staedtler Noris pencils (cost me $7) on your average 80g/m2 printer papervs A 120 pencil set of Faber Castell Polychromos (worth $300, partly because of the wooden box - you can get them cheaper if bought in a tin) on Hahnemühle Nostalgia (drawing) paper, 190g/m2Both pieces were the same size (15*21cm), and took roughly the same amount of time.,There were differences as well, of course. I used different reference photos for the two pieces, so they are not direct comparisons (I'm a mere mortal who can get bored, after all), which means I had to use slightly different techniques and colors. One of the references was also of considerably worse quality than the other, which meant I had to add detail myself - which is something I noticed some people commenting about ,(Full view highly recommended!)Then, I posted the artwork and a poll, and gave people three days to vote and comment which of the pieces they thought was the "cheap" one. VerdictAs many of the commenters already guessed - the left one is the one done with cheap materials.However, one third of the people who voted claimed they genuinely saw no difference, and another 29% voted for the right coyote - which was the wrong coyote too, in this case. A minority of the voters thus reached the right conclusion. However, a vast majority of the commenters were correct when said they thought the left one was the "cheap" one.,Arguments given in the comments were saturation and richness of the colors, the contrast, the texture of the paper and the level of detail.The conclusion can thus said to be "there is a minor difference, but skill is by far the most important part".Which is, when I look at my own experience drawing the pieces, correct. The Noris pencils were much harder than the Polychromos and were less saturated as well, something which is especially visible when comparing the blacks. I pressed down really, really hard, and the darkest color I got is still nowhere near the Polychromos black. (Of course - you can have cheap highly saturated blacks as well, but this is a pretty common thing for cheap pencils.)The pencils were overall of lower quality. The colors on the outside didn't quite match the color of the lead, the feel was different, and some of the colors were kind of weird. The skin tone was weirdly golden/orange - which worked great in my case, as I needed a light golden color for the fur -, the brown had a very slight purple hue to it, etc. Of course, the Polychromos are also lightfast, which these are not (more about that below).The colors don't blend as well together either. Some work well, others don't, which is especially easy to see on the darker areas in the background, as those have some really harsh edges.The paper was the main issue. Printer paper is thin, it's flimsy, and if you have to press down hard to get colors... you get dents and blisters. These are obviously much easier to see in real life. Also, the paper has a very smooth texture (which you can see), which means that it can only take a few layers - which again means proper blending is hard.Materials vs priceDoes this mean that you need the extremely expensive stuff?In far most circumstances - no, it does not. Let's look at a graph:,This is your average price-quality graph for art supplies for any given medium. It starts at the bottom with free or very cheap stuff - which tends to be of low(er) quality and rises to very expensive, very high-quality materials.(Do note that this graph isn't a rule! You have really expensive supplies which are bad or considerably worse than other supplies at the same price, and you have free or almost free great supplies, with Krita being an obvious example. Price obviously depends on the medium - high-quality graphite pencils are far cheaper than colored pencils, which again are far cheaper than the really high-end drawing tablets. However, the general trend is always the same.)Let's look at the different areas. First, the cheap stuff. These are the kind of cheap supplies you can find in your average store. Some of the supplies will work - you can do great art with a cheap-to-the-point-it's-free graphite pencil (although chances are the lead will break more easily or include hard chips which can scratch the paper), others won't behave as they should, have terrible saturation, the like. Unless the brand is known/also produces high-quality supplies, I would generally recommend you to stay away from this corner. Notable exception goes for certain free programs, such as the aforementioned Krita, GIMP, etc.Now, we reach the most important part of the whole graph: the sweet spot, where you get ~2/3rds of the quality for ~1/3rd of the price. This is the spot where it can be wise to invest in case you are doing art more seriously. The supplies here will have great value for their money, and work done with these materials is very often completely indistinguishable from the ones done with very high-quality materials.Finally, we have the expensive top-of-the-line supplies. These supplies will usually have something the "sweet spot" materials won't - namely lightfastness. These are the supplies made for professional artists who want their work to last for years and years. This means that, if you (aim to) sell your art for a decent amount of money, these are the supplies you ought to get. If you don't want to sell your work, or you want to keep practicing another while, it might be wise to wait a little.As for the coyotes: printer paper is very much in the "cheap and eh" sector. The pencils are better - not quite in the sweet spot yet, but they are certainly not terrible either. As for the high-quality materials... Well, Polychromos are as good as colored pencils can get (and a little bit cheaper than certain other alternatives), and the paper is also made to last for years and years.Conclusions and a listThe simple conclusion here is something a la "skill matters by far the most, but bad supplies can drag you down". No amount of skill can suddenly make paper thicker or pencils more saturated. Yes, you know how to work around most of the problems, but it remains a fact that you can do better work with better supplies. Not the best supplies, but better.Now you might ask what those better supplies actually are, and what it is important to think about when buying your materials. So, have some handy notes (made with traditional art in mind, as that is what I do and am familiar with):Get supplies which work. If your pencil keeps breaking and you're constantly frustrated, buy a better one.There is no need to get more supplies than you need. I drew the left coyote with 8 pencils, out of the 12 in the box, and that worked. Go for 24 or maybe 36 colored pencils when you're starting out, rather than 120. It will force you to improve your blending skills too, so it's a win/win. If you need more, you can always buy single pencils afterwards.Make sure you have a really dark black. Saturation in general is important, but a really black black makes such a huge amount of difference in your work! This can easily be a single pencil bought in open stock.Make sure you have a proper surface to work on. Go for thicker paper rather than thin paper - it makes such a difference! Maybe you can't see it, but chances are you can definitely feel it. (Of course, make sure the surface is also the right one to work on - sketching paper won't be great for watercolors, etc.)Products from famous brands (Faber Castell, Derwent, Strathmore, Pentel, Hahnemühle, etc.) are generally a safe bet, almost regardless of price.Read up on the supplies if you're uncertain! There are a lot of art reviews out there, and you can learn a lot from those. Also, most art supply stores have employees who can help out and answer questions. Not all the supplies have to be the same! You can easily combine cheaper and more expensive supplies - for example, cheap brushes for expensive paints, or a high-quality black together with the not as high quality other pencils.On a similar note: It can be a good idea to start out relatively cheaply (or with "sweet spot" materials), and see what you use. Once you have used up (part of the) supplies, you can start buying high-quality materials, as you know you use that one supply enough for it to be worth upgrading....And that was it for today. I hope it has been interesting, and that you learned something With that, I wish you all a good day/night!

And see the side-by-side here:

Want a drawing like this? My commissions are open: Commission info

Prints, pillowcases, phone covers, notebooks, etc. can be found in my Redbubble store: www.redbubble.com/people/Becky…

Reference photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels: www.pexels.com/photo/calm-coyo…

Colored pencil, A5, 8 hours?

Please do not repost, claim as your own or use in any way without my permission.

My tutorials:
List of all my tutorialsThe complete list of all the tutorials I have written/made - at least the ones still worth sharing, as some are really old at this point. It just got so hard to find them after a while, and there are so many - so here we are. A complete masterlist.The tutorials are not in chronological order, but rather in (a more) logical order Some of them are rather old, so the formatting may be off - or the quality lower. I've still included the decent ones, though, and they may serve as an example that writing tutorials also is a skill you improve in as time goes on and you do it more. ,Rambles about being an artist, and typical Artist Problems:Unfair comparisons and being your own worst critic A word or two about practice and practicing art Some about talent, skill and marketingSome about finding your own drawing style Artists and social media The "right" way to improve We all start out as beginners Creativity, imagination, skill and art Materials vs skill Quick list of tips on how to improve your art Tutorials about drawing (parts of) animals:The (I hope) complete guide to drawing animal eyes How to draw animal ears Tips about how to draw animal paws/feet/hooves How to draw realistic (feathery) wings Tips for drawing the heads of common carnivores Tips (and a lot of rambling) about drawing deerHow to draw birds How to draw animal noses Sketchpage - Mule deer and whitetail antlers Sketchpage - Color variants of wild red foxes Sketchpage - Partially white red fox variants Sketchpage - The different lynx species + caracal Sketchpage - Summer vs. winter fur The (I hope) ultimate guide to drawing fur More tips and tricks about drawing fur The actual ultimate guide to drawing fur (title - it includes everything and then some, PDF)How to draw feathers/feather texture How to draw scales A quick guide to basic animal anatomy (new, more in-depth, more correct - read this one!)Quick guide on basic animal anatomy (older, not that good, broken formatting - read the one above!)Basic animal anatomy and how animals move (older, alright enough)Tutorials about traditional art: Tips about drawing on black paper Tips about drawing accurate traditional sketches Basics about colored pencils - layers and blending How to draw white whiskers with colored pencils Some basics about graphite and colored pencils (OLD!)An introduction to scratchboard (older)GIFs:Lynx process - step by step GIF Lynx eye process - step by step GIF Cat eye on black paper - step by step GIF How I draw fur 1 - closeup of tiger stripes - GIF How I draw fur 2 - solid-colored fur closeup - GIF How I draw fur 3 - long fur closeup GIF How I draw fur 4 - fur at a distance GIF Tutorials about using reference photos, editing those, and compositions:Finding and sorting reference photos Reference photos and how to use them: part 1 Reference photos and how to use them: part 2 Reference photos and how to use them: part 3 Some about improving bad quality reference photosThe (reference) photo always lies a little Making your subject fit into the backgroundTips to improve your compositions Some about compositions with multiple subjects Changing references when drawing realism - Examples Other art-related things which don't fit anywhere else:A tutorial about writing tutorials Some basics about drawing mountains Beginner's Guide to Animal Photography Short guide on values and hues How to draw blurred and bokeh backgrounds How to draw realistic art Some about comments and critique The process behind Lynx Portrait IV The process behind Caturdays 25 - Black and GoldRed Fox - Fire and Frost WIP Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP 2 Different art questions, and my answers - part 1 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 2 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 3 (older)Art critique collections:Art critique collection I Art critique collection II Art critique collection III Art critique collection IV My "critiqued" favorites collection...

Description

The right coyote from my little materials test, now posted on their own. This is the one done with expensive materials, which can - among others - be seen in the true black areas.

Also - grass. It's been a while since I drew grass like this - and it turned out to be less intimidating than I remembered

Read about the experiment here:

Materials vs skill"A good artist can do good art no matter how cheap the supplies" or "it's all in the artist's skill, and materials don't matter" are statements you hear from time to time - but are they actually true? Well, I decided to put that to the test - and obviously write about it too The experimentFirst, let's take a little look at my experiment, as this is the example we will be looking at throughout most of the article. Fear not, a lot of what's written here is also general stuff which applies to any medium - but it shows how the theory mentioned here works in practice.I drew two coyotes, one with cheap materials and one with expensive ones. More specifically:A 12-pack of Staedtler Noris pencils (cost me $7) on your average 80g/m2 printer papervs A 120 pencil set of Faber Castell Polychromos (worth $300, partly because of the wooden box - you can get them cheaper if bought in a tin) on Hahnemühle Nostalgia (drawing) paper, 190g/m2Both pieces were the same size (15*21cm), and took roughly the same amount of time.,There were differences as well, of course. I used different reference photos for the two pieces, so they are not direct comparisons (I'm a mere mortal who can get bored, after all), which means I had to use slightly different techniques and colors. One of the references was also of considerably worse quality than the other, which meant I had to add detail myself - which is something I noticed some people commenting about ,(Full view highly recommended!)Then, I posted the artwork and a poll, and gave people three days to vote and comment which of the pieces they thought was the "cheap" one. VerdictAs many of the commenters already guessed - the left one is the one done with cheap materials.However, one third of the people who voted claimed they genuinely saw no difference, and another 29% voted for the right coyote - which was the wrong coyote too, in this case. A minority of the voters thus reached the right conclusion. However, a vast majority of the commenters were correct when said they thought the left one was the "cheap" one.,Arguments given in the comments were saturation and richness of the colors, the contrast, the texture of the paper and the level of detail.The conclusion can thus said to be "there is a minor difference, but skill is by far the most important part".Which is, when I look at my own experience drawing the pieces, correct. The Noris pencils were much harder than the Polychromos and were less saturated as well, something which is especially visible when comparing the blacks. I pressed down really, really hard, and the darkest color I got is still nowhere near the Polychromos black. (Of course - you can have cheap highly saturated blacks as well, but this is a pretty common thing for cheap pencils.)The pencils were overall of lower quality. The colors on the outside didn't quite match the color of the lead, the feel was different, and some of the colors were kind of weird. The skin tone was weirdly golden/orange - which worked great in my case, as I needed a light golden color for the fur -, the brown had a very slight purple hue to it, etc. Of course, the Polychromos are also lightfast, which these are not (more about that below).The colors don't blend as well together either. Some work well, others don't, which is especially easy to see on the darker areas in the background, as those have some really harsh edges.The paper was the main issue. Printer paper is thin, it's flimsy, and if you have to press down hard to get colors... you get dents and blisters. These are obviously much easier to see in real life. Also, the paper has a very smooth texture (which you can see), which means that it can only take a few layers - which again means proper blending is hard.Materials vs priceDoes this mean that you need the extremely expensive stuff?In far most circumstances - no, it does not. Let's look at a graph:,This is your average price-quality graph for art supplies for any given medium. It starts at the bottom with free or very cheap stuff - which tends to be of low(er) quality and rises to very expensive, very high-quality materials.(Do note that this graph isn't a rule! You have really expensive supplies which are bad or considerably worse than other supplies at the same price, and you have free or almost free great supplies, with Krita being an obvious example. Price obviously depends on the medium - high-quality graphite pencils are far cheaper than colored pencils, which again are far cheaper than the really high-end drawing tablets. However, the general trend is always the same.)Let's look at the different areas. First, the cheap stuff. These are the kind of cheap supplies you can find in your average store. Some of the supplies will work - you can do great art with a cheap-to-the-point-it's-free graphite pencil (although chances are the lead will break more easily or include hard chips which can scratch the paper), others won't behave as they should, have terrible saturation, the like. Unless the brand is known/also produces high-quality supplies, I would generally recommend you to stay away from this corner. Notable exception goes for certain free programs, such as the aforementioned Krita, GIMP, etc.Now, we reach the most important part of the whole graph: the sweet spot, where you get ~2/3rds of the quality for ~1/3rd of the price. This is the spot where it can be wise to invest in case you are doing art more seriously. The supplies here will have great value for their money, and work done with these materials is very often completely indistinguishable from the ones done with very high-quality materials.Finally, we have the expensive top-of-the-line supplies. These supplies will usually have something the "sweet spot" materials won't - namely lightfastness. These are the supplies made for professional artists who want their work to last for years and years. This means that, if you (aim to) sell your art for a decent amount of money, these are the supplies you ought to get. If you don't want to sell your work, or you want to keep practicing another while, it might be wise to wait a little.As for the coyotes: printer paper is very much in the "cheap and eh" sector. The pencils are better - not quite in the sweet spot yet, but they are certainly not terrible either. As for the high-quality materials... Well, Polychromos are as good as colored pencils can get (and a little bit cheaper than certain other alternatives), and the paper is also made to last for years and years.Conclusions and a listThe simple conclusion here is something a la "skill matters by far the most, but bad supplies can drag you down". No amount of skill can suddenly make paper thicker or pencils more saturated. Yes, you know how to work around most of the problems, but it remains a fact that you can do better work with better supplies. Not the best supplies, but better.Now you might ask what those better supplies actually are, and what it is important to think about when buying your materials. So, have some handy notes (made with traditional art in mind, as that is what I do and am familiar with):Get supplies which work. If your pencil keeps breaking and you're constantly frustrated, buy a better one.There is no need to get more supplies than you need. I drew the left coyote with 8 pencils, out of the 12 in the box, and that worked. Go for 24 or maybe 36 colored pencils when you're starting out, rather than 120. It will force you to improve your blending skills too, so it's a win/win. If you need more, you can always buy single pencils afterwards.Make sure you have a really dark black. Saturation in general is important, but a really black black makes such a huge amount of difference in your work! This can easily be a single pencil bought in open stock.Make sure you have a proper surface to work on. Go for thicker paper rather than thin paper - it makes such a difference! Maybe you can't see it, but chances are you can definitely feel it. (Of course, make sure the surface is also the right one to work on - sketching paper won't be great for watercolors, etc.)Products from famous brands (Faber Castell, Derwent, Strathmore, Pentel, Hahnemühle, etc.) are generally a safe bet, almost regardless of price.Read up on the supplies if you're uncertain! There are a lot of art reviews out there, and you can learn a lot from those. Also, most art supply stores have employees who can help out and answer questions. Not all the supplies have to be the same! You can easily combine cheaper and more expensive supplies - for example, cheap brushes for expensive paints, or a high-quality black together with the not as high quality other pencils.On a similar note: It can be a good idea to start out relatively cheaply (or with "sweet spot" materials), and see what you use. Once you have used up (part of the) supplies, you can start buying high-quality materials, as you know you use that one supply enough for it to be worth upgrading....And that was it for today. I hope it has been interesting, and that you learned something With that, I wish you all a good day/night!

And see the side-by-side here:

Want a drawing like this? My commissions are open: Commission info

Prints, pillowcases, phone covers, notebooks, etc. can be found in my Redbubble store: www.redbubble.com/people/Becky…

Reference photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels: www.pexels.com/photo/calm-coyo…

Colored pencil, A5, 8 hours?

Please do not repost, claim as your own or use in any way without my permission.

My tutorials:
List of all my tutorialsThe complete list of all the tutorials I have written/made - at least the ones still worth sharing, as some are really old at this point. It just got so hard to find them after a while, and there are so many - so here we are. A complete masterlist.The tutorials are not in chronological order, but rather in (a more) logical order Some of them are rather old, so the formatting may be off - or the quality lower. I've still included the decent ones, though, and they may serve as an example that writing tutorials also is a skill you improve in as time goes on and you do it more. ,Rambles about being an artist, and typical Artist Problems:Unfair comparisons and being your own worst critic A word or two about practice and practicing art Some about talent, skill and marketingSome about finding your own drawing style Artists and social media The "right" way to improve We all start out as beginners Creativity, imagination, skill and art Materials vs skill Quick list of tips on how to improve your art Tutorials about drawing (parts of) animals:The (I hope) complete guide to drawing animal eyes How to draw animal ears Tips about how to draw animal paws/feet/hooves How to draw realistic (feathery) wings Tips for drawing the heads of common carnivores Tips (and a lot of rambling) about drawing deerHow to draw birds How to draw animal noses Sketchpage - Mule deer and whitetail antlers Sketchpage - Color variants of wild red foxes Sketchpage - Partially white red fox variants Sketchpage - The different lynx species + caracal Sketchpage - Summer vs. winter fur The (I hope) ultimate guide to drawing fur More tips and tricks about drawing fur The actual ultimate guide to drawing fur (title - it includes everything and then some, PDF)How to draw feathers/feather texture How to draw scales A quick guide to basic animal anatomy (new, more in-depth, more correct - read this one!)Quick guide on basic animal anatomy (older, not that good, broken formatting - read the one above!)Basic animal anatomy and how animals move (older, alright enough)Tutorials about traditional art: Tips about drawing on black paper Tips about drawing accurate traditional sketches Basics about colored pencils - layers and blending How to draw white whiskers with colored pencils Some basics about graphite and colored pencils (OLD!)An introduction to scratchboard (older)GIFs:Lynx process - step by step GIF Lynx eye process - step by step GIF Cat eye on black paper - step by step GIF How I draw fur 1 - closeup of tiger stripes - GIF How I draw fur 2 - solid-colored fur closeup - GIF How I draw fur 3 - long fur closeup GIF How I draw fur 4 - fur at a distance GIF Tutorials about using reference photos, editing those, and compositions:Finding and sorting reference photos Reference photos and how to use them: part 1 Reference photos and how to use them: part 2 Reference photos and how to use them: part 3 Some about improving bad quality reference photosThe (reference) photo always lies a little Making your subject fit into the backgroundTips to improve your compositions Some about compositions with multiple subjects Changing references when drawing realism - Examples Other art-related things which don't fit anywhere else:A tutorial about writing tutorials Some basics about drawing mountains Beginner's Guide to Animal Photography Short guide on values and hues How to draw blurred and bokeh backgrounds How to draw realistic art Some about comments and critique The process behind Lynx Portrait IV The process behind Caturdays 25 - Black and GoldRed Fox - Fire and Frost WIP Red Fox - Fire and Frost WIP 2 Different art questions, and my answers - part 1 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 2 (older)Different art questions, and my answers - part 3 (older)Art critique collections:Art critique collection I Art critique collection II Art critique collection III Art critique collection IV My "critiqued" favorites collection...