Appreciation post: My niece asked why my art looks so clean and it made me stop

I was showing my 12-year-old niece some of my digital paintings on my tablet in my living room. She pointed at a finished piece and said, 'It looks like a picture from a store, how do you get it so smooth?' I realized I'd been so focused on making things look 'professional' that my work lost all my old sketchy, messy style. That one question from a kid made me go back and redo my whole process. Anyone else get stuck trying to make things look too perfect and lose the fun?

3 comments

3 Comments

colej7423d ago

That's a really sharp observation from a 12-year-old. What was the first thing you changed in your process to get back some of that old sketchy feel? Did you switch brushes or just force yourself to stop cleaning up certain lines?

terry_thomas23d ago

Honestly I used to think cleaner lines meant better art. But I switched to a rougher brush and stopped fixing every little wobble. It feels more alive now even if it's messy.

lilychen1d ago

Okay but I have to push back on the idea that messy equals more alive. That "clean" look your niece saw is a real skill, it takes a ton of control and practice. A lot of clients actually want that smooth, finished look, it looks professional for a reason. Chasing a messy style on purpose can just look sloppy if it's not really yours. Maybe your old work was messy because you were still learning, and now your clean style is just you getting better.