some art tips from personal experience:
- anatomy is important but often times the flow of a pose is moreso
- shading does not need to be realistic to look good, use it for emphasis
- stamp foliage brushes r good but look way better if you add details with a normal brush on top

- pretty much any color combination on the color wheel can work together if you know where to use different levels of saturation and value
- hair and fur can be separated into sections/"tufts" instead of thinking about each strand individually

- this tip is more specific, but when trying to pose a character, put their hands (or paws) where you want them first and THEN connect the arms to the hands. that way the hand ends up where you want it and frankly it's just easier to figure out where the elbow goes that way

- a line of motion can VERY MUCH help you make dynamic poses. they are much easier if you literally quickly draw a curved line and then generally follow that line with your sketch of the character. keeps everything moving in the same direction

- if you're struggling to figure out your light source/shading placement, put a multiply layer over your art and fill it completely with whatever color. use an airbrush to erase big areas of shadow, marking where the light goes. gives u a good visual idea

and also some things about being an artist i want to share
- if you're not planning to go professional/work with a company artistically, learn art however u want to at whatever pace. there is no rush. i hate doing still lifes and still do not do them because they ruin my mood -

and that's fine. i've always drawn for my own reasons and still lifes is not one of them. maybe you'll improve slower or whatever according to most people but you don't have to improve fast for anyone, just do what u like, have fun with it, ur art is still good

- in a similar vein, if ur not planning to become a professional, your ocs can be as self-indulgent as you want. they are YOUR characters and if you don't HAVE to appeal to a wide audience, literally do whatever the fuck you want. almost all my ocs r sparkledogs with -

stupid/edgy/mary sue/cliche/xD random backstories and that is fine. if it makes u happy, go for it!!! ur ocs are still valid!! and lastly -

- social media interaction is not an accurate measure of ur worth as an artist or your talent. i have been posting my art online since 2009 and only started having a small following around this year due to one post that happened to blow up on twitter,

i've been working hard for a long time and a lot of my paintings that got semi-popular on here i had actually created months ago with barely any interactions/favorites and such. your art is worth it, social media is just INCREDIBLY luck based. keep goin, eventually you'll get

that one popular tweet or whatever that skyrockets the attention on you. and besides, as much as social media interaction is validating and i crave it also, make sure ur drawing for urself too. i have art i don't post anywhere bc i made it for me.

point is, be patient with urself, take the advice u want and do the studying u want at ur own pace and don't use the stuff u don't like, and ur art is valid even if u don't get rts/likes and whatnot. ur feelings r valid, but know it's not a reflection of ur worth!

ok this thread is done now but just so u all know feel free to ask me questions about my art process or whatever at any time, i am not secretive about how i do my art i will probs tell u anything