Heyo, guys.. first post in forever here and I'm not quite sure what the point of my post is gonna be yet so I'm gonna braindump and see if anyone feels that.

I've got about a million pets (a seriously overwhelming 91 of them actually) and I love em to bits, wanna make them all the art and stories my lil characters and fandomloves deserve. And for a very short while I was beginning to make them overlays. I've always wanted to do cute digital art but the hobby has fluctuated over the years. Also perfectionism hit me pretty hard at one point and over time nothing was good enough and finished pieces were hidden away more as tokens of shame than even just examples of progress. I feel bad mentioning them and not showing anything so I've uploaded them for example for the first time for 2/4 of them.

SPOILER (click to toggle)

My "simplest" difficulty has been managing the blocky color of cel shading, as I could never find quite the right brush settings in SAI to make it look 'right', so everything ended up a soft cel shade which never felt right either. I know they've got other problems like poses and proportions and stuff too but the shading problem has been one I've kept trying to find solutions for and failed to do so. I did get Clip Studio last Christmas, but after so many years of using my old Paint Tool I'm a bit afraid to make the transition tbh. The perfectionism angle has probably been a big cause for all the fear though. Although I haven't heard much of people's experience with it for cel shading or general cartoonish art either since I'm generally too shy for the social forumsy side of games.

Apologies for the scattered thoughts. If you guys have any advice, encouragement, shared experiences/stories or anything else on any part of this, I'd really appreciate it.

Hey you! I feel you on each and every level and I am here to just let my mind loose while telling you how I try to overcome that pesky perfectionism. First off, I find these overlays absolutely ADORABLE. They are great! They might not be your perfect little professional illustration - but it really doesn't have to be!! It really. does. not. Being surrounded by very professional artists who draw day in and day out can be very daunting for people who are just starting out. Social media is full of incredible artists who have gone through some very similar dilemma and getting rid of these standards is crucial to truly be in love with your own art. Your shading is absolutely great and the illustrations are full of character and, most importantly, those are yours! I hope you understand how big of an accomplishment that is for itself! That makes them so incredibly special and valuable, and for me personally, it is the highest level of love and dedication for your little pets! Barely anyone on here draws their pets themselves. Most people commission incredibly talented artists, which is more than beautiful. Drawing them by yourself of course is a challenge, but you seem MORE than capable of doing that!

I am still having lots of trouble with loving my own art. Many people just don't like it - but I should! Maybe you could start out slowly and draw the simple things. Maybe start off with some simple line art! Your lines look so neat - I could never! :D Let it sit, do something else. Maybe draw something traditionally on a piece of paper if you are feeling overwhelmed with digital painting! Those are two worlds and just going nuts on a piece of paper made me realize how pointless it was to stress on those pixel-perfect digital drawings. Things move, things fade, things break and things sometimes just look weird! And that is what makes art so fun and it should NEVER be about making that perfect little image that you can slap on some box of cereal. I assure you, that will come eventually all by itself.

Being social is getting increasingly difficult and I know this very well from myself. I was fortunate enough to have people around me who, just like me, were starting out with ... just doing art! And these places are the best there are to thrive as an artist, I believe. If you like, I would absolutely love to see your drawings or ideas. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Post your art to people who would encourage you to keep going and as I said, I am more than happy to help you with that!

And since you have so many babies, maybe it would really help to just go for it and slap those overlays on! Seeing them "in action" might be the perfect way for you to see how cool your stuff is and who knows, maybe eventually you will know how to fix things up to make your drawings pop even more!!

I am not an expert on how to shade and how to draw correct proportions. I never will be and I don't really care about it. People use references, they copy, they experiment and all of it is absolutely fine if it helps to get your art across! I just want you to know that no one has any expectations except for you, so be gentle with yourself! Let that creativity just flow. Draw whatever, doodle ahead, scrap an idea, post your thoughts to someone nice! Perfectionism is an absolute curse and I hope that you can break out of it eventually! The progress you have made so far is beyond what most people end up with and that alone is worth a lot. Embrace your creativity and draw for your soul (and your pets, do it for them god dammit they deserve it!! >:P ) Hmu, if you just wanna chat. I love drawing in a cartoonish style too and who knows, maybe we could work on some pets together!

perfectionism is the bane of my existence too so i feel you ;;

for as cliché as it sounds tho what helped me was to just.......... accept that i'm not perfect. like if i start to get burnt out and feel like what i'm working on is garbage i'll just push thru and finish it anyway and tell myself the next piece will turn out better! does it always work? nah. more like 70% of the time but like that's a start i guess lmao

i also switched from sai to csp recently after.......... 8 years? and honestly haven't looked back since it's definitely very overwhelming at first and especially for lineart the first few times i'd switch back to sai (for that sweet, sweet stabiliser), but i do love it a lot now! i used to make my own brushes in sai and haven't quite gotten the hang of it on clip studio yet but there's so many fun and cool brushes made by other people out there that i don't rly feel like i'm missing anything

your art is cute tho honestly! c: perfectionism is a bitch but ultimately art is a hobby you know? the most important thing is to have a good time (ノ・∀・)ノ

I'm very picky about art programs, I've been using an Ipad with Procreate and I cant for the life of me find a brush that nice simple flat low opacity square brush. I love sai but I dont have a standard tablet anymore :(

I'm really not a fan of the look of a lot of art made on Procreate its so weird and textured looking imo.