I thought people who paint loose were just being lazy, then I saw my own sketchbook side by side | Digital Art Showcase

Ryan Flores · 2026-11-11T20:30:06.040976+00:00

I used to think loose digital painters were hiding sloppy work, and I'd spend 6 hours on every piece tightening up single strands of hair. Last month I pulled out a sketchbook from January and compared it to one from June. In January every page was stiff, overworked, and I hated all of them. In June I'd started doing 20 minute timed studies on my tablet, just blocking in big shapes with a fat brush and not zooming past 50 percent. The difference was night and day. The June stuff actually had energy and felt like a real thing instead of a copy. What changed was a buddy in Denver, who's a concept artist, watched me paint over screenshare and said my eye was fine but my hand was scared. He made me do the 20 minute drills for two weeks straight, no undoing. Now I look at my old tight stuff and it feels dead. Anyone else go through a phase where you had to force yourself to stay zoomed out? How long did it take for the loose brushwork to stop feeling like you were just guessing?

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I thought people who paint loose were just being lazy, then I saw my own sketchbook side by side | Digital Art Showcase - The Community Guide