Influencer and digital artist, Loish, makes digital paintings and character designs. She's worked on Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn, character design for LEGO, and concept art on various projects ranging from games, animation, and toy designs. Her Cubebrush store includes killer tutorials and a highly rated brush set.

http://cbr.sh/9g7n9y http://cbr.sh/gah82r http://cbr.sh/1f9p29

Here, she gives advice on making your workflow more enjoyable. 

MINDSET

I’ve been giving digital art workshops for three years now, and I discovered that the main thing that artists struggle with is a low self-esteem. Artists tend to be really hard on themselves, and while this can often motivate us to work harder and improve, it can sometimes have the opposite effect: the pressure becomes so overwhelming that we shut down or feel blocked. Nothing seems good enough. 

When artists struggle with their workflow, my first suggestion is to ask yourself: 

What are some ways you can relieve the pressure on yourself and see drawing more as a fun or relaxing activity? 

Your potential to learn and grow is much bigger when your mindset allows you to explore and create freely! For every artist, the answer to that question is different. Solutions can range from sketching mindlessly, going back to the fundamentals, indulging in a guilty pleasure, or just taking a break. 

SKETCH LOOSELY & FREELY 

I always feel like the more an image progresses towards being ‘finished,’ the less movement it has compared to the original sketch. That’s why I think it’s so important to sketch loosely and freely, with a high emphasis on gesture! In order to do this, I prefer to use brushes with an organic look and feel. 

The more texture it has, the less ‘perfect’ the lines feel to me. My favorite brush for sketching is the Macalabs HB Pencil which you can find here: 

http://cbr.sh/fg8up?ref=loish

LEAVE DETAILS & OVERTHINKING TO THE END

My digital art workflow is mainly about leaving details to the end. When drawing my first lines, I like to keep it loose and just focus on shapes and movement. I add the colors and details gradually as I go, using my intuition as a guide for my creative choices. 

Sometimes the end result looks nothing like my first sketch, but for me, this saves a lot of time and feels much more free than overthinking my work in the early stages. This process is explained in my digital painting tutorial which you can find here: 

http://cbr.sh/ewjowk

USE REFERENCES

As you might have noticed, I believe that overthinking is one of the biggest problems that artists face, and I’m a fan of anything that relieves the psychological pressure. One thing that helps my workflow is to draw from reference as a way to study and learn, and also take a break from having to come up with things to draw. 

Having something in front of me to study puts me in a more observational mindset, and it’s usually the thing I fall back on to get out of an art block. Here’s a tutorial that shows my process for drawing from reference: 

http://cbr.sh/frrftz 

CHANGE YOUR WORKSPACE

Sometimes it’s good to change things up as a way to break out of a stuck pattern, and the space that you’re in can have a huge impact. When I doodle mindlessly during a train ride or while watching TV, my mindset is totally different than when I’m sitting in my workspace - I feel much more relaxed, and slightly distracted, which prevents overthinking from taking hold. So when I’m feeling stuck, I like to grab my ipad and draw without too much thought. My favorite brush set for painting on the ipad is this one:  

http://cbr.sh/ai2y9?ref=loish. 

The textures and painterly feel make it easy for me to blend colors and just enjoy the process.

See more of Loish's work here.