Shoutout to the guy who told me to flip my canvas horizontally

Was at a local digital art meetup in Portland last spring. This older painter looked over my shoulder and just said 'flip it.' I thought he meant literally flip it left to right. Did it and suddenly saw my character's eye was a whole inch off. Saved me 2 hours of rework right there.

3 comments

3 Comments

hill.andrew20d ago

1997 called and wants its hot take back, @leo612, flipping your canvas is just a crutch for people who can't draw from life.

the_lucas19d ago

my brain just goes on autopilot and stops seeing the obvious mistakes" - 100% this, man. Drew a portrait last week, thought it looked perfect. Flipped it horizontally. Left eye was a full centimeter higher than the right one. Looked like a Picasso painting. Same thing with shoulders - I'll draw one sloped, one square, and just not see it until I flip. It's not a crutch, it's just tricking your dumb brain into seeing fresh.

leo61220d ago

and honestly that flip trick is one of those things that sounds way too simple to actually work but it totally does. i've been doing digital art for years and i still catch stuff i missed by just flipping it, especially with faces and poses. what really gets me is when i forget to do it for a few days then flip and see something completely jacked up that i've been staring at the whole time. it's like my brain just goes on autopilot and stops seeing the obvious mistakes until i shake it up with a flip.