ART GUIDE - Simple tip to create better 2D Art and Design 🔸🟣✔️

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a great weekend 😊

Today I wanted to give you a quick tip to remember when you draw or design anything in 2D. It’s a simple rule but if you haven’t used it so far, probably you’ll need to focus, to spot them all. It will be much easier (or even automatic) with practice 💪🏼

✍🏼 WHAT IS TANGENT?

A tangent is an area where two things in an image are nearly touching or actually touching, and in doing so create a visual mistake that the human eye doesn't like. It can lead to confusion in the viewer, like it can draw the eye to a part of the painting that's unimportant, it can just feel wrong or strange, or it can confuse the viewer as to the relative depth of the two objects. And that's why tangent are best to be avoided.

Most tangents can be easily fixed. You need to identify them first, and then move one or more of the objects ("push" them to overlap).

EXAMPLES OF TANGENTS AND FIXED DRAWINGS

Creating tangents might be tempting because our brains like to organize and connect lines or objects but drawings like this are very confusing. Move lines or objects to avoid it.

"No tangents" rule apply to all types of 2D art - no matter if it's realistic or very stylized:

Keeping this simple rule in mind helps to avoid unnecessary, visual clutter. I made this quick portrait sketches to show you the difference on more complexed example. On the left I made as many tangents as I could 🙃 Can you spot them all?

Tangents will often appear on the reference photos. It’s important to spot these mistakes and correct them on your sketch. You’re the artist so you’re choosing how you’re showing objects on your drawing. In this case it would be better to move the glass balls a bit to create an overlap:

I hope it helps! 🤗

Have a lovely week! ❤️🎄🎅🏼

Gaby