Impossible.  Cannot be done.  Your attempts to mimic such incredible facial trichology will only end in blood-soaked tears of regret.  Do you want to wallow away the evening in blood-soaked tears of regret?  Then put the dang beer down on your newly cleaned desktop and see just how much better you do!

Go instead with a moderate (moderate!) cup of coffee or green tea.  Having at least something to nurse while working is a good way to keep focus and comfort.  Abstain from caffeinated sodas and energy drinks, they'll just make you hyper and easily sidetracked.


3: Livestream

Very good chance if you're reading this, you're a digital artist.  When working digitally, it's really difficult to work sometimes just knowing that the big glorious icon is sitting just underneath for Chrome or Opera or Firefox (or Internet Explorer if you're really that behind the times).
Curb the temptation, and willingly put a handful of your Internet pals right over your shoulder to watch your every move.  They're going to be there on their time*, invited by your hand, to see you draw and nothing else.  So don't let them down.  They're your friends, after all.  Don't let down your friends.

_{*English majors: I saw you squeak in jovial admiration there. Thank you.}

Just go to the Livestream website (or JustinTV or whatever), download the broadcaster software, and go for it.  That way, you'll have some people giving you encouragement while you work.  You'll have company so you don't feel like you wasted your evening without the IRL friends you keep convincing yourself you actually have.  And best of all, you'll get swift justice if you lose focus and get sidetracked by that freaky-deaky Internet porn you don't want us to know you enjoy.


4: Use References and Mimic

Let's make it clear; I don't mean tracing. Wouldn't you believe I actually saw an anatomy book that suggested tracing as a valid means of learning?  Pfft, what a jerk.

By using references and mimicing the styles of others, I mean finding a way to give your unique artwork a direction based upon what you see elsewhere.  We all envision ourselves as the perfect artist who doesn't need no stinkin' anatomy books or photographs to draw the whimsical worlds in our heads.  But that's just silly.  Even the top tier artists use references and aspire to the greatness of our artistic predecessors.  It's what makes them so good.  They don't guess how grass would act in an environment; they grab photos of it and line them up to soak in and research its behavior.  The way light shines off of bricks, stucco, marble, iron, steel, and other materials?  Never guess, always have something handy to see just how it looks.


5: Delete Black and White From Your Color Swatches

Quick challenge.  Draw a picture, but when you get to shading it, use only the primary colors.  Try it.  Use only red, blue, and yellow.  See how the colors all blend together, create this nice harmony among one another, and look more vibrant when they collide together?  Abstaining from using black and white while shading will guarantee a much more lively color palette right off the bat, and if you get really good at working with those colors, you'll really stand apart from the others.


6: Take Breaks and Manage Your Time

Take breaks.  Frequently.  Every couple hours, give yourself a twenty minute break, preferably away from the computer screen and television.  You need to rest those eyes, let them recover.  Something like doing another chore such as folding laundry can keep those muscles warmed up but clear the head nicely.  Make yourself a sandwich.  Clean your desk space if you haven't yet.  Grab your mp3 player and take a walk around the block.

Try not to be one of those "I painted for sixteen hours straight" kinds of guys.  The amount of time you spend on an image isn't nearly as impressive as the actual look of the image in the end. The only people who care how long you spent on an image are directors and producers, and to them, bragging about a single background taking you seventy-plus hours is anything but something worth bragging about.

Just get it done, and don't kill yourself in the process.  If you aren't getting a lot of enjoyment out of your work, you're probably not managing your time right, or worse, not going to pursue art much further.


7: Do Something Else From Time To Time

Make music.  Write literature.  Read a book.  Hike.  Never forget to take an afternoon for yourself and follow other endeavors.  Art can be quite overwhelming at times, but by not making it the sole aspect of your life, it won't be able to overwhelm you.  Taking on an extracurricular activity can be fun, and leave you refreshed and eager to jump back into that artistic project you were on.  Well...granted that extracurricular activity isn't trying to match Salvador Dali's moustache.