Tips and Tricks: Drawing In AJ Style!

Hi Jammers, Arctic here- I hope you are all doing well!

This week, I don't have any new art or edits that I've done. So, I've decided to tell you guys some tips and tricks on how to draw in Animal Jam's style!

Drawing is a necessary part of editing, so even though this post will focus on drawing alone, these tips will hopefully help both artists and editors alike!

The main thing I've noticed with AJ's art style is how many shapes are used. Take a look at all of these:

What's common in all of these? Shapes! Tons of them! In these few photos alone I see trapezoids, pentagons, triangles, hexagons, and tons of boxes. Rarely does AJHQ use perfect circles! I strongly suggest that you try to see AJ animals in shapes instead of lines - it will really help you visualize what you want to draw. (think in shapes, not lines!)

Now, keeping these shapes in mind - start drawing them. Here's a WIP shot from my tiger art I posted a couple weeks ago:

Notice how boxy it is! It's nowhere near the final draft (and it looks quite ugly at this stage!), but using these prevalent shapes as a reference point before you soften it out can be super helpful. From there you can begin to add more details and get it to be the proper shape!

I'm working on another piece of AJ-style art right now of a different animal. I can't show you guys just yet, but I've found that keeping the shape-thing in mind really helps me!

Another thing I suggest you notice - colours! Colours are super important for the AJ style. There really isn't a whole lot of 'gradient' going on, apart from the eyes. Most of AJ's colours are nice and solid - very important to remember when you colour your art! Also, be mindful of how bold your colours are - there's a difference between solid and bold! Animal Jam never uses really flashy colours like neons or popping reds!

The solidity rule also goes for the shading - unfortunately you can't use the airbrush to get out of this one (as I quickly discovered). Animal Jam shading is solid, boxy, and dramatic! I try to avoid using a darker shade of the main colour for shading. Instead, I paint all shading in black and then turn down the opacity!

And finally, the eyes. Ah, the eyes. The eyes are one of the only places that AJHQ ever uses a gradient on! The eyes are never a single solid colour, but rather they get darker the further you go along the iris! Also note that it's rare to see the whites of the eyes on AJ art (there are certainly exceptions, however rare they are). Remember, there's always a small spot of light glare/reflection on the eyes of AJ animals!

Rare occasion in which whites are shown.

And that about covers it! Sorry this post was less about the PROCESS and more about NOTICING, haha! I do believe that paying attention to these small details can truly improve the quality of your work, however. Noticing small things is what really set me on my way to becoming a better editor and artist.

Most importantly, though - remember that you can do it! It's easy to get discouraged- I've been there. Things can be tough starting out - and even after you get the hang of it too. Cliche as it sounds, the more you work at it, the better you'll be. Believe in yourself!

That's all for this week folks - I hope this helped at least a little bit for those who are interested in trying out this style!

See you soon!

See you around my friends!