Artists of Reddit, what are some common mistakes people make while drawing?

1. I spent a lot of time drawing portraits so I'll speak from that experience. The most common mistakes are always in using solid lines to draw things like teeth lips and ears and other delicate features instead of drawing and shading the space around them. Teeth is a great example because many beginners make the mistake of literally drawing in the teeth and they end up just looking like weird chiclet-things. What they should be doing is a soft outline of the negative space or the dark parts, and block in the shadows caused by the inside of the mouth showing through the teeth. People try to mimic the literal lines they are perceiving instead of being guided by the shapes of things and their shades in relation to each other. It's a really subtle art, kind of hard to describe and to teach.
   — ItzSpiffy


2. Drawing what you think it's supposed to look like rather than drawing what it actually looks like. Many tree trunks aren't actually brown, they're often closer to gray. Look at what the actual shapes and colors are and replicate that. The best way to start drawing something realistic is often using something like the grid method.
   — neverchangingwhoiam


3. 1. Shading with pitch black. 2. Not using references. 3. Getting sucked into the same-face-syndrome style by copying anime (I have nothing against anime, my own style is very similar. I just have a problem with same face syndrome, lol) 4. Not practicing variety enough. 5. They don't push their figures' poses. "Don't just reach for something, rather reeeeeaaaaaach for something". 6. They don't use reflective lighting. 7. Being afraid to try new mediums or styles. 8. Focusing on what they can draw instead of practicing to better what they can't draw. 9. Rushing. Art takes time~ 10. Ignoring the basics. Learn to draw shapes, know how lighting and colour theory works, etc before trying to plunge into the deep-end of art (like I did, rip)
   — TheRealDoctorCoconut






4. My mistake is in attempting to draw.
   — themosh54


5. Assuming that the left and right sides of a human face and body are mirror images of each other.
   — madame_ray_


6. I see a lot of people complain about their work not looking like their reference because they don't observe the reference; they see the reference and draw what they think it looks like instead of constantly looking at the reference and making marks based on what they see. I saw somewhere that said you should be looking at your reference more than you look at the paper.
   — McPiranha






7. I smudge everything cause im left handed so try to avoid being left handed
   — TheCove123


8. Perspective. It actually follows a pretty simple set of rules that anyone can learning pretty quickly.
   — theoptionexplicit


9. That those guidelines where you "start with a circle" and then do other things like draw a cone or a cross section dont have to be followed strictly... They mean nothing. The circle could be the persons left hand, its all just a trick to get you started drawing
   — hear4help






10. Not enough looking at what you are drawing, too much looking at the drawing itself.
    — jaintynotdainty


11. They always forget the pubic hair, its important for realism
    — moistpeanut123


12. Sometimes focusing on lighting and not the actual object can create a much greater sense of realness than an object with poor lighting but lots of details. This obviously would only apply to art that has some intent to be realistic.
    — DirtyNoGoodRockJock






13. Thinking that you need to be as good as someone else.
    — Derp-Bee


14. Holding the pencil like you are writing. You can only work your finger range like that. For large areas where you are blocking in the shapes hold the pencil more like a brush and draw with your shoulder and elbow instead of the wrist and fingers.
    — DarrenEdwards