Digital mistakes

Layers and undo; risk of over-polishing. Work values in greyscale first; name and group layers.

22 faults, most common first

Copying every detail of a reference without simplifyingThe drawing is filled with high-contrast, tiny marks spread uniformly across every square centimetre. Rescue
Flip-canvas check not used to spot proportion errorsThe face or figure slants markedly to one side, features sit at conflicting angles, or one eye drifts noticeably higher than the other. Rescue
Hands drawn too smallThe hands are noticeably undersized for the figure, often ending abruptly at the wrists like tiny paddles. Rescue
Not checking work in a mirror or at a distanceA portrait or figure exhibits an unintended tilt, an eye sitting higher than its partner, or an overall drift to one side. Rescue
Overuse of undo and zoom leading to lost proportionsIndividual features look exquisitely rendered in isolation, but sit at incorrect angles, disparate scales, or awkward heights relative to each other. Rescue
Skin with airbrush look, no structureThe face lacks bony landmarks, crisp planar shifts, and sharp cast shadows. Rescue
Subject has no focal pointThe canvas contains equal amounts of detail, contrast, and sharp edges everywhere. Rescue
Too many layers and details before the values workSmall highlights, micro-textures, and fine line elements cover the canvas, yet the overall subject lacks solid mass and depth. Rescue
Using hard brushes everywhereEvery boundary between forms, cast shadows, and turning planes has a knife-like, razor-sharp edge. Rescue
Atmospheric depth missing: no value shift in distanceDistant hills, buildings, or horizons feature jet-black darks and crisp contrasts equal to foreground elements. Rescue
Blurry output from low canvas resolutionLines show visible pixel stepping and brush strokes appear blurry or blocky along their edges. Partly
Colour palette fights: unplanned mix of many chromasThe painting features high-intensity, pure pigment across every corner without a clear dominant hue. Rescue
Colour picking everything from photos, producing a muddy compositeThe colour transitions feel random, dull, and speckled. Rescue
Colours oversaturated, with too much on one layerThe hues sit near the top-right corner of the digital colour picker, creating intense, harsh saturation across the whole image. Rescue
Composition cut off at awkward placesLimbs, joints, or primary objects hit the boundary of the page in an awkward manner. Partly
Ears and nose not lining upThe ears sit at a level that conflicts with the placement of the nose and brow. Rescue
Local colour only: ignoring reflected light and temperatureThe object is painted using only its local hue mixed with black for shadow and white for highlight. Rescue
Stiff pose with no weight shift or line of actionThe figure stands rigid, with shoulders and hips drawn parallel to one another. Partly
Stopping too early because it looks fine in the phone photoThe physical artwork appears faint, lacking rich darks and crisp details, despite reading clearly when photographed. Rescue
Tangents: edges kissing awkwardlyTwo distinct edges in the picture touch exactly at their borders without clear overlap. Rescue
Framing wrongly: cropped or overmattedThe outer border of the frame or mat cuts directly into the subject matter, leaving no margin for the composition to breathe. Rescue
Shapes all similar in sizeThe masses, light patches, or negative spaces across the work are all roughly the same dimensions. Rescue

Faults that apply to every medium are collected on the any medium page. Measuring problems may also be worth checking with the proportion grid, and paint drying questions with the drying time guide.

Checklist: check your work against these

Each line is the quick test from the matching page. Print this page for a studio checklist.

Copying every detail of a reference without simplifying. Squint heavily at your source photo; if half the tiny details disappear in your blur, but they are clearly rendered on your paper, you have over-copied.
Flip-canvas check not used to spot proportion errors. Press your horizontal canvas flip shortcut right now: if your subject looks suddenly deformed, skewed, or drunk, your drawing has developed a bias.
Hands drawn too small. Hold your own open palm across your face; notice that your hand extends from your chin up to your brow or hairline. Compare that same measurement on your drawing.
Not checking work in a mirror or at a distance. Hold the work up to a flat mirror or invert the canvas upside down right now; any lean will jump out immediately.
Overuse of undo and zoom leading to lost proportions. Fit the entire canvas to your screen: compare the size and angle of the left feature directly against the right feature using a straight horizontal guide.
Skin with airbrush look, no structure. Check the cast shadow under the nose and lower lip: if the transition spans more than a couple of millimetres without a defined start, the face is over-softened.
Subject has no focal point. Look away for five seconds, then glance quickly at your artwork: if your eyes dart around frantically rather than settling on one clear spot, you have no focal point.
Too many layers and details before the values work. Zoom out until your canvas is the size of a postage stamp: if the subject dissolves into an indecipherable grey soup, your big values are broken.
Using hard brushes everywhere. Zoom out to fifty percent and squint at your contours; if every line between form and background looks equally sharp, your edges lack variety.
Atmospheric depth missing: no value shift in distance. Eyedrop the darkest shadow in the far distance and the darkest shadow in the foreground; if their brightness values are nearly identical, atmospheric recession is missing.
Blurry output from low canvas resolution. Open your software canvas settings and check the pixel dimensions; if the width or height is under two thousand pixels, your canvas is too small for detailed work.
Colour palette fights: unplanned mix of many chromas. Take a photo of your painting and desaturate it halfway; if the composition suddenly becomes calmer and easier to read, your saturation is unmanaged.
Colour picking everything from photos, producing a muddy composite. Sample five adjacent pixels on your skin tones; if the hues jump haphazardly across different colour families without deliberate intent, your palette is polluted by photo noise.
Colours oversaturated, with too much on one layer. Sample your main midtones with the eyedropper tool and check where they sit on the saturation square: if most are above eighty percent, your palette is oversaturated.
Composition cut off at awkward places. Hold your hands or two sheets of paper over the margins to test shifting the crop inward or outward by two centimetres.
Ears and nose not lining up. Hold a straight pencil horizontally across your drawing from the eyebrow to the top of the ear, checking if both landmarks rest on the same tilted plane line.
Local colour only: ignoring reflected light and temperature. Examine the shadow edge of the object; if it is merely a darker, duller version of the light side, you have missed ambient bounce.
Stiff pose with no weight shift or line of action. Draw a vertical plumb line down from the pit of the figure's neck; check whether the supporting foot sits directly beneath it.
Stopping too early because it looks fine in the phone photo. Step back three metres from the easel in normal room light without your device and see if the darkest darks still hold authority.
Tangents: edges kissing awkwardly. Trace the silhouette outlines with your finger to spot any places where two different objects share an identical boundary line.
Framing wrongly: cropped or overmatted. Place four scraps of white paper along the edges of your painting to simulate a mount window and see if any focal points get crowded.
Shapes all similar in size. Squint at the artwork and group the elements into basic shapes to see if they all take up roughly equal area.