1. When working from a picture or from your own sketches, never be afraid to change the layout or colors of the ansi. Ansi is limiting in that you only have 16 colors, and your canvas is 80 columns wide... some things simply do not look good in ansi.

2. Shading always looks better than not shading. There are different kinds of shading ....basic, toon style, anti-aliasing, smooth, rough, pHUNK, etc. No matter what style you use, it's better to shade than not.

3. Use vga modes to check your ansi to make sure it's in proportion. There's nothing worse than seeing a picture of a person with a head 70 columns wide and a neck and waist 30 columns wide, and it WASN'T INTENDED to be that way.

4. Never be afraid to correct your mistakes. That was always my problem. For a LONG time... that and shading.=)

5. If you don't like to draw, and you aren't willing to practice at your ansi then don't expect to be invited to a good group. No matter how well you draw on paper, ansi takes time to learn... If you don't enjoy the hobby, then quit reading this text file, you stupid fuck. =)

More Tips

1. Always separate colors with a black line unless the colors will be shaded together.

2. When drawing the eyes of a person or monster in ansi, if the head is small then don't draw the whites and iris's in.. just leave empty holes.. same goes for eyebrows.. just a black line will do.

3. Look at the way other people draw.. the techniques that they use. Don't be afraid to imitate someone. Experiment in shading and design. Don't worry about it if someone declares you a Lord Jazz ripoff or an Eerie ripoff.

4. Pepsi is better than Coca-Cola.

5. A white background is better than no background.

6. Beer is better than Pepsi.