oh hi, class is in session, you MUST pay attention. I keep hearing these bits of "advice" and they ruffle my feathers so much I had to make a video about them. Hope it helps, also.... U TEAM LEWIS OR TEAM MAX? Only 1 right answer 👺
Marc why you leave blizzard, was if cause of controversy or the workplaces sucked?? Either way I’m glad you make these videos because they are really helpful so thanks for helping others 👍
I like to draw without reference every once in a while to find out which parts I struggle with most and to test my skill level. I try not to spend too much time on them
I’m actually so glad you mentioned the “draw from imagination” thing… can’t begin to tell you the guilt I feel when I’m using references. It’s like the world is telling me “you’re not very good - if you were, you could do this without references!”
Even worse for me, I feel like, even if I just use them for inspiration or check a particular part, I'm a sort of thief. "Everyone will notice that you were looking at this picture in particular when drawing this thing" "You're not doing anything original, just copying something" and etc QwQ
@@_Layru You steal from one person, you are the next "Whoever". You steal from many people, and you will be told "wow you are so original!" No artist out there is truly original, originality is nothing but a compilation of everything you have seen in life. As artists, we are always taking from something to create our own thing, whether it is nature itself, the techniques of our art mentor (or RUclipsr in this case) or from our references. We are all "thefts" in an artistic way, the only instance where you are REALLY stealing, is if you take someone's work and call it your own, that is true stealing that should NOT be encouraged.
@@Weiswolfe It's alright, dummies are a learning tool, they'll help you build a visual library of poses and gestures. You can always stop using them once you feel more confident! It's that simple
As quick summary for those that need it: 1 - More Practise != Better Art. Don't overwork yourself, your focus is limited. Minimize distractions to avoid wasting focus. 2 - Don't draw from imagination. Use references to improve, imagination is just memory. Drawing from imagination is impressive, but not good for learning. 3 - Style isn't important. You need to know the fundamentals first before you develop a style, and need to be malleable with styles. 4 - Money doesn't buy skill. You don't need to empty your wallet to go to art school and get better. Find a pro artist who can mentor you, or just use free tutorials. 5 - Studying the work of others can be detrimental. Everyone makes mistakes, nobody is free from it. If you don't catch the ones those you study made, they'll make you worse.
I think the “practice a lot” advice is more for inpatient people that want to draw like a pro in their first class or fist week, or that they think the difference between a pro and a fresh student is the “talent” they have, obviously there’s people who can learn way faster than others and draw beautiful pieces in a short amount of time but for most people it takes years to get to a certain point. Obviously also taking in consideration the “practice better “ part because yeah you won’t get better by mindless grinding either.
okay, then answer, how i should love myself and don't kill myself in useless endless practice and depression, if i can't practice not mindlessly, my brain just don't understand anything no matter how many times i'm watching/listening/practicing this, and of course people like you would talk about that's not the talent issue, it's just because you're not trying hard enough, when i have this trouble with my useless brain my whole life in everything.
hell, my case is this, i am about to graduate from graphic comms, a career i dont like, like at all, but i studied it to not play videogames for 4 years, good thing was my post grade, it was of digital art, what i actually wanted, so how much time i will be without a job? see that is why the STUDY ALL DAY NON STOP comes from, because like me, when i leave school i will be unemployed who knows how much time without anything to show that can actually make me a profesional with a job in x or y company, that is why the practice alot comes from, the fear of being stuck behind and looking at others succeding and you still trapped on the ground for far too long, i get into this digital art wolrd just some months ago and being noob makes me mad and i end up hating what i do hating art and end up playing games an far too much WIPs, i hate the system of get a career then get a job then die, im improving i think but the moment i open up my canvas again the next day, i hate it and want to nuke it, is why i think i need a pro to see what i do and tell me how im doing cause for me im evolving, but backwards lmao, sorry for being my tear bucket lol
The whole 10,000 hours concept actually comes from a study of musicians. Specifically the researcher was interviewing violin virtuosos to find out what it took to become one. A virtuoso is someone who has absolutely mastered their instrument and can play literally anything. What the researcher found was that, on average, each Virtuoso had put in about 10,000 hours of focused practice and performance in order to achieve their status as virtuoso. But crucially, you don’t have to be a virtuoso to be good at playing the violin. Unfortunately this research has basically been hijacked and people apply the 10,000 hour rule to everything. For artists it creates a lot of confusion because it feeds into this notion that you have to obtain some sort of “level” in order to be employable and it just isn’t true. Yes there’s a lot of competition out there for jobs but there’s also a lot of jobs, but most of those jobs go unnoticed because they’re not the dream glamour jobs that so many aspiring artists fantasise about. The other problem with the 10,000 hour myth is it leads people to grind rather than practice. It’s the old saying practice makes perfect, which is wrong. The saying should be perfect practice makes perfect. For example if you’re practicing drawing a face and the shapes and proportions are wrong, it doesn’t matter how many times you draw it with the wrong proportions it’s always going to be wrong. However, if you take the time to make sure your proportions are correct, and you practice drawing it the correct way, then you will get better and it won’t take 10,000 hours to improve. What Marc is saying is people think they need to grind and grind and grind and then get frustrated when they don’t see any improvement, but they’re not improving because they’re not practicing in a way that is conducive to improving. They’re not taking the time to observe their progress and cross check it against their reference, they’re just doing the same thing over and over again expecting to somehow magically get better.
@@CamelliaFlingert perhaps you need to just step away from art for a moment. Your comment is very negative and it sounds like you’ve gotten into the weeds and have a very unhelpful frame of mind. Refocus your attention on what you want to do art for because it sounds like you’re really not enjoying it. That being said, the difference between focused practice and mindless grinding is focusing on perfect practice rather than just reinforcing failure. Perfect practice doesn’t mean you have to produce perfect results, it means focusing on getting it right. It sounds to me that you haven’t yet learnt how to “see” or how to observe both your subject and your work. But I can’t be sure having not seen your work.
i feel like drawing "from imagination" can sometimes be good or fun because sometimes you just remember an image and decide "hey what if i draw something with a similar vibe" and then combine things in your visual library to make something new. :)
Drawing from imagination is key, but even 'imagination' needs to follow some rules. You don't make a pair of pants and use "imagination" on where the legs of the pants go and wonder where the hips are. You use actual pants to draw from, AND THEN for the _design on the fabric,_ you use your imagination. People are either ALL FOR or TOTALLY AGAINST, I've seen, I think this dude is one of the few that has actually told people "No, you need both."
Thats just drawing though it's not practicing, so of course it's fine to just draw for fun because that's what the practicing's for lol. Just know you won't get much improvement out of it.
I’m a victim of the “practice often” doctrine. And while I have learned a lot over the past 5 years I’ve started drawing for real, lately I’ve realized that it’s not enough to practice as a general routine, but I also need to add a focus to each time I practice. Drawing without a focus on a certain aspect of fundamental skills can blunt the amount of experience you can take out of your drawings if you’re looking to improve.
"If you don't have a strong fundamental then study other artist's art doesn't make much sense and you might end up copying their mistake unknowingly" This make so much sense, as I'm a self-learner so viewing other arts have been a source of learning for me. Since I don't have strong fundamental yet, sometime I ended up struggling as I do not know whether the content I'm learning from is the right way to do it or not. Better have a strong foundation first before moving to stylize and other things. Thanks for pointing that out!
first time I've ever heard someone mention aphantasia with art, i was told i would never be good at art because I'm a 1 one the test and yet i proved them wrong so it's great to hear it brought up
I’m also a 1 on the test and ohhhh boy do I love references- I use them up especially for poses and lighting . People always seems so amazed I’m an artist with aphantasia but yet here I am
I'm very low and struggle with most mental imagery except for some things I've seen thousands of times (exept people for some reason) Creativity is a bit difficult but bouncing off of references to make something new I have an idea of but cant see is how I've learned to get around it
@PolySaken I think the longer you’ve been drawing the easier it is to draw from imagination without a reference, I use both equally when I draw. I will sketch out very roughly and then refine it with the help of a heap of different references so I know know my measurement are good and nothing looks too far off for it’s movement, but originally references where a huge saviour
Im improving so much at digital art, because of your art course and youtube vids. And it justs give me good vibes, and a closer connection to the art fandom
I'm also in, maybe it's complicated, people say that we compare other artstyles to find a better artstyle, it's a stupid advice and is like simplifying panty and stocking even UnknownSpy's artstyle
Heavily agree. It's good for making soft edges in shadows. The problem I think beginners make is that they use the airbrush everywhere. Some edges of shadows are going to be hard and others soft. It depends on where the light is shining on and sometimes the angle. If you're shading say, a cube, you'll want to use hard edged shadows. Soft shadows are more appropriate on rounded edges and the airbrush is very useful there.
I use the airbrush tool ever now and then, and I agree. Mostly I block in color and use a blending tool to soften the edges. If my subject is lit by moonlight, candlelight, or any type of soft lighting or indirect lighting, I tend to use the airbrush because it creates a way more natural glow effect to the lighting. I found that making the airbrush much larger than the edge I'm coloring and using the edge of the airbrush's spray to apply the highlight gives it a more diluted, natural glow look. It does mean I end up doing a lot of erasing of the overspray, but it's not that big of a deal to me. Also, changing the opacity of the highlight so it isn't too solid and allows a little bit of the color underneath to show helps make the airbrush highlight look more natural as well. I am limited in what I can do digitally since I'm running a free app (Autodesk Sketchbook on iPad) but even with minimal brushes, I can still create cool lighting effects depending on how I use them.
ur so right art school is so expensive AND FOR WHAT - i really think the only great thing about art schools would be the connections you make there, but still you can make connections elsewhere. Thanks for the tips in this weeks vid!
Myth 6: good artists get the forms they're trying to make right first go : look how many times Marc played around with what angle he wanted parts of this character on in this drawing, don't settle on the first marks you make, flip the canvas, study the shapes in relation to everything else and find room for improvement! 😊 Just a cool thing I notice Marc making a really good example of.
I think the best advice I'd ever heard from someone was a lesson. On how, even during the ancient days the artists there drew from references. Like how they get inspired so much just to draw a painting of a boar. As they say, 'Art imitates life' and with that concept in mind. Life is the foundation of Art, as we slowly learned and learned how to draw animals and people more we could use the same knowledge to draw dragons with the wings of a bat and the body of a lizard along with some horns reminiscent of rams or bulls.
I always love the "hurry let's get this video started!" part❤️❤️ Thanks for the tips Marc🥺 I really needed these tips for today cause I was doing those mistakes🙁
I've always taken the 'draw from your imagination' tip as "you always paint rosebushes, try drawing an oak but instead of acorns it's tulips." It's not a real thing, but you can still reference each part of it if needed
Honestly, when my art teacher was teaching us realism, I never knew how good I was at it until I started. I feel like it has helped me to understand anime anatomy a bit more too. Also thank you for this video! I think it’s going to help me out a lot more!
I'm a huge adherent of the concept of : "you should master a rule before trying to break it" and I see this as an example of this concept. First learn how to represent the best way possible the reality. Then, when you know how realism work, you can play with the rules to give a style to your drawings.
I beyond baffled how you can drop such perfect videos every week and every single one is good and unique. I am currently what you call a "wannabe" artist and your videos are the reason I didn't give up (I compared my work to other artists my age and some are way better). Everything I learnt (at least what I use) is from you, I'll be looking forward to the full painting!
Seriously don’t compare your work to others your age or younger, there’s just way to many factors & everyone’s life has been a different journey. Compare your work to your own work, you will see over time how much you’ve improved. I’m not saying don’t aspire to be as good as artists such as Marc, that’s healthy… inspiration from artists that have reached the amazing skill levels, that they churn out these amazing feasts for the eyes that we drool over, is amazing. It keeps us pushing to improve & keep working. I had a 20yr period of not creating anything… & when I got back into it & found digital, it’s my drug of choice, nothing makes me happier than creating & having a second opportunity to work in this field is just the greatest gift ever. I work full time as an illustrator now, with more than enough work to keep me going…. But I do also try to put time aside to keep building my skills, I’m certainly nowhere near what I hope to be one day. So forget age & just follow your dreams.
Comparison killed my passion for drawing for 5 years... don't let those thoughts getting in your way of getting better. I stopped looking at instagram artists and only started to focus on the artists (4 or 5 max) that made me feel an encouragement to get better rather than envy/jealousy or depressing discouragement. It changed my artistic life 😁🙌🏻
Fact: a designer never creates something that doesn't exist, he can only replicate things, textures and concepts that already exist in a creative and innovative way
I haven't personally drawn in a while. Just been busy working, but I always watch vids like these so when I do go back to drawing I can get better! Love how these are free keep up the great work!
A tip I got from another professional artist was to learn from reference and then reinforce that by drawing from imagination because if you only ever draw from reference you'll struggle when that reference is taken away.
My friend once told me that using a reference was, in fact, art tracing. I looked at a picture of a lion for a human character that I was basing off a lion and my friend told all my art friends I traced the drawing.
I think it’s important to practice a lot when drawing to get better, HOWEVER, when new artists get this tip it’s usually not exactly what they are looking for. They need to start building skill and technique first so they know where to start. So when people tell new artists this tip, it’s not wrong but it’s also not very helpful to them (so I agree with you)
I was almost completely self taught, and I think I was pretty good. After finding you on RUclips my art has improved a lot. I look forward to every video you release.
Thank you for saying you don’t need to break the bank on art school. Sadly personal experience talking, I went for 2 years to an art school I’m STILL paying off to get treated like dirt and barely learned anything. Went to a tech college after that and got trained by better people that were way more organized and knew what our needs for learning were. I’m so glad others give the advice of avoid art school since it just turns into paying for a school name on your diploma and not good experience unless you got lucky. Cheers!
The practice a lot advice fucked me up because I just did whatever without any direction. When I asked what I was supposed to work on, I had world class artists not knowing how to answer because unfortunately they were good artists but not so good teachers and couldn't mentally backtrack in their own art journey enough to be able to give some insight. So I practiced way too much on a way too wide selection of varied subjects and it hurt my growth + was discouraging because it makes you progress really slow. And I'm not the only one, I've seen a lot of art students get trapped by the same advice. So I really appreciate this being number one.
I thought drawing from reference was discouraged 🤔 This is a different perspective. It makes me feel better about needing to look at things to understand how to draw them.
No! Every professional actively encourages it because it keeps your forms and lighting consistent. In fact I often take silly photo shoots with myself for reference.
Nobody who is worth listening to would suggest that references are bad. Professional artists use them all the time. I mean, look at Disney movies. The animations are the result of hours and hours of studying real footage and images to create realistic motions. References are even important if you stylize your art. Gotta know the rules to break them, you know. If you're drawing something cartoony, you should look at the real world version of that thing, and see what parts are appealing to be exaggerated, and what parts to get rid of or not emphasize.
i love that you mentioned the reference thing. i've worked hard on my art and it comes out really well but a lot of the time i check loads of references to make sure i get it just right but i always feel like i'm not that good because i check so many references instead of my mind. You've made me feel much more confident with this
Bro I am thankful you posted this because I always think I’m not creative with drawing and don’t even have an art style but knowing I don’t need to just always make stuff from imagination and just start with references has helped my confidence with drawing because I only think of the creative part and nothing else. Thank you for uploading this because I could’ve left my dream of art. Thank you.
It's exactly as Marc says. I'm from a slightly different area and work in the gaming industry. I've never been asked about my education in all 10 years of work and I'm happy I didn't waste my time at standard universities. All this time I developed my skills through free open sources and knowledge and at 22 I was already working in my area.
YES thank you for mentioning the "find your own style" part. We were pressurised to find our own style on a short time period at school back then. Still haven't figured out mine yet but at least i'm okay with that now, and i don't feel i "need" it.
These were great, totally agree with you….. & you hear them over & over. I must admit I’ve been guilty of telling my followers that it does take time & practise, but to practise smart. Not work your fingers to the bone, but to begin with the fundamentals to get that core structure in your work. Everything else will follow once you understand the technical aspects. I just love your work Marc, & I aspire to one day have the control over the fundamentals, combined with the confidence to create the wonderful expressive life all your work has. Hoping my clients don’t come up with last minute jobs, so I can spend some time over Christmas to do some study with you. I try to do this once a year as a present to myself.
Just found your channel today, and I like the content. I've been drawing for 20 years as a hobby. The bad tips you give here are ones I got a lot, even though I never followed them. I'll be getting around to watch more of your videos soon, I'm sure. It's never a bad thing to learn something new. I might use the new techniques, I might not. The more I learn, the more refined my style becomes, along with my ability to use other styles and do something I'm not as familiar with.
I've been interested in learning art some years ago and I feel like I didn't improve a lot but, a guy was like helping me or giving me advice. I think learned a lot but he told me going to class or having someome looking at you constantly would help you greatly. He teached me about shading, perspective and a lot of interesting stuff, but still missing something. So hope can learn a lot without the need of one great video content.
Another thing to remember about drawing from imagination is that when you do that you're drawing something based on how you saw it, not how it actually looks - an object in the real world will always look differently from your mental interpretation of that same object.
"You get what you pay for" is something that hindered me as an artist...I never went to art school, and a lot of people told me I could never be a real artist if I didn't. So I slowly gave up. Hearing you say that you're completely self-taught and that people can learn from formal education even outside of an art school is so inspiring. Thank you so much for saying this. Maybe I'll be able to truly get back into my art one day...*smashes subscribe button*
I think it is generally meant to be taken not in a literal sense. Basically you need to WANT to learn, and be involved in it. I think it usually refers to those guys who roll in an art teaching classes with the "well, when will you make me good?" attitude.
The "10,000 hours" myth was something my art professors said ALL. THE. TIME! They even "calculated" when we'd become masters of our craft. Honestly, it made a lot of my classmates just lose motivation
@@madestmadhatter I get that, but that's how my professors framed it. They were saying that to achieve this "goal" you'd have to eat, breathe, and think only about your craft. As if it'd have to consume your life.
I am a first year student at a pretty good art school. I am in no way saying you can’t make a living without going to school. But one of the main reasons I wanted to go is because it is a great place to make connections. This connection with teachers and other students will create a network and this will sometimes be the deciding factor on if you get the job. The more people you know the easier it is to find work. Also there are just some experiences you will miss out in when you don’t go to school for your profession.
I hear this a lot but it's not as unique to traditional art schools as most make it sound to be. Unless the school hires really good and well-networked teachers which is super rare (but of course they exist), the small number of connections you'll makes won't be worth much in terms of getting you work opportunities. Most of that nowadays happens online, as it does for the ~86% (based on US census) of all working professional artists who have no formal art education yet make a living from their art as a primary source of income. The vast majority of artists do without just fine, numbers don't lie :) Some people work best with the structure of school and couldn't do well without so there is a place for it, but I just wish more people had the right information going into it. Most don't.
I'd say I'd agree, but more specifically, internship opportunities and résumé building. A decent public school is great with stuff like that in my experience
Thank you! I'm a self taught artist of 9-11 years and I'm always looking for ways to improve. recently I've been using more references like you suggested and have been much more satisfied with my work. I've also been taking an Art Fundamentals class because I needed an art credit and drawing was my passion, but its also helped a lot! there needs to be more people like you willing to give a hand in the world. I'll definitely subscribe and recommend you to other aspiring artists I see!
I REALLY LIKE your first tip. I can't emphasize it enough. I am also a kickboxer and used to train like craaazy 7 days a week. I got burnt out real quick. My coach told me that someone who trains 2 days a week full potential and max energy will train better than someone who trains 7 days a week burnt out by the second day, learning nothing the following days. This applies to everything. EVERYTHING. I also love drawing and figured it to be this way too. Very glad you covered this. 🙏
I went to an art school and ended up leaving in the middle of it, I feel that I wasn’t learning anything, there was a lot of drawing comparisons, they all wanted the students to have the same style, after years away from drawing, I decided to draw again.
thank you mark for helping me with my studies this really means a lot , more specifically because your videos are really helping me improve my designs and drawing's and probably helping other people too, you motivated me to dream top and start pursuing my dream of living with my drawings, I would love to be able to pay for your course, if the money I would need to buy wans't the same value as a used motorcycle in my country, then I'm trying to be self-taught and getting better by watching your videos, so as I said, your videos helped me improve a lot so i wanted to express the affection thay I feel for your work with this ,so thank you!
Sometimes i don't feel like a real artist. I love drawing and I'm good at it, but what makes me a real artist? I always have this annoying dilemma, I always want to be better and better.
I have worked as a 3d sculptor and illustrator for videogames for 6 years now and I have to say you are the artist I have learnt the most from on RUclips. That is quite generous considering you have paid courses too. The amount of tips, methods and tutorials you put out there for free is amazing. really, so generous of you. I love your style and you are for sure one of my references. Thank you so much for it.
I realised observation as one of the most important aspects in improving my drawing long ago.... it’s a simple practice but a lot of people i know haven’t realised it yet because of how simple it is
I understand going to art school would be a last Resort and I been creating artwork from your and other youtubers lessons but I just want to go to SCAD to learn from professional face to face, I feel more comfortable with it
Thanks a lot! People around me tell me I'm good at drawing but I never see enough progress in my drawings. This video helped me mentally a ton! I will not give up keep practicing and just take my own time to learn everything and not be so picky on myself all the time.
okay, we should first learn the fundamentals like anatomy, perspective etc in order to study other people's artstyles and make some parts our own. but how can we draw the line between drawing other people's styles for fun and when we need to study the fundamentals ? how do we know we have them ? great video nonetheless, thanks for your time marc
I don't get what your question is?imho that is a question that should be discovered by yourself because of the question of 'when' to study just depends on you like how much time you are willing and capable to put in for studies. In case of how to know if you have them, what helped me is to check the artist that I really look up too and compare them with several of their artworks though in my case now I just fully follow my guts and interpretations so Im not really sure. Surely other dudes can have better answer I guess? I'm just putting in my honest opinion and experiences.
honestly i disagree with a large portion of it but im not a pro either so feel free to ignore what i say its true in order to understand an art style and build up your own style you do need some ground work first but if you know some basic anatomy and proportions i would say a little perspective then you know plenty to play with the art style a bit and study other styles that inspire you doing studies is very important but often youll hit a wall and may not want to do a specific exercise even for days or weeks at a time its good to push past and do it anyway sometmes but its also good to shift gears and try something else so if you are drawing lots of gesture drawings and practicing anatomy you might decide you want to study composition instead for a while or colors shifting subjects helps fight burnout and keeps things exciting even drawing from imagination is ok in some areas... i doodle alot from imagination is it anywhere close to accurate? ofcourse not but doodling from my imagination helps me find shapes that i think go well together and different ways to draw some textures aswell it also helps with more stylized drawing if you want something that looks like western cartoon in many cases these are blobs and mishapen understanding how to put a face on a character like that is useful even if its not accurate and finding ways to really simplify that a good example is gumball Darwin is a goldfish but does he look like a real goldfish? no they very well may have used goldfish for reference and some details but its very likely that they started with some blobby looking shapes for a head and different eyes untill they settled on something they wanted to refine more and perhaps use other cartoon and things that arent fish at all for some reference too if all you draw is from imagination then you will have problems when it comes to fundamentals so theyre very important but dont stop drawing from imagination just because "youre not good enough" drawing from imagination is what tells you those simplified shapes that may not be accurate at all but look good in your eye and thats important if you want very stylized drawings imagine if a more stylized artist like lavendertown and artwork for pokemon like pikachu even they both use reference im sure but neither one are accurate studying from reference alone wont tell you how to exaggerate and simplify shapes that far and reference can hold you back from using very stylized shapes that may actually look great if you commit to it ofcourse as you study from reference more itll help you keep those shapes more in line with reality and more accurate not accurate persay but "more" accurate without reference you wont know how to turn the facial features in perspective or how to connect the legs to the body however if you never draw from imagination you wont draw those exagerated shapes think of Phineas & Ferb aswell clearly a triangle isnt the correct shape for a human head but they drew him like that anyway to give it more character looking at a real human head isnt going to be that useful for drawing phineas pikachu sure you might want to look at the general shape of a rats body but they dont really follow that pikachu doesnt look like a real mouse its a very stylized take
@Octy I think I got the answer to your question. But first, imagine an art style that you love and want copy. Now, ask yourself how close that style is to a fully realistic style. What I'm trying to say is that a style comes from a full understanding of realistic anatomy, proportions, colors, etc. Styles can't exist without it being based off of "our visual library of real life knowledge". Therefore, if you are trying to improve your art skills ONLY from styles, then you're not really gaining any valuable fundamental knowledge that applies to everything you do. BUT, if you are NOT trying to learn but just want to have fun, that's totally fine to try and copy their style! The best thing to do is instead take note of how they use and bend the fundamentals to their advantage, then apply it to your own work. 😁
funny thing of me i just started my youtube channel trying to figure out how everything works, was reading about copyright when your notification popped i just read “Horrible” and “Stop” for a moment my heart stopped. I’m a new subscriber and i love your content ❤️ ❤️
I'm so damn glad that I've found Your channel. I was drawing traditional by far. I switched to digital for a... Week ago? I'm trying to do my best and Yours videos are inspirational as hell! Thanks to You I've found again my desire to learn, improve, and believe in that my goals aren't out or reach! Thank You 😁😁😁
Is the "learn the rules before you break them" a good art advice? Also. Practicing the art style by drawing a character with different styles is a good way to practice?
Hi Marc! I liked these tips,especially the first one with the "working time" because too many people don't see that it's not good to draw TOO much a day (had some bad back issues after only 3 months of bad drawing posture and forcing painting even though I did notice my mind wasn't able to concentrate anymore). My limit is really a 5-6 hour mark. ^^° I have a question though - how long do you think it should take to really grasp the painting fundamentals? SInce I have started digital painting with the intend of becoming a professional some day two years have passed and I still lack in many fundamental areas. I'm not terrible but still struggle with e.g. lighting and colors and depictign realism though deliberately practising. (before that, I was only drawing most of the time for fun) :/ Thanks in advance and looking forward to your next video! =)
Depends on too many factors! Impossible to tell. How much practice, how well you practice, what’s the structure, who’s the teacher, how good you are going into it etc etc
This is a radical video man! I think I needed to hear the 10,000 hour thing, I felt like the only way I could improve was to jam as much of my time into drawing as I could, and at times it made me really dislike it. I'll be sure to consider my focus more often, thanks man!
Finally somebody said number five. I roll my eyes so hard at the "My art teacher hates anime!" Videos so many RUclipsrs have made. Like 9/10 times your art teacher doesn't hate anime, they've just seen a bunch of people waste their talent and their time drawing anime poorly and never improving because they refuse to study the fundamentals and only want to draw highly stylised imitations of their weeb interests. A look at every single great mangaka will show that even if their style is incredibly exaggerated underneath it they know anatomy. You have to learn the rules before you can bend and break them. You can really tell when an artist has a killer style and aesthetic to their work but had never mastered basic anatomy and had just aped their favorite anime. A solid foundation is the key to reaching the stars.
Dude! Every time I see one of these videos I get nervous that I’m not going to like the content but then not only does the continent end up being extremely positive but it resonates with my soul. You did it again sir! I particularly like how you phrased the thing you said about drawing from imagination. I am a big advocate for drawing from imagination because it is a excellent way of expressing your inner emotions without actually knowing what your emotions are at first. It is so encouraging to see how complex the symbolism and images can become when you are just being free but the downside to that is that you will not improve. It’s like my martial arts instructor used to say “you have to train the right way if you want the training affect, it might feel good to jump around and get some exercise but I am not going to sugarcoat the truth.”
These tips you're giving in the video are solid. Like nobody caring where you learnt the stuff is legit. Only results get you somewhere. Thumbs up to you, man 👍
Great video as always! Though i don't think doing reference is the only way to go though, Cuz I've been doing digital art seriously for 3 years+. And I've found that doing about a 70:30 ratio of reference and imagination art is the fastest way to improve. Maybe I'm wrong but, about 2years+ of doing almost only reference I saw very less improvement, whenever I tried to create I need to look at a reference or another, my breakthrough was after learning about the two sides of the brain, where one focuses of analysis and other intuition so I am very strongly opinionated of doing both imaginative and referenced studies hand in hand. I do agree that reference is important period.
For the "copy the styles of artists you like" tip, I've found that it's more insightful and rewarding to copy the TECHNIQUE of an artist you look up to, rather than try to imitate their overall look. It's a good way to see if you're stuck in a rut with your process.
the thing is you gotta decompose the artist work, see how they resolved the problems in the first place (aka deconstruct the way they draw faces, deconstruct the way they do gestures, poses, anatomy) etc. but to do that you need to already know the fundamentals or at least having trained them enough to know what you are looking for
I've been slowly improving, myself. I've learned that being patient and taking more time on my pieces makes a better looking result, and that all the learning in the world can't change that taking your time makes a piece look more professionally done. I was having issues with a pose for a commission of mine, and I was trying to recall everything I knew about them to make it work, but it wasn't until I took a break and came back with a fresh, clear mind that I was able to make a thumbnail that was spot on. All of these tips are wonderful, and I have so much left to learn, but I think I'm returning to how I was 10 years ago and just being happy to make art. Something about that is just inherently better than slaving through it.
wow, you mentioning aphantasia on an art video, specially about drawing from imagination, makes me feel seen and validated as a person who has one. Thank you so much!
I'd argue that studying other artists can be quite useful. I'd agree that you need to be at a level where you can understand what choices they're making and why, though. Anime is a great example. The best Mangakas have an excellent understanding of anatomy, but your average reader wouldn't notice, because they only include the details that are the most important at the time. It's interesting to look and see why they decided to draw the collarbone, for example, on one a character in one panel but not another, and what that means about which details are essential in the scene.
@@ViliEvans well i do both, i use references to pose the dummy then trace it, i just cant fill the void of a canvas without looking at my hand, is like im trying to hold water wiht my bare hands, i need a bucket(the 3d dummy), to actually know where i should go as my tablet doesnt have the display on it, do you catch my meaning lol
This video popped up on my recommended three times today.. it’s only now I decided.. you know what.. lemme just click. In the start of the video.. I was captured.. it immediately put a smile on my face with the explosions.. (I’m a child at heart) then as the video went on .. I looked at the drawing speed paint while listening to what was being said… I immediately pointed out advice that I knew I needed (I’m very self aware) and clicked the like button. In the middle of watching .. I realized I could learn a lot here and decided to subscribe … by the end of the video I felt so pumped and inspired to pick up my stylus and practice using references and focusing on the bits and pieces that I’m not good at. And that’s when I hit the bell. I knew right then that I wanted to be there for every video posted by this channel… Knowing that he’s also self taught .. and seeing my progress this year .. has really made me see that I can totally do this … as long as I want to, I can. Thank you for making this video Mr. Brunet.. I really appreciate it. 💛
Loved the video! and what you said about focus. I have been drawing for 20+ years now and lately found myself having days where I can only get 4hours of work done. I end up feeling like that isn't good enough. But you have given me a new perspective on that. thanks!
The music from FFX at the end of this vid made me subscribe but I'm really looking forward to bingeing your vids! I love the way that you explain things in vids I've seen so far and you're a great teacher!
This is an older video, but on point #4 I completely agree. Almost 3 years ago I joined a discord server focused around an artist where they offer mentorships. A few months in I joined that mentorship and saw my art improve way faster than it ever would by myself- best part is it was only $100/month; dirt cheap compared to other options. Not only did I improve in my skills but I also gained many good friends along the way.
Some very good tips, although I found myself (ironically) mostly distracted at how effectively you can use that "Soft Skin 2" brush! Digital *painting* is something I find very challenging. I lack a lot of technique required for it due to focusing on cell shaded art for years. Properly airbrushing, blending, etc is all very difficult for me, and the failed attempts just leave me feeling defeated and running back to my original methods, haha. I was very happy to hear the first tip, seeing as how one of my other problems with art is getting tired very easily. I know artists who forsake sleep and food for their work getting completely lost in it. Meanwhile, I draw for about an hour and a half and find myself exhausted -- almost to the point of needing a nap. I've found that it's often worse on days when I'm really lacking creativity, or find myself struggling with something (be it posing, anatomy, facial expressions, colors, etc). While my situation might still be extreme, hearing a professional present the idea that "you only have so much focus to spend in a day" does really make a lot of sense. I'm wondering if taking more frequent breaks would help me build up that endurance. Thank you very much! This was a very informative video! I'm very interested to dig through the rest of your content!
I'm actually glad I found this account, I don't use any references and try to learn new styles all on my own, I'll have to start listening to this advice
Thank you so much! I have always thought I was horrible at drawing because I couldn't draw without reference. But I learned I just needed to practice from reference first.
Hi Marc, your videos help me a lot. For someone who hasn't joined any art school or art programmes, you really guide amateurs like me really well. Currently I'm practicing anatomy, quick poses and expressions and I really enjoy doing it. Am I on right track? Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed and pressure myself but I always remind myself to enjoy doing art cause that's the only thing right now that makes me happy. I believe I'll get better. Thanks for being such a good teacher :)
EYE clonesss war! Also, fantastic video, Mark. It is critical to understand not only what to do but also what not to do in order to prevent reinforcing poor behaviours. You did an excellent job of explaining.
I don't entirely agree, but mostly it's details, namely; -dont just draw a lot, makes sense, but drawing a lot, and doing iterations helps a lot to improve, so draw a lot can be better than just doing a few detailed drawings, if you do it right :) -drawing from other people, can really help you learn the basics, and help you to compare your own basics to theirs, to more easily see your flaws and how others would approach the same problem and what solution they came up with :)
I have to say thank you for the first thing. The solid learning structure is the hardest thing to get people to understand. I have so many art friends who do amazingly and I have tried to learn for years on my own with what ever I could find. Money is fairly tight and teachers hard to find where I am. I've asked my art friends before as detailed questions as I could to try and gain some knowledge in how to improve. All they say is "Practice" "Practice makes perfect." "Duh just practice" I've asked "practice what?" Several times so I can narrow down what I am doing wrong and what I should be doing to improve. I've asked about shading techniques, coloring advice, structure instruction. Anything that will give me a base to build on. Yet all they ever say is "Just practice. Put in the effort." Like I haven't been trying for years....
I think a big part of the drawing from reference is making sure you use the right references and take the right things from those references. I know there will be situations where a "good" reference isn't available, but that's partially where learning how to take the right information from reference is important. There are times when you may need to copy, times when you need to interpret and times when you need to completely invent with the same project or even the same reference. That's stuff I'm still working hard to learn when to apply which to.
This was very useful, thank you. This also makes me feel more confident that I can get better at drawing and that my art teacher in high school was wrong. Anime is an art in its own right with its own rules and it can be beautiful. I recently acquired a fountain pen and I am using it to draw Junji Ito inspired work and just drawing what I feel like in the moment and letting the ink flow. If you aren't having fun then how do you expect to find yourself in the zone? One of my favorite things to do when I have art block is to get my many boxes of crayons and just let go. The nostalgia of crayons keeps me grounded and the simplicity of the medium keeps me from worrying about making a mistake because it already won't be perfect.
Sometimes, when I'm bored and don't know what to draw, I just doodle without references, idon't draw 100% from imagination either. whenever I start a drawing like this, I just start drawing, and whatever happens happens! Like if I'm drawing a face, I'll just start drawing the eyes, mouth, etc, and not know what expression I wanna do, I usually draw the eyes first, so I base the whole expression on how I feel the eyes would fit. Basically I just start drawing and go with what I make haha! This is honestly a really fun way to doodle in my opinion, and I feel like it's helped my style develop, even just a little bit :) I really hope this makes sense a little, and if anybody is reading this I encourage you to try it! To me it's really fun hah
What's funny is that when you were talking about how some people like some styles of different artists I was looking at the background and how you were doing it. Not gonna lie. You have given me idea on how to treat background and a new way to draw it with each piece having its own layer. So thank you.
This really helped me, lately I've been having doubts about studying so much, drawing different things...instead of creating new things from imagination that It made me feel anxious. I really love creating, but I know right now what I need it's to improve, and studying it's what make it faster (when I say studying I mean also practicing anatomy, perspective...)
I had a choir teacher that taught me something that can be used for any skill/activity, that is nothing is perfect, practice makes better, there’s always room to improve, and that practice is important, but not the most important.
With most of my characters and drawings, I’ve had to sort of “throw at the wall and see what sticks” with many of my dynamic drawings. And the only times I use reference is for warm up and I use like, dancers and contortionists. I find them brilliant to draw and see the limits of joints and leg to torso ratio along with hand flexibility. Then I just look up if I squint and go “yeaaaaah I need to look that up”. But I grew up as a photographers child so I’m used to looking for lighting and lighting. Still need to practice that in drawing, I’m a traditional drawer. But I highly respect digital artists! They and you do things by brain sadly can’t lock onto.
Oh man, this is a great video! I've heard so many of these before and once I started figuring out some were BS I improved much faster!! For instance once I stopped listening to "You can't use refs" I actually knew what stuff looked like I was able to draw from memory more and more but I'd never tell someone to just jump into the deep end like that!
I have no idea what you say sometimes (I'm not good at English), but I can always learn something new from your speedpaints. Thank you for providing high quality content.
Some stuff I've been told by professional artists that stuck with me: "Your style is found by trying new things. You take bits and pieces, things you like from other artists you see, and incorporate it into your own." "Realism isn't the end goal, it's your stepping stone. Learn it so you can break it more efficiently." "There is no set progression in art. You get better, but your better isn't the same as everyone else's better." "Don't be afraid to completely start over. You don't have to save every piece. Time lost on one piece isn't time wasted, it's time spent learning from your mistakes." And I've heard more but I can't remember all at once. It's 3am and I have a full body concept piece to work on tomorrow lol. Ahhhh insomnia~ My one true bane! And wrist/finger cramps but we don't talk about those.
oh hi, class is in session, you MUST pay attention. I keep hearing these bits of "advice" and they ruffle my feathers so much I had to make a video about them. Hope it helps, also.... U TEAM LEWIS OR TEAM MAX? Only 1 right answer 👺
Thank you for making this video! I do watch you a lot, can't wait for the next one or live stream :(
Marc why you leave blizzard, was if cause of controversy or the workplaces sucked?? Either way I’m glad you make these videos because they are really helpful so thanks for helping others 👍
@@dr.stronk9857 I believe he left to work on his company and website cubebrush
@@Kokose ah
MAX MAX MAX, SUPER MAX MAX, SUPER SUPER MAX MAX
I like to draw without reference every once in a while to find out which parts I struggle with most and to test my skill level. I try not to spend too much time on them
damn, that is big brain
I do this but take out references completely. It's a work in progress.
Yep, in that case it's helpful!
I didnt use RUclips to draw BUT to get entertained. I discoverd my drawings by my self since I have been trying to improve almost my whole life.
I should start doing this. I rely to much on references that i cant draw without them 😔😔
I’m actually so glad you mentioned the “draw from imagination” thing… can’t begin to tell you the guilt I feel when I’m using references. It’s like the world is telling me “you’re not very good - if you were, you could do this without references!”
same
Even worse for me, I feel like, even if I just use them for inspiration or check a particular part, I'm a sort of thief. "Everyone will notice that you were looking at this picture in particular when drawing this thing" "You're not doing anything original, just copying something" and etc QwQ
i feel bad for using a dummy, clip studio has dummies is a life changer but i feel guilty
@@_Layru You steal from one person, you are the next "Whoever".
You steal from many people, and you will be told "wow you are so original!"
No artist out there is truly original, originality is nothing but a compilation of everything you have seen in life. As artists, we are always taking from something to create our own thing, whether it is nature itself, the techniques of our art mentor (or RUclipsr in this case) or from our references.
We are all "thefts" in an artistic way, the only instance where you are REALLY stealing, is if you take someone's work and call it your own, that is true stealing that should NOT be encouraged.
@@Weiswolfe It's alright, dummies are a learning tool, they'll help you build a visual library of poses and gestures.
You can always stop using them once you feel more confident! It's that simple
As quick summary for those that need it:
1 - More Practise != Better Art. Don't overwork yourself, your focus is limited. Minimize distractions to avoid wasting focus.
2 - Don't draw from imagination. Use references to improve, imagination is just memory. Drawing from imagination is impressive, but not good for learning.
3 - Style isn't important. You need to know the fundamentals first before you develop a style, and need to be malleable with styles.
4 - Money doesn't buy skill. You don't need to empty your wallet to go to art school and get better. Find a pro artist who can mentor you, or just use free tutorials.
5 - Studying the work of others can be detrimental. Everyone makes mistakes, nobody is free from it. If you don't catch the ones those you study made, they'll make you worse.
4: how does one go about finding a pro artist and convincing them to mentor you?
thank you kind stranger
ty bro
The second advice is horrible, drawing from imagination is a good way to train your memory and test what you have learnt so far
@@chotho4718 more like ,learn/draw from reference* when u r a student or in a learning phase. Testing ur visual library is good ☀︎︎
I think the “practice a lot” advice is more for inpatient people that want to draw like a pro in their first class or fist week, or that they think the difference between a pro and a fresh student is the “talent” they have, obviously there’s people who can learn way faster than others and draw beautiful pieces in a short amount of time but for most people it takes years to get to a certain point. Obviously also taking in consideration the “practice better “ part because yeah you won’t get better by mindless grinding either.
okay, then answer, how i should love myself and don't kill myself in useless endless practice and depression, if i can't practice not mindlessly, my brain just don't understand anything no matter how many times i'm watching/listening/practicing this, and of course people like you would talk about that's not the talent issue, it's just because you're not trying hard enough, when i have this trouble with my useless brain my whole life in everything.
hell, my case is this, i am about to graduate from graphic comms, a career i dont like, like at all, but i studied it to not play videogames for 4 years, good thing was my post grade, it was of digital art, what i actually wanted, so how much time i will be without a job? see that is why the STUDY ALL DAY NON STOP comes from, because like me, when i leave school i will be unemployed who knows how much time without anything to show that can actually make me a profesional with a job in x or y company, that is why the practice alot comes from, the fear of being stuck behind and looking at others succeding and you still trapped on the ground for far too long, i get into this digital art wolrd just some months ago and being noob makes me mad and i end up hating what i do hating art and end up playing games an far too much WIPs, i hate the system of get a career then get a job then die, im improving i think but the moment i open up my canvas again the next day, i hate it and want to nuke it, is why i think i need a pro to see what i do and tell me how im doing cause for me im evolving, but backwards lmao, sorry for being my tear bucket lol
The whole 10,000 hours concept actually comes from a study of musicians. Specifically the researcher was interviewing violin virtuosos to find out what it took to become one. A virtuoso is someone who has absolutely mastered their instrument and can play literally anything. What the researcher found was that, on average, each Virtuoso had put in about 10,000 hours of focused practice and performance in order to achieve their status as virtuoso. But crucially, you don’t have to be a virtuoso to be good at playing the violin. Unfortunately this research has basically been hijacked and people apply the 10,000 hour rule to everything. For artists it creates a lot of confusion because it feeds into this notion that you have to obtain some sort of “level” in order to be employable and it just isn’t true. Yes there’s a lot of competition out there for jobs but there’s also a lot of jobs, but most of those jobs go unnoticed because they’re not the dream glamour jobs that so many aspiring artists fantasise about.
The other problem with the 10,000 hour myth is it leads people to grind rather than practice. It’s the old saying practice makes perfect, which is wrong. The saying should be perfect practice makes perfect. For example if you’re practicing drawing a face and the shapes and proportions are wrong, it doesn’t matter how many times you draw it with the wrong proportions it’s always going to be wrong. However, if you take the time to make sure your proportions are correct, and you practice drawing it the correct way, then you will get better and it won’t take 10,000 hours to improve. What Marc is saying is people think they need to grind and grind and grind and then get frustrated when they don’t see any improvement, but they’re not improving because they’re not practicing in a way that is conducive to improving. They’re not taking the time to observe their progress and cross check it against their reference, they’re just doing the same thing over and over again expecting to somehow magically get better.
@@Weiswolfe it sounds like what you really need is a mentor
@@CamelliaFlingert perhaps you need to just step away from art for a moment. Your comment is very negative and it sounds like you’ve gotten into the weeds and have a very unhelpful frame of mind. Refocus your attention on what you want to do art for because it sounds like you’re really not enjoying it.
That being said, the difference between focused practice and mindless grinding is focusing on perfect practice rather than just reinforcing failure. Perfect practice doesn’t mean you have to produce perfect results, it means focusing on getting it right. It sounds to me that you haven’t yet learnt how to “see” or how to observe both your subject and your work. But I can’t be sure having not seen your work.
i feel like drawing "from imagination" can sometimes be good or fun because sometimes you just remember an image and decide "hey what if i draw something with a similar vibe" and then combine things in your visual library to make something new. :)
Drawing from imagination is key, but even 'imagination' needs to follow some rules. You don't make a pair of pants and use "imagination" on where the legs of the pants go and wonder where the hips are. You use actual pants to draw from, AND THEN for the _design on the fabric,_ you use your imagination. People are either ALL FOR or TOTALLY AGAINST, I've seen, I think this dude is one of the few that has actually told people "No, you need both."
Thats just drawing though it's not practicing, so of course it's fine to just draw for fun because that's what the practicing's for lol. Just know you won't get much improvement out of it.
@@BeckyNosferatu Tis why I had problems drawing legs for a really long time
I’m a victim of the “practice often” doctrine. And while I have learned a lot over the past 5 years I’ve started drawing for real, lately I’ve realized that it’s not enough to practice as a general routine, but I also need to add a focus to each time I practice. Drawing without a focus on a certain aspect of fundamental skills can blunt the amount of experience you can take out of your drawings if you’re looking to improve.
Set a goal everytime until ur satisfied, tho if it get to repetitive and your not too satisfied with the art then take break
"If you don't have a strong fundamental then study other artist's art doesn't make much sense and you might end up copying their mistake unknowingly"
This make so much sense, as I'm a self-learner so viewing other arts have been a source of learning for me. Since I don't have strong fundamental yet, sometime I ended up struggling as I do not know whether the content I'm learning from is the right way to do it or not. Better have a strong foundation first before moving to stylize and other things.
Thanks for pointing that out!
I like to study from real life as well as other artists
first time I've ever heard someone mention aphantasia with art, i was told i would never be good at art because I'm a 1 one the test and yet i proved them wrong so it's great to hear it brought up
I’m also a 1 on the test and ohhhh boy do I love references- I use them up especially for poses and lighting . People always seems so amazed I’m an artist with aphantasia but yet here I am
I'm very low and struggle with most mental imagery except for some things I've seen thousands of times (exept people for some reason)
Creativity is a bit difficult but bouncing off of references to make something new I have an idea of but cant see is how I've learned to get around it
@PolySaken I think the longer you’ve been drawing the easier it is to draw from imagination without a reference, I use both equally when I draw. I will sketch out very roughly and then refine it with the help of a heap of different references so I know know my measurement are good and nothing looks too far off for it’s movement, but originally references where a huge saviour
Im improving so much at digital art, because of your art course and youtube vids. And it justs give me good vibes, and a closer connection to the art fandom
I'm also in, maybe it's complicated, people say that we compare other artstyles to find a better artstyle, it's a stupid advice and is like simplifying panty and stocking even UnknownSpy's artstyle
I can relate
how much is his art course?
"Art fandom" jesus christ
@@Smile-uu2yg 500 Dollars I guess, plenty of money sorry for the late answer
unpopular opinion: shading with airbrush is good when used correctly, and it's not necessarily a "beginners" shading technique
Heavily agree. It's good for making soft edges in shadows. The problem I think beginners make is that they use the airbrush everywhere. Some edges of shadows are going to be hard and others soft. It depends on where the light is shining on and sometimes the angle. If you're shading say, a cube, you'll want to use hard edged shadows. Soft shadows are more appropriate on rounded edges and the airbrush is very useful there.
I use the watercolor brush from ibis paint and just smatter in diffrent shades
I use the airbrush tool ever now and then, and I agree. Mostly I block in color and use a blending tool to soften the edges. If my subject is lit by moonlight, candlelight, or any type of soft lighting or indirect lighting, I tend to use the airbrush because it creates a way more natural glow effect to the lighting. I found that making the airbrush much larger than the edge I'm coloring and using the edge of the airbrush's spray to apply the highlight gives it a more diluted, natural glow look. It does mean I end up doing a lot of erasing of the overspray, but it's not that big of a deal to me. Also, changing the opacity of the highlight so it isn't too solid and allows a little bit of the color underneath to show helps make the airbrush highlight look more natural as well. I am limited in what I can do digitally since I'm running a free app (Autodesk Sketchbook on iPad) but even with minimal brushes, I can still create cool lighting effects depending on how I use them.
@@angelicaapperson950 i use the airbrush so much taht I can make it look soft or hard
I agree, plus they freaking get clogged and are just not good for beginners at all.
ur so right art school is so expensive AND FOR WHAT - i really think the only great thing about art schools would be the connections you make there, but still you can make connections elsewhere. Thanks for the tips in this weeks vid!
Myth 6: good artists get the forms they're trying to make right first go : look how many times Marc played around with what angle he wanted parts of this character on in this drawing, don't settle on the first marks you make, flip the canvas, study the shapes in relation to everything else and find room for improvement! 😊 Just a cool thing I notice Marc making a really good example of.
I think the best advice I'd ever heard from someone was a lesson. On how, even during the ancient days the artists there drew from references. Like how they get inspired so much just to draw a painting of a boar. As they say, 'Art imitates life' and with that concept in mind.
Life is the foundation of Art, as we slowly learned and learned how to draw animals and people more we could use the same knowledge to draw dragons with the wings of a bat and the body of a lizard along with some horns reminiscent of rams or bulls.
I always love the "hurry let's get this video started!" part❤️❤️
Thanks for the tips Marc🥺 I really needed these tips for today cause I was doing those mistakes🙁
I've always taken the 'draw from your imagination' tip as "you always paint rosebushes, try drawing an oak but instead of acorns it's tulips." It's not a real thing, but you can still reference each part of it if needed
Honestly, when my art teacher was teaching us realism, I never knew how good I was at it until I started. I feel like it has helped me to understand anime anatomy a bit more too. Also thank you for this video! I think it’s going to help me out a lot more!
I'm a huge adherent of the concept of : "you should master a rule before trying to break it" and I see this as an example of this concept. First learn how to represent the best way possible the reality. Then, when you know how realism work, you can play with the rules to give a style to your drawings.
I beyond baffled how you can drop such perfect videos every week and every single one is good and unique.
I am currently what you call a "wannabe" artist and your videos are the reason I didn't give up (I compared my work to other artists my age and some are way better).
Everything I learnt (at least what I use) is from you, I'll be looking forward to the full painting!
Seriously don’t compare your work to others your age or younger, there’s just way to many factors & everyone’s life has been a different journey. Compare your work to your own work, you will see over time how much you’ve improved. I’m not saying don’t aspire to be as good as artists such as Marc, that’s healthy… inspiration from artists that have reached the amazing skill levels, that they churn out these amazing feasts for the eyes that we drool over, is amazing. It keeps us pushing to improve & keep working. I had a 20yr period of not creating anything… & when I got back into it & found digital, it’s my drug of choice, nothing makes me happier than creating & having a second opportunity to work in this field is just the greatest gift ever. I work full time as an illustrator now, with more than enough work to keep me going…. But I do also try to put time aside to keep building my skills, I’m certainly nowhere near what I hope to be one day. So forget age & just follow your dreams.
Comparison killed my passion for drawing for 5 years... don't let those thoughts getting in your way of getting better. I stopped looking at instagram artists and only started to focus on the artists (4 or 5 max) that made me feel an encouragement to get better rather than envy/jealousy or depressing discouragement. It changed my artistic life 😁🙌🏻
Fact: a designer never creates something that doesn't exist, he can only replicate things, textures and concepts that already exist in a creative and innovative way
Shit not me taking years to try be creative and then see this
I haven't personally drawn in a while. Just been busy working, but I always watch vids like these so when I do go back to drawing I can get better! Love how these are free keep up the great work!
A tip I got from another professional artist was to learn from reference and then reinforce that by drawing from imagination because if you only ever draw from reference you'll struggle when that reference is taken away.
My friend once told me that using a reference was, in fact, art tracing. I looked at a picture of a lion for a human character that I was basing off a lion and my friend told all my art friends I traced the drawing.
Reminds me of a lot of things kids said when I was little. Like they were looking for some “got you!” moment.
That's not your friend
I think it’s important to practice a lot when drawing to get better, HOWEVER, when new artists get this tip it’s usually not exactly what they are looking for. They need to start building skill and technique first so they know where to start. So when people tell new artists this tip, it’s not wrong but it’s also not very helpful to them (so I agree with you)
I was almost completely self taught, and I think I was pretty good. After finding you on RUclips my art has improved a lot. I look forward to every video you release.
Thank you for saying you don’t need to break the bank on art school. Sadly personal experience talking, I went for 2 years to an art school I’m STILL paying off to get treated like dirt and barely learned anything. Went to a tech college after that and got trained by better people that were way more organized and knew what our needs for learning were. I’m so glad others give the advice of avoid art school since it just turns into paying for a school name on your diploma and not good experience unless you got lucky. Cheers!
The practice a lot advice fucked me up because I just did whatever without any direction. When I asked what I was supposed to work on, I had world class artists not knowing how to answer because unfortunately they were good artists but not so good teachers and couldn't mentally backtrack in their own art journey enough to be able to give some insight. So I practiced way too much on a way too wide selection of varied subjects and it hurt my growth + was discouraging because it makes you progress really slow. And I'm not the only one, I've seen a lot of art students get trapped by the same advice. So I really appreciate this being number one.
I thought drawing from reference was discouraged 🤔 This is a different perspective. It makes me feel better about needing to look at things to understand how to draw them.
No! Every professional actively encourages it because it keeps your forms and lighting consistent. In fact I often take silly photo shoots with myself for reference.
Nobody who is worth listening to would suggest that references are bad. Professional artists use them all the time.
I mean, look at Disney movies. The animations are the result of hours and hours of studying real footage and images to create realistic motions.
References are even important if you stylize your art. Gotta know the rules to break them, you know. If you're drawing something cartoony, you should look at the real world version of that thing, and see what parts are appealing to be exaggerated, and what parts to get rid of or not emphasize.
"Learning" from reference, rather than drawing from reference is encouraged.
i love that you mentioned the reference thing. i've worked hard on my art and it comes out really well but a lot of the time i check loads of references to make sure i get it just right but i always feel like i'm not that good because i check so many references instead of my mind. You've made me feel much more confident with this
Openings are getting creepier ... And i love it !
Bro I am thankful you posted this because I always think I’m not creative with drawing and don’t even have an art style but knowing I don’t need to just always make stuff from imagination and just start with references has helped my confidence with drawing because I only think of the creative part and nothing else. Thank you for uploading this because I could’ve left my dream of art. Thank you.
It's exactly as Marc says. I'm from a slightly different area and work in the gaming industry. I've never been asked about my education in all 10 years of work and I'm happy I didn't waste my time at standard universities. All this time I developed my skills through free open sources and knowledge and at 22 I was already working in my area.
YES thank you for mentioning the "find your own style" part. We were pressurised to find our own style on a short time period at school back then. Still haven't figured out mine yet but at least i'm okay with that now, and i don't feel i "need" it.
These were great, totally agree with you….. & you hear them over & over. I must admit I’ve been guilty of telling my followers that it does take time & practise, but to practise smart. Not work your fingers to the bone, but to begin with the fundamentals to get that core structure in your work. Everything else will follow once you understand the technical aspects. I just love your work Marc, & I aspire to one day have the control over the fundamentals, combined with the confidence to create the wonderful expressive life all your work has. Hoping my clients don’t come up with last minute jobs, so I can spend some time over Christmas to do some study with you. I try to do this once a year as a present to myself.
Just found your channel today, and I like the content. I've been drawing for 20 years as a hobby. The bad tips you give here are ones I got a lot, even though I never followed them. I'll be getting around to watch more of your videos soon, I'm sure. It's never a bad thing to learn something new. I might use the new techniques, I might not. The more I learn, the more refined my style becomes, along with my ability to use other styles and do something I'm not as familiar with.
this intros always make my day
I've been interested in learning art some years ago and I feel like I didn't improve a lot but, a guy was like helping me or giving me advice. I think learned a lot but he told me going to class or having someome looking at you constantly would help you greatly. He teached me about shading, perspective and a lot of interesting stuff, but still missing something. So hope can learn a lot without the need of one great video content.
Another thing to remember about drawing from imagination is that when you do that you're drawing something based on how you saw it, not how it actually looks - an object in the real world will always look differently from your mental interpretation of that same object.
"You get what you pay for" is something that hindered me as an artist...I never went to art school, and a lot of people told me I could never be a real artist if I didn't. So I slowly gave up. Hearing you say that you're completely self-taught and that people can learn from formal education even outside of an art school is so inspiring. Thank you so much for saying this. Maybe I'll be able to truly get back into my art one day...*smashes subscribe button*
I think it is generally meant to be taken not in a literal sense. Basically you need to WANT to learn, and be involved in it. I think it usually refers to those guys who roll in an art teaching classes with the "well, when will you make me good?" attitude.
The "10,000 hours" myth was something my art professors said ALL. THE. TIME! They even "calculated" when we'd become masters of our craft. Honestly, it made a lot of my classmates just lose motivation
I think it's meant to be like over a life time, but people take it to mean constant and aggressive upkeep
@@madestmadhatter I get that, but that's how my professors framed it. They were saying that to achieve this "goal" you'd have to eat, breathe, and think only about your craft. As if it'd have to consume your life.
your art is so godly and good that it makes me wanna cry you're such an inspiration ily
I am a first year student at a pretty good art school. I am in no way saying you can’t make a living without going to school. But one of the main reasons I wanted to go is because it is a great place to make connections. This connection with teachers and other students will create a network and this will sometimes be the deciding factor on if you get the job. The more people you know the easier it is to find work. Also there are just some experiences you will miss out in when you don’t go to school for your profession.
I hear this a lot but it's not as unique to traditional art schools as most make it sound to be. Unless the school hires really good and well-networked teachers which is super rare (but of course they exist), the small number of connections you'll makes won't be worth much in terms of getting you work opportunities. Most of that nowadays happens online, as it does for the ~86% (based on US census) of all working professional artists who have no formal art education yet make a living from their art as a primary source of income. The vast majority of artists do without just fine, numbers don't lie :)
Some people work best with the structure of school and couldn't do well without so there is a place for it, but I just wish more people had the right information going into it. Most don't.
I'd say I'd agree, but more specifically, internship opportunities and résumé building. A decent public school is great with stuff like that in my experience
Thank you! I'm a self taught artist of 9-11 years and I'm always looking for ways to improve. recently I've been using more references like you suggested and have been much more satisfied with my work. I've also been taking an Art Fundamentals class because I needed an art credit and drawing was my passion, but its also helped a lot! there needs to be more people like you willing to give a hand in the world. I'll definitely subscribe and recommend you to other aspiring artists I see!
You have 4 to 5 hours of focus every day
So 6 hours of school a day just leaves you lifeless and useless
Makes sense
I REALLY LIKE your first tip. I can't emphasize it enough. I am also a kickboxer and used to train like craaazy 7 days a week. I got burnt out real quick. My coach told me that someone who trains 2 days a week full potential and max energy will train better than someone who trains 7 days a week burnt out by the second day, learning nothing the following days. This applies to everything. EVERYTHING. I also love drawing and figured it to be this way too. Very glad you covered this. 🙏
I went to an art school and ended up leaving in the middle of it, I feel that I wasn’t learning anything, there was a lot of drawing comparisons, they all wanted the students to have the same style, after years away from drawing, I decided to draw again.
thank you mark for helping me with my studies this really means a lot , more specifically because your videos are really helping me improve my designs and drawing's and probably helping other people too, you motivated me to dream top and start pursuing my dream of living with my drawings, I would love to be able to pay for your course, if the money I would need to buy wans't the same value as a used motorcycle in my country, then I'm trying to be self-taught and getting better by watching your videos, so as I said, your videos helped me improve a lot so i wanted to express the affection thay I feel for your work with this ,so thank you!
Sometimes i don't feel like a real artist. I love drawing and I'm good at it, but what makes me a real artist? I always have this annoying dilemma, I always want to be better and better.
i feel like being an artist is exactly that: wanting to be better at it and working to get better results :)
I have worked as a 3d sculptor and illustrator for videogames for 6 years now and I have to say you are the artist I have learnt the most from on RUclips. That is quite generous considering you have paid courses too. The amount of tips, methods and tutorials you put out there for free is amazing. really, so generous of you. I love your style and you are for sure one of my references. Thank you so much for it.
I realised observation as one of the most important aspects in improving my drawing long ago.... it’s a simple practice but a lot of people i know haven’t realised it yet because of how simple it is
I understand going to art school would be a last Resort and I been creating artwork from your and other youtubers lessons but I just want to go to SCAD to learn from professional face to face, I feel more comfortable with it
I'm taking a break from making art,but I'll still watch this ♥️♥️
It’s great to recharge while using the recharge time to learn something new
That's cool
@@dodonodens8802 thank you so much that made me feel a lot better🥰
@@Yan_Haider ♥️♥️
Thanks a lot! People around me tell me I'm good at drawing but I never see enough progress in my drawings. This video helped me mentally a ton! I will not give up keep practicing and just take my own time to learn everything and not be so picky on myself all the time.
okay, we should first learn the fundamentals like anatomy, perspective etc in order to study other people's artstyles and make some parts our own.
but how can we draw the line between drawing other people's styles for fun and when we need to study the fundamentals ? how do we know we have them ?
great video nonetheless, thanks for your time marc
Good question! I hope a pro can answer this one.
its called studies and you only focus in a thing like color or shadows or strokes or whatever you want to learn
I don't get what your question is?imho that is a question that should be discovered by yourself because of the question of 'when' to study just depends on you like how much time you are willing and capable to put in for studies. In case of how to know if you have them, what helped me is to check the artist that I really look up too and compare them with several of their artworks though in my case now I just fully follow my guts and interpretations so Im not really sure. Surely other dudes can have better answer I guess? I'm just putting in my honest opinion and experiences.
honestly i disagree with a large portion of it but im not a pro either so feel free to ignore what i say
its true in order to understand an art style and build up your own style you do need some ground work first but if you know some basic anatomy and proportions i would say a little perspective then you know plenty to play with the art style a bit and study other styles that inspire you
doing studies is very important but often youll hit a wall and may not want to do a specific exercise even for days or weeks at a time its good to push past and do it anyway sometmes
but its also good to shift gears and try something else so if you are drawing lots of gesture drawings and practicing anatomy you might decide you want to study composition instead for a while or colors
shifting subjects helps fight burnout and keeps things exciting
even drawing from imagination is ok in some areas... i doodle alot from imagination is it anywhere close to accurate? ofcourse not
but doodling from my imagination helps me find shapes that i think go well together and different ways to draw some textures aswell
it also helps with more stylized drawing if you want something that looks like western cartoon in many cases these are blobs and mishapen
understanding how to put a face on a character like that is useful even if its not accurate and finding ways to really simplify that
a good example is gumball Darwin is a goldfish but does he look like a real goldfish? no
they very well may have used goldfish for reference and some details but its very likely that they started with some blobby looking shapes for a head and different eyes untill they settled on something they wanted to refine more and perhaps use other cartoon and things that arent fish at all for some reference too
if all you draw is from imagination then you will have problems when it comes to fundamentals so theyre very important but dont stop drawing from imagination just because "youre not good enough" drawing from imagination is what tells you those simplified shapes that may not be accurate at all but look good in your eye and thats important if you want very stylized drawings
imagine if a more stylized artist like lavendertown and artwork for pokemon like pikachu even
they both use reference im sure but neither one are accurate studying from reference alone wont tell you how to exaggerate and simplify shapes that far and reference can hold you back from using very stylized shapes that may actually look great if you commit to it
ofcourse as you study from reference more itll help you keep those shapes more in line with reality and more accurate not accurate persay but "more" accurate
without reference you wont know how to turn the facial features in perspective or how to connect the legs to the body however if you never draw from imagination
you wont draw those exagerated shapes think of Phineas & Ferb aswell clearly a triangle isnt the correct shape for a human head
but they drew him like that anyway to give it more character looking at a real human head isnt going to be that useful for drawing phineas
pikachu sure you might want to look at the general shape of a rats body but they dont really follow that pikachu doesnt look like a real mouse its a very stylized take
@Octy I think I got the answer to your question. But first, imagine an art style that you love and want copy. Now, ask yourself how close that style is to a fully realistic style. What I'm trying to say is that a style comes from a full understanding of realistic anatomy, proportions, colors, etc. Styles can't exist without it being based off of "our visual library of real life knowledge". Therefore, if you are trying to improve your art skills ONLY from styles, then you're not really gaining any valuable fundamental knowledge that applies to everything you do. BUT, if you are NOT trying to learn but just want to have fun, that's totally fine to try and copy their style! The best thing to do is instead take note of how they use and bend the fundamentals to their advantage, then apply it to your own work. 😁
you've made me rethink the way I want to go through my life, my college, and how I learn. Thank you.
funny thing of me i just started my youtube channel trying to figure out how everything works, was reading about copyright when your notification popped i just read “Horrible” and “Stop” for a moment my heart stopped. I’m a new subscriber and i love your content ❤️ ❤️
Nice 👍
😨 Oh no! Quick, let's get your resuscitation started!
*grabs defibrillator*
Joke aside, welcome!
I'm so damn glad that I've found Your channel. I was drawing traditional by far. I switched to digital for a... Week ago? I'm trying to do my best and Yours videos are inspirational as hell! Thanks to You I've found again my desire to learn, improve, and believe in that my goals aren't out or reach!
Thank You 😁😁😁
Is the "learn the rules before you break them" a good art advice?
Also. Practicing the art style by drawing a character with different styles is a good way to practice?
This is my first video I've seen from this channel, I love the style this is done in. It suits to a degree my goal for my own style
Hi Marc! I liked these tips,especially the first one with the "working time" because too many people don't see that it's not good to draw TOO much a day (had some bad back issues after only 3 months of bad drawing posture and forcing painting even though I did notice my mind wasn't able to concentrate anymore). My limit is really a 5-6 hour mark. ^^°
I have a question though - how long do you think it should take to really grasp the painting fundamentals? SInce I have started digital painting with the intend of becoming a professional some day two years have passed and I still lack in many fundamental areas. I'm not terrible but still struggle with e.g. lighting and colors and depictign realism though deliberately practising. (before that, I was only drawing most of the time for fun) :/
Thanks in advance and looking forward to your next video! =)
Depends on too many factors! Impossible to tell. How much practice, how well you practice, what’s the structure, who’s the teacher, how good you are going into it etc etc
This is a radical video man! I think I needed to hear the 10,000 hour thing, I felt like the only way I could improve was to jam as much of my time into drawing as I could, and at times it made me really dislike it. I'll be sure to consider my focus more often, thanks man!
Finally somebody said number five. I roll my eyes so hard at the "My art teacher hates anime!" Videos so many RUclipsrs have made. Like 9/10 times your art teacher doesn't hate anime, they've just seen a bunch of people waste their talent and their time drawing anime poorly and never improving because they refuse to study the fundamentals and only want to draw highly stylised imitations of their weeb interests.
A look at every single great mangaka will show that even if their style is incredibly exaggerated underneath it they know anatomy. You have to learn the rules before you can bend and break them.
You can really tell when an artist has a killer style and aesthetic to their work but had never mastered basic anatomy and had just aped their favorite anime. A solid foundation is the key to reaching the stars.
Dude! Every time I see one of these videos I get nervous that I’m not going to like the content but then not only does the continent end up being extremely positive but it resonates with my soul. You did it again sir! I particularly like how you phrased the thing you said about drawing from imagination. I am a big advocate for drawing from imagination because it is a excellent way of expressing your inner emotions without actually knowing what your emotions are at first. It is so encouraging to see how complex the symbolism and images can become when you are just being free but the downside to that is that you will not improve. It’s like my martial arts instructor used to say “you have to train the right way if you want the training affect, it might feel good to jump around and get some exercise but I am not going to sugarcoat the truth.”
Hi
🏆
These tips you're giving in the video are solid. Like nobody caring where you learnt the stuff is legit. Only results get you somewhere. Thumbs up to you, man 👍
> was an artist at Blizzard
> draws female monster characters in poses like these
Makes sense I guess
thanks , this video make me want to draw again , i has in a bad phase and now i fill confident .
Hi Marc,
Will you ever make a video about dealing with injuries and art? Like wrist pain, etc.
Great video as always! Though i don't think doing reference is the only way to go though, Cuz I've been doing digital art seriously for 3 years+. And I've found that doing about a 70:30 ratio of reference and imagination art is the fastest way to improve. Maybe I'm wrong but, about 2years+ of doing almost only reference I saw very less improvement, whenever I tried to create I need to look at a reference or another, my breakthrough was after learning about the two sides of the brain, where one focuses of analysis and other intuition so I am very strongly opinionated of doing both imaginative and referenced studies hand in hand. I do agree that reference is important period.
For the "copy the styles of artists you like" tip,
I've found that it's more insightful and rewarding to copy the TECHNIQUE of an artist you look up to, rather than try to imitate their overall look.
It's a good way to see if you're stuck in a rut with your process.
the thing is you gotta decompose the artist work, see how they resolved the problems in the first place
(aka deconstruct the way they draw faces, deconstruct the way they do gestures, poses, anatomy) etc. but to do that you need to already know the fundamentals or at least having trained them enough to know what you are looking for
I've been slowly improving, myself. I've learned that being patient and taking more time on my pieces makes a better looking result, and that all the learning in the world can't change that taking your time makes a piece look more professionally done. I was having issues with a pose for a commission of mine, and I was trying to recall everything I knew about them to make it work, but it wasn't until I took a break and came back with a fresh, clear mind that I was able to make a thumbnail that was spot on. All of these tips are wonderful, and I have so much left to learn, but I think I'm returning to how I was 10 years ago and just being happy to make art. Something about that is just inherently better than slaving through it.
wow, you mentioning aphantasia on an art video, specially about drawing from imagination, makes me feel seen and validated as a person who has one. Thank you so much!
I'd argue that studying other artists can be quite useful. I'd agree that you need to be at a level where you can understand what choices they're making and why, though. Anime is a great example. The best Mangakas have an excellent understanding of anatomy, but your average reader wouldn't notice, because they only include the details that are the most important at the time. It's interesting to look and see why they decided to draw the collarbone, for example, on one a character in one panel but not another, and what that means about which details are essential in the scene.
Love your videos man you deserve millions more subs ❤️
Tracing 3D models is the absolute worst thing anyone can tell you to do.
using a 3d dummy in clip studio is bad? oh fffck
@@Weiswolfe If you trace it instead of using it as a reference then yes, it's bad.
@@ViliEvans well i do both, i use references to pose the dummy then trace it, i just cant fill the void of a canvas without looking at my hand, is like im trying to hold water wiht my bare hands, i need a bucket(the 3d dummy), to actually know where i should go as my tablet doesnt have the display on it, do you catch my meaning lol
This video popped up on my recommended three times today.. it’s only now I decided.. you know what.. lemme just click. In the start of the video.. I was captured.. it immediately put a smile on my face with the explosions.. (I’m a child at heart) then as the video went on .. I looked at the drawing speed paint while listening to what was being said… I immediately pointed out advice that I knew I needed (I’m very self aware) and clicked the like button. In the middle of watching .. I realized I could learn a lot here and decided to subscribe … by the end of the video I felt so pumped and inspired to pick up my stylus and practice using references and focusing on the bits and pieces that I’m not good at. And that’s when I hit the bell. I knew right then that I wanted to be there for every video posted by this channel… Knowing that he’s also self taught .. and seeing my progress this year .. has really made me see that I can totally do this … as long as I want to, I can. Thank you for making this video Mr. Brunet.. I really appreciate it. 💛
Imagine people paying +100$ for art school when Marc is making free art school videos on yt even with better advice
Loved the video! and what you said about focus. I have been drawing for 20+ years now and lately found myself having days where I can only get 4hours of work done. I end up feeling like that isn't good enough. But you have given me a new perspective on that. thanks!
The music from FFX at the end of this vid made me subscribe but I'm really looking forward to bingeing your vids! I love the way that you explain things in vids I've seen so far and you're a great teacher!
This is an older video, but on point #4 I completely agree. Almost 3 years ago I joined a discord server focused around an artist where they offer mentorships. A few months in I joined that mentorship and saw my art improve way faster than it ever would by myself- best part is it was only $100/month; dirt cheap compared to other options.
Not only did I improve in my skills but I also gained many good friends along the way.
Hello!! I'm a young artist that just started watching your channel!! Thanks for the tips!!
Your whole account is extremely helpful! Thank you so much for offering tons of advice for free :)
Some very good tips, although I found myself (ironically) mostly distracted at how effectively you can use that "Soft Skin 2" brush! Digital *painting* is something I find very challenging. I lack a lot of technique required for it due to focusing on cell shaded art for years. Properly airbrushing, blending, etc is all very difficult for me, and the failed attempts just leave me feeling defeated and running back to my original methods, haha.
I was very happy to hear the first tip, seeing as how one of my other problems with art is getting tired very easily. I know artists who forsake sleep and food for their work getting completely lost in it. Meanwhile, I draw for about an hour and a half and find myself exhausted -- almost to the point of needing a nap. I've found that it's often worse on days when I'm really lacking creativity, or find myself struggling with something (be it posing, anatomy, facial expressions, colors, etc). While my situation might still be extreme, hearing a professional present the idea that "you only have so much focus to spend in a day" does really make a lot of sense. I'm wondering if taking more frequent breaks would help me build up that endurance.
Thank you very much! This was a very informative video! I'm very interested to dig through the rest of your content!
I'm actually glad I found this account, I don't use any references and try to learn new styles all on my own, I'll have to start listening to this advice
Thank you so much! I have always thought I was horrible at drawing because I couldn't draw without reference. But I learned I just needed to practice from reference first.
Hi Marc, your videos help me a lot. For someone who hasn't joined any art school or art programmes, you really guide amateurs like me really well. Currently I'm practicing anatomy, quick poses and expressions and I really enjoy doing it. Am I on right track? Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed and pressure myself but I always remind myself to enjoy doing art cause that's the only thing right now that makes me happy. I believe I'll get better. Thanks for being such a good teacher :)
EYE clonesss war!
Also, fantastic video, Mark. It is critical to understand not only what to do but also what not to do in order to prevent reinforcing poor behaviours. You did an excellent job of explaining.
I don't entirely agree, but mostly it's details, namely;
-dont just draw a lot, makes sense, but drawing a lot, and doing iterations helps a lot to improve, so draw a lot can be better than just doing a few detailed drawings, if you do it right :)
-drawing from other people, can really help you learn the basics, and help you to compare your own basics to theirs, to more easily see your flaws and how others would approach the same problem and what solution they came up with :)
Thank you Marc. I needed to hear that thing about focus. Not for my art but for studying for the Bar Exams. Arigathanks gozaimasu
I have to say thank you for the first thing. The solid learning structure is the hardest thing to get people to understand.
I have so many art friends who do amazingly and I have tried to learn for years on my own with what ever I could find. Money is fairly tight and teachers hard to find where I am. I've asked my art friends before as detailed questions as I could to try and gain some knowledge in how to improve.
All they say is "Practice" "Practice makes perfect." "Duh just practice"
I've asked "practice what?" Several times so I can narrow down what I am doing wrong and what I should be doing to improve. I've asked about shading techniques, coloring advice, structure instruction. Anything that will give me a base to build on. Yet all they ever say is "Just practice. Put in the effort." Like I haven't been trying for years....
I think a big part of the drawing from reference is making sure you use the right references and take the right things from those references.
I know there will be situations where a "good" reference isn't available, but that's partially where learning how to take the right information from reference is important. There are times when you may need to copy, times when you need to interpret and times when you need to completely invent with the same project or even the same reference. That's stuff I'm still working hard to learn when to apply which to.
This was very useful, thank you. This also makes me feel more confident that I can get better at drawing and that my art teacher in high school was wrong. Anime is an art in its own right with its own rules and it can be beautiful. I recently acquired a fountain pen and I am using it to draw Junji Ito inspired work and just drawing what I feel like in the moment and letting the ink flow. If you aren't having fun then how do you expect to find yourself in the zone? One of my favorite things to do when I have art block is to get my many boxes of crayons and just let go. The nostalgia of crayons keeps me grounded and the simplicity of the medium keeps me from worrying about making a mistake because it already won't be perfect.
Sometimes, when I'm bored and don't know what to draw, I just doodle without references, idon't draw 100% from imagination either. whenever I start a drawing like this, I just start drawing, and whatever happens happens! Like if I'm drawing a face, I'll just start drawing the eyes, mouth, etc, and not know what expression I wanna do, I usually draw the eyes first, so I base the whole expression on how I feel the eyes would fit. Basically I just start drawing and go with what I make haha! This is honestly a really fun way to doodle in my opinion, and I feel like it's helped my style develop, even just a little bit :) I really hope this makes sense a little, and if anybody is reading this I encourage you to try it! To me it's really fun hah
What's funny is that when you were talking about how some people like some styles of different artists I was looking at the background and how you were doing it. Not gonna lie. You have given me idea on how to treat background and a new way to draw it with each piece having its own layer. So thank you.
This really helped me, lately I've been having doubts about studying so much, drawing different things...instead of creating new things from imagination that It made me feel anxious. I really love creating, but I know right now what I need it's to improve, and studying it's what make it faster (when I say studying I mean also practicing anatomy, perspective...)
I had a choir teacher that taught me something that can be used for any skill/activity, that is nothing is perfect, practice makes better, there’s always room to improve, and that practice is important, but not the most important.
With most of my characters and drawings, I’ve had to sort of “throw at the wall and see what sticks” with many of my dynamic drawings. And the only times I use reference is for warm up and I use like, dancers and contortionists. I find them brilliant to draw and see the limits of joints and leg to torso ratio along with hand flexibility. Then I just look up if I squint and go “yeaaaaah I need to look that up”. But I grew up as a photographers child so I’m used to looking for lighting and lighting. Still need to practice that in drawing, I’m a traditional drawer. But I highly respect digital artists! They and you do things by brain sadly can’t lock onto.
Oh man, this is a great video! I've heard so many of these before and once I started figuring out some were BS I improved much faster!! For instance once I stopped listening to "You can't use refs" I actually knew what stuff looked like I was able to draw from memory more and more but I'd never tell someone to just jump into the deep end like that!
You're amazing man, I'm so glad I came across your channel
I have no idea what you say sometimes (I'm not good at English), but I can always learn something new from your speedpaints. Thank you for providing high quality content.
Some stuff I've been told by professional artists that stuck with me:
"Your style is found by trying new things. You take bits and pieces, things you like from other artists you see, and incorporate it into your own."
"Realism isn't the end goal, it's your stepping stone. Learn it so you can break it more efficiently."
"There is no set progression in art. You get better, but your better isn't the same as everyone else's better."
"Don't be afraid to completely start over. You don't have to save every piece. Time lost on one piece isn't time wasted, it's time spent learning from your mistakes."
And I've heard more but I can't remember all at once. It's 3am and I have a full body concept piece to work on tomorrow lol. Ahhhh insomnia~ My one true bane! And wrist/finger cramps but we don't talk about those.