Hey everyone, thanks for watching ! You can get the ebook "The Practice and Science of Drawing" by Harold Speed from the Gutenberg Project Website (public domain). Link in the description. Also, hope you can follow me on Instagram as well ! See you there !
Florent Farges - arts check out the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It was written several decades ago and deals with this subject. It has some examples to practice. I used it as a lesson plan for teaching drawing about 40 years ago.
I wondered if I was going to have to tell people that this book was free, or if somebody in the comments already mentioned it, and here's the guy who actually _made the video_ telling everybody they can get it for free. Good man.
you come across as having a lovely spirit - you're smiling eyes and warm nature. Great for a teacher. And you're content is always insightful and useful. 🙏
I’ve found that the best way to see shapes is to draw something upside down so the brain doesn’t try to see things intellectually. I once did a drawing of an armoured knight on a horse upside down purely concentrating on the shapes I saw. When I finished I turned my drawing around the right way up, and, voila, a near perfect drawing of the knight riding a horse. It was an amazing experience.
I redo the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain course once every couple years, and my art skill always gets a boost and I learn a bit more each time :) I highly recommend it to anyone, beginner or advanced.
i did the same thing in high school art class. the teacher forced us to basically. my piece was some model wearing flowers in her hair. i thought it would be impossible but it turned out nearly perfect
"Forget about the idea of drawing an eye but drawing the shapes that represent the light and the shadows that create the visual impression of this eye." Great point, Thank you!
This tutorial literally opened my eyes about drawing. I just turned 68 and I’m now retired. I’m just starting to learn to draw/paint. I don’t think of things I do as mistakes. I think of it as an opportunity for growth and development. I use this philosophy for my art and my profession as well as my personal relationships. You’re a gifted teacher. I say this because you have a way of logically explaining drawing/painting. Not everyone has that talent with words. Plus, your eyes twinkle and you glow when you talk about art. These are very endearing qualities. Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents.
Hi, don't listen to that hurt kid above, it's lovely to have such a way with words, always. Whenever people see something above mediocrity today, they feel the need to hate because they can't do that by themselves. Have a great art journey and a nice day! Never stop learning!
@@nathalieksghdvjk8422 Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. When I read that kids comments, I took a A few meditative minutes to wish him peace happiness and prosperity via the universe. Actually I did that for a couple of days.
Why would anyone have given this a thumbs down? It never ceases to shock me. Thanks from me for all the work you put in on these videos. I know how much work it takes and the time it takes away from painting. Have a wonderful new year
I know....they probably think they have it all figured out! Even if they do they should support someone so willing to share his knowledge with the rest of us!
That is exactly how I went from no artistic ability to actually being able to draw and paint. When I started drawing the shadows and not the features, the features just appeared!
I did a figurative drawing class, one day a week for a year a few years ago. One of the tutors taught us to use something like a knitting needle, to help with alignment of the features, and to looks for shapes too, I tend to break things up into angular shapes, and look for say triangles for example. I am nowhere near your standard, but these tips help me to at least get my proportions reasonably right. Thank you for sharing your tips as always.
Loved the video! I dropped out of art school when I was 18 and tried to teach myself to draw from life by drawing every day in my sketchbook with a pen. I got pretty good at a certain point, but when it came to shading I struggled to understand the breakdown of values. Everything either became too dark or too muddied up in mid tones. Luckily I had run out of contacts one day, and while drawing I realized that I could basically break down everything into 3 values, and expand from there. Its strange how one of the keys to realistic drawing is to abstract the way you observe the subject.
This is what is taught in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. She has the student draw things upside-down to force them to see the actual shapes and disconnect them from the symbols that the brain imposes on what is seen.
I was drawing an apple. I tried to find some other shapes and ended up seeing a shadow that looked just like a lazy eyed midget (little person) who had a lot of gambling debts and was robbing a 7-11 convenience store to try and pay them off before the Mafia could make an example out of him. To make a long story short I drew a very weird looking apple.
Very useful tip, I found this out on my own when I started painting a couple of years ago. I think it is even easier when I’m painting other things than portraits (e.g. landscapes, objects) because the 🧠 is so wired to look for our preconceived ideas of what 👁 , 👃🏻 , 👂🏽 and 👄 looks like. But it does work if you’re able to free yourself. - Painting upside down is also very useful, but that’s restricted to painting from photographs or devices. - Squinting helps a lot to reduce forms to areas of light and shadow. - Taking a picture of what you’re drawing and looking at a small thumbnail picture of this can also help spot your mistakes. 🤗
I had a similar breakthrough that greatly improved my work when I was first learning. For me it was the realization that there is so little white when you draw anything. So much of what I drew was on white paper and I wasn't filling in everything which led to a very bland and overly highlighted looking drawing. I started filling in everything and leaving only pure white for the small highlights here and there and this greatly helped me. Another approach was to use tan or gray paper so you already have your mid-tone. Then I drew in all the shadowed areas and used a white pencil to do the highlights.
Thank you so much I was "blind" before watching this video ...now i finally can understand what I see and and at what to look and i can enjoy the process of playing while trying to sketch instead of fighting or feeling like Im in a battlefield struggling with all the small details Ive noticed it was a little bit difficult to stop watching at the small details like my mind was stuck in that mode...but after some time it was able to move a little bit aside change the focus from the details to the different shapes around and then when i felt like window opened to a different parts of my self my brain my mind and then when the magic happened suddenly every thing kind of connected and i realized what is creativity and art is all about ....it is this magic flow that comes from the unkwond and you are surfing on it like on a wave Thank you for sharing that i was a transformational moment for me ...I appreciate it very much alll the best and many blessings for you
I actually discovered this trick by accident while I was doing some paintings, and I also use this same concept for colors. For example, shadows are rarely black. They are almost always a shade of blue/purple. I also learned to look at the placement of components in the same way - relative to something else.
I've followed you on Instagram, viewed your art and enjoyed it much. Your sincerity and kind eyes are a joy in this video, thanks for the tips and book link. I've added it to my art arsonel. Blessings!
I think Sargent said "If we artists had better eyesight we wouldn't be called 'impressionists'" I don't even think most people would call him an impressionist these days, but idk. All of these comments make me think about all the artists who say "if you draw from reference get really crisp highdef photos." - Sounds like you might make something better with a blocky piece of crap.
Precisely how I was thinking about going forward with getting back into acrylic painting again to make an impressionist piece I've been imagining doing. Being far sighted has benefits too.
Perfect video. Florent hits the bulls eye here. The idea is to put on canvas some kind of lines, blobs, patches etc of different shapes, colors and subcolors with the purpose of tricking the brain into seeing 3-D objects on a 2-D canvas. It's like painting a nose means basically painting a shadow of a nose that it casts on a cheek and then leaving up to our brain to process the visual info and letting it figure out where the light source is and what structure must be there to cast this particular shadow.
Excellent! I’ve drawn upside down (encouraged by “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, by Betty Edwards) or looked at my drawing in a mirror as well as used drawing practice of things like my hand, or tree bark to train my eye to see other details, but I’ve never quite thought about it in the way you described. I favor portraits so I have no doubt I will use this in my own work and also in helping others learn to see more like an artist. Thank you!
Wow! I wish my drawing professors at university would have had explained it this way day one. Would have saved a lot of tears and frustration for me as an art history major with fine art classes as requirements. In art history classes you are taught to notice light and shading and such, but in the studio courses I found there was no explanation from professors at all. No instruction on how to change the way you are communicating with your hands to interpret what you are seeing. This was an excellent video!
Wow, such a simple concept, yet I have never looked at it this way! Thank you so much for sharing!! I will definitely be using this technique for future sketches.
Well said. You describe the concept of drawing what you see, not what you think you see, in an interesting and compelling way. It makes me want to pull out a pencil and draw right now.
Thats very intelligent to do and really simplifies things.Since I was a little kid,somehow I mastered drawing anything.My teachers use to steal my artwork and I wouldnt understand why.Now I do.They had never seen a kid that had such a power to create.One thing that I was always doing was,that I would draw alot of things.Or anything I could see.Now as I am 33 years old.I have picked up painting and airbrush it amazes me how much artwork can be put out,using these mediums.One goal that I want to master now is how to paint peoples faces perfectly and with a graceful beauty.One way I start that off by is I first visualize in my mind,where I would like the face positioned on the canvas.Then I began simply with a line straight down or tilted a few,then a line for the eyes.Then I try to memorize the lines forming the head,from chin to hair.Then I add the neck,line it up to the ears.Then I place the nose in between eyes and the chin,right in the middle of both.Then the mouths line,almost by the jaws as they curve down.So I map out from the outside in and just add smaller parts to the bigger shapez.Every single obejact has a shadow and a light.God bless all,Wingo.
This idea of drawing what you see instead of drawing what you think is the crux of the book "drawing on the right side of the brain" by betty edwards as well. The idea in that book is that we store simplified concepts of real world objects in our brain as symbols, and when we draw, we tend to draw those symbols instead of drawing what the object actually looks like. This, along with the idea of learning to draw negative space helped me a lot in learning to do realism better.
I echo this video. I started on pencil sketch for over a year now from a complete beginner. After a few still life drawing, I start to get the idea. It is much easier to analyze the subjects as values and shapes instead of outlines. This is especially important for complex settings. I also feel this suddenly clicked after some frustrations attempting a group of objects in complex background.
Thank you so much !! You are are great teacher , you explain everything very clean and straight. I wish I had had an art teacher like you when I went to school. 😁 At least now I have...greetings from Germany
Hello Florent, thank you very much for sharing your experience and tips for a better understanding of how to draw. I'll try to follow this way on my future drawings.
Huh, I’ve been pretty good about laying in the shapes of light, shadow and negative areas when doing a portrait, but I never thought about associating them with real world things. I’ll definitely give it a go and thanks for your insight!
Wow you are so amazing! I am following an artist here on YT, and he mostly starts by shadows thru Shapes! That made me curious. Now, it's clear to me. Thank you so much sir!
Thank you great tutorial! It is true what the practice & science of drawing explains - the internal klick will happen - the deeper we go with the topic
Goodness, this thing about drawing things by shape... this is going to change my lif- and you literally took the words out of my fingers as I was typing this you literally said those exact words!
Great video, Florent. Once I realized this, there was a huge shift in my work as well. When I am asked for advice, this subject is the advice I offer. 🤘
When you said that you tried to draw the features using your brain instead of your eyes I remembered that one time my arts teacher told me I was trying to draw the features of the face like I thought they looked and not how they actually looked.
@@alc3781 Ok, thank you. It isn't practical for me either. I saw a PDF online a year or so ago where you could download the files and have them printed. But at 18 x 24 that would be ridiculously expensive. I like your idea and you said it was very useful. All I need to know.
Yeah, it’s pretty much one of the best books on drawing anatomy using shapes and tones. That and “drawing on the right side of the brain” were very fundamental for me as an artist.
@@LynnePriceStudio 11x17 copiers are pretty common, you could probably high res scan plates at your local library. Then crop it down to remove the empty space and get a larger reference that can be close to an uncropped 18x24.
🙏 for all your good practices and reflections. I think it is all the senses that work together to really see - and because of that it is the body-brain that is seeing, feeling, moving, imagining - the synkinaesthetic of seeing - if you really look at something you can feel it in your body 💚
Thank you so much for this tip. I needed someone to help me understand why I would often see animal shapes, but when I would try to use them to render, I would lose "sight" of them. Now I realize it was my attempt to draw the feature and not the shapes I was actually seeing! Can't wait to do this in my next drawing. Also, thanks for the link to the book.
Awesome..i agree and this is the way they teach in the academy of realist art, seeing shapes not "eye, nose, mouth" that is why people tend to draw things upside down faces or unknown things better than seeing it the right way, cause your brain tend to kick in everytime and try to tell you how it " should be drawn" not how "you draw what u see"...it is seeing abstract shapes and link it to animals or things to drag your brain away from its literally interpretation...thank you!
That's interesting because I always feel my way through a drawing. People remark on how good my proportions are and I'm sure its because I feel my way through. Color mixing though? Florent has saved my life! Lol! Wow! This is a great trick! It actually made my brain hurt which is a good thing.
Very interesting point in this video, as we all know -drawing, painting etc it is mainly the way of seeing…. And this is one of the very good examples how to develop this skill:) and the comments actually are very interesting too Thank You!
An earlier book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain had a similar message. But my problem is that my sense of size, angle, and proportion change depending on which part of the reference I am looking at. I have bought a tool called at proportional divider but haven't used it much yet.
Really good video Florent! I started seeing improvement too when I stopped trying to paint what I thought I was seeing and started looking for abstract shapes. Our brains deceive us!
Get yourself an old set of french curves which can produce any shape/s ...use a soft brush with a light charcoal dust and brush up to the french curve edge which leaves you sharp edges and defines the shape required ..if a blend is required use your tonal values required to blend in to the shape ..no outline strokes are required using this method ..use the sharp edges as reference points to check measurements before adding tonal values ...hope this helps ..give it a try ..you will amaze yourself ..good luck
Thank you , thank you , thank you! You have just explained how I do portraits ... I paint (draw) in pastels by areas of colour instead of line. I’ve tried so hard to explain this because I don’t use a graph or rough in a sketch. I paint as if I’m putting together a jigsaw. And it works ... it’s just another way of seeing. Thank you for the great video. I will now follow you on Instagram 💓
Great tip! The way I interpret your tip is as follows: By focusing on the shape of an eye, for instance, we're actually drawing the right shape that will look like the object itself. In other words, we're drawing "what we actually see" (shadows included) which will resemble the particular "eye" of this person. But once our brain tells us to draw an eye, we'll all end up drawing like a child: flat with all the parts visible at the same time. In reality, all the eyes are different (much more so in different light conditions and angles). Thank you for the "animal shapes" suggestion because now I can use a term (such as a rabbit or an elephant) to describe most of the geometrically weird shapes we see in real life.
Two books by , Betty Edwards , Drawing on the right side of the brain and Drawing from the artist within. I'd been drawingfor many years prior to picking up these two books , grabbed at a yard sale , I was pleasantly surprised with my two dollar purchase. She has a very unique way of teaching and I must admit I learned some fascinating tips . I've lent out these two books more than any others I own , always with a hearty thanks upon return. One must remember, your never too old or know too much to learn something new.
What really helped me get a lot better at portrait, is to see the things in relation to each other. Like, if my eye has a certain size (or just hight and length) then I can see how many of those eyes there are to the other eye or the bridge of the nose or the eyebrow etc. etc. The first step was, like you said, to stop seeing the different parts we unconsciously distinct from each other as, well, different parts. So now I basically triangulate the positions of the facial features as in relation to at least two other facial features.
I thought I was weird, and was embarrassed to talk to anyone about this, but I always thought about the shapes of shadows and lighted shapes. Thank you, and all the best to you!👏👏👏 P.s. I recently discovered you!
Interesting concept. I do not do Instagram or Twitter, so I hope you'll stay on RUclips. I am trying to learn to paint with oils. I've never painted much at all and I find you have interesting things to say. Could you talk about brushes? Maybe you have, but it doesn't seem to be on anyone's list regarding ones to use with oils. Thank you.
As someone who is dyslexic, perceptions of anything, not just the visual, are made by a process of conversions from external things to internal thoughts. Drawing complicates this by going back to the external, and for dyslexics, that can be a a bigger problem. The intake and processing then back to output will offer more chances for things to be misconceived, and misplaced or else not placed correctly. Though tricks can help to add dimension to the problem, and let us get closer to the accuracies of reality, the real issue is exorcising the brain to form more paths to and form this activity of comprehension. In other words, practice, practice, practice. The "trick" you are sharing is a good one to help people get past the awkward stage and not lose interest in the activity itself, but in the end they are forming the "brain muscle" they need to become better at drawing accurately, which has little to do with the accuracy of the activity and more to do with the practice and time they spend trying. I love you videos and techniques you share, please keep sharing them! I don't have the time for instagram, and never have had it in my schedule. To be honest, I do not care to follow your "day to day thoughts", I have too many of my own... so I hope this finds you well, and I will keep watching your weekly videos! Cheerio!
Thats actually how I drew since 3rd grade. But it lead me to the problem of overall compositions not looking so great. Later I fixed that, which resulted in one of the biggest level ups for my personal drawing "career"
This makes total sense... I mean, how many times have you shown someone something and they in turn ask you, "May I see it?" (With their HANDS out)! They're obviously wanting to touch, manipulate and look at it... They say 'see' but they mean so much more than to simply 'look at it with just their eyes'.
Supers conseils, merci ! Je m'amuse régulièrement à voir des formes sur différents types de matériaux ou autres mais je n'ai jamais pensé à appliquer cette méthode au dessin, ça va beaucoup m'aidé. Pour le Toblerone, la forme de l'ours "dissimulée" dans le Cervin est volontaire. Il s'agit d'une marque bernoise, l'ours est le symbole de Berne. Salutations de Suisse, cher voisin :)
Thanks:) my way to start drawing was with quick model sketches with ink on paper. 5 minutes each for 1 hour. Beginnig was horrible but it really works till today. It helps to not foucus on details, catch propotions and moves.
Hey everyone, thanks for watching ! You can get the ebook "The Practice and Science of Drawing" by Harold Speed from the Gutenberg Project Website (public domain). Link in the description. Also, hope you can follow me on Instagram as well ! See you there !
Great tutorial thanks for all your good teaching
Florent Farges - arts check out the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It was written several decades ago and deals with this subject. It has some examples to practice. I used it as a lesson plan for teaching drawing about 40 years ago.
@@lyndabrown3402 Yes, that is a great book.
I wondered if I was going to have to tell people that this book was free, or if somebody in the comments already mentioned it, and here's the guy who actually _made the video_ telling everybody they can get it for free. Good man.
you come across as having a lovely spirit - you're smiling eyes and warm nature. Great for a teacher. And you're content is always insightful and useful. 🙏
I’ve found that the best way to see shapes is to draw something upside down so the brain doesn’t try to see things intellectually. I once did a drawing of an armoured knight on a horse upside down purely concentrating on the shapes I saw. When I finished I turned my drawing around the right way up, and, voila, a near perfect drawing of the knight riding a horse. It was an amazing experience.
Sachie Reid Yes I learned about that in Betty Edwards book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. It really works!
I do this too, it really helps me stop over thinking what I'm trying to paint, and just concentrate on the values, fabulous tip
I redo the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain course once every couple years, and my art skill always gets a boost and I learn a bit more each time :) I highly recommend it to anyone, beginner or advanced.
Solid advice. Thanks!
i did the same thing in high school art class. the teacher forced us to basically. my piece was some model wearing flowers in her hair. i thought it would be impossible but it turned out nearly perfect
"Forget about the idea of drawing an eye but drawing the shapes that represent the light and the shadows that create the visual impression of this eye."
Great point, Thank you!
Wow. This really works.
This tutorial literally opened my eyes about drawing. I just turned 68 and I’m now retired. I’m just starting to learn to draw/paint. I don’t think of things I do as mistakes. I think of it as an opportunity for growth and development. I use this philosophy for my art and my profession as well as my personal relationships. You’re a gifted teacher. I say this because you have a way of logically explaining drawing/painting. Not everyone has that talent with words. Plus, your eyes twinkle and you glow when you talk about art. These are very endearing qualities. Thank you for sharing your gifts and talents.
"Eyes twinkle" ? Now you are just getting weird, old fart.
This is a very inspiring comment. Thank you for this
Aleksandra P how kind of you to take a moment to make such a lovely comment.
Hi, don't listen to that hurt kid above, it's lovely to have such a way with words, always. Whenever people see something above mediocrity today, they feel the need to hate because they can't do that by themselves. Have a great art journey and a nice day! Never stop learning!
@@nathalieksghdvjk8422 Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. When I read that kids comments, I took a A few meditative minutes to wish him peace happiness and prosperity via the universe. Actually I did that for a couple of days.
Why would anyone have given this a thumbs down? It never ceases to shock me. Thanks from me for all the work you put in on these videos. I know how much work it takes and the time it takes away from painting. Have a wonderful new year
They either didn't understand what he was try to teach or they were expecting too much prior to watching the video.
I know....they probably think they have it all figured out! Even if they do they should support someone so willing to share his knowledge with the rest of us!
Generally, people that aren't too bright are also very negative, which causes them to hit dislike on everything.
Recognising shapes is important, but I draw the line at the necessity of recognising animals. But if that works for some people, that's fine.
My aunt thought that one should draw what you see, so one doesn't mess up the flow. It worked for her and her friends.
A great little mental trick...I use it as well. Thanks for sharing. Great video.
That is exactly how I went from no artistic ability to actually being able to draw and paint. When I started drawing the shadows and not the features, the features just appeared!
Your heart to help others and fellow artist is a big as your talent, which is big. THANK YOU
I did a figurative drawing class, one day a week for a year a few years ago. One of the tutors taught us to use something like a knitting needle, to help with alignment of the features, and to looks for shapes too, I tend to break things up into angular shapes, and look for say triangles for example. I am nowhere near your standard, but these tips help me to at least get my proportions reasonably right. Thank you for sharing your tips as always.
This is called the hierarchy of shapes
Loved the video! I dropped out of art school when I was 18 and tried to teach myself to draw from life by drawing every day in my sketchbook with a pen. I got pretty good at a certain point, but when it came to shading I struggled to understand the breakdown of values. Everything either became too dark or too muddied up in mid tones.
Luckily I had run out of contacts one day, and while drawing I realized that I could basically break down everything into 3 values, and expand from there. Its strange how one of the keys to realistic drawing is to abstract the way you observe the subject.
Hi please can I ask you one question ! , Has practicing any results ?
Shaima CH Yes, it does! Application does wonders.
Both of his books are essential reading. I reread them over and over. Glad to hear you found them as important as I did.
This is what is taught in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. She has the student draw things upside-down to force them to see the actual shapes and disconnect them from the symbols that the brain imposes on what is seen.
Like on the toblerone, there's a bear.
Me: Oh, I always thought it was a mountain....
Averagely Weird
It’s both actaully
I'm still looking for the bear 😩
@@dannyboygregory-mccormick9157 same
Its a mountain..but the bear is standing on its hind legs in the middle..
Me too
I was drawing an apple. I tried to find some other shapes and ended up seeing a shadow that looked just like a lazy eyed midget (little person) who had a lot of gambling debts and was robbing a 7-11 convenience store to try and pay them off before the Mafia could make an example out of him.
To make a long story short I drew a very weird looking apple.
lol wtf
Ok, now I need to see this apple !
@@FlorentFargesarts Legend says once you see it, you come out as a totally different being. I do not think it is worth it.
😂🤣
I don't know about the apple, but the creative writing is impressive.
Very useful tip, I found this out on my own when I started painting a couple of years ago. I think it is even easier when I’m painting other things than portraits (e.g. landscapes, objects) because the 🧠 is so wired to look for our preconceived ideas of what 👁 , 👃🏻 , 👂🏽 and 👄 looks like. But it does work if you’re able to free yourself.
- Painting upside down is also very useful, but that’s restricted to painting from photographs or devices.
- Squinting helps a lot to reduce forms to areas of light and shadow.
- Taking a picture of what you’re drawing and looking at a small thumbnail picture of this can also help spot your mistakes. 🤗
I had a similar breakthrough that greatly improved my work when I was first learning. For me it was the realization that there is so little white when you draw anything. So much of what I drew was on white paper and I wasn't filling in everything which led to a very bland and overly highlighted looking drawing. I started filling in everything and leaving only pure white for the small highlights here and there and this greatly helped me. Another approach was to use tan or gray paper so you already have your mid-tone. Then I drew in all the shadowed areas and used a white pencil to do the highlights.
I remember reading this in a book (drawing on the right side of the brain). as you said it transformed my drawing skill completely
Thank you so much I was "blind" before watching this video ...now i finally can understand what I see and and at what to look and i can enjoy the process of playing while trying to sketch instead of fighting or feeling like Im in a battlefield struggling with all the small details
Ive noticed it was a little bit difficult to stop watching at the small details like my mind was stuck in that mode...but after some time it was able to move a little bit aside change the focus from the details to the different shapes around and then when i felt like window opened to a different parts of my self my brain my mind and then when the magic happened suddenly every thing kind of connected and i realized what is creativity and art is all about ....it is this magic flow that comes from the unkwond and you are surfing on it like on a wave
Thank you for sharing that i was a transformational moment for me ...I appreciate it very much alll the best and many blessings for you
This makes a lot of sense to anyone who has played around with image recognition using deep learning neural networks etc.
And who hasn't!?
I actually discovered this trick by accident while I was doing some paintings, and I also use this same concept for colors. For example, shadows are rarely black. They are almost always a shade of blue/purple. I also learned to look at the placement of components in the same way - relative to something else.
I've followed you on Instagram, viewed your art and enjoyed it much. Your sincerity and kind eyes are a joy in this video, thanks for the tips and book link. I've added it to my art arsonel. Blessings!
Often my drawings are better when I don’t put my glasses on until the final details
I thought about doing that!
Bonnard said :-"the less I see the better I paint".
I think Sargent said "If we artists had better eyesight we wouldn't be called 'impressionists'" I don't even think most people would call him an impressionist these days, but idk.
All of these comments make me think about all the artists who say "if you draw from reference get really crisp highdef photos." - Sounds like you might make something better with a blocky piece of crap.
Precisely how I was thinking about going forward with getting back into acrylic painting again to make an impressionist piece I've been imagining doing. Being far sighted has benefits too.
Yes, and that’s also why squinting to do the initial work is so valuable.
Oh man this makes so much more sense to me.i am so thankful you said this in the way you have.thank you.
Perfect video. Florent hits the bulls eye here. The idea is to put on canvas some kind of lines, blobs, patches etc of different shapes, colors and subcolors with the purpose of tricking the brain into seeing 3-D objects on a 2-D canvas. It's like painting a nose means basically painting a shadow of a nose that it casts on a cheek and then leaving up to our brain to process the visual info and letting it figure out where the light source is and what structure must be there to cast this particular shadow.
Excellent! I’ve drawn upside down (encouraged by “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, by Betty Edwards) or looked at my drawing in a mirror as well as used drawing practice of things like my hand, or tree bark to train my eye to see other details, but I’ve never quite thought about it in the way you described. I favor portraits so I have no doubt I will use this in my own work and also in helping others learn to see more like an artist. Thank you!
Knowing anatomy and understanding planes is helpful.
Wow! I wish my drawing professors at university would have had explained it this way day one. Would have saved a lot of tears and frustration for me as an art history major with fine art classes as requirements. In art history classes you are taught to notice light and shading and such, but in the studio courses I found there was no explanation from professors at all. No instruction on how to change the way you are communicating with your hands to interpret what you are seeing. This was an excellent video!
Wow, such a simple concept, yet I have never looked at it this way! Thank you so much for sharing!! I will definitely be using this technique for future sketches.
Well said. You describe the concept of drawing what you see, not what you think you see, in an interesting and compelling way.
It makes me want to pull out a pencil and draw right now.
Thats very intelligent to do and really simplifies things.Since I was a little kid,somehow I mastered drawing anything.My teachers use to steal my artwork and I wouldnt understand why.Now I do.They had never seen a kid that had such a power to create.One thing that I was always doing was,that I would draw alot of things.Or anything I could see.Now as I am 33 years old.I have picked up painting and airbrush it amazes me how much artwork can be put out,using these mediums.One goal that I want to master now is how to paint peoples faces perfectly and with a graceful beauty.One way I start that off by is I first visualize in my mind,where I would like the face positioned on the canvas.Then I began simply with a line straight down or tilted a few,then a line for the eyes.Then I try to memorize the lines forming the head,from chin to hair.Then I add the neck,line it up to the ears.Then I place the nose in between eyes and the chin,right in the middle of both.Then the mouths line,almost by the jaws as they curve down.So I map out from the outside in and just add smaller parts to the bigger shapez.Every single obejact has a shadow and a light.God bless all,Wingo.
This idea of drawing what you see instead of drawing what you think is the crux of the book "drawing on the right side of the brain" by betty edwards as well. The idea in that book is that we store simplified concepts of real world objects in our brain as symbols, and when we draw, we tend to draw those symbols instead of drawing what the object actually looks like. This, along with the idea of learning to draw negative space helped me a lot in learning to do realism better.
I echo this video. I started on pencil sketch for over a year now from a complete beginner. After a few still life drawing, I start to get the idea. It is much easier to analyze the subjects as values and shapes instead of outlines. This is especially important for complex settings. I also feel this suddenly clicked after some frustrations attempting a group of objects in complex background.
Thank you so much !! You are are great teacher , you explain everything very clean and straight. I wish I had had an art teacher like you when I went to school. 😁 At least now I have...greetings from Germany
This literally helped change my outlook instantly. Very good intelligent analysis.
You are a GENIUS as you explain it SO well that it is doable!!
Great job in this video....Ive been drawing for over 30 years and this is exactly what I tell people.
Hello Florent, thank you very much for sharing your experience and tips for a better understanding of how to draw. I'll try to follow this way on my future drawings.
Florent is an amazing human! Keep up the good work my friend. You are an inspiration!
Huh, I’ve been pretty good about laying in the shapes of light, shadow and negative areas when doing a portrait, but I never thought about associating them with real world things. I’ll definitely give it a go and thanks for your insight!
I looked up the book based on your review. Great stuff! I'm a conceptual thinker learning academic drawing, so this will help a lot! Thanks.
Wow you are so amazing! I am following an artist here on YT, and he mostly starts by shadows thru Shapes! That made me curious. Now, it's clear to me. Thank you so much sir!
Thank you great tutorial! It is true what the practice & science of drawing explains - the internal klick will happen - the deeper we go with the topic
I love this!! I also think sometimes concentrating on the TEXTURE of what you’re painting rather than outlines can be helpful.
Goodness, this thing about drawing things by shape... this is going to change my lif- and you literally took the words out of my fingers as I was typing this you literally said those exact words!
So helpful! I struggle with this and your video helps!
My golden rule to drawing since I could hold a pencil:
Draw what you see.. not what you think
Though it's hard to do it cause our brian is use to interfere always..so I guess need to rewire brain.
Great video, Florent. Once I realized this, there was a huge shift in my work as well. When I am asked for advice, this subject is the advice I offer. 🤘
Awesome ! So it's not just me... And I'm not just a crazy person seeing animals in shadows ;)
@@FlorentFargesarts of course not! Also, use pareidolia to your benefit! I do. 😉
When you said that you tried to draw the features using your brain instead of your eyes I remembered that one time my arts teacher told me I was trying to draw the features of the face like I thought they looked and not how they actually looked.
I found Bargue plates to be the most useful exercise in understanding how to draw:)
Did you blow them up to 18 x 24? I have the book but haven't had any copied yet.
@@LynnePriceStudio hi just copied them small in a sketch book. Going large is probably useful, However it isn't practical for me
@@alc3781 Ok, thank you. It isn't practical for me either. I saw a PDF online a year or so ago where you could download the files and have them printed. But at 18 x 24 that would be ridiculously expensive. I like your idea and you said it was very useful. All I need to know.
Yeah, it’s pretty much one of the best books on drawing anatomy using shapes and tones. That and “drawing on the right side of the brain” were very fundamental for me as an artist.
@@LynnePriceStudio 11x17 copiers are pretty common, you could probably high res scan plates at your local library. Then crop it down to remove the empty space and get a larger reference that can be close to an uncropped 18x24.
Wow. Fabulous artwork.....Really touching
I just learned how to find simplified shapes thanks to this video.
Easy trick : draw upside down. always works
Fries your brain though ;)
Botticelli can you do that from real life? 🙃🙃🙃
Really hard on the ankle joints!
I keep falling over
Mark Evans that was golden
🙏 for all your good practices and reflections. I think it is all the senses that work together to really see - and because of that it is the body-brain that is seeing, feeling, moving, imagining - the synkinaesthetic of seeing - if you really look at something you can feel it in your body 💚
Thank you so much for this tip. I needed someone to help me understand why I would often see animal shapes, but when I would try to use them to render, I would lose "sight" of them. Now I realize it was my attempt to draw the feature and not the shapes I was actually seeing! Can't wait to do this in my next drawing. Also, thanks for the link to the book.
Awesome..i agree and this is the way they teach in the academy of realist art, seeing shapes not "eye, nose, mouth" that is why people tend to draw things upside down faces or unknown things better than seeing it the right way, cause your brain tend to kick in everytime and try to tell you how it " should be drawn" not how "you draw what u see"...it is seeing abstract shapes and link it to animals or things to drag your brain away from its literally interpretation...thank you!
That's interesting because I always feel my way through a drawing. People remark on how good my proportions are and I'm sure its because I feel my way through.
Color mixing though? Florent has saved my life! Lol!
Wow! This is a great trick! It actually made my brain hurt which is a good thing.
Very interesting point in this video, as we all know -drawing, painting etc it is mainly the way of seeing….
And this is one of the very good examples how to develop this skill:)
and the comments actually are very interesting too
Thank You!
Your videos are very helpful. Thankyou for sharing 😁 xx
This is amazing honestly....now everything changed in my mind about art
Very helpful. Instant fan here from the Philippines.
Fantastic information,
Thank you so much for your great instruction,
Cheers !!!
Thanks for this helpful information. I am going to try this shape technique. It is definitely a new way of looking at things.
An earlier book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain had a similar message. But my problem is that my sense of size, angle, and proportion change depending on which part of the reference I am looking at. I have bought a tool called at proportional divider but haven't used it much yet.
Good video!! Thanks for sharing! Cheers from Brazil
Very useful video recommended for all the beginners
Yes, very helpful. Thank you!
Really good video Florent! I started seeing improvement too when I stopped trying to paint what I thought I was seeing and started looking for abstract shapes. Our brains deceive us!
Get yourself an old set of french curves which can produce any shape/s ...use a soft brush with a light charcoal dust and brush up to the french curve edge which leaves you sharp edges and defines the shape required ..if a blend is required use your tonal values required to blend in to the shape ..no outline strokes are required using this method ..use the sharp edges as reference points to check measurements before adding tonal values ...hope this helps ..give it a try ..you will amaze yourself ..good luck
I have never really tried to see shapes of shadows or light to draw better, but I think I will give this a go and maybe something will click! 😊
It can work, but maybe it was just for me, let me know ;)
Thank you , thank you , thank you! You have just explained how I do portraits ... I paint (draw) in pastels by areas of colour instead of line. I’ve tried so hard to explain this because I don’t use a graph or rough in a sketch. I paint as if I’m putting together a jigsaw. And it works ... it’s just another way of seeing. Thank you for the great video. I will now follow you on Instagram 💓
Thank you for this easy & clear explanation.
Great tip! The way I interpret your tip is as follows:
By focusing on the shape of an eye, for instance, we're actually drawing the right shape that will look like the object itself. In other words, we're drawing "what we actually see" (shadows included) which will resemble the particular "eye" of this person.
But once our brain tells us to draw an eye, we'll all end up drawing like a child: flat with all the parts visible at the same time. In reality, all the eyes are different (much more so in different light conditions and angles).
Thank you for the "animal shapes" suggestion because now I can use a term (such as a rabbit or an elephant) to describe most of the geometrically weird shapes we see in real life.
Two books by , Betty Edwards , Drawing on the right side of the brain and Drawing from the artist within.
I'd been drawingfor many years prior to picking up these two books , grabbed at a yard sale , I was pleasantly surprised with my two dollar purchase.
She has a very unique way of teaching and I must admit I learned some fascinating tips . I've lent out these two books more than any others I own , always with a hearty thanks upon return. One must remember, your never too old or know too much to learn something new.
Absolutely Brilliant!!!
What really helped me get a lot better at portrait, is to see the things in relation to each other. Like, if my eye has a certain size (or just hight and length) then I can see how many of those eyes there are to the other eye or the bridge of the nose or the eyebrow etc. etc. The first step was, like you said, to stop seeing the different parts we unconsciously distinct from each other as, well, different parts. So now I basically triangulate the positions of the facial features as in relation to at least two other facial features.
Exactly! I hadn't realized I look at the "weird shapes" when I'm painting... Don't imagine animals thought 😅
Très utile et inspirant, comme toutes tes autres vidéos! Merci :)
excellent guidance, thank you very much
Fantastic reminder!
I thought I was weird, and was embarrassed to talk to anyone about this, but I always thought about the shapes of shadows and lighted shapes. Thank you, and all the best to you!👏👏👏
P.s. I recently discovered you!
I just drawn the best hand I ever drew while watching this! Thanks!
Thanks so much for this lesson. I was terrified to try portraits but I’m going to give it a go
Interesting concept. I do not do Instagram or Twitter, so I hope you'll stay on RUclips. I am trying to learn to paint with oils. I've never painted much at all and I find you have interesting things to say. Could you talk about brushes? Maybe you have, but it doesn't seem to be on anyone's list regarding ones to use with oils. Thank you.
You really have helped me ,thank you
Thanks for this....I think it will really help....thank you for sharing your skill and knowledge
Draw upside down or draw the negative space or grid drawing works too
so very helpful - thank you!
Thanks for this video. Very helpful.
That sea turtle / penguin was perfect ❤️
_Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain_ has some excellent exercises to help one make that brain shift. Was hugely impactful for me.
As someone who is dyslexic, perceptions of anything, not just the visual, are made by a process of conversions from external things to internal thoughts. Drawing complicates this by going back to the external, and for dyslexics, that can be a a bigger problem. The intake and processing then back to output will offer more chances for things to be misconceived, and misplaced or else not placed correctly. Though tricks can help to add dimension to the problem, and let us get closer to the accuracies of reality, the real issue is exorcising the brain to form more paths to and form this activity of comprehension. In other words, practice, practice, practice.
The "trick" you are sharing is a good one to help people get past the awkward stage and not lose interest in the activity itself, but in the end they are forming the "brain muscle" they need to become better at drawing accurately, which has little to do with the accuracy of the activity and more to do with the practice and time they spend trying.
I love you videos and techniques you share, please keep sharing them! I don't have the time for instagram, and never have had it in my schedule. To be honest, I do not care to follow your "day to day thoughts", I have too many of my own... so I hope this finds you well, and I will keep watching your weekly videos! Cheerio!
Thats actually how I drew since 3rd grade. But it lead me to the problem of overall compositions not looking so great. Later I fixed that, which resulted in one of the biggest level ups for my personal drawing "career"
Booooo, freemasons.
Wowwww I would LOVE to be good at oil painting!!! It would be so good and u r a fantastic painter!
This makes total sense... I mean, how many times have you shown someone something and they in turn ask you, "May I see it?" (With their HANDS out)! They're obviously wanting to touch, manipulate and look at it... They say 'see' but they mean so much more than to simply 'look at it with just their eyes'.
Squinting helps see shapes of light and dark more clearly.
Supers conseils, merci ! Je m'amuse régulièrement à voir des formes sur différents types de matériaux ou autres mais je n'ai jamais pensé à appliquer cette méthode au dessin, ça va beaucoup m'aidé. Pour le Toblerone, la forme de l'ours "dissimulée" dans le Cervin est volontaire. Il s'agit d'une marque bernoise, l'ours est le symbole de Berne. Salutations de Suisse, cher voisin :)
I'm going to see how well I can use your suggestion on my next few drawings. Thank you my friend.
Thanks:) my way to start drawing was with quick model sketches with ink on paper. 5 minutes each for 1 hour. Beginnig was horrible but it really works till today. It helps to not foucus on details, catch propotions and moves.
Your tip was so helpful...thankyou....makes me watch to sketch