I met my best friend while I was at university and she was teaching a figure drawing class. She stopped me mid-class on day 2 and made me go to the art supply store to purchase the largest newsprint pad available. She then threatened to tape my charcoal to the end of a meter stick if I didn’t loosen up! She once wrote on a critique “You’re a skilled draftsman, now take some risks.” Best advice I’d ever received! Thank you for sharing your methods with us...immensely helpful!
Testimony: I’ve been a subscriber to your channel for a bit over 18 months now. I was a beginner and didn’t know there was even a choice as to how to hold a pencil! I simply watched your hand and did what you did. It felt awkward at first but I thought of it like having the correct stance and golf swing. I began to notice my (drawing) game improving! Ignorance is bliss. Of course I hadn’t the slightest idea that it was about this new way of holding the charcoal. I can look back on the drawings Pre Smitheman and Post and WOW! All I can say folks is that it’s worth the effort, the returns are great. Everything you said in this video, CLICK! What a realization. Thank you for all you do and especially for your generosity in sharing this!
My first drawing teacher (shout out to Mike) had us tape a charcoal on the end of a 3 foot stick. We had to hold the end and draw with it. It really teaches you to use your body and not just your wrist.
I truly appreciate the attention you've paid in noticing this error. I already had newsprint. when I used my graphite pencils on it, it felt horrible so I went back to sketching in my sketchbook. I'm going to get my charcoal pencils today. Ur elaboration on how to hold a pencil has also given some much-needed clarity.
Hello! resident nerd here: been reading-up on the brain's hemispheres' different specs. IIRC the left one's in charge of detail-work (reading words, seeing leaves on the tree) and the right one's in charge of broad concept (finding meaning behind the words, seeing the whole tree) and their different roles in creativity. The left one helps with pattern recognition (visual library) while the right one helps with abstract concepts (creativity in general). Pretty sure this technique engages the right hemisphere and helps get the creative juices flowing without the left one stealing all the thunder. More areas engaged=better learning! Even knowing all this, I would have never thought of using a bigboi sketchbook and pencil like this, thank you for this gem!
@@RichardSmithemanArt Happy you think so! While looking-up these things, someone explained that metacognition (thinking about thinking) helps *reliably* rewire the brain to perform more efficiently (greater internalised motivation/ focus-endurance) so while a lot of this nerdy stuff is just working theory over empirical evidence, it personally helps me stick to new to me, but effective practices like the one you described here. If you have spare time, I highly recommend looking into the sciency-bits of studying and how it relates to art-making (if you aren't already) as it can help with the "I can't really explain why this works" occurance. I could share some of the RUclips content-creators I use personally in this regard in a comment reply here if you would like. I won't do it without permission tho, because it's sometimes bad form to recommend other mentors under someone's work. I have done it in bad taste in the past and experience is my main teacher... :D
This “two sides of the brain” idea is not actually true. It’s an interesting way to think about it and can be helpful, but is not scientifically accurate.
@@muskadobbit After reading into it some more I found that to be the case. However, the point still stands, different parts of the brain *do* specialise in different tasks and there is some lateralisation, so it is worthwhile thinking of ways to engage as many of them as possible while learning. If you get it just right you can enter that fancy 'flow' state that was all the rage a few years ago. ^^
Thank you so much for allowing me to view your classes without having to pay. It means a lot to me and I'm sure many others. Im just starting out. The way you teach reaches my brain perfectly. Im so glad I watched this one. I was doing exactly what you say not to do. Its hard to describe my appreciation.
Wow, I literally just changed my pencil grip these last few days out of curiosity! I mainly draw using an ipad since I don't have any space where I live for big materials. It felt weird at first, but after a few days practicing I noticed that my lines look sooo much nicer, and I have a much easier time drawing shapes! For any other digital artists, if you use csp just fiddle around with the tilt settings on the mechanical pencil and you'll get a really nice pencil texture when using this grip!
I am SO grateful for your teaching! I am proud of what I have drawn and could not have done it without your tutelage. I’ve never had an art class and I have learned so much from you!
This technique forces you to use your forearm like an extension of your pencil. The movement ends at your elbow and your shoulder corresponding to the elbow movement. Whereas holding the pencil as for writing, the movement ends at the wrist. Albeit a completely different scenario, the same technique applies to picking a guitar. It loosens you up. I just found your channel yesterday and noticed that you were drawing like this. I have been drawing for 50 + years, never really quite refining the ability to draw the human figure. Today, I decided to pull out a drawing pad and pencil and follow along with one of your videos, and drew one of my most impressive attempts of the human figure to date. And definitely the fastest attempt ever excluding stick figures. I drew mine using the hand writing stance, but I will definitely go back and do it again with the looser stance. Thank you for providing this channel. Cheers!
After years (about 20) without drawing, I finally decided to draw again. Looking for advices, I found this video and decided to give it a try. It really had a huge impact on my first sketches. I need to work on it, but yes, it's a great advice. Thank you Richard for sharing your knowledge.
I greatly appreciate your emphasis on the importance of working on large papers for drawing, especially when it comes to the human figure. However, I believe it is important to consider that art is not limited solely to the size of the medium. While you have specialized in and excel at anatomical drawing exclusively, it is crucial to remember that art is much broader than just academic representation.
Hi, I just stumbled onto your channel and so happy I did! I am just starting to learn to draw and want to start out right! lol I don't have all the exact tools and don't have a lot of free time! but will get things started. Thank you for sharing and I'll be watching more and hopefully I will send you my first sketch! Take care! Diane
I attended a live drawing class last night, and I was the only one using large paper and a stick of charcoal, it really makes a difference. Everyone else were using small books and pencils. Last night I came home after my live drawing class, inspired to learn more about drawing and came across your channel. I am soaking up all your advice like a sponge! I reall want to understand more about the anatomy, i think that knowledge is so important to improving my figure drawing.THANK YOU SO MUCH 😊
I think that drawing from the shoulder and elbow kind of forces you or makes you more inclined to keep some physical distance from your drawing, at least it does for me. I think this is important because you need some distance to take in your drawing as a whole. If you are holding the pencil as if you were writing then you tend to be closer and possibly overly focused on a smaller part of the drawing and that can lead to problems with proportion. edit: I also use generals charcoal pencils and newsprint, they are my favorite materials. I started using generals pencils when I was in college and never stopped. I even bought some blackwing pencils to try them out and went right back to my little orange friends lol.
Ive been drawing for years and noticed your channel / tik tok videos and I noticed the way you hold the pencil, and was very curious I asked about it wether it was to give you a more "loose" line making etc, and ive just found this video and its answered my question :) by the way all the great artists are left handed :)
As a beginner this is the most important lesson I've seen. So appreciate you sharing such quality expertise here. I'm off to practice loosening up and drawing big.
I’ve stumbled upon your videos a while ago and started to actually draw with your instruction. I already see a really good progress and have so much fun while drawing, finding new poses and bringing that on paper. which is amazing, since I had an art block for like over a year. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience !
Funny the things you forget. I used to sketch with my entire arm.Then I started Watercolor and just made my sketches in detail but faintly. It changes your mindset. Thank you for sharing this. I kept the arm movement when sketching straight lines. It's a different type of control .
I’m a pro artist since high school and agree with you 100% this is art school 101 and if any artist reading this now hasn’t attended any art college classes or read any good art books, this is , without a doubt the best drawing advice you can get! Salute to your sir!
Its like the video title, this is very important lesson, kinda remind me of my old teacher Maurice Haddad, who taught me the same thing, for in my case, I used to sketch with the same pose I do for write, with every line I put lot of pressure, I carve the paper itself
So applicable to penmanship and whole-arm, muscular writing vs finger-writing. This demonstrated technique brings freedom and graceful lines to the penman as well-still enabling details. Thank you! Very affirming. 👏👏👏
VERY IMPRESSED !!! U PUT IN WORDS HOW I WORK BUT U SHOWED ME hOW TO ORGANIZE MY APPROACH THAT I CAN CONTINUE MY FORMULA FOR SUCCESS IN BECOMING A BETTER INFORMED ARTIST!!! THANK YOU!!!!
I found this to be an intuitive step in my drawing process so have used this grip almost from day 1. It just lets the lines draw themselves… to a point. It follows through to painting as well. Sadly life has been in the road of art for me so looking to pick it all back up. Moved recently and, although travelling extremely light, assorted pencils, small sketch pad and paint materials came with me.
Thanks! I have been a drawer all my life. and some 60 years into it my teacher in a figure drawing class told me to draw with my arm not my hand. GREAT INFORMATION! THANKS!
You're on the money. I've always been better with a paint brush than pencil. I finally figured out if I treat the pencil as a brush it changed my thoughts and approach and everything improved.
Wow, I am shocked. I have been a casual drawer my whole life but more landscapes and portrait but always struggled with full-bodied proportions... Just holding my pencil like that for the first time made an instant difference... after drawing for two decades. Seriously amazing. Idk what it is you are 100% correct though it makes you "think bigger"... normally I would focus too much on an arm or some other limb and the whole thing would be out of proportion. This actually made a massive difference immediately.
I was looking at a video on conté, because I tried it without knowing anything about it and that video was like "stop holding it like a pencil, you idiot" and now I've come here and you've said the same thing with pencils. Blatant ignorance is fun.🙃
I've struck gold after a lot of browsing I found your channel. Not only are you a great teacher you are a lefty too. It is not easy watching a non left hander and trying to learn from them. I know it shouldn't be a problem but at my age (60) it is a challenge learning something new. I am sooo pleased I found you
Size is something that I've had to adjust to. I think the reason I started small was timed to the new skill as well as having more control with my wrist and seeing all the results in one place. But now days I try to use as much of the page as I think is needed and try my best to move my elbow as well as my wrist where I can.
I figured that out when I was 12 years old attempting to become an artist. My problem wasn't how I held my pencil or how enthusiastically I attacked my subject. My troubles began when facing the fact that I lacked the necessary artistic talent to be successful. But my pencil posture had been superior, according to you today ! .
Talent is 80 percent myth. It's a head start at best and can even impede your progress as an artist if you over rely on it. A talented 12 year old has probably been drawing frequently since they were 4! Not exactly a beginner you know?
This is interesting. I'm actually left-hand. To make things complicated, when I tried learning to play acoustic guitar, I play it right handed. I also throw darts with my right hand. 🙈
the most important thing to have in a class are students that listen. you can tell them all the answers and give all the great advice, but if the student isn't listening then they didn't listen. If I were drawing a figure from life in a drawing class, i would use newsprint and soft vine charcoal. You can get a variety of marks (dark light midtones and a variety of edges, weights of line, etc.) quite easily. Using vine charcoal almost invites the artist to hold the stick in your chosen position. If I used a pencil in a class I would probably see much less variety in line, value, weight, and variation just because of the materials used.
I'm personally not a bit fan of vine charcoal on smooth newsprint, I find it lifts off far to easily and it's extremely hard to get into dark darks. On paper with more tooth I find it performs better. But to each his own! Thanks
@@RichardSmithemanArt I don't remember.saying "smooth" news print. In 1965 I remember buying two different types of news print. I couldn't tell you which one was which now. I do remember that I liked one over the other.
Thank you 😊 ! These classes are very helpful, I am loving learning from them. My request is do you have a labeled figure drawing which you can share so that when we are doing the drawings on our own, we can refer back as it is difficult to remember all the names. Your teaching and your work is amazing.
Great lesson. I've learned that grip from your older movies, it's my favorite(and it was my first, thanks) though I'm using few different for fine details, shading, digital and maybe something else, also depends on my position. Getting used to various grips was a miserable(I've cursed it multiple times) but extremely rewarding experience. There are many crazy grips, just check Glenn Vilppu.
This is so true! I accidentally found this way of holding pencil not long ago, it was when I working with bigger size of paper, and this way is more useful. Until now I'm still doing it to make bigger scale of drawing, and use the "pen holding" way to do the small detailed part on my big drawings! Really good, Thanks! ✨✨
i was following along drawing on a3 but with graphite and switched to my charcoal pencil i hardly use once you suggested it and it was a more enjoyable sketch!
Fantastic, loved all the insights in this video. I love the idea of getting the half-tone for free. I'm inspired! I remember feeling similarly "mind-blown" when I was taught this, but you filled in another few blanks. Another thing that is mind-blowing is your ambidexterity 0__0
When I did illustration (then inked them) it was quite impossible to hold as such the pencil, for the scale was much too small (A/5 sheets). Yes, I can't argue with what it has been said, that is absolutely true! In painting, holding the brush thusly has also a large impact... you can't really paint say even a straight line without it, not to mention rhythmical lines, etc. Back to drawing. Holding the pencil in this manner has improved my portraiture beyond belief. This is the "mode" of drawing when holding the pencil thusly, as it is the "mode" of writing when holding it otherwise. The brain know best. Thank, you and great video!
Hello Sir! I’m new here on your classroom! After the explanation of how to hold the pencil properly I subscribed right away! I knew you know what you’re doing! Thank you! Ps changed the way I hold my pencil now and what a big change! Eye opening
“Don’t work on a tiny little sketchbook with a mechanical pencil or something”
Dang, I feel like I just got called out.
I met my best friend while I was at university and she was teaching a figure drawing class. She stopped me mid-class on day 2 and made me go to the art supply store to purchase the largest newsprint pad available. She then threatened to tape my charcoal to the end of a meter stick if I didn’t loosen up! She once wrote on a critique “You’re a skilled draftsman, now take some risks.” Best advice I’d ever received! Thank you for sharing your methods with us...immensely helpful!
Thanks for the comment, good advice for sure!
Far out, she sounds like a great teacher!
A sign painter once told me, the larger the joint, the smoother the line.
Testimony:
I’ve been a subscriber to your channel for a bit over 18 months now. I was a beginner and didn’t know there was even a choice as to how to hold a pencil! I simply watched your hand and did what you did. It felt awkward at first but I thought of it like having the correct stance and golf swing. I began to notice my (drawing) game improving! Ignorance is bliss. Of course I hadn’t the slightest idea that it was about this new way of holding the charcoal. I can look back on the drawings Pre Smitheman and Post and WOW! All I can say folks is that it’s worth the effort, the returns are great. Everything you said in this video, CLICK! What a realization. Thank you for all you do and especially for your generosity in sharing this!
Thanks so much for the kind words!
My first drawing teacher (shout out to Mike) had us tape a charcoal on the end of a 3 foot stick. We had to hold the end and draw with it. It really teaches you to use your body and not just your wrist.
oof! that sound tough!Don't think I'd be able for that!
That's wild! I've always wondered if there was more to holding a tool or using more than your hand and wrist to draw.
Henri Matisse would approve of your drawing teacher's instruction. 💪
How have I not found this channel before, such a natural and comfortable orator with great advice.
Thank you!
I truly appreciate the attention you've paid in noticing this error. I already had newsprint. when I used my graphite pencils on it, it felt horrible so I went back to sketching in my sketchbook. I'm going to get my charcoal pencils today. Ur elaboration on how to hold a pencil has also given some much-needed clarity.
Great!
Hello! resident nerd here: been reading-up on the brain's hemispheres' different specs. IIRC the left one's in charge of detail-work (reading words, seeing leaves on the tree) and the right one's in charge of broad concept (finding meaning behind the words, seeing the whole tree) and their different roles in creativity. The left one helps with pattern recognition (visual library) while the right one helps with abstract concepts (creativity in general). Pretty sure this technique engages the right hemisphere and helps get the creative juices flowing without the left one stealing all the thunder. More areas engaged=better learning! Even knowing all this, I would have never thought of using a bigboi sketchbook and pencil like this, thank you for this gem!
Thanks, very interesting! I like this concept, makes sense!
@@RichardSmithemanArt Happy you think so! While looking-up these things, someone explained that metacognition (thinking about thinking) helps *reliably* rewire the brain to perform more efficiently (greater internalised motivation/ focus-endurance) so while a lot of this nerdy stuff is just working theory over empirical evidence, it personally helps me stick to new to me, but effective practices like the one you described here. If you have spare time, I highly recommend looking into the sciency-bits of studying and how it relates to art-making (if you aren't already) as it can help with the "I can't really explain why this works" occurance. I could share some of the RUclips content-creators I use personally in this regard in a comment reply here if you would like. I won't do it without permission tho, because it's sometimes bad form to recommend other mentors under someone's work. I have done it in bad taste in the past and experience is my main teacher... :D
This “two sides of the brain” idea is not actually true. It’s an interesting way to think about it and can be helpful, but is not scientifically accurate.
@@muskadobbit After reading into it some more I found that to be the case. However, the point still stands, different parts of the brain *do* specialise in different tasks and there is some lateralisation, so it is worthwhile thinking of ways to engage as many of them as possible while learning. If you get it just right you can enter that fancy 'flow' state that was all the rage a few years ago. ^^
Thank you so much for allowing me to view your classes without having to pay. It means a lot to me and I'm sure many others. Im just starting out. The way you teach reaches my brain perfectly. Im so glad I watched this one. I was doing exactly what you say not to do. Its hard to describe my appreciation.
Wow, I literally just changed my pencil grip these last few days out of curiosity! I mainly draw using an ipad since I don't have any space where I live for big materials. It felt weird at first, but after a few days practicing I noticed that my lines look sooo much nicer, and I have a much easier time drawing shapes! For any other digital artists, if you use csp just fiddle around with the tilt settings on the mechanical pencil and you'll get a really nice pencil texture when using this grip!
This is possibly the most important lesson I've ever learned 😍
I am SO grateful for your teaching! I am proud of what I have drawn and could not have done it without your tutelage. I’ve never had an art class and I have learned so much from you!
I have a stack of books on figure drawing and still a 10 minute video by this guy teaches me more than an hour of reading most of them.
This technique forces you to use your forearm like an extension of your pencil. The movement ends at your elbow and your shoulder corresponding to the elbow movement. Whereas holding the pencil as for writing, the movement ends at the wrist. Albeit a completely different scenario, the same technique applies to picking a guitar. It loosens you up. I just found your channel yesterday and noticed that you were drawing like this. I have been drawing for 50 + years, never really quite refining the ability to draw the human figure. Today, I decided to pull out a drawing pad and pencil and follow along with one of your videos, and drew one of my most impressive attempts of the human figure to date. And definitely the fastest attempt ever excluding stick figures. I drew mine using the hand writing stance, but I will definitely go back and do it again with the looser stance. Thank you for providing this channel. Cheers!
Thanks, it really is one of the most fundamental lessons for drawing.
After years (about 20) without drawing, I finally decided to draw again. Looking for advices, I found this video and decided to give it a try. It really had a huge impact on my first sketches. I need to work on it, but yes, it's a great advice. Thank you Richard for sharing your knowledge.
Excellent technique, effective recommendations. Thank you.
I greatly appreciate your emphasis on the importance of working on large papers for drawing, especially when it comes to the human figure.
However, I believe it is important to consider that art is not limited solely to the size of the medium. While you have specialized in and excel at anatomical drawing exclusively, it is crucial to remember that art is much broader than just academic representation.
Richard, you’re my favorite teacher of figure drawing on RUclips! Thank you so much for sharing all these knowledge!!
My pleasure!
Food for thought. I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the tip.
Hi, I just stumbled onto your channel and so happy I did! I am just starting to learn to draw and want to start out right! lol I don't have all the exact tools and don't have a lot of free time! but will get things started. Thank you for sharing and I'll be watching more and hopefully I will send you my first sketch! Take care! Diane
That's great to hear, good luck!
I newly discovered your channel and can't stop watching the videos. you are a gifted teacher. thank you so much..
I attended a live drawing class last night, and I was the only one using large paper and a stick of charcoal, it really makes a difference. Everyone else were using small books and pencils.
Last night I came home after my live drawing class, inspired to learn more about drawing and came across your channel. I am soaking up all your advice like a sponge! I reall want to understand more about the anatomy, i think that knowledge is so important to improving my figure drawing.THANK YOU SO MUCH 😊
I just took a class where the teacher uses circles and no lines. Thank you for explaining things that I can understand.
Glad it was helpful!
I think that drawing from the shoulder and elbow kind of forces you or makes you more inclined to keep some physical distance from your drawing, at least it does for me. I think this is important because you need some distance to take in your drawing as a whole. If you are holding the pencil as if you were writing then you tend to be closer and possibly overly focused on a smaller part of the drawing and that can lead to problems with proportion.
edit: I also use generals charcoal pencils and newsprint, they are my favorite materials. I started using generals pencils when I was in college and never stopped. I even bought some blackwing pencils to try them out and went right back to my little orange friends lol.
That’s great to hear! Thanks
Ive been drawing for years and noticed your channel / tik tok videos and I noticed the way you hold the pencil, and was very curious I asked about it wether it was to give you a more "loose" line making etc, and ive just found this video and its answered my question :) by the way all the great artists are left handed :)
As a beginner this is the most important lesson I've seen. So appreciate you sharing such quality expertise here. I'm off to practice loosening up and drawing big.
Thanks! Great lesson. I will use this knowledge in my teaching.
Thank you. I needed this. Recovering small drawer.
Thank you ❤ really helpful lesson....
I love it! "Big Ideas" instead of "Small Ideas". Thank You!!!
Wow! It does make a difference! Thank You!!
I’ve stumbled upon your videos a while ago and started to actually draw with your instruction. I already see a really good progress and have so much fun while drawing, finding new poses and bringing that on paper. which is amazing, since I had an art block for like over a year.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience !
Your tutorial made it go a lit easier than I thought. I quite impressed myself.😊
Thanks for this! Came just in the right time :)
What an amazing teacher. Thank you.
thank you for this, I'll try this on graphic tablet as well 🙂
It's surprisingly easy to get comfortable drawing this way on a tablet. Good luck!
@@unicyclopsgallant7698 I tried, it's really not.
You're the best teacher and my idol
Thank you so much for this lesson. I will try it out.
Holy! This has changed everything! Thank You!
Funny the things you forget. I used to sketch with my entire arm.Then I started Watercolor and just made my sketches in detail but faintly. It changes your mindset. Thank you for sharing this. I kept the arm movement when sketching straight lines. It's a different type of control .
I’m a pro artist since high school and agree with you 100% this is art school 101 and if any artist reading this now hasn’t attended any art college classes or read any good art books, this is , without a doubt the best drawing advice you can get! Salute to your sir!
Thank you. Great advice.
Richard: Don't hinder yourself by drawing in a tiny sketchbook with a mechanical pencil.
Me: who does both and doesn't own an eraser
Thank you. Please do not stop. R
Its like the video title, this is very important lesson, kinda remind me of my old teacher Maurice Haddad, who taught me the same thing, for in my case, I used to sketch with the same pose I do for write, with every line I put lot of pressure, I carve the paper itself
So applicable to penmanship and whole-arm, muscular writing vs finger-writing. This demonstrated technique brings freedom and graceful lines to the penman as well-still enabling details. Thank you! Very affirming. 👏👏👏
Oh I love holding the pencil that way! And you're right, its best for starting out loose and going large.
Good that you pay attention to this aspect! I found this out a couple of months ago and really helps a lot! Thanks!
Wow, great tutorial - I was already halfway there with newsprint and compressed charcoal the rest of your advice is golden, thank you
VERY IMPRESSED !!! U PUT IN WORDS HOW I WORK BUT U SHOWED ME hOW TO ORGANIZE MY APPROACH THAT I CAN CONTINUE MY FORMULA FOR SUCCESS IN BECOMING A BETTER INFORMED ARTIST!!! THANK YOU!!!!
Thank you for the great advice
I found this to be an intuitive step in my drawing process so have used this grip almost from day 1. It just lets the lines draw themselves… to a point. It follows through to painting as well. Sadly life has been in the road of art for me so looking to pick it all back up. Moved recently and, although travelling extremely light, assorted pencils, small sketch pad and paint materials came with me.
you are so intelligent, so brilliant thank you for your amazing work
This sounds like something fun to try! I'm down!
thank you for the video!! you truly help me out a lot!! very much appreciated
Thank you
Thank you.
Thank you for the lesson
thank you
Great!
Thanks! I have been a drawer all my life. and some 60 years into it my teacher in
a figure drawing class told me to draw with my arm not my hand. GREAT INFORMATION!
THANKS!
That’s great! Glad I could confirm the hypothesis!
You're on the money. I've always been better with a paint brush than pencil. I finally figured out if I treat the pencil as a brush it changed my thoughts and approach and everything improved.
Thank god i found your channel
Wow, I am shocked. I have been a casual drawer my whole life but more landscapes and portrait but always struggled with full-bodied proportions... Just holding my pencil like that for the first time made an instant difference... after drawing for two decades. Seriously amazing. Idk what it is you are 100% correct though it makes you "think bigger"... normally I would focus too much on an arm or some other limb and the whole thing would be out of proportion. This actually made a massive difference immediately.
Excellent lesson! I experienced the difference immediately! Thanks
That's great to hear!
I was looking at a video on conté, because I tried it without knowing anything about it and that video was like "stop holding it like a pencil, you idiot" and now I've come here and you've said the same thing with pencils. Blatant ignorance is fun.🙃
Seeing the opening drawing and saying to myself, this is where I want to be at
Thank you so much !
I've struck gold after a lot of browsing I found your channel. Not only are you a great teacher you are a lefty too. It is not easy watching a non left hander and trying to learn from them. I know it shouldn't be a problem but at my age (60) it is a challenge learning something new. I am sooo pleased I found you
Thanks, yes, it can help seeing it with the right 'left' hand!
Thank you! you hit the nail on the head💚👍
Great!
Thank you so much for sharing that!! I know it will sharpen my art skills
Thank very much for sharing your experiences with us!
You’re very welcome!
The underdrawing as midtones was a revelation. Thanks!
Awesome!
Oh good, I’m not the only one who uses the sketch lines as halftone
Size is something that I've had to adjust to.
I think the reason I started small was timed to the new skill as well as having more control with my wrist and seeing all the results in one place.
But now days I try to use as much of the page as I think is needed and try my best to move my elbow as well as my wrist where I can.
Excellent point bolstered with experience!
I took your advice and it worked. Thanks!
Great lesson Many thanks.
Thank u for sharing your knowledge
I think I am blessed come across your channel
Thank you so much for this video 👍
Welcome!
this was tremendously helpful thank you
Glad it helped!
You just got yourself another subscriber.
Thanks!
Thank you, much appreciated!
I figured that out when I was 12 years old attempting to become an artist. My problem wasn't how I held my pencil or how enthusiastically I attacked my subject. My troubles began when facing the fact that I lacked the necessary artistic talent to be successful. But my pencil posture had been superior, according to you today !
.
I know talk about situational advice...why can't I run fast Usain bolt it how you tie your shoes
@@eioclementi1355 Yeah, maybe if I tied my shoes differently, all would be well .
Talent is 80 percent myth. It's a head start at best and can even impede your progress as an artist if you over rely on it. A talented 12 year old has probably been drawing frequently since they were 4! Not exactly a beginner you know?
@@aaronbennack714 you need to learn how to draw nobody is born with the ability to draw a bicycle...you need to learn that stuff.
Forget talent. It's good practice and more practice.
This is interesting. I'm actually left-hand. To make things complicated, when I tried learning to play acoustic guitar, I play it right handed. I also throw darts with my right hand. 🙈
Likewise, I play musical instruments right handed, in fact I think drawing and writing is about the only thing I do left handed.
the most important thing to have in a class are students that listen. you can tell them all the answers and give all the great advice, but if the student isn't listening then they didn't listen. If I were drawing a figure from life in a drawing class, i would use newsprint and soft vine charcoal. You can get a variety of marks (dark light midtones and a variety of edges, weights of line, etc.) quite easily. Using vine charcoal almost invites the artist to hold the stick in your chosen position. If I used a pencil in a class I would probably see much less variety in line, value, weight, and variation just because of the materials used.
I'm personally not a bit fan of vine charcoal on smooth newsprint, I find it lifts off far to easily and it's extremely hard to get into dark darks. On paper with more tooth I find it performs better. But to each his own! Thanks
@@RichardSmithemanArt I don't remember.saying "smooth" news print. In 1965 I remember buying two different types of news print. I couldn't tell you which one was which now. I do remember that I liked one over the other.
@@ronjohnson4566 Fair enough, but I was specifically talkling about smooth newsprint in the video, hence my point.
@@RichardSmithemanArt Well that proves Im not a good student (see my first post). 😀 And, thanks for your civilized comments..
Thank you 😊 ! These classes are very helpful, I am loving learning from them. My request is do you have a labeled figure drawing which you can share so that when we are doing the drawings on our own, we can refer back as it is difficult to remember all the names. Your teaching and your work is amazing.
Great lesson. I've learned that grip from your older movies, it's my favorite(and it was my first, thanks) though I'm using few different for fine details, shading, digital and maybe something else, also depends on my position.
Getting used to various grips was a miserable(I've cursed it multiple times) but extremely rewarding experience. There are many crazy grips, just check Glenn Vilppu.
This is so true! I accidentally found this way of holding pencil not long ago, it was when I working with bigger size of paper, and this way is more useful.
Until now I'm still doing it to make bigger scale of drawing, and use the "pen holding" way to do the small detailed part on my big drawings! Really good, Thanks! ✨✨
i was following along drawing on a3 but with graphite and switched to my charcoal pencil i hardly use once you suggested it and it was a more enjoyable sketch!
WoW!! LiFe cHanGinG iS coRReCT!! Thank you so very mucH!!! I'm so excited !! Great gems you have given us!! WoW...awesome ✨✨✨
That's great to hear, good luck!
Thank you, great :)
Fantastic, loved all the insights in this video. I love the idea of getting the half-tone for free. I'm inspired! I remember feeling similarly "mind-blown" when I was taught this, but you filled in another few blanks. Another thing that is mind-blowing is your ambidexterity 0__0
When I did illustration (then inked them) it was quite impossible to hold as such the pencil, for the scale was much too small (A/5 sheets). Yes, I can't argue with what it has been said, that is absolutely true! In painting, holding the brush thusly has also a large impact... you can't really paint say even a straight line without it, not to mention rhythmical lines, etc. Back to drawing. Holding the pencil in this manner has improved my portraiture beyond belief. This is the "mode" of drawing when holding the pencil thusly, as it is the "mode" of writing when holding it otherwise. The brain know best. Thank, you and great video!
This is fantastic (the part about the half-tones). Thank you. I was already familiar with the positioning of the pencil.
Thanks pal
Hello Sir! I’m new here on your classroom! After the explanation of how to hold the pencil properly I subscribed right away! I knew you know what you’re doing!
Thank you!
Ps changed the way I hold my pencil now and what a big change! Eye opening
Thank you! So glad it’s helping!
Thank You!