Hey bruhs this week we focus on our most useful tool, our brain! A lot of what I discuss is extremely simplified but I highly recommend you look up neuroscientists like Andrew Huberman who also happens to have a RUclips channel ruclips.net/user/AndrewHubermanLab, fascinating stuff. Art concepts aside, I think it's important to understand how we learn on a fundamental level, I think we can all make some significant improvements once we know how it works :) I felt it needed more than a timelapse drawing in the background to properly communicate the concepts I discuss so the format is a little different than usual, hope you don't mind! Hopefully this helps! Have a good weekend or I'll tell your mom.
I was going to reply menioning Huberman. I could tell you had been watching his content immediately. And when you said "cocktail" I was like... bingo. I'm glad his work is making an impact. Good to see you're sharing it too.
*Shifts anime nerd glasses* The advice is good but I think there should be some more info about what NOT to do. This is especially important for younger artists who grew up in the internet age. Apologies for the long read. TLDR: If you wanna learn good then neuroscience says get off social media, stop looking at memes and stop playing addictive video games. I'm a dysfunctional tech addict. Here's how to not wind up like me. Technically dopamine in this context is the motivational salience neurotransmitter. Basically the brain drug that makes you feel compelled to do something (wanting, desire,craving) and reinforces your behaviour. It squirts out into your brain BEFORE and AFTER you do something. When you see your phone and FEEL compelled to check notifications? That's dopamine. When you check your notifications and something good is there? Dopamine hit. See food and wanna eat it? That's dopamine. Eat it and it's delicious? More dopamine. The "feel good" feeling is a cocktail of other neurotransmitters and hormones. So when drawing: (See Sketchbook)>>>(Dopamine Hit)>>>(Draw)>>>(Good drawing)>>>(Dopamine Hit) = I should draw more. How this relates to learning and focus: The reason you're motivated to do stuff that doesn't actually bring you joy or meaningful results (games, internet, social media, drugs) and can't focus on doing boring, difficult stuff like studying or drawing is thanks to an overstimulated dopamine pathway in your brain called the mesolimbic pathway. It looks like a fishing hook in the middle of your brain. Look up the "reward system" on Wikipedia for more info. Gambling machines, social media (including RUclips's recommended feed), and video games (especially mobile free-to-play) are specifically designed to stimulate this pathway. Stimulating this pathway doesn't make you feel "happy". It makes you feel like "I wanna do that again." Before, it used to be: "Nice book, next book." Then it was: "Nice tv show, next episode." Now it's: "Nice meme, next post." The cycle gets continuously shorter. Dopamine hits get more frequent. Habits get formed with infinitely greater strength and speed. When you get dopamine constantly, it makes dopamine less potent. Like a drug losing its effectiveness. Video games don't feel so hype. Social media doesn't excite you. Drawing becomes a chore. Here's the problem: drawing is not "designed" to constantly stimulate that pathway. You will make mistakes and fail. Over and over. Failure paves the pathway to improvement. You will receive FAR LESS dopamine hits compared to addictive activities. The part of your brain that calculates whether something is "worth doing" is called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). It talks with your mesolimbic pathway. Your mesolimbic pathway says memes, RUclips and video games are WAY more rewarding than drawing or learning, so why bother doing hard stuff? If your ACC gets that message ALL THE TIME... now you are screwed. Big time. Plus the fact that your dopamine receptors are numbed to stimulation? Double whammy. The fix? You have another dopaminergic pathway that talks with your ACC called the mesocortical pathway. This is the Yoda pathway. The master Oogway pathway. This is the pathway that allows you to override your primitive instincts and say no to immediately rewarding stuff. How do you strengthen it? Meditation and doing stuff that has a DELAYED reward. Cooking, exercise, solving puzzles, reading books, doing house chores or helping someone else out with a problem. You must do these while cutting down on addictive activities. Replace. Not add. There's little point to eating salad while also eating a family-size tub of ice cream. If you're still a teenager, your brain is super plastic. What you do NOW will affect the structure of your brain as an adult. If you let it get screwed up, it will be substantially harder to fix in the future. I know because I screwed mine up when I was young, and am suffering the consequences in my mid 20s. It is difficult to emotionally register how neurologically dangerous this new tech is, so let me make a comparison. In 1798 Benjamin Rush wrote about the dangers of tobacco. German scientists linked smoking and lung cancer in the 1920s. The first lawsuits against tobacco companies for causing illness and misleading public opinion didn't begin until the 1950s. It took until the 2000s for regular people to understand how harmful they are. Now, they kill 8 million each year. We only recently have studies on the effects of social media on the brain. Users perform worse on cognitive tests, especially attention, memory and multitasking. Their pre-frontal cortexes (the part of our brain that really separates us from other animals) are shrunken. My mum smoked cigarettes because she didn't understand how bad they were. Even though she quit young, she now has crippling arthritis. I was a heavy social media/internet user/gamer in my teenage years because I didn't understand what they were doing to my brain and now I have chronic depression, anxiety, and attention/focus problems. I hope this info helps supplement Marc's great advice and might help anyone who has trouble getting themselves to draw.
@Stringnet9fiver Dr K from the HealthyGamerGG channel recently did a few videos in understanding the role of dopamine+the reward system, and strategies for fixing imbalances. Andrew Huberman has some videos covering the topic. "How to increase motivation and drive" I think covers it. I'm currently going through his stuff since Marc recommended him. Cal Newport's book trilogy focuses less on the neuroscience and more about the productivity aspect. "Digital Minimalism" might be the most appropriate. Gary Wilson's book covers addiction to internet ¶0rñ specifically.
Haha, same. I was just going to ask how this applies to people with ADHD, I spaced during some parts of the video but was still able to put it together. I mean, the information still applies to us, but we will still experience significant challenges in the process. The best I can do in my case is to make sure I'm medicated, and remember to utilize those techniques that therapists teach.
@@SharpFaustI'm finishing my second year of college now and I only got diagnosed a couple of months back, my doctor asked if I wanted to go on medication and I told her I'd pass for now. I avoid any form of medication like the plague whenever possible, so I decided I'd play around with different techniques to see if I could lead a somewhat normal and productive life without recurring to meds. I may cave and start taking them in the future, but I've definetly seen a big difference just by implementing new habits. The things that help me most with focusing are: -The pomodoro technique, and this applies to anything, not just studying, even cleaning! 25 mins of focus and 5 off. This really adds the urgency factor, especially if I'm doing something I despise doing. I know I can't stop before the 25 mins are up and that it needs to get done, so I'll power trough the task to get it done in as little pomodoros as possible. I find drawing quite enjoyable for the first 5 minutes before I get frustrated, but this helps. -If possible, use the 5 min break to go outside, get some fresh air, watch the birds/people, whatever. Just do something that requires low brain power and let your thoughts flow in, even if they are the mental equivalent of having 65 tabs open and not knowing where the hell the music is coming from. -Stimming, yes a lot of neurotypical people can't stand it, but who cares, right? For example, I have a little polished onyx stone that I love twirling around in my fingers. Nothing to do with it being onyx, I just love the texture and it adds that tiny extra bit of stimulation. Music can help too, just make sure it doesn't distract you further. -If you find yourself procrastinating, just press the start button in whatever pomodoro app you are using (or set up your analogue pomodoro), I find that the guilt of procrastinating with it on is enough to get me started. This is all pretty standard stuff that you have probably heard about before, but it works for me. Hopefully it can help someone else who never heard/thought of it. Best of luck!
@@animerman2017 -Neurons communicate creating links with each other -When you learn something new your brain physically changes because of that -The brain is like play-doh so you can re-shape it (learn new things) but it gets harder when you pass your mid-twenties -You have to practice constantly so what you learn actually solidifies in your brain otherwise the links between neurons get weak -When you first learn something new your first response will be stress -But it gets easier to manage that stress the more you do practice -Your brain will want to do something easier when stressed, so you have to focus -Focus is limited so the more you focus on unimportant stuff the less you have for the important stuff -You can extend or re-gain your focus -If you don't sleep well you lose all your progress of the day because sleeping is like a checkpoint for your brain to save it in the long term memory
My urgency: I bought a $70 graphic tablet out of nowhere without knowing a single thing about drawing and I don't want to feel like an idiot that waste money...
Also take a break after any session to do and think about nothing - Dr. Huberman talks about how this allows the brain to play back the process (in reverse for some reason apparently) and increases the ability to learn/neuroplasticity.
I watched a neuroscience video of a specialist on art and he very much said the same things. You have done some very good research and thanks for the info and great content.This is much easier to absorb then doctor's podcast.
We learned about neuroplasticity at uni, and adult neurogenesis does occur, but in two places only, olfactory region (like sense of smell) and dentate gyrus* of the hippocampus as far as is known. It sounds weird but they suggested taking notice of new smells, as olfactory experiences can result in neurogenesis, but that’s about all I learned lol. I am sure we aren’t entirely doomed!
I am so glad you put the emphasis on sleep that it deserves. Neuroplasticity is a very fascinating subject, and it is easy to lull yourself into false ideas on what you should be able to accomplish, then undersleep due to the stress and deadlines you've tossed on. I've read that a rule of thumb for neuroplasticity in adults is this - for every 8 hours of proper sleep, you get about 4 hours of deep focus a day. That's not a lot! This is why it's such a terrible practice for students to learn to just not sleep and keep going - it is counterproductive and even worse, it is dangerous. You are not just losing out on progress, you're impeding it, because once that amount of brain stamina is spent, you're just droning on, doing a subpar job, cutting corners and acting scatter brained. Do what you want, but you simply won't get past these limits (unless you're the 1% of the 1% genetic freaks that probably can, but are you truly competing with them?). This is also why "sleep on it" is such an important old wisdom - we need that sleep, not just to be able to perform basic tasks (modern human being is woefully sleep deprived), but to be able to be creative as well. I find that I always find solutions to my creative problems after a day or two of good sleep, even some naps (if added on top of that 8hr minimum, otherwise no point). That is why you need to be able to factor this in when figuring out a timeframe for your projects. I've always found that too short deadlines lead to subpar project, while giving myself seemingly double of what I think I need leads to great results, because there's plenty of time to rethink things and mull them over. I've just realized that I need this time, and now always factor it in when speaking with clients. As Marc correctly underlines, less stress = more focus!
@@notjinx3545 ... That's the point. You're not "too lazy", because I'm sure you're motivated to do other stuff like watch RUclips, play video games and look at social media. Your brain is motivated to do stuff. It's just been conditioned to be motivated towards certain activities more.
I think that you rarely draw doesn't mean you will lose your drawing ability because I think all of your abilities have been recorded in your brain, so drawing every day does not guarantee you will improve faster, it will actually make you lose ideas and inspiration It's proven that I didn't draw for 4 months because I lost my pen tablet, all i did was watch people draw on youtube, then i drew again after 4 months, and guess what?, i draw much better than before!, feels like i have so many ideas for me to pour in my drawing, I become feel more focused and relaxed What I want to underline is that sometimes observation is more important than drawing as often as possible
Even the best artists have art they dislike or hate. Part of the process as an artist unfortunately is to fail and have work that isn’t so great. Many creatives also deal with imposter syndrome too at times, but you have to remember it’s just creative pains. We all draw ugly or make things we hate, but that shouldn’t stop you. I know it can be super hard, but you shouldn’t deny the world of your creativity and art because of one failure. Use it as motivation to get better over time. Art is a process and a commitment. I highly recommend checking out the book big magic and the podcast art juice, those both helped me immensely at how I view my art and my mindset. You’ll get there, but you won’t get anywhere if you give up.
The arms are actually called dendrites (or axon Terminals, depending on which end you are), synapses are only the areas that connect the arms but other than that as a biologist I can say you did great research with this one. Also I am in love with whatever these little characters are, they should become your mascots! 🥰
Thank you explaining cuz he erroneously called the arms “synapses” when it’s actually the axon/dendrites. The synapse is the SPACE BETWEEN the so called “arms”
Cant help loving this guy. He is An entertaining content creator. Cracks me up with all those edits, The outros ending early. And most important, he is an amazing teacher, my art improved soooo much since ive subbed to this channel. Thank you so much. I better go sleep now, so ill remember to sleep tommorow xd.
There's something so weirdly comforting to have it confirmed to me that no, it's not just you noticing that learning became more challenging at the drop of a hat, at reaching age 26. It's actually encouraging. This is a natural process that happens to everyone. But something becoming harder to do doesn't make it impossible, not ever, that I do know. I was just missing that key ingredient of 'urgency' like you said. And hey, knowing that *this* is how my brain behaves is giving me all the urgency I need outside of looking for work. Thank you so much for reshaping how I approach learning. Every tutorial you post is time well spent watching for me. 🙏❤️
This video really made me think. However, I am not sure if these things can help me with keeping focus, as my day schedule is not really nice. I work from 2pm to 10pm, so at morning and noon I am mostly busy with home duties, leaving little-to-none time between home duties and work, and after work I am simply too tired to focus on productive things (in this case - drawing). It is really frustrating.
@@Kentumatsu_skk I'm in the same situation as you man. I quit drawing. I wish I could but I'm just too busy to but I do watch videos on art. Sometimes I think that if I took the 12 minutes I spent watching this video and just drew maybe I'd have the time.
Maybe divide what you want to do into smaller tasks. Like Marc said in the video, if you want too much you won't be as effective. So when possible try finding 30 mins a day where you focus on little things like shading, checking out colour combinations, lineart, specific objects like Grass, clouds, trees, arms, heads...(of course depending on the Level of skill) And if you do this little task you will get progress in these 30 mins and it will feel good. And if you have the weekends free you can try making time for bigger projects then. I know it's hard but I think it's worth a thought if the alternative is waiting for better times.
Try to find a job where you can work on your drawing from time to time. I have a job where it can really get crazy busy and hectic but there’s also a lot of down time and most the I’m just getting paid to sit there and wait till things get crazy busy again. While work is slow and I’ve taken care of all the little things I start drawing.
I'm already anxious and I turned 25 today so idea of not learning like I used to is terrifying! But they say those ADHD their brain age slower which might be good for me. But then again I've should have started learning things sooner I had a poor childhood and spent most of my teenager years dealing with mental illness. It's so unfair. :(
Keep in mind 25 is the average, it’s different for everyone. Also, the more you love something, the easier it is to learn it because you get urgency for free ;)
Your videos are what gave me the push a couple of months ago and inspired me to seriously get into art, and so far it’s been the best hobby I’ve ever decided to take up. I have never been so deeply in love with art as I am now. The best part is that so much of what you teach (for FREE no less) can be applied to a lot of different skills and areas of daily life.
I'm getting used to dream about drawing and it is really helping me to improve. It started all alone but then I realized that it was helping me. So I started inducing this state by taking at least some 10 minutes drawing or watching someone draw on RUclips before going to bed.
I usually divide my "learning" schedule into parts... Practicing (in photoshop, with my tabs, etc, paper ) and studying (watching YT vids and taking my Udemy courses ). Plus, recently I've been trying the "pomodoro techinique", a friend of mine has been doing it for a couple of years now and he says it's amazing.. so I thought I'd give it a go.
For neurodivergent people, here are some tips that may help. I hope they do. 1. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, but starting moving can be hard. Tell yourself instead "I will mess around with this for 5-10 minutes, and there's no pressure to make anything actually happen" because that's a first step towards moving towards something. If this is still too much, thinking of it like if you were deciding to go for a walk but couldn't make yourself go. You can break it down into smaller steps and instead of thinking of it as a list (which feels like a commitment), you can say "I'm going to get up on my feet. Well, I'm up, I may as well go to the door. Well, I'm here may as well put my shoes on. Well, my shoes are on I may as well go outside. I'm already here I may as well walk". Stuff like that. 2. Find a way to apply your current hyperfixation to what you want to learn. 3. Don't work all day at anything. Don't treat it like a job. After 8 hours of working it has been shown humans don't increase work quality. Also, 8 hour work days are archaic. Do what you can, and don't beat yourself up for "not finishing something". You don't know how big it is of a deal that you managed to get started and even make an attempt. 4. Failure is good. It means you tried in the first place and are making a blueprint for options to not try in the future towards getting the result you want. School taught you failure means you're screwed, but that is not how the real works. You are a person, and people aren't perfect. Failure is amazing. You can never say you failed if you didn't try in the first place. 5. If it's not working, don't force it. Walking away to go do something mundane like a menial task that's like a chore or something will not only help you get something cleaned up but it will free your brain of the task to work stuff out in the back of your mind. The best ideas I ever got were when I let myself get bored. Bored + movement + task you don't actually have to think about to complete = ideas. Ideas lead to innovation. Quit trying to force it. 6. Exercise the side of your brain that is trying to learn that skill. For instance, if you're struggling with math, go practice a new language. Math is also a language so this will boost your math score. Without any extra effort, I gained 70 points on my GED. Things in math I didn't understand before clicked for me. This will work for any skill. If you make connections in your brain, the ability to make new connections in the skill you want to learn will appear and you can start strengthening it more. Think of this like a video game where you are soft locked until you go do a quest real quick. If you are anxious about the quest, go do side quests for a bit and come back. If the quest was attempted but the boss killed you, go try something similar and beat that and when you come back, you will clear the quest and level up. This actually works.
This is an amazing video. Psychology is such an amazing subject and I wish it was a required class in all high school curriculums! It teaches you so much about yourself and eventually you can conclude how to use your brain to improve yourself as a human being.
I needed this! This was really helpful, now I'm more motivated to improve my art and also you explain really good. Thank you, I'll give you another egg :D 🥚
Hey Marc, I have watched a lot of youtubers on my journey to teach myself art and you are by far my favourite. I feel like you have given me so much more than I could give you. The improvements I have made over this last year have been insane and seeing your videos in my recommended always gets me motivated to draw. Your videos and effort you put in them are appreciated. Thank you.
I remember struggling hard on facial emotions until I spent a few weeks analyzing facial features and how they change when the characters emotion does and now I can do it all from memory (but I'll make a booklet too for myself so I can get a quick refresher whenever).
this was a good one Marc, I have a bad habit of watching videos and drawing and I know it distracts me and understanding the science helps me know why I *have* to break this habit.
"Gotta get in those reps bruh" loved that xD I'm a psych grad and this is very accurate. I never took neurology, outside of what I learned in 101 and portions of other classes, but I can say that on a basic level this is very accurate and useful, just knowing this info. I can also say from personal experience, as a graphic novelist that now wants to illustrate their own stories, this is very true. When I go to write a draft for a manuscript or video, I could be dog tired and hungover, but I'll still manage to put down 2,000 words for the day and have it be well written enough. But with art, I could be sober and well rested but I'll struggle just getting proportions right for the mannequin layout and not get much past that, I just don't have the experience and conditioning with art that I have with literature, yet. I will argue that if someone is struggling with insomnia and it's affecting their neurological processing of what they've learned, it's more effective for them to find out the cause or causes of their insomnia and how they should solve it. No cause or resolution is the same, so take comfort in knowing that your own approach must suit you in the healthiest fashion.
it helps to understand that you should feel stressed when focusing, it means its working.. 6:11 thats good also 6:36 is good too The greater the challenge, the stronger the stress response. Don't overwhelm yourself, deconstruct the skill first. If the stress hormones get too high relative to your reward hormone, you quit. If you learn alot, QUICKLY, your reward hormone always gets higher, so you can focus longer, thus improving faster over time. Focus is kind of like your fuel to keep going. And urgency Without urgency, there's no learning (adults) Urgency comes from fear, but it doesn't have to come from fear either. It can come from ~love~ too (passion) Focus isn't infinite like neuroplasticity.. there's a limited amount every day. There are tricks to get more focus though. So here it is. Instead of taking a break looking at your phone or browsing youtube, therefore losing even more focus, and kind of defying the purpose of the break in the first place, defocus. Try to not focus on anything for a few seconds to a few minutes. Another trick is to reframe your approach to learning. Instead of looking at the big picture and increase your stress response as a result, try to flip that around and remind yourself of everything that you've accomplished today. However small that progress was, if you can identify that progress, that improvement, then its enough to give a boost to your reward system and increase the amount of time you can focus. TLDR, --> 10:42
I m 22 and not worried about age. I learn the same way as I did before. 'hard way' Truth is you need to learn 'how to learn'. I had a problem that i overwhelm myself to much. Wanted learn fast. That idea just burned out. it take me time to realize that i need take things easy and improve what i do. I m still beginner.
Thank you so much for all the knowledge you give us for free! You've been SUCH a great help and its easier to retain the information you give us because you are very thorough. I've made a character for my short comic very loosely inspired by you, I wanna show you one day! Thank you again Marc! :D
One thing I learned about learning is that it's easier to prevent things that distract you rather than fighting distraction. Not all things can be avoided, but at least the ones that you know will trigger procrastination and are things you can control. That and when you think you can't go on any longer, you should try to push for 5 more minutes (unless it's at expense of sleep), more than often those 5 minutes turn into much more time.
As an educator for the past 27 years, and who has deeply engaged in learning about neuroscience as well, I appreciate how you have taken the time to broaden your understanding of how the brain learns, conceptualized it for your own understanding, and shared that understanding with others.
This video is great. it gives such a clear outline to the art journey and demystifies what can be such an obscure path for us all. If only someone could have made it this clear for me when I was starting. Thanks for the great work!
Hey guys! Meditating with intention is pretty much just like focusing on nothing and it really helps! If youre going on long drawing stints for say, a commission, even just 10 minutes of being in the present rested moment can give you enough mental rest to work better!
Great video! As someone who actually has a degree in neuroscience (specifically biopsychology), I often cringe when I see some videos with titles like this, but you do have the basics well presented so kudos for that! Just a couple small things, you refer to dopamine as a reward hormone, but it's a neurotransmitter. The difference is that hormones act systemically, affecting all of their particular receptors in the body, while neurotransmitters act specifically, affecting only the neurons directly targeted. Also, it's the endocrine system, not the nervous system, that creates and releases hormones, although the nervous system will trigger the endocrine system to release hormones since they are connected...yes, I'm getting way too technical. Sorry!
The idea of using urgency to increase neuroplasticity is honestly revolutionary for me, you're telling me you can literally channel your fears into something useful? God damn man, why didn't anyone tell me this sooner! I always thought motivation only really happened through ambition and that ambition had to be running towards something, but you're telling me I can get all the results I want just by running away in terror? Count me in! No shortage of fear in this madhouse!
tfw the crucial part is a good night’s sleep, but you work night shifts and stay up at nights during your free time too, while only managing limited amounts of sleep during the day😔
Sometimes I have that rage of considered inferior. To that I always say, crush them (other artists) underneath your boot. For one day, they will kneel at the sight of you. It is a comforting thought that my skill will pay off. Sometimes, anger is a comfort. Anger brings my goal closer.
This is such a good guide, and not just for drawing. Used this info for the past few weeks while preparing for a very important test and it’s been working wonders
This video has the educational value of a david Attenborough documentary, and the explosions of a micheal bay movie. Never thought it would work so well
You've managed to summarize the entire course contents of "Learning How To Learn" from Coursera into a single video, and do it well. Thumbs up for the effective lessons! Also, I notice the number of petals in those drawings throughout the video decreasing one by one 🌸. There must something symbolic of it...
Just rewatched your art school anatomy tutorial today, Now with this video, great! I need a good sleep later tonight to memorize everything I learned today!
So in a way i get why i learn so fast, i'm chill af when i learn anything new because it's like my stress level is almost 0, on the other hand reward gets higher and higher. With meditation you can increase focus. Worry about useless stuff troughout the day drains you, just relax and be chill. Don't worry too much about drawing goals, or anything, you are exactly where you need to be. Focus on the process itself, love the journey not destination. Mindset is very important. Just like nature, simply is, never hurries or slows down. It is exactly how it is supposed to be. Meditation helps big time with everyday focus, also pranic breathing, but at first you gotta do it consciously after a while it becomes natural process. Staying calm and relaxed in every scenario is not easy. Imagine your focus being "mental muscle", its has to be conditioned aswell. Oh and little secret, when you reach certain point, you regenerate focus faster than you drain it. Quick example, i've had quite mentally and physically taxing job working in metal industry, it was ezzy pezzy staying focused despite the shit going on, people rushing, having jams, whatnot. I kept my composition 99% time. When you are calm and relaxed long enough despite the situation it becomes part of you. Understanding psychology and yourself helps so much in whatever you do. Just remember, stop worrying, you will get there when time is right. Life isn't competition it's journey. Yours. :D Thanks Marc for awesome content.
Superb content! I also noticed that simple walks or bike riding (in general any kind of “move your butt”) allows you to focus better. Keeping in shape lets you maintain this focus longer throughout the day.
Goodness, can I just say I'm so grateful that I've met this channel? I have so much trouble with focus and skills for violin art... almost everything I did. This video reminded me of a chance where I was lost for my music. I was failing and didn't know what to do. I then went for a consultation, and the nice teacher who gave me advice that changed my life said this: What you need is not a consultation on (the topic/subject) but rather, life advice. At first I was a little puzzled. I thought that I was here to study music... so why did I get life advice? Even so, I'm so glad I stayed to the end, because however mediocre my result was, I improved from a D to a B in just one exam. In my country, that's at least 4 grades. You cannot believe how shocked I was when I witnessed the huge improvement! This video is the same for me. This life advice is honestly what I really need. I'm always so stressed about what to work on, what to improve on, losing and not getting enough sleep that this video really helped me, and as I was listening to this, I was actually drawing, and thanks to Marc, I'm more bold to try new things, ask for help, etc. So thank you Marc :) This chad right here just taught science better than my teacher as an art lecturer HAAHAH, once again reminding me of the time my violin teacher gave me advice for my art that pretty much changed my art life completely. This comment is so long, so thank you to whoever read this from start to the end, yall are awesome! :)
Hey Marc! =) This video was very interesting and insightful! =) It feels good to know that I seem to at least study the right way most of the time *laugh* I have a question though! I don't know if you have this too, but I am one of those persons that can concentrate better when "a second thing" is involved. Like, when I am painting I NEED music or podcasts or even my husband talking with me "in the background" because then I can focus much better. When I was studying Japanese studies at university I also learned my vocabulary when I was playing a video game on the side (literally, I often played e.g. a Zelda game and learned the vocab quite efficiently!). Do you know why this could be? xD Thank you and see you next time!
It's only a matter of time before Intro Master publishes a book about great intros...and maybe some great art tips in there too..XD. Another spectacular video, thanks Marc, really clarified some great aspects of procrastination when it comes to art!!
Hey bruhs this week we focus on our most useful tool, our brain! A lot of what I discuss is extremely simplified but I highly recommend you look up neuroscientists like Andrew Huberman who also happens to have a RUclips channel ruclips.net/user/AndrewHubermanLab, fascinating stuff. Art concepts aside, I think it's important to understand how we learn on a fundamental level, I think we can all make some significant improvements once we know how it works :) I felt it needed more than a timelapse drawing in the background to properly communicate the concepts I discuss so the format is a little different than usual, hope you don't mind! Hopefully this helps! Have a good weekend or I'll tell your mom.
I was going to reply menioning Huberman. I could tell you had been watching his content immediately. And when you said "cocktail" I was like... bingo. I'm glad his work is making an impact. Good to see you're sharing it too.
*Shifts anime nerd glasses*
The advice is good but I think there should be some more info about what NOT to do. This is especially important for younger artists who grew up in the internet age. Apologies for the long read. TLDR: If you wanna learn good then neuroscience says get off social media, stop looking at memes and stop playing addictive video games. I'm a dysfunctional tech addict. Here's how to not wind up like me.
Technically dopamine in this context is the motivational salience neurotransmitter. Basically the brain drug that makes you feel compelled to do something (wanting, desire,craving) and reinforces your behaviour. It squirts out into your brain BEFORE and AFTER you do something. When you see your phone and FEEL compelled to check notifications? That's dopamine. When you check your notifications and something good is there? Dopamine hit. See food and wanna eat it? That's dopamine. Eat it and it's delicious? More dopamine.
The "feel good" feeling is a cocktail of other neurotransmitters and hormones.
So when drawing:
(See Sketchbook)>>>(Dopamine Hit)>>>(Draw)>>>(Good drawing)>>>(Dopamine Hit) = I should draw more.
How this relates to learning and focus:
The reason you're motivated to do stuff that doesn't actually bring you joy or meaningful results (games, internet, social media, drugs) and can't focus on doing boring, difficult stuff like studying or drawing is thanks to an overstimulated dopamine pathway in your brain called the mesolimbic pathway. It looks like a fishing hook in the middle of your brain. Look up the "reward system" on Wikipedia for more info.
Gambling machines, social media (including RUclips's recommended feed), and video games (especially mobile free-to-play) are specifically designed to stimulate this pathway. Stimulating this pathway doesn't make you feel "happy". It makes you feel like "I wanna do that again."
Before, it used to be: "Nice book, next book."
Then it was: "Nice tv show, next episode."
Now it's: "Nice meme, next post."
The cycle gets continuously shorter. Dopamine hits get more frequent. Habits get formed with infinitely greater strength and speed.
When you get dopamine constantly, it makes dopamine less potent. Like a drug losing its effectiveness. Video games don't feel so hype. Social media doesn't excite you. Drawing becomes a chore.
Here's the problem: drawing is not "designed" to constantly stimulate that pathway. You will make mistakes and fail. Over and over. Failure paves the pathway to improvement. You will receive FAR LESS dopamine hits compared to addictive activities.
The part of your brain that calculates whether something is "worth doing" is called the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). It talks with your mesolimbic pathway. Your mesolimbic pathway says memes, RUclips and video games are WAY more rewarding than drawing or learning, so why bother doing hard stuff? If your ACC gets that message ALL THE TIME... now you are screwed. Big time. Plus the fact that your dopamine receptors are numbed to stimulation? Double whammy.
The fix? You have another dopaminergic pathway that talks with your ACC called the mesocortical pathway. This is the Yoda pathway. The master Oogway pathway. This is the pathway that allows you to override your primitive instincts and say no to immediately rewarding stuff. How do you strengthen it? Meditation and doing stuff that has a DELAYED reward. Cooking, exercise, solving puzzles, reading books, doing house chores or helping someone else out with a problem. You must do these while cutting down on addictive activities. Replace. Not add. There's little point to eating salad while also eating a family-size tub of ice cream. If you're still a teenager, your brain is super plastic. What you do NOW will affect the structure of your brain as an adult. If you let it get screwed up, it will be substantially harder to fix in the future. I know because I screwed mine up when I was young, and am suffering the consequences in my mid 20s.
It is difficult to emotionally register how neurologically dangerous this new tech is, so let me make a comparison. In 1798 Benjamin Rush wrote about the dangers of tobacco. German scientists linked smoking and lung cancer in the 1920s. The first lawsuits against tobacco companies for causing illness and misleading public opinion didn't begin until the 1950s. It took until the 2000s for regular people to understand how harmful they are. Now, they kill 8 million each year. We only recently have studies on the effects of social media on the brain. Users perform worse on cognitive tests, especially attention, memory and multitasking. Their pre-frontal cortexes (the part of our brain that really separates us from other animals) are shrunken. My mum smoked cigarettes because she didn't understand how bad they were. Even though she quit young, she now has crippling arthritis. I was a heavy social media/internet user/gamer in my teenage years because I didn't understand what they were doing to my brain and now I have chronic depression, anxiety, and attention/focus problems. I hope this info helps supplement Marc's great advice and might help anyone who has trouble getting themselves to draw.
Please make a video about legs
@Stringnet9fiver Dr K from the HealthyGamerGG channel recently did a few videos in understanding the role of dopamine+the reward system, and strategies for fixing imbalances.
Andrew Huberman has some videos covering the topic. "How to increase motivation and drive" I think covers it. I'm currently going through his stuff since Marc recommended him.
Cal Newport's book trilogy focuses less on the neuroscience and more about the productivity aspect. "Digital Minimalism" might be the most appropriate.
Gary Wilson's book covers addiction to internet ¶0rñ specifically.
i sensed that its hubermans influence
"The most important factor when learning is your focus."
My ADHD: I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that.
god same (also hi fellow adhd asexual)
me
Haha, same. I was just going to ask how this applies to people with ADHD, I spaced during some parts of the video but was still able to put it together.
I mean, the information still applies to us, but we will still experience significant challenges in the process. The best I can do in my case is to make sure I'm medicated, and remember to utilize those techniques that therapists teach.
@@SharpFaustI'm finishing my second year of college now and I only got diagnosed a couple of months back, my doctor asked if I wanted to go on medication and I told her I'd pass for now. I avoid any form of medication like the plague whenever possible, so I decided I'd play around with different techniques to see if I could lead a somewhat normal and productive life without recurring to meds. I may cave and start taking them in the future, but I've definetly seen a big difference just by implementing new habits.
The things that help me most with focusing are:
-The pomodoro technique, and this applies to anything, not just studying, even cleaning! 25 mins of focus and 5 off. This really adds the urgency factor, especially if I'm doing something I despise doing. I know I can't stop before the 25 mins are up and that it needs to get done, so I'll power trough the task to get it done in as little pomodoros as possible. I find drawing quite enjoyable for the first 5 minutes before I get frustrated, but this helps.
-If possible, use the 5 min break to go outside, get some fresh air, watch the birds/people, whatever. Just do something that requires low brain power and let your thoughts flow in, even if they are the mental equivalent of having 65 tabs open and not knowing where the hell the music is coming from.
-Stimming, yes a lot of neurotypical people can't stand it, but who cares, right? For example, I have a little polished onyx stone that I love twirling around in my fingers. Nothing to do with it being onyx, I just love the texture and it adds that tiny extra bit of stimulation. Music can help too, just make sure it doesn't distract you further.
-If you find yourself procrastinating, just press the start button in whatever pomodoro app you are using (or set up your analogue pomodoro), I find that the guilt of procrastinating with it on is enough to get me started.
This is all pretty standard stuff that you have probably heard about before, but it works for me. Hopefully it can help someone else who never heard/thought of it. Best of luck!
@@jay5010 Wouh, this is some tasty info you got there! Thanks a lot for taking the time to post that :D
Marc: here's how you learn
Me: *watches the flower go bald*
Best art teachers I had during art school were bald. Marc is bald 2+2(?)
Saaameeee
Me waiting for the head to shine.
Can you summarize this video for me? I am computer student and bio doesn't get in my head.
@@animerman2017 -Neurons communicate creating links with each other
-When you learn something new your brain physically changes because of that
-The brain is like play-doh so you can re-shape it (learn new things) but it gets harder when you pass your mid-twenties
-You have to practice constantly so what you learn actually solidifies in your brain otherwise the links between neurons get weak
-When you first learn something new your first response will be stress
-But it gets easier to manage that stress the more you do practice
-Your brain will want to do something easier when stressed, so you have to focus
-Focus is limited so the more you focus on unimportant stuff the less you have for the important stuff
-You can extend or re-gain your focus
-If you don't sleep well you lose all your progress of the day because sleeping is like a checkpoint for your brain to save it in the long term memory
My urgency: I bought a $70 graphic tablet out of nowhere without knowing a single thing about drawing and I don't want to feel like an idiot that waste money...
You mean a pad? If it is a graphics tablet tell me what brand is I would love to buy one less than 100
@@marcjavillonar3289 Tablet doesn't mean it has a display, even a slab of stone can be a tablet lol
Lol i also buyed a graphic tablet and switching from fingers to tablet is hard.
Omg 70? I spent like 20 on mines
I spent $600 on my graphic tablet months ago, I still procrastinating :( When I try to draw something, I lose focus or feel sleepy. Maybe I'm AHDH.
Pro tip: if you practice before you go to bed, that skill will be learned faster than if you practiced sometime during the day.
But you're already tired, i feel like you can focus more in the morning
@cable Solution to your solution: sleep all the time but lucid dream and do art in your sleep! BIG SOFT AND WET BRAIN ACTIVE.
@@MyNamesHunter75 wow great tip :0
If I do art before bed then I’m up all night wanting to create more. I focus and create the best first thing in the morning or afternoon.
Also take a break after any session to do and think about nothing - Dr. Huberman talks about how this allows the brain to play back the process (in reverse for some reason apparently) and increases the ability to learn/neuroplasticity.
I watched a neuroscience video of a specialist on art and he very much said the same things. You have done some very good research and thanks for the info and great content.This is much easier to absorb then doctor's podcast.
Huberman? Lol
"After 25 though..."
**Panic intensifies**
I am after 30 though
"There are ways to have a more neuroplastic brain after 25 though"
*kalm*
I Feel the same. His talk about urgency is so-so.
*Me about to be 22* Oh god!
We learned about neuroplasticity at uni, and adult neurogenesis does occur, but in two places only, olfactory region (like sense of smell) and dentate gyrus* of the hippocampus as far as is known. It sounds weird but they suggested taking notice of new smells, as olfactory experiences can result in neurogenesis, but that’s about all I learned lol. I am sure we aren’t entirely doomed!
I am so glad you put the emphasis on sleep that it deserves. Neuroplasticity is a very fascinating subject, and it is easy to lull yourself into false ideas on what you should be able to accomplish, then undersleep due to the stress and deadlines you've tossed on.
I've read that a rule of thumb for neuroplasticity in adults is this - for every 8 hours of proper sleep, you get about 4 hours of deep focus a day. That's not a lot! This is why it's such a terrible practice for students to learn to just not sleep and keep going - it is counterproductive and even worse, it is dangerous. You are not just losing out on progress, you're impeding it, because once that amount of brain stamina is spent, you're just droning on, doing a subpar job, cutting corners and acting scatter brained. Do what you want, but you simply won't get past these limits (unless you're the 1% of the 1% genetic freaks that probably can, but are you truly competing with them?).
This is also why "sleep on it" is such an important old wisdom - we need that sleep, not just to be able to perform basic tasks (modern human being is woefully sleep deprived), but to be able to be creative as well. I find that I always find solutions to my creative problems after a day or two of good sleep, even some naps (if added on top of that 8hr minimum, otherwise no point). That is why you need to be able to factor this in when figuring out a timeframe for your projects. I've always found that too short deadlines lead to subpar project, while giving myself seemingly double of what I think I need leads to great results, because there's plenty of time to rethink things and mull them over. I've just realized that I need this time, and now always factor it in when speaking with clients. As Marc correctly underlines, less stress = more focus!
what when i oversleep and still feel too tired for everything
Me who haven't draw for a month: thanks for the tip
Check out my reply to Marc's pinned comment which might explain why you find it difficult to start drawing.
@@eggman6605 nah bro. I can draw portrait and other cartoony stuff. I'm just lazy to continue everyday
@@notjinx3545 ... That's the point. You're not "too lazy", because I'm sure you're motivated to do other stuff like watch RUclips, play video games and look at social media. Your brain is motivated to do stuff. It's just been conditioned to be motivated towards certain activities more.
I think that you rarely draw doesn't mean you will lose your drawing ability because I think all of your abilities have been recorded in your brain, so drawing every day does not guarantee you will improve faster, it will actually make you lose ideas and inspiration It's proven that I didn't draw for 4 months because I lost my pen tablet, all i did was watch people draw on youtube, then i drew again after 4 months, and guess what?, i draw much better than before!, feels like i have so many ideas for me to pour in my drawing, I become feel more focused and relaxed
What I want to underline is that sometimes observation is more important than drawing as often as possible
Pun intended when you said point?
Ah yes this taught me more things about biology than my science teacher
Than
The truth has been spoken
Art in general has taught me way way WAY more about anatomy than any of my bio teachers lmao
@@mura_saki they just teach ya about the god danm cells like HOW ON EARTH IS THAT GONNA BE USEFUL
Than*😟
Me: drawing
"turns out ugly"
Me: ill never draw again
Good art will never happen when you start
Even the best artists have art they dislike or hate. Part of the process as an artist unfortunately is to fail and have work that isn’t so great. Many creatives also deal with imposter syndrome too at times, but you have to remember it’s just creative pains. We all draw ugly or make things we hate, but that shouldn’t stop you. I know it can be super hard, but you shouldn’t deny the world of your creativity and art because of one failure. Use it as motivation to get better over time. Art is a process and a commitment.
I highly recommend checking out the book big magic and the podcast art juice, those both helped me immensely at how I view my art and my mindset.
You’ll get there, but you won’t get anywhere if you give up.
@@shreeeze it is brutal, but I think the reward is so satisfying. It’s crazy to see my art from just a year or two ago to now.
@@laos85 Exactly!!!
Can you summarize this video for me? I am computer student and bio doesn't get in my head.
now whenever i saw smart people I'm gonna think how buff is their neuron arm^ω^
Me too my friend 😂
Yup if you've seen Einstein's Brain it's so muscular that it became more tiny than an Average brain
@@darkfun2481 that actually makes a lot of sense, i was wondering why his brain was smaller than the average one
The arms are actually called dendrites (or axon Terminals, depending on which end you are), synapses are only the areas that connect the arms but other than that as a biologist I can say you did great research with this one.
Also I am in love with whatever these little characters are, they should become your mascots! 🥰
So dendrites are the arms and synapses are the hands?
@@GothiQhaQer if you wanted to stay in that metaphore I would say yes
Actually
Thank you explaining cuz he erroneously called the arms “synapses” when it’s actually the axon/dendrites. The synapse is the SPACE BETWEEN the so called “arms”
@@GothiQhaQer they're both arms but one sends and one reccieves neurotransmitters
Cant help loving this guy.
He is
An entertaining content creator.
Cracks me up with all those edits,
The outros ending early.
And most important, he is an amazing teacher, my art improved soooo much since ive subbed to this channel.
Thank you so much.
I better go sleep now, so ill remember to sleep tommorow xd.
There's something so weirdly comforting to have it confirmed to me that no, it's not just you noticing that learning became more challenging at the drop of a hat, at reaching age 26. It's actually encouraging. This is a natural process that happens to everyone.
But something becoming harder to do doesn't make it impossible, not ever, that I do know. I was just missing that key ingredient of 'urgency' like you said. And hey, knowing that *this* is how my brain behaves is giving me all the urgency I need outside of looking for work.
Thank you so much for reshaping how I approach learning. Every tutorial you post is time well spent watching for me. 🙏❤️
This video really made me think. However, I am not sure if these things can help me with keeping focus, as my day schedule is not really nice. I work from 2pm to 10pm, so at morning and noon I am mostly busy with home duties, leaving little-to-none time between home duties and work, and after work I am simply too tired to focus on productive things (in this case - drawing). It is really frustrating.
Guess you just have to quit drawing man.
...or wait until i get back to morning shift
@@Kentumatsu_skk I'm in the same situation as you man. I quit drawing. I wish I could but I'm just too busy to but I do watch videos on art. Sometimes I think that if I took the 12 minutes I spent watching this video and just drew maybe I'd have the time.
Maybe divide what you want to do into smaller tasks. Like Marc said in the video, if you want too much you won't be as effective. So when possible try finding 30 mins a day where you focus on little things like shading, checking out colour combinations, lineart, specific objects like Grass, clouds, trees, arms, heads...(of course depending on the Level of skill) And if you do this little task you will get progress in these 30 mins and it will feel good. And if you have the weekends free you can try making time for bigger projects then.
I know it's hard but I think it's worth a thought if the alternative is waiting for better times.
Try to find a job where you can work on your drawing from time to time. I have a job where it can really get crazy busy and hectic but there’s also a lot of down time and most the I’m just getting paid to sit there and wait till things get crazy busy again. While work is slow and I’ve taken care of all the little things I start drawing.
IM EARLY TO CLASS
I love how Marc changed the thumbnail after posting his community poll. Watch them views skyrocket now lmao
I'm already anxious and I turned 25 today so idea of not learning like I used to is terrifying! But they say those ADHD their brain age slower which might be good for me. But then again I've should have started learning things sooner I had a poor childhood and spent most of my teenager years dealing with mental illness. It's so unfair. :(
Keep in mind 25 is the average, it’s different for everyone. Also, the more you love something, the easier it is to learn it because you get urgency for free ;)
Sleep is very important
*smiles with only 3hours sleep ,"Oops"
Not if you're a manga artist.
Manga artists: *sleep is for the weak*
imagine doing 20+(?) manga pages with a weekly deadline, even with assistants that's gotta be chipping away their health
My poor 26 year old play-doh brain :C
Marc: Get some sleep
Thats why in TES oblivion you need to sleep, before you get a level up.
9:42 I love the character's expression, it's like looking at the clouds, brain off mode
"Sleep is absolutely essential to learning"
I feel personally attacked
Same
Your videos are what gave me the push a couple of months ago and inspired me to seriously get into art, and so far it’s been the best hobby I’ve ever decided to take up. I have never been so deeply in love with art as I am now.
The best part is that so much of what you teach (for FREE no less) can be applied to a lot of different skills and areas of daily life.
I'm getting used to dream about drawing and it is really helping me to improve. It started all alone but then I realized that it was helping me. So I started inducing this state by taking at least some 10 minutes drawing or watching someone draw on RUclips before going to bed.
A compilation of all Marc's oppening is needed
Of course, lmao 😂
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G content. You're one of the best, Brunet.
This man just explained and fixed all my problems in a 13 min video.
This was so helpful thank you!
I usually divide my "learning" schedule into parts... Practicing (in photoshop, with my tabs, etc, paper ) and studying (watching YT vids and taking my Udemy courses ). Plus, recently I've been trying the "pomodoro techinique", a friend of mine has been doing it for a couple of years now and he says it's amazing.. so I thought I'd give it a go.
For neurodivergent people, here are some tips that may help. I hope they do.
1. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, but starting moving can be hard. Tell yourself instead "I will mess around with this for 5-10 minutes, and there's no pressure to make anything actually happen" because that's a first step towards moving towards something. If this is still too much, thinking of it like if you were deciding to go for a walk but couldn't make yourself go. You can break it down into smaller steps and instead of thinking of it as a list (which feels like a commitment), you can say "I'm going to get up on my feet. Well, I'm up, I may as well go to the door. Well, I'm here may as well put my shoes on. Well, my shoes are on I may as well go outside. I'm already here I may as well walk". Stuff like that.
2. Find a way to apply your current hyperfixation to what you want to learn.
3. Don't work all day at anything. Don't treat it like a job. After 8 hours of working it has been shown humans don't increase work quality. Also, 8 hour work days are archaic. Do what you can, and don't beat yourself up for "not finishing something". You don't know how big it is of a deal that you managed to get started and even make an attempt.
4. Failure is good. It means you tried in the first place and are making a blueprint for options to not try in the future towards getting the result you want. School taught you failure means you're screwed, but that is not how the real works. You are a person, and people aren't perfect. Failure is amazing. You can never say you failed if you didn't try in the first place.
5. If it's not working, don't force it. Walking away to go do something mundane like a menial task that's like a chore or something will not only help you get something cleaned up but it will free your brain of the task to work stuff out in the back of your mind. The best ideas I ever got were when I let myself get bored. Bored + movement + task you don't actually have to think about to complete = ideas. Ideas lead to innovation. Quit trying to force it.
6. Exercise the side of your brain that is trying to learn that skill. For instance, if you're struggling with math, go practice a new language. Math is also a language so this will boost your math score. Without any extra effort, I gained 70 points on my GED. Things in math I didn't understand before clicked for me. This will work for any skill. If you make connections in your brain, the ability to make new connections in the skill you want to learn will appear and you can start strengthening it more.
Think of this like a video game where you are soft locked until you go do a quest real quick. If you are anxious about the quest, go do side quests for a bit and come back. If the quest was attempted but the boss killed you, go try something similar and beat that and when you come back, you will clear the quest and level up. This actually works.
This is an amazing video. Psychology is such an amazing subject and I wish it was a required class in all high school curriculums! It teaches you so much about yourself and eventually you can conclude how to use your brain to improve yourself as a human being.
I slept after watching this , so that I never forget this 😴
I needed this! This was really helpful, now I'm more motivated to improve my art and also you explain really good. Thank you, I'll give you another egg :D 🥚
5:15Water is the redemption liquid. Drink some when you feel thirsty.
Do you have a plan about the future? Or do you think your career has come to a point to stay? Let's see if you answer xD.
too many!
The focus explanation reminds me of an RPG
Sort of like a mana bar or something
When Marc doesn't tell me to pay the fee of one like and one sub
Me: I'll pretend I heard that
Hey Marc, I have watched a lot of youtubers on my journey to teach myself art and you are by far my favourite. I feel like you have given me so much more than I could give you. The improvements I have made over this last year have been insane and seeing your videos in my recommended always gets me motivated to draw. Your videos and effort you put in them are appreciated. Thank you.
I hope I get include in Marc's early like spree everytime he posts
I remember struggling hard on facial emotions until I spent a few weeks analyzing facial features and how they change when the characters emotion does and now I can do it all from memory (but I'll make a booklet too for myself so I can get a quick refresher whenever).
Me a 25 y/o guy who wanna learn how to draw: BUT HOW DO I FOCUS?! MY MIND ALWAYS WONDERS!
Step #1: Eliminate distractions!
@@YTartschool second step?
You could practice meditation, it's a nice way to train your ability to focus
this was a good one Marc, I have a bad habit of watching videos and drawing and I know it distracts me and understanding the science helps me know why I *have* to break this habit.
"Sleep is important"
Me watching this at 7 am after being awake the entire night: *"oh... I should sleep now"*
"Gotta get in those reps bruh" loved that xD
I'm a psych grad and this is very accurate. I never took neurology, outside of what I learned in 101 and portions of other classes, but I can say that on a basic level this is very accurate and useful, just knowing this info.
I can also say from personal experience, as a graphic novelist that now wants to illustrate their own stories, this is very true. When I go to write a draft for a manuscript or video, I could be dog tired and hungover, but I'll still manage to put down 2,000 words for the day and have it be well written enough. But with art, I could be sober and well rested but I'll struggle just getting proportions right for the mannequin layout and not get much past that, I just don't have the experience and conditioning with art that I have with literature, yet.
I will argue that if someone is struggling with insomnia and it's affecting their neurological processing of what they've learned, it's more effective for them to find out the cause or causes of their insomnia and how they should solve it. No cause or resolution is the same, so take comfort in knowing that your own approach must suit you in the healthiest fashion.
it helps to understand that you should feel stressed when focusing, it means its working.. 6:11
thats good
also 6:36 is good too
The greater the challenge, the stronger the stress response.
Don't overwhelm yourself, deconstruct the skill first.
If the stress hormones get too high relative to your reward hormone, you quit.
If you learn alot, QUICKLY, your reward hormone always gets higher, so you can focus longer, thus improving faster over time.
Focus is kind of like your fuel to keep going.
And urgency
Without urgency, there's no learning (adults)
Urgency comes from fear, but it doesn't have to come from fear either.
It can come from ~love~ too (passion)
Focus isn't infinite like neuroplasticity.. there's a limited amount every day. There are tricks to get more focus though.
So here it is. Instead of taking a break looking at your phone or browsing youtube, therefore losing even more focus, and kind of defying the purpose of the break in the first place, defocus.
Try to not focus on anything for a few seconds to a few minutes.
Another trick is to reframe your approach to learning. Instead of looking at the big picture and increase your stress response as a result, try to flip that around and remind yourself of everything that you've accomplished today.
However small that progress was, if you can identify that progress, that improvement, then its enough to give a boost to your reward system and increase the amount of time you can focus.
TLDR, --> 10:42
I m 22 and not worried about age. I learn the same way as I did before. 'hard way' Truth is you need to learn 'how to learn'. I had a problem that i overwhelm myself to much. Wanted learn fast. That idea just burned out. it take me time to realize that i need take things easy and improve what i do. I m still beginner.
Ok. Now I just need to find out how to sleep/recover properly.
pro tip: If you practice in your sleep you learn twice as fast
Thank you so much for all the knowledge you give us for free! You've been SUCH a great help and its easier to retain the information you give us because you are very thorough. I've made a character for my short comic very loosely inspired by you, I wanna show you one day! Thank you again Marc! :D
Can you summarize this video for me? I am computer student and bio doesn't get in my head.
One thing I learned about learning is that it's easier to prevent things that distract you rather than fighting distraction. Not all things can be avoided, but at least the ones that you know will trigger procrastination and are things you can control. That and when you think you can't go on any longer, you should try to push for 5 more minutes (unless it's at expense of sleep), more than often those 5 minutes turn into much more time.
When I sit down to draw I tend to close all my other windows. I've gotten a lot faster since starting to do that. If I can I also silence my phone.
Not haven't watched yet, but I already dropped a like
Hopefully you’ll get your money’s worth
Totally man, all worth it
As an educator for the past 27 years, and who has deeply engaged in learning about neuroscience as well, I appreciate how you have taken the time to broaden your understanding of how the brain learns, conceptualized it for your own understanding, and shared that understanding with others.
This video is great. it gives such a clear outline to the art journey and demystifies what can be such an obscure path for us all. If only someone could have made it this clear for me when I was starting. Thanks for the great work!
Yikes age 25? I'm 22, I think age will be my urgency right now! Ah definitely need to sleep more too. Great video thank you!
the way i can apply this info to my uni course as well as my art journey... so glad i found this channel!!
Learning is stressful... That explains why my head aches bad whenever I think of my research paper.
Hey guys! Meditating with intention is pretty much just like focusing on nothing and it really helps! If youre going on long drawing stints for say, a commission, even just 10 minutes of being in the present rested moment can give you enough mental rest to work better!
Great video! As someone who actually has a degree in neuroscience (specifically biopsychology), I often cringe when I see some videos with titles like this, but you do have the basics well presented so kudos for that! Just a couple small things, you refer to dopamine as a reward hormone, but it's a neurotransmitter. The difference is that hormones act systemically, affecting all of their particular receptors in the body, while neurotransmitters act specifically, affecting only the neurons directly targeted. Also, it's the endocrine system, not the nervous system, that creates and releases hormones, although the nervous system will trigger the endocrine system to release hormones since they are connected...yes, I'm getting way too technical. Sorry!
its a bit like living like a monk right, self discipline, loved the video, thx
The idea of using urgency to increase neuroplasticity is honestly revolutionary for me, you're telling me you can literally channel your fears into something useful? God damn man, why didn't anyone tell me this sooner!
I always thought motivation only really happened through ambition and that ambition had to be running towards something, but you're telling me I can get all the results I want just by running away in terror?
Count me in! No shortage of fear in this madhouse!
Me: Drawing while listening
Marc: Sleep
Me: Aight, I'm done for today
*panics momentarily in 25yo*
Lol seriously though, this was really cool and super interesting! 😊
I love how this man teaches lol
tfw the crucial part is a good night’s sleep, but you work night shifts and stay up at nights during your free time too, while only managing limited amounts of sleep during the day😔
This episode looks a lot like a Adventure time episode rofl
Sometimes I have that rage of considered inferior. To that I always say, crush them (other artists) underneath your boot. For one day, they will kneel at the sight of you. It is a comforting thought that my skill will pay off. Sometimes, anger is a comfort. Anger brings my goal closer.
This is such a good guide, and not just for drawing. Used this info for the past few weeks while preparing for a very important test and it’s been working wonders
This video has the educational value of a david Attenborough documentary, and the explosions of a micheal bay movie.
Never thought it would work so well
You've managed to summarize the entire course contents of "Learning How To Learn" from Coursera into a single video, and do it well. Thumbs up for the effective lessons!
Also, I notice the number of petals in those drawings throughout the video decreasing one by one 🌸. There must something symbolic of it...
Pls make a tutorial to make those intron animation or something
Just rewatched your art school anatomy tutorial today,
Now with this video, great! I need a good sleep later tonight to memorize everything I learned today!
So in a way i get why i learn so fast, i'm chill af when i learn anything new because it's like my stress level is almost 0, on the other hand reward gets higher and higher. With meditation you can increase focus. Worry about useless stuff troughout the day drains you, just relax and be chill. Don't worry too much about drawing goals, or anything, you are exactly where you need to be.
Focus on the process itself, love the journey not destination. Mindset is very important.
Just like nature, simply is, never hurries or slows down. It is exactly how it is supposed to be.
Meditation helps big time with everyday focus, also pranic breathing, but at first you gotta do it consciously after a while it becomes natural process. Staying calm and relaxed in every scenario is not easy. Imagine your focus being "mental muscle", its has to be conditioned aswell.
Oh and little secret, when you reach certain point, you regenerate focus faster than you drain it. Quick example, i've had quite mentally and physically taxing job working in metal industry, it was ezzy pezzy staying focused despite the shit going on, people rushing, having jams, whatnot. I kept my composition 99% time. When you are calm and relaxed long enough despite the situation it becomes part of you.
Understanding psychology and yourself helps so much in whatever you do. Just remember, stop worrying, you will get there when time is right. Life isn't competition it's journey. Yours. :D
Thanks Marc for awesome content.
Everytime I try to draw it always ends up a mess leaving me disappointed to myself then being afraid to draw again. I don't know if that's only me
my face when you said 25 :(... when you said its not true :)
finally a video talking about focus, and some management tips on it, there's hardly any good video on this topic, thanks for the vid marc :D
my urgency: get better so you can live off of what you want at some time
Is this Enhanced Learning 102?
(A module in the artschool course)
*Me who procrastinated for years*
Hmmm, should prob get some of that focus and draw again.
How to not get stressed learning art ?...
Take weed and complete lessons and studies.
Every question the blob asked at the beginning is me. Feelsbad
Early to class😲💛💛
Me, with absolutly no sleep scedule: 👁👄👁
Superb content! I also noticed that simple walks or bike riding (in general any kind of “move your butt”) allows you to focus better. Keeping in shape lets you maintain this focus longer throughout the day.
Now I’m stressed that I’m not stressed about learning art
Me who rewards myself with choccy milk whenever i draw :)
Goodness, can I just say I'm so grateful that I've met this channel? I have so much trouble with focus and skills for violin art... almost everything I did. This video reminded me of a chance where I was lost for my music. I was failing and didn't know what to do. I then went for a consultation, and the nice teacher who gave me advice that changed my life said this: What you need is not a consultation on (the topic/subject) but rather, life advice. At first I was a little puzzled. I thought that I was here to study music... so why did I get life advice? Even so, I'm so glad I stayed to the end, because however mediocre my result was, I improved from a D to a B in just one exam. In my country, that's at least 4 grades. You cannot believe how shocked I was when I witnessed the huge improvement!
This video is the same for me. This life advice is honestly what I really need. I'm always so stressed about what to work on, what to improve on, losing and not getting enough sleep that this video really helped me, and as I was listening to this, I was actually drawing, and thanks to Marc, I'm more bold to try new things, ask for help, etc. So thank you Marc :) This chad right here just taught science better than my teacher as an art lecturer HAAHAH, once again reminding me of the time my violin teacher gave me advice for my art that pretty much changed my art life completely.
This comment is so long, so thank you to whoever read this from start to the end, yall are awesome! :)
After watching the video, I realized that I had lost focus.
Thank you for giving me understanding
Hah, just kidding.
Rly thx. Very informative
He’s right.. this is a very important video
Thank you! for saving my life!!!
I focused on the flower in this video.
Of course I also focused on your teachings. LoL! Thanks Marc, for another blessed teachings~
i wish i knew that when i was still in school (especially chapter 3). awesome video, thank you very much for uploading and helping people!
Hey Marc! =) This video was very interesting and insightful! =) It feels good to know that I seem to at least study the right way most of the time *laugh*
I have a question though! I don't know if you have this too, but I am one of those persons that can concentrate better when "a second thing" is involved. Like, when I am painting I NEED music or podcasts or even my husband talking with me "in the background" because then I can focus much better. When I was studying Japanese studies at university I also learned my vocabulary when I was playing a video game on the side (literally, I often played e.g. a Zelda game and learned the vocab quite efficiently!). Do you know why this could be? xD Thank you and see you next time!
do you like exploding stuff? alway seen in your intro
This video told me to take a nap so thank you
It's only a matter of time before Intro Master publishes a book about great intros...and maybe some great art tips in there too..XD. Another spectacular video, thanks Marc, really clarified some great aspects of procrastination when it comes to art!!
This is legit the most wholesome way to tell people to sleep well anyone has ever conceived of.
10/10
Me: Need to study for science but procrastinates to watch Marc's new video.
Marc: 😏
I gotchu
It was cringe at the start but actually really good video :thumbup:
Thanks I guess?