my mom, an artist, only gave me one thing to teach me art. she said, "art is just learning how to see properly". I've used this to teach myself art, then I went to an Atelier later to refine it all. The info in this video will absolutely help you, this guy is 100% right.
Unfortunately, my mother was not an artist. Took me 30 years to realize that I needed to learn how to see to be able to draw well. I had that ability at 12 years old but at some point I lost it. I try every to get that ability back.
"draw what you see, not what you think you see" I learned this concept of symbols a few years ago and it improved / developed my drawing skills tremendously. I think this is the best drawing advice to give beginners who want to improve their technical drawing skills :> 👍
I've heard that phrase a thousand times but only NOW i genuinely understand what it means and why. i feel like im slowly opening my third eye the more i realise how my brain actually works. this video helped so much with simply understanding WHY. why draw upside down? why do i keep sucking at foreshortening? now it all makes sense :O
Its probably not that great to draw in the dark, but I used to sketch in bed with only the dim light of looking at my reference photo on my cell phone. Since I can only see the shape of my page and not much of what is going on paper it allowed me to relax and draw freely. In 2 weeks my art had drastically changed. And now its easier to draw all the time now.
Omfg! You have upped my drawing skills and brain health game. I am becoming trilingual as well. Ty so much! I am fast approaching 70 & needed this boost!
I think to a point yes, but if all every artist did was draw exactly how they saw the world, there would be no variation in art, just realism. There would be no Basquiats, no O’keefes, and no Pollocks
For some reason, I always grew up thinking it was 'cheating' to look at anything when you draw (e.g. using a reference). This video just madee realize why I feel like I've never really progressed. Always thought it was 'pure' to draw from my mind, but they always suck! Thank you.
Thinking that reference is for cheater is one of the most dangerous mindset for an artist to have, I was one of many artist that fall for it. 3 years wasted with miniscule progress to my art skill, right until I finally decide to use reference then guess what, I finally started to see progress. You can always do both, draw from reference (To understand what you are drawing) and draw from imagination (To reinforce the things you learn without relying on reference) , mixed it. Its far more better that way.
as a psychology student and an artist, i love how deep the connection of art and psychology is, far deeper than what we thought in class (at least at my uni and other schools i knew). i swear that most people in the psychology department of my uni doesn't have any idea about this. thank you for bringing this topic and maybe i'll take this not only to improve my art but as a research idea 💗
Be careful because the right brain / left brain specialization stuff has been recently refuted, or shown to be _broadly_ untrue. (I _think_ there is some specialization, like obviously its true both lobes govern one half of the body, and ironically, its the opposite side, and I _think_ syntax is handled by one of the halves of the frontal lobe, and vocabulary the other --- though that in and of itself shows that no, the right side is not broadly uninvolved in language.) Psychology is a constantly evolving field, like any other, and it has its persistant myths and outdated models that bounce around pop media like any other. If most people in the university haven't heard these ideas, they are either very novel, (DEFINITELY not the case, the right brain left brain stuff have been around since I was a kid,) or they're... not well substantiated despite being given time to prove their merits. (Tbf, again, the right brain left brain stuff only recently was definitively shown wrong.)
Art was originally a mental and spiritual development and communication medium not just making pretty pictures. It was always connected to how the mind works
My passions were always Art and Psychology. So I became an Art Psychotherapist. It is so fascinating what information comes out in someone’s Art. We’re trained to interpret it and then use that in the process of therapy. There’s also the branch of art therapy that emphasizes how just making art is therapeutic. Regardless, if it’s something you’re interested in doing as a career? It’s A LOT of schooling (Master’s minimum) and training to get the required registration and board certification designations. I don’t know the process outside US). But, if it’s something you’re interested in just reading about I’m happy to recommend some authors. Wishing you the best!
YES!! After graduating from art school, I can’t stress how many art profs I’ve had saying “just focus on the shapes! The contour!” Etc etc. Once u see it, u can apply it to EVERYTHING. Another tip that has helped me a lot is looking at the negative space to help me position things properly, those are shapes too! Love this sm, and the psychological experiments u explained were fascinating to hear
This is quite late. But I know that I have to stress on the shape, and 8 have been doing that but i have a hard time with like what comes first. So like if ur drawing the shoulder from a 3/4 perspective, then like what comes first? Like do you see the chest and some of the shoulder? Or do you just draw the arm/shoulder. I've been trying to train myself to draw from memory but this has been insanely hard for me to understand what comes before the other
@@ivannnyy Hi! No worries, so sorry for my late reply, I just saw this now!! I think whichever shape u see first is the first one u draw, and then whatever u see next, u draw next. So on and so forth till you’re satisfied with the level of detail! I don’t think there’s any wrong or right order, tho I do think generally going from bigger shapes to smaller shapes can be helpful (tho not always necessary). When doing studies, I jump around a lot. What I draw first depends on what about the subject catches my eye first, cuz most likely, that is what’ll catch others ppls eyes as well! Or if not, I then get to bring ppls attention to what I notice and think is important. When doing an original piece, I try to rough out what I consider are more major important shapes then fill in the details later, u get to decide what’s more important and what’s minor! And don’t feel locked down, u can always jump back and forth between major and minor (theres always erasers, white paint, and techniques to replace sections of paper lolol) When it comes to drawing from memory, at least for me, it’s not rly a matter of what order I take, but more like TONS of practice, observation, and repetition until it becomes muscle memory. U naturally build an image library in ur head over time. Soon it’ll sorta become like handwriting, how u just /know/ to write the letters in ur own way cuz you’ve done it so much, if that makes sense! Best of luck
@@art_krisis lmao, no worries but thank you so much! I've kinda been putting off doing so much studies so I'd be able to draw from memory because I like to keep art something I'm really passionate about and I would hate for it to feel like a chore. You are right though, the things that catch my eye first are usually the biggest shapes or the most important so I'll definitely try to portrait that more into my studies. Thank youu :))
@@ivannnyy if it helps, ik lots of ppl who also dislike studies and will add in other things like decorations, fantasy elements, whatever they like to make it more fun! but overall i think observation solves lots of problems when learning to draw and studies is just one way of learning to observe. but it can be done just going about ur day, noticing the lines, curves, colors, and nuances of around u! np
As someone who started "drawing" around a month ago (about an hour a day), I realized I have been doing this unintentionally. When I first tried drawing people I could NEVER get the proportions right/ faces to look good, but for fun, I decided to trace a couple photos of myself and my friends, and doing that gave me a way better (if still very imperfect) understanding of how people are supposed to be proportioned. The mental image I had of people was NOT people shaped lmao. Great video!
My guitar teacher told me "you'll never be able to play what you can think." I convert this lesson to everything, including drawing. What you create will never, ever be the level you want it to be, but it will always be better than it was. Look at your drawings from 3 years ago and you'll see what I mean.
@@atticusezis1039 the point he was making is that the hands will never ever CREATE the level of artistry that the brain could imagine, mimicry is not creation. Every artist wishes they could be better and can pinpoint the flaws in every piece they create whereas the beholder may see it as perfection.
My advice for artists is to deeply use reference photos especially if it's unknown to you. Then to incorporate your left side, try to use things you do know about the image. If it's clothing, play with the style, make it more loose, add wrinkles to the shirt, make stains, patches, even if the reference photo doesn't have it. Just use it for inspiration and stylize it, improvise, make it your own and always add a bit of you to it what you know.
I have a question. When it comes to drawing something without reference, would we have to know what we’re drawing with your tip of using reference photos so that we can be able to draw something without reference?
I find that, when drawing from reference if you time yourself for 20 seconds to lay down the base outline as fast as possible it helps to keep everything in proportion! You’re not getting enough time to analyze the image as familiar items, but abstract sections of light and shadow.
Speed sketching with a pen too is really good for practice :3 in places where you’re almost constantly moving- and sketching with a pen to improve line confidence!
Hello, thanks so much , your video helped me get a handle on procrastination. I'm a 71 lady, I was struggling so bad with a writing project. But now I get why the struggle is just a stepping stone to the success. I'm also an artist, and this new idea about dopamine is going to be key to my breakthough.
I just found you tonight...I have heard some of these concepts from art class in high school back in 1981-1982. My art teacher used exercises from that book you referenced. I am 57 yo as of yesterday, and I absolutely LOVE your approach! It makes me want to go get my supplies out right this minute. Thank you, the world needs this, especially us striving artists.
I do want to caution, the concept of the right brain being creative and the left brain being logical has been broadly rebutted recently. There's _some_ specializing, (like, yes, the right brain does control a lot of the left side of the body, snd the left brain does control a lot of the right side, and as the split brain patient shows, vocabulary is done mostly by one side of the brain --- though ironically, _syntax_ is handled by the other, iirc, showing that no, language is not handled by just one side of the brain,) but its not nearly that deep or straightforward. Happy birthday, by the way! Edit: it is true enough that there isn't always a singular strategy the brain might have for a given task, and drawing demonstrates that. The functions responsible for stickfigures are a different set of functions than we engage when drawing less idealized, more accurate art. So the myth is just accurate enough that us artists have gotten something from it, even if its technically wrong.
for people with ADHD: flip your reference image upside down so your brain doesn't try to draw the 'symbols' it associates with certain things (legs/arms/faces/etc) and helps you focus more on the lines and details, shapes, etc.
I'm a illustrator since I know myself as a person and now I'm 28 and this is one of the best videos I ever seen in years about the subject. Congratulations, so young with this knowledge will led you far :) thank your for making it!
I’m so grateful for your video! I’m a newly retired nurse (left-handed) with right sided stroke injury. My mother and grandmother were artists as well as my dad. And all three of my children. I could never draw. Until the stroke. Your video describes perfectly what happened in my brain to make this possible.
Neuroplasticity. Isn't the brain amazing. If you haven't yet, you may like to read Jill Bolte Taylor's book "My Stroke of Insight." She was a neuroanatomist who studied how the brain worked, and she had a stroke. So while she was in this situation she was also able to observe, from her knowledge and perspective of her brain research, her own brain and behaviour post-stroke. As a nurse you may have already read it, but it's also good info for people in general. How this all works is just amazing.
My art teacher in high school explained this to me, she explained it very well, and something in my brain clicked. After that I went from not being able to draw to drawing very good realistic drawings. This was 25 years ago, so I can not remember just how she put it, but basically, you draw the lines you see, not the symbol your brain wants you to draw.
the way people draw from their brains is like having a library. when you want to reference a particular fact, you find the book you have closet to the topic. drawing is just like this, the hours of real life practice can be thought of as book-collecting. more hours = more books to obtain and go back to. so when you free hand draw, you go to the books in your mind and cross-reference between to the get the best answer (the best way to draw what want you want).@@Tahtea333
@@Tahtea333 from what I learned/figured out from my Art mentor, as I‘m still an Art Baby, you never actualy draw from your brain/imagination. You always draw from reference but as somepoint your inner image library gets so huge that you need less references while having fun drawing. So you still draw from references but those are deeply remembered and even them who went professional which only means they get paid: they still use reference for their paid comissions etc. Depending on the scenes/character etc they‘re supposed to draw.
Great video man. I think the one thing that helped me the most was breaking down complex shapes into smaller simple shapes. As humans we’re attracted to shapes. The shape of your favorite car, clothing, furniture, an attractive face, body type, etc. Study things you like to draw and then, with a lot of practice, you’ll start developing your own shape language. This is part of what determines your art style.
You're a genius! I'm goingwatch this video again , and again , and again. I'm an artist ! And have been since I was 13. Today, I am 76. Your words make so much sense! Thank you, sweetheart 😘
this is so genuinely helpful! i think its even better than a lot of tutorials that basically just say "if you wanna draw it, draw it this way!" because so many people struggle doing it "that way" regardless, and this can help with that struggle so much! also "lets get there together bro" is a great sentiment
All great advice. I have a degree in Art Education and one of the things I told my students was: draw what you see, not what you know. After explaining the concepts here. And warming up with contour drawing, etc before a drawing session as well as daily (if only 10 minutes) is really helpful in working that right brain “muscle”. Excellent video! Subbed.
Whenever I'm trying to draw something that I'm entirely unfamiliar with or not used to drawing it always felt like I could physically feel like something was blocking me from drawing the way I want it to look. I could tell that I was trying to draw it the same way I've done past drawings and I could never find a way to break out of it. It genuinely felt like one half of my brain was yelling at the other to just show me how to do something correctly and the other just wasn't responding, but now seeing that there is a real reason as to why I was getting that constrictive feeling is so helpful, especially when there is exercises to fix the issue. Great video man I've yet to check out your other content but I'm subscribing cause I can't wait to see.
I'm an artist and I really enjoy watching and listening to your videos. They're very informative, very useful and have helped me a great deal. Thank you.. You're a wonderful speaker!
I cannot describe how much you have helped me. Just two of your videos got me out of a year long drawing depression where I hated absolutely everything I put to paper/ programm. Now I'm actually motivated to practice and make things again. tysm
i’ve focused on lines and shapes more than the subject of a reference since i was a kid and ig that’s why arts always come more easily to me, however this helps me understand why people struggle and i think that’s equally as valuable as improving my own art for anyone that may need a different perspective on this line of thinking, try intensely focusing on a small area. whether that be simply just focusing in, splitting your reference into sections, or zooming in a lot, it may help you disconnect the subject from the forms
i went to a figure drawing class and was able to practice this really well, but i also noticed that if I only focused on one part of a drawing at a time, and didn’t take a look at the whole form of the model and of my art often enough, and/or if I worked on one part of a body for 5 minutes and then another part of the body for 5 minutes instead of just following where my hand went as I drew, the figure would come out with the wrong proportions and an off pose, so i learned that it’s very important to be able to look over the whole figure fairly often, and it’s important to follow the steps of drawing: sketch figure, block figure with simple lines and shapes, THEN details, THEN shading, and not skip any on any part of the drawing, in addition to also looking at the shapes and contours of every part of your reference
"it'll make you *feel* like you've become 10x the artist" very key difference! feel vs skill skill is doing something over time to where you naturally get better at it this is the foundational principle for that! your art has great potential. technical skills should be studied if you're aiming to become *good* at art, but if you want to have *fun* with art, unless you make the time learning it fun somehow, those will always be seperate i think the way art can be percieved or mean different things is the psychology of art! but i liked hearing what you had to say about it. i think people can have different opinions and be cool with it. subbing for more! i love how you edit videos.
100% agree that technical skills need to be worked on in order to improve overall. the whole concept in this video is not to replace technical practice, but to supplement it and make it more effective, that's kinda my angle with this whole thing. thanks for your comment, i really like what you had to say.
Good point on technical skills, I remember pushing myself, staying up late into the night painting, and at the very beginning getting headaches, from being in the art zone for hours. Many years later it takes an entire day to feel a little like that. I learned to work on technical left brain functions of art at the very start of the project, because when I get in what I call the "zone," I forget to take it into consideration. Like borders, thinking about the focus of the painting, where the horizon line will be, or perspectives. Things I might want to leave out, or move around in the painting. How many eyes wide the face is, how many noses long the face is, and how many heads tall the body is.
Damn! This was such a good video man!! I’ve heard of the upside down drawing idea before but the way you prefaced that exercise with such a compelling argument and explanation for why it works! 100% going to practice this stuff
not even finished the video yet and I have to say I like how you speak ,good at explaining ,seem to understand what you are talking about very well , knowledgable ,your approach seems humble and genuine and I like how you don't seem to force information but rather push us to try it for ourselves. keep up the good work my brother. Got me keen to check out your other content.
i wish i could like this video twice! i’m a self taught artist and have been drawing on-and-off for about 6 years now and only recently have i picked it up again. ive felt stuck on my improvement for a very long time but this has blown my mind and i actually feel like this is what i needed to continue my artistic journey. thank you!
I'm a 45 year old man and a very good artist and this is fundamentally brilliant because it's so effective. I'm subscribing. Looking forward to seeing what other techniques you can come up w/.
I’ve only read the first couple chapters of the book referenced, and only tried like three of the exercises including the upside down reference and there’s already been so much improvement! I’ve had a good understanding of anatomy and proportions, but it was hard to apply to art until I intentionally started to use my right brain.
I’ve been struggling a lot with my art this past year, mostly due to mental health issues, but this way of thinking makes me want to try again. I’ve done these exercises before but have never thought of them in quite this way. Hopefully this change in mindset will help me out!
It's been almost two months since I watched this video for the first time and it totally works, I can draw perspectives more easily than before. Thank you very much
thank you so much for this video.i turned off all distractions, focused really hard, i tried the drawing upside down excessive a few times, critiqued what looked wrong or right, tried a few different poses, and i’m honestly getting better! i will recommend this video to anyone who wants help with art to be honest, this changed everything for me. thank you!
I accidentally developed these skills in class! I always used to get bored and start drawing without seeing the paper, and since the benches I used to sit at were at a weird angle, I used to draw upside down a lot! It really helped me become a better artist and better at looking at details in general! Now I'm trying to live my art since university has been a nightmare. I just wish I had started sooner!
I use to turn things upside down and draw them whenever I felt something looked off. Did this on and off since i was a kid and it helped tremendously! Didn't realize it was an actual assisted method for improvement. And the contour drawing practice is actually brilliant to practice contours as opposed to symbols. Much respect..👍🏾 Edit: For reference, I've done portrait and mural commissions on and off since high school and won regional and statewide awards. Art and learning how to master it is SUCH a brilliant practice. Hated school but I love learning! This is a beautiful reminder of why balance is important.
I was literally unconsciously using this technique my whole life not by turning things upside down but focusing on negative spaces rather than postive space... Damn that's mind blowing
Wow. This is very similar to the way I learned to type so fast. Decades ago, my teacher said, "Do not look at the words,look at the letters. Type the letters - not the word". When I learned this style , I could type 120p.m. without ever looking at the typewriter for the keys. Unbelievable! I teach others this as well. It really works! Of course, in my old age I have become slower.
Excellent book recommendation. Betty Edwards was my art teacher at LATTC years ago. It was the most frustrating exercise I ever attempted but I still use it to this day.
Man ive been doing all of that without realising. That's why I can quit drawing for 1 year and after coming back I regain my skills AND EVEN IMPROVE. I never tried to draw the thing , I tried to draw the lines which have an angle and which are positioned in a certain way and I always analysed the spaces between shapes/ lines/ forms. And I swear Im the biggest procrastinator when it comes to art but when I come back I improve instead of loosing my skills .
I started using this technique after watching your video . I'm 12 days in and have created 18 sketches. My drawing skills have improved immensely. I now map out my drawings with my left hand because I'm able to get the perspective correct more easily. Now when I draw with my right hand I find myself focusing on the details in ways that I didn't before. I have been drawing for many years and in that time I had difficulty picking up features of youth and when I use this technique I'm able to do it without issue. Thanks for posting your video; it was short and sweet and perfect for helping this season artist improve. I'm on a journey of using this technique every day.
Omg so good! Putting words to what I remember doing as a kid - I was so frustrated with not being able to draw hands (before the times of social media, so I also didn't really know it was something most people struggle with) that I just went "Ok, screw it, I'll focus on drawing each individual line I can see then - I should be able to copy-paste from my eyes!" Ofc I couldn't really and it looked absolutely shit for a while, but just staring at my posed hand and analysing the lines in reference to each other really helped - like not thinking "here's a finger, and it connects to the hand here" but "that slightly curved line runs parallell to that straighter line and they meet up there by the U-shape". I think it came a lot from my work with big cross-stitch patterns. Now, hands are one of my favourite things to draw, and I'm playing around with adding fingers where there shouldn't be any and bending them in unnatural ways. Thanks for one of the few actually helpful drawing tips video! :D
I had a stroke in the right side of my brain in 2013 . I experienced " Waking dreams " of my childhood . I remember growing up liking art . Drawing and painting . But I lost interest when I was 18 I gave up on my artistic interests due to an overload of constructive criticism of others . Over a year ago , I started drawing and painting again . I'm doing pretty well at it again . But there is an improvement in how I draw . I'm 66 years old now . But if Grandma Moses could become an artist at 80 . . I think I can make it . Thank you for making this video .
Huge insight! I need to try this out. What I also do, is giving the reference picture known shapes, like circles and boxes, to break down the unknown figure into basic shapes.
I have the opposite problem I've learned to draw what I see when I was very young. My ability to draw from or create something without an exact reference is hard. Ive also ruined many drawings by trying to draw too much detail and have a lot of trouble trying to simplify shapes. I've figured out that in terms of detail you can only add as much detail as the point of your pencil. If your drawing a tiny face you can't draw details like freckles because the the freckles would be as big as iris. It's took me a while to figure out the reason I was ruining all my drawings was because my drawings weren't big enough for the detail I was adding. I understand now to do a realistic drawing that shows things like skin pores has to be on a much larger scale almost 1:1 if not larger.
As a perfectionist, my inner critic is always telling me what my drawings should look like. Of course, I have no chance of living up to his idea of a perfect and “beautiful” drawing. It gets even worse when he starts comparing my drawings with those of other, much more experienced and skilled artists. Thanks a million for your brilliant video! ✨ I'm going to draw my coffee cup upside down.
wow… that was a hell of a video!!!!!! omg everything about this video is just so good!!!! the thing is that i’m trying to get back to art after years of losing passion and almost a year and half of stopping completely and i came across that video and all i can say is that info is so useful!!!! even the way you talk was so soothing and not boring at all!!!! thank you so much for that amazing video and i’ll make sure to do all of that and check more of your videos! btw u earned a new subscription:))) 💜
This was a brilliant video, thank you. Clearly explained, well researched, and helped me finally understand the psychology behind techniques I've used before but wasn't quite sure why they were helpful to practice! Interesting, useful, and to the point 👌 😊
This encapsulates what ALL of my college drawing classes taught me - practice contour drawing and gesture drawing, those are two strategies that can help our brain look closely. We need to learn how to see, not how to draw. One comes before the other ❤ awesome information
YES!! After graduating from art school, I can’t stress how many art profs I’ve had saying “just focus on the shapes! The contour!” Etc etc. Once u see it, u can apply it to EVERYTHING. Another tip that has helped me a lot is looking at the negative space to help me position things properly, those are shapes too! Love this sm, and the psychological experiments u explained were fascinating to hear
Brilliant video. It's 100% true what he says - the power of observation is not accurate during drawing. Free drawing - upside down - without overthinking the subject and the knowledge of shape, size, etc., you can learn how to observe better and so you draw better! ❤
I also wanted to share some Lacanian psychoanalytic idea on Symbolic and Imaginary, combined with my travelling experience that helped me in photography. When I've been to Germany I didn't know a word in German and I took great photos because I did not attach a symbolic meaning of buildings and material stuff to their look. When I got back to Moscow, I experienced difficulties with photography and understood that the city that is too familiar to you does this thing - its symbolic meaning prevails over its imaginary meaning. So I imagined that I was in France and got great photos that really remind of France rather than Moscow
Brilliant thank you. I was at art school many years ago and we did a lot of the drawing without looking at the page. I never knew the workings behind that and the concept of the left side of the brain being dominant. Also the drawing upside down technique is a revelation, will definitely start giving that a go🙏
As someone with dyslexia I would naturally be more right brained I have always had a passion for art and drawing which makes sense i came across this video as I desperately need to improve my anatomy I found this video really interesting let’s all improve our art together, thank you for sharing your wisdom!
brilliant summary of Dr. Edwards. I've been using her book for probably as long as you've been alive, and I don't think I could add anything more. very well done. thanks. I'm going to save this and use it to introduce others to the ideas.
great vid, congrats ! flipping the canvas upside down or horizontally is a REALLY great tool to digital artists, like you explained, it forces to "refresh" your brain and "blocks" the left side from recognizing the symbols on the reference. when struggling with a drawing I recommend doing that canvas flip and trying to figure out with the intuitive part of the brain what feels wrong, instead of focusing on the symbols.. it helps a lot. another useful concept I learned through the years, when facing a pose that has foreshortening or it's just a complicated one is: ✨ negative space ! ✨ that means focusing on representing the "void" around the figure instead on the internal forms, this way the drawing will be more similar to the reference because focusing on the space around what you want to represent makes it easier to get right the volumes and directions of the general outline. this topic is so interesting, thanks for covering it and you earned a new sub ! 🥳
Another thing you can do, is hold it in front of a mirror, which flips the image, but helps you to see where you have it right, and where you need to make corrections.
I noticed there’s a lot of comments from people saying they’re 40+ years old. That’s awesome you guys found your way to this video and are trying a new skill or looking to improve still! Proud of all of you! This popped up as a recommended video because I’ve been watching videos on learning to animate I assume. Now I’m excited to go practice these exercises tomorrow (as it’s 3 am and i should be sleeping now 😂) and see if they help improve my drawing skills and help make learning a new skill a bit easier. 😅 Keep up the practice everyone! Edit: i also forgot to add this was an excellent video. Very informative and you did a very good job at explaining things! Would make for a fine teacher. 👍🏼
Yo, you changed my brain. I find out I used to draw better without reference, but kind of suck with reference. But now the upsidedown method works. Thanks man.
when i first started figure drawing i always nailed in the head to “draw what you see not what you know” along with never looking at my work during the process! all helped lots
This was a great video. I read this book a few decades ago but this was a good refresher. And I like how you broke it down and went into the psychology of it.
Since ive been basically honing left brain drawing by no reference sketching for hours every day this will be an interesting thing to try hopefully this is what helps me break through to enlightenment
For something requires a lot of repetiition, I need the strong reason to do that. And thankyou so much for explain everything, now I can start with a bold confidence.
Thanks for the video! I was given that book as a gift for my birthday.. I never really got to reading it. I am going to start reading it now, I honestly never really understood how good it could be! Thank you so much for educating me!! :D
My brother, who is a great artist from childhood, told me, as I was becoming frustrated at my lack of skill...said that I need to relax, because art is a set of tricks/tools you use to make things appear the way you want. After he told me that, my abilities changed drastically. Tricks with tools.
Brother, this video is well done, and nicely put together, I deeply appreciate it. I'm an artist and I have been feeling down recently and not creative enough, this made me feel a weird feeling in my brain lol. Thanks again.
Wow, old memory unlocked! I learned this years ago in art classes. I haven’t truly drawn in a long time but i still have some principles locked in but this was definitely one that needed tightening. Thank you!
Love the video! I don't think I ever would have come across this were it not for your video on it, and I greatly appreciate that! I've been a long-time on-and-off artist, and it's very demoralizing to feel like I've been doing it all my life and I have no progress. I hope to see some improvements with this!
You are very nice to listen to and I enjoy the passion behind it! (Plus I LOVE psychology on like ANYTHING!) My brain is absolutely changed 😂❤ I’ve been having an art block for a long time and now I am excited to reignite my passion! Thanks for this!
Very helpful. The upside down technique is so effective. It's all about observation vs memory. 'Draw what you see not what you know' is what we were taught at art school.
Dude!!! 🤯 I have told my friends that I can't draw, but I see the most beautiful visuals in my minds eye...my problem is transferring my minds visual into the real world
My Pawpaw got me this book and he used it to learn to draw years ago- This is the second video I’ve seen about this book in one week. This is my sign to finish reading it. I made it half way through and past the part with the upside down drawing. Thank you for this video!!!
Whoa whoa whoa wait wait wait. Are you telling me that what I put myself down on periodically that I call my "copycat" skill, is actually the right thing to do??? What the actual fuck. I used to feel inferior because I always compared myself to people who could draw from nothing, and I used to have to copy reference images 24/7 and when I learned how to draw, I learned to draw by copying drawings from existing manga.... I went from drawing badly to pretty decent manga from my "copycat" skill and then I was able to draw it without reference. THIS is why??? I used to think I cheated because I didn't go through the traditional learning style
I relate to this, but with life photos T_T whenever I feel like that, I remember some of my favorite artists draw almost only from reference, and some of the most iconic paintings, are from reference. I think of realism and the amazing artists who have a hard time visualizing without photos. It helps remind me that photos are a tool like anything else.
I believe most of what you saying. You explain it in simple understandable terms. Reminds me of my art teacher yelling at me "draw what you see not what you know!!" on the other hand, there is no "dominant" side of the brain. This whole idea of "left" vs "right" has been disproven. Just look up functions of the brain and you will see there isn't even a direct "right" or "left" side (amygdala & thalamus) for example. The amygdala is actually associated with emotion while this could also be the function of the "left" brain emotion is not strictly associated with the "left". (ofc this is just what I remember from my high school psych class so honestly you could be right)
the idea of being having a left or right brained personality has indeed been disproven, but the concept of brain lateralization is factual, unless im tripping. this is clear in people who suffer brain damage, bc depending on the side of the brain that's damage, they tend to struggle with the functions that were performed by that hemisphere. of course, there isn't a task that's 100% done by the left or right side, they communicate through the corpus callosum and work together in that sense, but there's functions that are typically performed more by one side of the brain over the other. take a look at videos on split brain patients. ofc i tried to simplify the whole thing in this video and tie it back to art to try and make it understandable
Do you really think that they gave Dr Roger Sperry the Nobel Price for a theory that had no proofs and was debunked some years later? Of course reality is more complex, as always, but the basic principle is still valid.
def trying out these techniques. What ive been doing is similar to what youre explaining. I try to look at my references or things in real life im disecting as geometric forms. Squares triangles and rectangles. It helps a lot with proportion. I also try not to look at references as a "whole". Kinda like squinting ur eyes while observing the reference but not actually squinting you know? that also helps me get a general idea of what I gottta draw.
This was such a good summarization of The Right Side of the Brain that I was able to tell it was your inspiration before halfway into the video. Amazing!
Pin this comment before the video blows up
That’s cool 😊
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
awesome
im here after
cool :>
my mom, an artist, only gave me one thing to teach me art. she said, "art is just learning how to see properly". I've used this to teach myself art, then I went to an Atelier later to refine it all.
The info in this video will absolutely help you, this guy is 100% right.
Fr I just tell myself to get good and process the image better
I agree, 100%!
She was right.
I'm really excited to see this video
Unfortunately, my mother was not an artist. Took me 30 years to realize that I needed to learn how to see to be able to draw well. I had that ability at 12 years old but at some point I lost it. I try every to get that ability back.
"draw what you see, not what you think you see" I learned this concept of symbols a few years ago and it improved / developed my drawing skills tremendously. I think this is the best drawing advice to give beginners who want to improve their technical drawing skills :> 👍
yeah it's a concept that really deserves more light
I've heard that phrase a thousand times but only NOW i genuinely understand what it means and why. i feel like im slowly opening my third eye the more i realise how my brain actually works. this video helped so much with simply understanding WHY. why draw upside down? why do i keep sucking at foreshortening? now it all makes sense :O
I do try to draw what I see but my hand does not see what I'm drawing
what does that even mean
@@GBArche I can't draw
Its probably not that great to draw in the dark, but I used to sketch in bed with only the dim light of looking at my reference photo on my cell phone. Since I can only see the shape of my page and not much of what is going on paper it allowed me to relax and draw freely. In 2 weeks my art had drastically changed. And now its easier to draw all the time now.
this was a very good video and I will be trying these practices thanks for sharing
i feel this so much
“Draw what you see, not what you THINK you see” the only advice that stuck with me since a kid - from Neil Buchanan - Art Attack
Art Attack was THE BEST! Haha totally forgot about that show!
Omfg! You have upped my drawing skills and brain health game. I am becoming trilingual as well. Ty so much! I am fast approaching 70 & needed this boost!
that was my philosophy as a Kid, cheers to the 8years old version of
e
My teacher always says this!!
I think to a point yes, but if all every artist did was draw exactly how they saw the world, there would be no variation in art, just realism. There would be no Basquiats, no O’keefes, and no Pollocks
For some reason, I always grew up thinking it was 'cheating' to look at anything when you draw (e.g. using a reference). This video just madee realize why I feel like I've never really progressed. Always thought it was 'pure' to draw from my mind, but they always suck! Thank you.
Thinking that reference is for cheater is one of the most dangerous mindset for an artist to have, I was one of many artist that fall for it. 3 years wasted with miniscule progress to my art skill, right until I finally decide to use reference then guess what, I finally started to see progress.
You can always do both, draw from reference (To understand what you are drawing) and draw from imagination (To reinforce the things you learn without relying on reference) , mixed it. Its far more better that way.
Liberally why I've been stunted as an artist but I've been getting out of it
Same , I corrected this mistake with my son learning., now at 10 he is much better than me when I was 10.
as a psychology student and an artist, i love how deep the connection of art and psychology is, far deeper than what we thought in class (at least at my uni and other schools i knew). i swear that most people in the psychology department of my uni doesn't have any idea about this. thank you for bringing this topic and maybe i'll take this not only to improve my art but as a research idea 💗
Be careful because the right brain / left brain specialization stuff has been recently refuted, or shown to be _broadly_ untrue. (I _think_ there is some specialization, like obviously its true both lobes govern one half of the body, and ironically, its the opposite side, and I _think_ syntax is handled by one of the halves of the frontal lobe, and vocabulary the other --- though that in and of itself shows that no, the right side is not broadly uninvolved in language.)
Psychology is a constantly evolving field, like any other, and it has its persistant myths and outdated models that bounce around pop media like any other. If most people in the university haven't heard these ideas, they are either very novel, (DEFINITELY not the case, the right brain left brain stuff have been around since I was a kid,) or they're... not well substantiated despite being given time to prove their merits. (Tbf, again, the right brain left brain stuff only recently was definitively shown wrong.)
It would be nice to make a thesis work based on the relation between art production (from the artist's perspective) and psychology
Art was originally a mental and spiritual development and communication medium not just making pretty pictures. It was always connected to how the mind works
Betty Edwards - Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.
My passions were always Art and Psychology. So I became an Art Psychotherapist. It is so fascinating what information comes out in someone’s Art. We’re trained to interpret it and then use that in the process of therapy. There’s also the branch of art therapy that emphasizes how just making art is therapeutic. Regardless, if it’s something you’re interested in doing as a career? It’s A LOT of schooling (Master’s minimum) and training to get the required registration and board certification designations. I don’t know the process outside US). But, if it’s something you’re interested in just reading about I’m happy to recommend some authors. Wishing you the best!
YES!! After graduating from art school, I can’t stress how many art profs I’ve had saying “just focus on the shapes! The contour!” Etc etc. Once u see it, u can apply it to EVERYTHING. Another tip that has helped me a lot is looking at the negative space to help me position things properly, those are shapes too!
Love this sm, and the psychological experiments u explained were fascinating to hear
This is quite late. But I know that I have to stress on the shape, and 8 have been doing that but i have a hard time with like what comes first. So like if ur drawing the shoulder from a 3/4 perspective, then like what comes first? Like do you see the chest and some of the shoulder? Or do you just draw the arm/shoulder. I've been trying to train myself to draw from memory but this has been insanely hard for me to understand what comes before the other
@@ivannnyy Hi! No worries, so sorry for my late reply, I just saw this now!! I think whichever shape u see first is the first one u draw, and then whatever u see next, u draw next. So on and so forth till you’re satisfied with the level of detail! I don’t think there’s any wrong or right order, tho I do think generally going from bigger shapes to smaller shapes can be helpful (tho not always necessary). When doing studies, I jump around a lot. What I draw first depends on what about the subject catches my eye first, cuz most likely, that is what’ll catch others ppls eyes as well! Or if not, I then get to bring ppls attention to what I notice and think is important. When doing an original piece, I try to rough out what I consider are more major important shapes then fill in the details later, u get to decide what’s more important and what’s minor! And don’t feel locked down, u can always jump back and forth between major and minor (theres always erasers, white paint, and techniques to replace sections of paper lolol)
When it comes to drawing from memory, at least for me, it’s not rly a matter of what order I take, but more like TONS of practice, observation, and repetition until it becomes muscle memory. U naturally build an image library in ur head over time. Soon it’ll sorta become like handwriting, how u just /know/ to write the letters in ur own way cuz you’ve done it so much, if that makes sense! Best of luck
@@art_krisis lmao, no worries but thank you so much! I've kinda been putting off doing so much studies so I'd be able to draw from memory because I like to keep art something I'm really passionate about and I would hate for it to feel like a chore. You are right though, the things that catch my eye first are usually the biggest shapes or the most important so I'll definitely try to portrait that more into my studies. Thank youu :))
@@ivannnyy if it helps, ik lots of ppl who also dislike studies and will add in other things like decorations, fantasy elements, whatever they like to make it more fun! but overall i think observation solves lots of problems when learning to draw and studies is just one way of learning to observe. but it can be done just going about ur day, noticing the lines, curves, colors, and nuances of around u! np
@@art_krisishy idk what you mean by negative space,iam begginer and non native english,may you explain more?
As someone who started "drawing" around a month ago (about an hour a day), I realized I have been doing this unintentionally. When I first tried drawing people I could NEVER get the proportions right/ faces to look good, but for fun, I decided to trace a couple photos of myself and my friends, and doing that gave me a way better (if still very imperfect) understanding of how people are supposed to be proportioned. The mental image I had of people was NOT people shaped lmao. Great video!
😂😭same same. what i THOUGHT was a body was actually realllly short lmao
Good point
Look up the Loomis method for figure drawing..it will change your world
Well, you convinced this old Nanna to give it a go 👍🇦🇺
I love drawing figure sicks. And circles. U confuse me more. I want to learn but I can't
I'm 75 yrs old and I have been waiting for this video,. Thank you so much!
75?? I hope I have your enthusiasm and curiosty when I get to your age. I wish you the best dude
Soo inspiring!!
Drop ur ipad lil timmy
@@Earlybeggar no need to be so disrespectful
also he has a playlist full of tons of songs definitely over 15 years old
@@Horzinicla same
“I can talk about it all I want, but the best thing is for you to just try it out” is the best advice in the video.
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My guitar teacher told me "you'll never be able to play what you can think."
I convert this lesson to everything, including drawing. What you create will never, ever be the level you want it to be, but it will always be better than it was. Look at your drawings from 3 years ago and you'll see what I mean.
Your teacher is wrong. Anyone who can mimic what they hear is capable of this.
@@atticusezis1039 the point he was making is that the hands will never ever CREATE the level of artistry that the brain could imagine, mimicry is not creation. Every artist wishes they could be better and can pinpoint the flaws in every piece they create whereas the beholder may see it as perfection.
screenshotting this cuz I need to remember this thank you😋
My advice for artists is to deeply use reference photos especially if it's unknown to you. Then to incorporate your left side, try to use things you do know about the image. If it's clothing, play with the style, make it more loose, add wrinkles to the shirt, make stains, patches, even if the reference photo doesn't have it. Just use it for inspiration and stylize it, improvise, make it your own and always add a bit of you to it what you know.
Thanks!
I have a question. When it comes to drawing something without reference, would we have to know what we’re drawing with your tip of using reference photos so that we can be able to draw something without reference?
That would work if i was capable of doing any of that to begin with.
@@definitelyrealfortniteYou can do it just give it a try👍
I find that, when drawing from reference if you time yourself for 20 seconds to lay down the base outline as fast as possible it helps to keep everything in proportion! You’re not getting enough time to analyze the image as familiar items, but abstract sections of light and shadow.
Speed sketching with a pen too is really good for practice :3 in places where you’re almost constantly moving- and sketching with a pen to improve line confidence!
Thank you for this ❤
Thanks for that , I was in confusion for a while that why my speed drawings are better at matching the subjects than those where I took time
Betty's "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." is worth every penny. IMHO. Thanks.
❤ i like this book i reread it more than i remember
Yes! I read that book many years ago and very helpful.
I have two of those books!
Hello, thanks so much , your video helped me get a handle on procrastination. I'm a 71 lady, I was struggling so bad with a writing project. But now I get why the struggle is just a stepping stone to the success. I'm also an artist, and this new idea about dopamine is going to be key to my breakthough.
My elementary school art teacher was incredible. She started our lessons with this. In ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
nah doing this in elementary school is wild lmao, your teacher's a legend
a good art teacher will change your entire life
@@hiilikeyourbeard agreed !!!
same. I didn't understand what the exercise was all about at the time but finally my eyes have been opened. he was good
yess same mine made us practice contour drawing and thanks to this video I finally fully get why
I just found you tonight...I have heard some of these concepts from art class in high school back in 1981-1982. My art teacher used exercises from that book you referenced. I am 57 yo as of yesterday, and I absolutely LOVE your approach! It makes me want to go get my supplies out right this minute. Thank you, the world needs this, especially us striving artists.
happy belated birthday!
I do want to caution, the concept of the right brain being creative and the left brain being logical has been broadly rebutted recently.
There's _some_ specializing, (like, yes, the right brain does control a lot of the left side of the body, snd the left brain does control a lot of the right side, and as the split brain patient shows, vocabulary is done mostly by one side of the brain --- though ironically, _syntax_ is handled by the other, iirc, showing that no, language is not handled by just one side of the brain,) but its not nearly that deep or straightforward.
Happy birthday, by the way!
Edit: it is true enough that there isn't always a singular strategy the brain might have for a given task, and drawing demonstrates that. The functions responsible for stickfigures are a different set of functions than we engage when drawing less idealized, more accurate art. So the myth is just accurate enough that us artists have gotten something from it, even if its technically wrong.
Happy belated Birthday! I hope you find happiness in your art!
@@peppermintgal4302Im super curious about what you mentioned here and would love to know the references you read?
for people with ADHD: flip your reference image upside down so your brain doesn't try to draw the 'symbols' it associates with certain things (legs/arms/faces/etc) and helps you focus more on the lines and details, shapes, etc.
I'll be trying this 💜 thank you
thankyou for this
@@RDHEYY_00 got you fam'
Tyssmmm
@@balar2305 :)
I'm a illustrator since I know myself as a person and now I'm 28 and this is one of the best videos I ever seen in years about the subject. Congratulations, so young with this knowledge will led you far :) thank your for making it!
someone remind me to come back to this video in a year please
Come back
@yetundelopez7839 I said in a year man..
@@NearOTP LMAO
Come back dawg
@frootypatooty6181 IN A YEAR. IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS.
I’m so grateful for your video! I’m a newly retired nurse (left-handed) with right sided stroke injury. My mother and grandmother were artists as well as my dad. And all three of my children. I could never draw. Until the stroke. Your video describes perfectly what happened in my brain to make this possible.
Neuroplasticity. Isn't the brain amazing. If you haven't yet, you may like to read Jill Bolte Taylor's book "My Stroke of Insight." She was a neuroanatomist who studied how the brain worked, and she had a stroke. So while she was in this situation she was also able to observe, from her knowledge and perspective of her brain research, her own brain and behaviour post-stroke. As a nurse you may have already read it, but it's also good info for people in general. How this all works is just amazing.
My art teacher in high school explained this to me, she explained it very well, and something in my brain clicked. After that I went from not being able to draw to drawing very good realistic drawings. This was 25 years ago, so I can not remember just how she put it, but basically, you draw the lines you see, not the symbol your brain wants you to draw.
That one blind person
🧍. Oh
Okay but what about when you draw from your brain?????????
the way people draw from their brains is like having a library. when you want to reference a particular fact, you find the book you have closet to the topic. drawing is just like this, the hours of real life practice can be thought of as book-collecting. more hours = more books to obtain and go back to. so when you free hand draw, you go to the books in your mind and cross-reference between to the get the best answer (the best way to draw what want you want).@@Tahtea333
@@Tahtea333 from what I learned/figured out from my Art mentor, as I‘m still an Art Baby, you never actualy draw from your brain/imagination.
You always draw from reference but as somepoint your inner image library gets so huge that you need less references while having fun drawing. So you still draw from references but those are deeply remembered and even them who went professional which only means they get paid: they still use reference for their paid comissions etc. Depending on the scenes/character etc they‘re supposed to draw.
Great video man. I think the one thing that helped me the most was breaking down complex shapes into smaller simple shapes. As humans we’re attracted to shapes. The shape of your favorite car, clothing, furniture, an attractive face, body type, etc.
Study things you like to draw and then, with a lot of practice, you’ll start developing your own shape language. This is part of what determines your art style.
that’s very insightful and helpful thank you
Shape language. I love that concept!
the fact that theres content like this out here for free.... thank you man. this is lowkey lifechanging and incredible
You're a genius! I'm goingwatch this video again , and again , and again. I'm an artist ! And have been since I was 13. Today, I am 76. Your words make so much sense! Thank you, sweetheart 😘
this is so genuinely helpful! i think its even better than a lot of tutorials that basically just say "if you wanna draw it, draw it this way!" because so many people struggle doing it "that way" regardless, and this can help with that struggle so much! also "lets get there together bro" is a great sentiment
All great advice. I have a degree in Art Education and one of the things I told my students was: draw what you see, not what you know. After explaining the concepts here. And warming up with contour drawing, etc before a drawing session as well as daily (if only 10 minutes) is really helpful in working that right brain “muscle”. Excellent video! Subbed.
Whenever I'm trying to draw something that I'm entirely unfamiliar with or not used to drawing it always felt like I could physically feel like something was blocking me from drawing the way I want it to look. I could tell that I was trying to draw it the same way I've done past drawings and I could never find a way to break out of it.
It genuinely felt like one half of my brain was yelling at the other to just show me how to do something correctly and the other just wasn't responding, but now seeing that there is a real reason as to why I was getting that constrictive feeling is so helpful, especially when there is exercises to fix the issue.
Great video man I've yet to check out your other content but I'm subscribing cause I can't wait to see.
I'm an artist and I really enjoy watching and listening to your videos. They're very informative, very useful and have helped me a great deal. Thank you.. You're a wonderful speaker!
I cannot describe how much you have helped me. Just two of your videos got me out of a year long drawing depression where I hated absolutely everything I put to paper/ programm. Now I'm actually motivated to practice and make things again. tysm
"a few years ago you're a kid"....Thats so cute! Im 60.
You’re a legend 😂
Dannnnngggg you an og
@@dubloony Old Grandpa 🤪
Still cute🤌🏻❤️
@@cruellamyers Yes, I am😋
i’ve focused on lines and shapes more than the subject of a reference since i was a kid and ig that’s why arts always come more easily to me, however this helps me understand why people struggle and i think that’s equally as valuable as improving my own art
for anyone that may need a different perspective on this line of thinking, try intensely focusing on a small area. whether that be simply just focusing in, splitting your reference into sections, or zooming in a lot, it may help you disconnect the subject from the forms
i went to a figure drawing class and was able to practice this really well, but i also noticed that if I only focused on one part of a drawing at a time, and didn’t take a look at the whole form of the model and of my art often enough, and/or if I worked on one part of a body for 5 minutes and then another part of the body for 5 minutes instead of just following where my hand went as I drew, the figure would come out with the wrong proportions and an off pose, so i learned that it’s very important to be able to look over the whole figure fairly often, and it’s important to follow the steps of drawing: sketch figure, block figure with simple lines and shapes, THEN details, THEN shading, and not skip any on any part of the drawing, in addition to also looking at the shapes and contours of every part of your reference
Im actually only good at art bc of my detail 😂😂 just look like odd shapes otherwise
"it'll make you *feel* like you've become 10x the artist"
very key difference! feel vs skill
skill is doing something over time to where you naturally get better at it
this is the foundational principle for that!
your art has great potential. technical skills should be studied if you're aiming to become *good* at art, but if you want to have *fun* with art, unless you make the time learning it fun somehow, those will always be seperate
i think the way art can be percieved or mean different things is the psychology of art! but i liked hearing what you had to say about it. i think people can have different opinions and be cool with it. subbing for more! i love how you edit videos.
100% agree that technical skills need to be worked on in order to improve overall. the whole concept in this video is not to replace technical practice, but to supplement it and make it more effective, that's kinda my angle with this whole thing. thanks for your comment, i really like what you had to say.
Good point on technical skills, I remember pushing myself, staying up late into the night painting, and at the very beginning getting headaches, from being in the art zone for hours. Many years later it takes an entire day to feel a little like that. I learned to work on technical left brain functions of art at the very start of the project, because when I get in what I call the "zone," I forget to take it into consideration. Like borders, thinking about the focus of the painting, where the horizon line will be, or perspectives. Things I might want to leave out, or move around in the painting. How many eyes wide the face is, how many noses long the face is, and how many heads tall the body is.
Damn! This was such a good video man!! I’ve heard of the upside down drawing idea before but the way you prefaced that exercise with such a compelling argument and explanation for why it works! 100% going to practice this stuff
not even finished the video yet and I have to say I like how you speak ,good at explaining ,seem to understand what you are talking about very well , knowledgable ,your approach seems humble and genuine and I like how you don't seem to force information but rather push us to try it for ourselves. keep up the good work my brother. Got me keen to check out your other content.
i wish i could like this video twice! i’m a self taught artist and have been drawing on-and-off for about 6 years now and only recently have i picked it up again. ive felt stuck on my improvement for a very long time but this has blown my mind and i actually feel like this is what i needed to continue my artistic journey.
thank you!
I'm a 45 year old man and a very good artist and this is fundamentally brilliant because it's so effective. I'm subscribing. Looking forward to seeing what other techniques you can come up w/.
Do you have socials? Id love to see ur art :)
very humble too
I’ve only read the first couple chapters of the book referenced, and only tried like three of the exercises including the upside down reference and there’s already been so much improvement! I’ve had a good understanding of anatomy and proportions, but it was hard to apply to art until I intentionally started to use my right brain.
I’ve been struggling a lot with my art this past year, mostly due to mental health issues, but this way of thinking makes me want to try again. I’ve done these exercises before but have never thought of them in quite this way. Hopefully this change in mindset will help me out!
It's been almost two months since I watched this video for the first time and it totally works, I can draw perspectives more easily than before. Thank you very much
thank you so much for this video.i turned off all distractions, focused really hard, i tried the drawing upside down excessive a few times, critiqued what looked wrong or right, tried a few different poses, and i’m honestly getting better! i will recommend this video to anyone who wants help with art to be honest, this changed everything for me. thank you!
I accidentally developed these skills in class! I always used to get bored and start drawing without seeing the paper, and since the benches I used to sit at were at a weird angle, I used to draw upside down a lot! It really helped me become a better artist and better at looking at details in general!
Now I'm trying to live my art since university has been a nightmare. I just wish I had started sooner!
I use to turn things upside down and draw them whenever I felt something looked off. Did this on and off since i was a kid and it helped tremendously! Didn't realize it was an actual assisted method for improvement.
And the contour drawing practice is actually brilliant to practice contours as opposed to symbols. Much respect..👍🏾
Edit: For reference, I've done portrait and mural commissions on and off since high school and won regional and statewide awards. Art and learning how to master it is SUCH a brilliant practice. Hated school but I love learning! This is a beautiful reminder of why balance is important.
I was literally unconsciously using this technique my whole life not by turning things upside down but focusing on negative spaces rather than postive space... Damn that's mind blowing
Wow. This is very similar to the way I learned to type so fast. Decades ago, my teacher said, "Do not look at the words,look at the letters. Type the letters - not the word". When I learned this style , I could type 120p.m. without ever looking at the typewriter for the keys. Unbelievable! I teach others this as well. It really works! Of course, in my old age I have become slower.
Break it down into individual parts
Excellent book recommendation. Betty Edwards was my art teacher at LATTC years ago. It was the most frustrating exercise I ever attempted but I still use it to this day.
Drawing upside down… I’ve never even heard of that but it makes sense. It detaches you from caring so much about what you draw. Love it!
An art teacher taught my 7 year old this and 10 years later she can draw mist anything.
Dude I can't honestly thank you enough this is probably just what I needed so I can move forward with my art instead of staggering
keep going bro
Man ive been doing all of that without realising. That's why I can quit drawing for 1 year and after coming back I regain my skills AND EVEN IMPROVE. I never tried to draw the thing , I tried to draw the lines which have an angle and which are positioned in a certain way and I always analysed the spaces between shapes/ lines/ forms. And I swear Im the biggest procrastinator when it comes to art but when I come back I improve instead of loosing my skills .
Because Ive learned to see long time ago when I was a child.
I started using this technique after watching your video . I'm 12 days in and have created 18 sketches. My drawing skills have improved immensely. I now map out my drawings with my left hand because I'm able to get the perspective correct more easily. Now when I draw with my right hand I find myself focusing on the details in ways that I didn't before. I have been drawing for many years and in that time I had difficulty picking up features of youth and when I use this technique I'm able to do it without issue. Thanks for posting your video; it was short and sweet and perfect for helping this season artist improve. I'm on a journey of using this technique every day.
Actually a really chill and productive channel to watch. I’m gonna drop a sub bro you need more than 20k for this
A chill well edited video thats informative, funny and genuinely helpful?
Instant sub, i love your vibes!
Omg so good! Putting words to what I remember doing as a kid - I was so frustrated with not being able to draw hands (before the times of social media, so I also didn't really know it was something most people struggle with) that I just went "Ok, screw it, I'll focus on drawing each individual line I can see then - I should be able to copy-paste from my eyes!" Ofc I couldn't really and it looked absolutely shit for a while, but just staring at my posed hand and analysing the lines in reference to each other really helped - like not thinking "here's a finger, and it connects to the hand here" but "that slightly curved line runs parallell to that straighter line and they meet up there by the U-shape". I think it came a lot from my work with big cross-stitch patterns. Now, hands are one of my favourite things to draw, and I'm playing around with adding fingers where there shouldn't be any and bending them in unnatural ways. Thanks for one of the few actually helpful drawing tips video! :D
I had a stroke in the right side of my brain in 2013 . I experienced " Waking dreams " of my childhood .
I remember growing up liking art . Drawing and painting . But I lost interest when I was 18 I gave up on my artistic interests due to an overload of constructive criticism of others . Over a year ago , I started drawing and painting again . I'm doing pretty well at it again . But there is an improvement in how I draw . I'm 66 years old now . But if Grandma Moses could become an artist at 80 . . I think I can make it . Thank you for making this video .
Huge insight! I need to try this out.
What I also do, is giving the reference picture known shapes, like circles and boxes, to break down the unknown figure into basic shapes.
I can’t understand how you only have 600 subs dude what??? This was great and your editing’s top notch. Looking forward to more videos :)
I have the opposite problem I've learned to draw what I see when I was very young. My ability to draw from or create something without an exact reference is hard. Ive also ruined many drawings by trying to draw too much detail and have a lot of trouble trying to simplify shapes. I've figured out that in terms of detail you can only add as much detail as the point of your pencil. If your drawing a tiny face you can't draw details like freckles because the the freckles would be as big as iris. It's took me a while to figure out the reason I was ruining all my drawings was because my drawings weren't big enough for the detail I was adding. I understand now to do a realistic drawing that shows things like skin pores has to be on a much larger scale almost 1:1 if not larger.
As a perfectionist, my inner critic is always telling me what my drawings should look like. Of course, I have no chance of living up to his idea of a perfect and “beautiful” drawing. It gets even worse when he starts comparing my drawings with those of other, much more experienced and skilled artists.
Thanks a million for your brilliant video! ✨ I'm going to draw my coffee cup upside down.
wow… that was a hell of a video!!!!!!
omg everything about this video is just so good!!!!
the thing is that i’m trying to get back to art after years of losing passion and almost a year and half of stopping completely
and i came across that video and all i can say is that info is so useful!!!!
even the way you talk was so soothing and not boring at all!!!!
thank you so much for that amazing video and i’ll make sure to do all of that and check more of your videos!
btw u earned a new subscription:))) 💜
This was a brilliant video, thank you. Clearly explained, well researched, and helped me finally understand the psychology behind techniques I've used before but wasn't quite sure why they were helpful to practice! Interesting, useful, and to the point 👌 😊
I taught exactly this, as a high school art teacher!!!! People thought it was a bit crazy! Glad it's being reinforced on social media.
This encapsulates what ALL of my college drawing classes taught me - practice contour drawing and gesture drawing, those are two strategies that can help our brain look closely. We need to learn how to see, not how to draw. One comes before the other ❤ awesome information
I’ve never felt art was something that could be taught so effectively but this is life changing thank you
ANYTHING that a single human can do can be taught to others, dumbass. Literally ANYTHING. If one human can do it, then so can others.
YES!! After graduating from art school, I can’t stress how many art profs I’ve had saying “just focus on the shapes! The contour!” Etc etc. Once u see it, u can apply it to EVERYTHING. Another tip that has helped me a lot is looking at the negative space to help me position things properly, those are shapes too!
Love this sm, and the psychological experiments u explained were fascinating to hear
Brilliant video. It's 100% true what he says - the power of observation is not accurate during drawing. Free drawing - upside down - without overthinking the subject and the knowledge of shape, size, etc., you can learn how to observe better and so you draw better! ❤
MAAAAAAAN. it's so true and I like your speech style thanks for keeping it alive
I also wanted to share some Lacanian psychoanalytic idea on Symbolic and Imaginary, combined with my travelling experience that helped me in photography. When I've been to Germany I didn't know a word in German and I took great photos because I did not attach a symbolic meaning of buildings and material stuff to their look. When I got back to Moscow, I experienced difficulties with photography and understood that the city that is too familiar to you does this thing - its symbolic meaning prevails over its imaginary meaning. So I imagined that I was in France and got great photos that really remind of France rather than Moscow
Brilliant thank you. I was at art school many years ago and we did a lot of the drawing without looking at the page. I never knew the workings behind that and the concept of the left side of the brain being dominant. Also the drawing upside down technique is a revelation, will definitely start giving that a go🙏
You can also draw the regular way up, but turn your reference photo upside down.
Ah yeah, I’ll try that way too. Depending on if its an image or real life😉@@beccagee5905
I tend to find how to draw videos not too useful but this one is a real game changer!
As someone with dyslexia I would naturally be more right brained I have always had a passion for art and drawing which makes sense i came across this video as I desperately need to improve my anatomy I found this video really interesting let’s all improve our art together, thank you for sharing your wisdom!
brilliant summary of Dr. Edwards. I've been using her book for probably as long as you've been alive, and I don't think I could add anything more. very well done. thanks. I'm going to save this and use it to introduce others to the ideas.
I always enjoy and learn from the content of creators who employ psychological approach, it just feels more practical and authentic.
great vid, congrats ! flipping the canvas upside down or horizontally is a REALLY great tool to digital artists, like you explained, it forces to "refresh" your brain and "blocks" the left side from recognizing the symbols on the reference. when struggling with a drawing I recommend doing that canvas flip and trying to figure out with the intuitive part of the brain what feels wrong, instead of focusing on the symbols.. it helps a lot.
another useful concept I learned through the years, when facing a pose that has foreshortening or it's just a complicated one is: ✨ negative space ! ✨ that means focusing on representing the "void" around the figure instead on the internal forms, this way the drawing will be more similar to the reference because focusing on the space around what you want to represent makes it easier to get right the volumes and directions of the general outline. this topic is so interesting, thanks for covering it and you earned a new sub ! 🥳
Another thing you can do, is hold it in front of a mirror, which flips the image, but helps you to see where you have it right, and where you need to make corrections.
I noticed there’s a lot of comments from people saying they’re 40+ years old. That’s awesome you guys found your way to this video and are trying a new skill or looking to improve still! Proud of all of you!
This popped up as a recommended video because I’ve been watching videos on learning to animate I assume. Now I’m excited to go practice these exercises tomorrow (as it’s 3 am and i should be sleeping now 😂) and see if they help improve my drawing skills and help make learning a new skill a bit easier. 😅
Keep up the practice everyone!
Edit: i also forgot to add this was an excellent video. Very informative and you did a very good job at explaining things! Would make for a fine teacher. 👍🏼
Best RUclips video I've ever seen. Very simple and yet detailed. Inspiring and eye-opening. Practical advice. Just greate :)))
Betty Edwards book is FIRE. Thank you for this excellent video. Most of what you say here, is what I've been teaching for 20 years 😊
Your form of explaining stuff is amazing; i extremely feel i have learned something new and valuable. Thanks for the video, sigue así!
"school kills artists" sounds quite literal now
Yo, you changed my brain. I find out I used to draw better without reference, but kind of suck with reference. But now the upsidedown method works. Thanks man.
when i first started figure drawing i always nailed in the head to “draw what you see not what you know” along with never looking at my work during the process! all helped lots
This was a great video. I read this book a few decades ago but this was a good refresher. And I like how you broke it down and went into the psychology of it.
Since ive been basically honing left brain drawing by no reference sketching for hours every day this will be an interesting thing to try hopefully this is what helps me break through to enlightenment
One fundamental thing to always do when you draw. Start off lightly. From the shading to the shaping. Start off lightly.
For something requires a lot of repetiition, I need the strong reason to do that.
And thankyou so much for explain everything, now I can start with a bold confidence.
Thanks for the video! I was given that book as a gift for my birthday.. I never really got to reading it. I am going to start reading it now, I honestly never really understood how good it could be! Thank you so much for educating me!! :D
My brother, who is a great artist from childhood, told me, as I was becoming frustrated at my lack of skill...said that I need to relax, because art is a set of tricks/tools you use to make things appear the way you want. After he told me that, my abilities changed drastically. Tricks with tools.
0:52 yes a few years ago I was a kid *laughs in 43*
so nostalgic oh the memories
Brother, this video is well done, and nicely put together, I deeply appreciate it. I'm an artist and I have been feeling down recently and not creative enough, this made me feel a weird feeling in my brain lol. Thanks again.
Thanks a lot bro for this vid, this helped a lot very well researched, great content and great editing aswell. Thorughly enjoyed the vid
i'm happy to see you liked it bro, thanks
bro im halfway through this rn and compelled to comment about how interesting this video is so far. A unique approach and a commendable perspective
Wow, old memory unlocked! I learned this years ago in art classes. I haven’t truly drawn in a long time but i still have some principles locked in but this was definitely one that needed tightening. Thank you!
Love the video! I don't think I ever would have come across this were it not for your video on it, and I greatly appreciate that! I've been a long-time on-and-off artist, and it's very demoralizing to feel like I've been doing it all my life and I have no progress. I hope to see some improvements with this!
You are very nice to listen to and I enjoy the passion behind it! (Plus I LOVE psychology on like ANYTHING!) My brain is absolutely changed 😂❤
I’ve been having an art block for a long time and now I am excited to reignite my passion! Thanks for this!
is that an AI profile picture? that'e the worst way to fix art block or do anything as an artist
Very helpful. The upside down technique is so effective. It's all about observation vs memory. 'Draw what you see not what you know' is what we were taught at art school.
Dude!!! 🤯 I have told my friends that I can't draw, but I see the most beautiful visuals in my minds eye...my problem is transferring my minds visual into the real world
It's absolute torture! Like a bird in a cage. I just want to show people what I see
@@monet-unique Do you read a lot? Why do you have so much visualization?
My Pawpaw got me this book and he used it to learn to draw years ago-
This is the second video I’ve seen about this book in one week. This is my sign to finish reading it. I made it half way through and past the part with the upside down drawing.
Thank you for this video!!!
Whoa whoa whoa wait wait wait. Are you telling me that what I put myself down on periodically that I call my "copycat" skill, is actually the right thing to do??? What the actual fuck. I used to feel inferior because I always compared myself to people who could draw from nothing, and I used to have to copy reference images 24/7 and when I learned how to draw, I learned to draw by copying drawings from existing manga.... I went from drawing badly to pretty decent manga from my "copycat" skill and then I was able to draw it without reference. THIS is why??? I used to think I cheated because I didn't go through the traditional learning style
I relate to this, but with life photos T_T whenever I feel like that, I remember some of my favorite artists draw almost only from reference, and some of the most iconic paintings, are from reference. I think of realism and the amazing artists who have a hard time visualizing without photos. It helps remind me that photos are a tool like anything else.
I believe most of what you saying. You explain it in simple understandable terms. Reminds me of my art teacher yelling at me "draw what you see not what you know!!"
on the other hand, there is no "dominant" side of the brain. This whole idea of "left" vs "right" has been disproven. Just look up functions of the brain and you will see there isn't even a direct "right" or "left" side (amygdala & thalamus) for example. The amygdala is actually associated with emotion while this could also be the function of the "left" brain emotion is not strictly associated with the "left".
(ofc this is just what I remember from my high school psych class so honestly you could be right)
the idea of being having a left or right brained personality has indeed been disproven, but the concept of brain lateralization is factual, unless im tripping. this is clear in people who suffer brain damage, bc depending on the side of the brain that's damage, they tend to struggle with the functions that were performed by that hemisphere. of course, there isn't a task that's 100% done by the left or right side, they communicate through the corpus callosum and work together in that sense, but there's functions that are typically performed more by one side of the brain over the other. take a look at videos on split brain patients. ofc i tried to simplify the whole thing in this video and tie it back to art to try and make it understandable
Do you really think that they gave Dr Roger Sperry the Nobel Price for a theory that had no proofs and was debunked some years later? Of course reality is more complex, as always, but the basic principle is still valid.
def trying out these techniques. What ive been doing is similar to what youre explaining. I try to look at my references or things in real life im disecting as geometric forms. Squares triangles and rectangles. It helps a lot with proportion. I also try not to look at references as a "whole". Kinda like squinting ur eyes while observing the reference but not actually squinting you know? that also helps me get a general idea of what I gottta draw.
This was such a good summarization of The Right Side of the Brain that I was able to tell it was your inspiration before halfway into the video. Amazing!