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Zach Pipher
•
1mo
added comment inElements of Light and Shadow
Regrettably the light and shadow section has been very daunting and I haven't participated in the course since it started. I want to practice the older stuff and draw on my own before I feel ready to do it.
Zach Pipher
•
9mo
Asked for help
Ooh! This lesson is very exciting!
same here but it freaks me out when I saw the notification suddenly became 9, It turns out those are the 3d model. I love this game, and certainly will keep doing it from time to time.
Zach Pipher
•
10mo
Asked for help
This assignment is fun! I like the assignments where we can just use our imagination and explore ideas, when i'm not working on assignments I'm usually sketching from a model to learn about the shapes or design. So its nice to be able to take a break and just draw from imagination.
Zach Pipher
•
11mo
Asked for help
This project was really fun albeit more difficult then I was expecting. I definitely have lots to work on . But I definitely need to spend time on it being bad at it for a while so I can be a little more confident.
You got the idea of the cross-contour lines. For now, just focus more on the shape design itself. Putting more practice don't forget the old mistake, I believe your drawing will improve. Yeah, happy drawing! <3
Zach Pipher
•
11mo
Thanks Proko! I really love these lessons. My drawing has gotten so much better over the past year at an alarming rate based on how I've been the previously before this class.
Hey basics students, I'm sick and can't record right now. The next lesson on Cross Contour will be delayed till next week. Sorry!
Zach Pipher
•
1yr
Hey , I had a discussion point that has been in my mind extremely recently about the role fundamentals has in our art journey and some of my misconceptions that I had when starting the course and I thought the most recent video would be a better place for people to not miss it.
When I first started I think I had the misconception that art fundamentals were some how separate tool and knowledge from using reference when creating art. It goes back to the whole problem that has existed forever where people say using reference is "cheating" and that some how its supposed to be the end game for all artists to eventually never use reference ever again. And since you don't normally or if ever see the thousands of references artists use to create comics, manga, paintings, gallery pieces you may get into the mind set that they're just so advanced that they don't use references when they probably had lots just sitting out their studio they look at for a few seconds to make sure what they're doing still looks correct.
I also heard another new artist recently complaining that they were learning fundamentals but it didn't feel like they were any closer to drawing from imagination then when they started.
So this brings me to my biggest misconception I have had when I started the course. I thought using reference removed the need for fundamentals, where as fundamentals removed the need for references, when actually fundamentals allows for an artist to use references better then an artist that doesn't have those same fundamentals.
Conceptually it feels like a misconception that I had dealt with and I would love for someone who is seasoned or a professional to weigh in on their thoughts about it. Sort of, the small parts that make up the whole. Learning Line, Shape, perspective, on paper seems like it wouldn't be necessary when creating character art using a reference of a person in front of you that clearly as a picture is showing perspective and the shapes and possibly lines that could be extracted from it.
Does the fundamentals just give you a more solid conceptual grasp of what you're looking for when using a reference to draw something entirely different, like just using a model to not draw them as they are, but to use them as a starting point to make character art?
I know @Stan Prokopenko is very busy, but I would love to hear from anyone who is really seasoned and has gone through perhaps the same misunderstands as I have had and have till recently after a year and a half been slowly peeled back to understand the actual role fundamentals and reference has for an artist.
HI Zach. I'm not seasoned. So if you want me to delete this reply, I'll be glad to, no hard feelings.
But the topic intrigued me because it fit me to a tee when I started this course many moons ago. I had read "Drawing on the Right Side of your Brain" a long time ago and I assumed that all I had to do, to make art from a reference, is to turn off the left side of my brain (the side that wants to draw an eye like the CBS symbol) and turn on the right side and draw what I see.
I believe there is some value in that. But there is so many art concepts (a web or matrix as Stan puts it) that we draw upon and none of us puts down exactly what we see. We all make changes to it to make it more interesting, to make it tell a story, to give it more impact, to render it in our unique style. We add, we subtract, we modify. And all of the things we have been learning in this course give us the knowledge to do that and do it well.
One of the simplest concepts I've learned is putting down a confident line (well I learned the concept anyway). This is just one of dozens of fundamentals that we've covered. But I notice that my painting has improved because I am consciously using my whole arm and putting down strokes with confidence (pretending to be good)
These fundamentals have also opened my eyes to my own art and the art of others to see things I would have missed otherwise.
Thanks for the great topic and discussion.
•
1yr
The way I think of it, if drawing is a tradesman skill like carpentry or plumbing, the fundamentals is the know-how and the reference is a tool.
Art is a little different because the tools can be used in a variety of creative ways to get the job done.
Artists use reference in a ton of different ways and some use no reference at all.
I think that drawing from imagination is a muscle that takes a lot of time to develop and understanding the fundamentals is key.
Drawing is a language and the fundamentals are the alphabet and grammar that must be understood in order to effectively communicate an idea.
Part of learning how to draw is also learning how to study and it’s really impossible to study without material to work from. And that is where reference can help.
Reference is a tool, use it however suits you best.
Hope this helps. Good luck on your art journeys ⭐️
Zach Pipher
•
1yr
a lot of these lessons coming back after 6 months just have way more value then they did the first time I watched them.
Zach Pipher
•
1yr
Stan, I really like doing the practice assignments, They make me feel good because I feel successful when I do them. However I don't really spend time doing personal projects. Whenever I draw I just do the most recent lesson or a lesson from the past that I felt like I needed more time doing.
However I am worried though if I am stunting my growth by not drawing something for me- or rather something original, either from a reference or from imagination. How important would you say it is to make sure I spend a few days a week drawing for me and not doing old projects over and over again?@@
For reference I love drawing characters but they never look as good as I like them to. So i default to doing drawing that makes me feel comfortable.
Ive had the same issue where I feel im never "ready" to do my own projects that I want to do because I know I still have so much to learn and areas that I need to improve on. Lemme say after 3 years of doing nothing but exercises and mini studies, I still dont feel "ready" and ive seen pros talk about the same thing that youll never feel ready, you just have to jump in and do it anyway and dont be afraid of failure. The best way to learn is from your mistakes. One of the biggest things im noticing for me is that all the studies and exercises im doing are good and all but Ive never really put them into practice in a final piece. So even tho I understand the concepts of them, actually making it all work together in one piece is another skill that needs to be practiced. Making time to draw what you want and have fun is just as important as doing studies and exercises because speaking from personal experience, you can get burnt out pretty quick only doing rigid boring exercises. You can also try to find a way to implement those exercises into something you want to draw. Ive seen art work that wasnt like super crazy detailed or rendered but it got the idea across and thats what made it interesting.
Chief I feel you, I've been in the cycle of fundamentals practice > get fed up > try a personal project > fail miserably > repeat for 3 years now.
I sincerely hope to finish this year being able to draw my own works. To this effect I embarked on a bit of a journey to completing a personal project this past month, big reason why you haven't seen much from me bar that very rushed picture during this past assignment.
It's in your best interests to keep on studying what Stan has taught us so far and try and "see" these theoretical concepts in the works that you like. Art is very much a subject that requires a lot of "understanding" in many fields and while it's often times best to figure these things out on your own, feel free to ask around for advice or a few nudges here and there. For example try to see the VPs and the "boxes" in drawings. Ask yourself "where did this artist put weight on his lines", "what shapes did they use" etc. So you can start building knowledge to make the pieces that you want.
A nudge that I can give you is to find mistakes in artwork that you like. I was very surprised when I put the piece that motivated me to draw under the lens and noticed that it wasn't at all anatomically correct. The artist had made a great piece out of a pose that shouldn't work, their understanding of the subject being so good that only people with a certain knowledge would see it from the get go. In my opinion that's being a great artist.
Something you can try is incorporating some of the lessons in designing/ drawing your characters. Using the lessons about shape and perspective to construct some cool poses for example.
Zach Pipher
•
1yr
I've really enjoyed working on this project. Recently, I found the courage to draw something personally meaningful, not just my daily practice exercises. I used this technique from this lesson to create a drawing of a character I really like, incorporating an interesting perspective. It was the first time I felt I could apply the lessons to something I'm passionate about. I have just been feeling so scared to draw for myself because it feels so safe just grinding the lessons every day for hours.
