I know the question is about local artists, but still wanna advice a good place to meet and communicate with artists online. Some artists you like may have discord servers. Join them and see what you can do there! It's a good idea to start communicating with people there. Such servers often have both other artists you can become friends with and also people who can appreciate your art

Hey, @ni I think this is a public utility matter. :) I’d love to share some thoughts. Over time, I’ve tried various ways, and I’ve found each one lead to a different experience and different effects in my learning process. Here’s a quick summary of what I remember having done: - DILIGENT STUDYING - to me, this means taking plenty of notes and making diagrams of my own, often combining visuals and texts as I feel works best, and also watching the video lessons as many times as I feel I need. I used to do this a lot a few years ago when I had more time to dedicate exclusively to study, especially when I was studying intricate topics for the first time, such as anatomy or perspective. Studying in this way, of course, required A LOT of time and brain effort, but it helped me learn much more effectively and retain a lot more, too. I’m attaching a few examples of notes I’ve taken in different courses. I’ve also found myself going back to my own notes several times as a material from which I could review the lessons without having to re-watch the videos. - QUICK NOTES ON THE GO - In some courses I’ve taken, I was already somewhat familiar with the subject, so I didn’t feel I needed to put as much time and effort as when I was attempting to learn something new. In those cases, I’d just watch the lessons once and take quick written notes as reminders and reinforcements of the information, sometimes pausing the video while writing. Often, I’d also combine note-taking with grabbing screenshots, especially when I was interested in learning more about an instructor’s particular point of view or visual examples over the subject being taught. - JUST WATCH - This is what I do more often nowadays - not because I prefer, though, sadly! 😅 My wife and I are both working full time while raising a 2-year old son without a nanny amidst a bloated economy, so there’s hardly any time left in our week for anything else. Luckily for me, I believe that what I’ve learned up to now in terms of art fundamentals and techniques is enough for me to make the kind of art I like, so I spend most of my art time focusing on creating personal projects rather than studying. But, even though I can’t currently have as much dedicated study time in my schedule, I do my best to keep a minimal effort in “absorbing” new information, in listening to different instructors talk about topics I already know of or in reviewing lessons I haven’t seen in a while. I might stop to grab a screenshot here or there, but I practically never take notes now because this is often a multitasking moment, as I watch/re-watch videos or listen to podcasts while commuting, doing the dishes or working on something light that doesn’t require too much attention. It works for me right now, given the current status of my life! But it's certainly not the ideal scenario for learning, so I don’t recommend it for anyone who has the possibility of giving thoughtful and dedicated attention to their study time. Thanks for bringing up this useful topic! Hope my comments can provide help in some way. Best regards!

@Stan Prokopenko Hi! Can you please add a deadline for being included in feedback video to assignment description?

Stan, thank you so much for creating this video. This is honestly amazing that you're being attentive to people's struggles and put your time to talk about such topics. I think this is especially important for basics course, as beginners have the toughest artistic battles both in their hands and in their minds. We really appreciate you caring for us. This is always so heart-warming to see teachers who are gentle and understanding towards beginners... It also helped me better understand what you really mean by level 2 student. "Have an experience with course topics, not necessarily advanced experience" is exactly about me, and I thought I was level 1 student! "When you have the knowledge, but can't draw it right" is also extremely about me!! I did have another basics and perspective course in the past, even anatomy one. So I have a knowledge, but didn't practice enough outside of course little homework, so I felt like I shouldn't dare to attempt level 2 projects, since my skill isn't "enough" yet Your video helped me understand that I was wrong, and should challenge myself more already! Just the fact I can't do it right doesn't mean I shouldn't attempt it — on the contrary! Such a simple idea to be honest, and yet it was missing from my brain lol. I will attempt previous level 2 assignments now, and will attempt new ones as they come. Again, can't express enough how thankful I'm to you for creating this video. Love you, no homo.

The thought that I could be a lil' bit messy and correct myself on top of the previous lines instead of constantly erasing was honestly liberating. I might've gone too dark to what's supposed to be a sketch, but it was fun!

@Stan Prokopenko sorry, but what's the deadline to be included in the critique? I think it's missing from both level assignments description.

Day 14 Last day of challenge and first day of trying to quit smoking lol — it made me extremely frustrated and impatient, object after object I started and erased, unable to focus After a little meltdown I gave up and just started freehanding boxes in perspective. And then cutting off shapes inside them, in freehand perspective as well. I finally...calmed down There's something relaxing in how precise perspective is — once you know the theory, you've got all the answers, you only need to nail down the execution. Which isn' ideal on my part but whatever i'm not in my best shape rn as you might've guessed :D

Day 13 A heater drawn from observation, but I tried to construct it without looking much

Day 12: A character and map icon from Hollow Knight game

Day 11/14 - wall lamp drawing the lamp could be a pretty good warmup excercise, similar to the toadstool exercise that Stan showed us. This lamp is comprised of multiple circles of different diameter - you can add elliptical or circular decorations to the lamp for more practice.

Day 12-14-239 Just tried the gas pump again. I think the left side is ok but the right side needs work I'll try again tomorrow.

Day 12. Is it really day 12 already? Time surely flies. Brought out my lil anvil today, but it was pretty lackluster so I added a ring for additional challenge. Yup, that's the anvil that my clown budget has allowed me to get, but I like it! My drawing of it had a little elongation incident... :)

That was fun! 10/14

Day 11: We took a train trip today. I tried drawing the view from my seat (omitting the other passengers). The lines are wobblier than usual as the train would sway and bump as we traveled.

Day 11: Puss in Boots! Drawn from poster reference

Day 10 sketch from photo Definitely rushed it too much I also keep posting in the wrong place lol

Day 9 Sketched empty candy box and my earphones

Day 8: step ladder I noticed that I sketch too slowly. Wanted to see whether I will be able to capture the essentials of a complex object and draw it recognizable, while not wasting more than 15-20 min. It looks a bit whacky of course, and some proportions aren't right. But it is a ladder! And it's accurate enough to be placed in some kind of background, outside of main picture's focus. So I'm more or less satisfied. I would make steps a bit thinner though, and fix the perspective of top step

Expected boots to be harder, but nah, snail is far harder to simplify! It's far too organic compared to boots. Although laces were too wild, to be honest :D Currently I struggle most with lay-in phase. I'm not sure how the process should go and try different things all at once. First I try to construct the object from simpler shapes (but fail). Next I try to measure the basics proportions, e.g. how many times the width of the boot can fit its height or the length from heel to toe. Breaking up the object in halves, thirds and forths helps too. Next I start drawing major contours constantly comparing curret shape I'm drawing with shapes/contours around it. I'm probably doing something right, but I'm not sure what and how it should be done exactly. Hope the demo will make it clear!