Jeff Watts is one of the most skilled draftsmen I know and he knows a lot when it comes to line quality. In this bonus lesson, he’ll give us some great insight on how to think about lines in our drawings.
Newest
Gannon Beck
11d
"...part what you see, part what you know, part what you wish you saw." That's brilliant.
Gabi Gueron
4mo
I liked this a lot.
My weaknesses are legion. Line stroke quality is an issue, though I keep practicing. The overhand grip seems years ahead of me, though I am learning to use the arm and not just the wrist. In a way it’s analogous to learning a new alphabet, or to write kanji with a brush.
But my biggest block is to focus on the objective of an exercise , specially when the image is so compelling that my mind can’t give up on the right proportions or making it “look right”. I seem to lack a switch to turn in or off (I’ve recently discovered I have ADHD-TI..)
I wonder if this will change once I’m more comfortable making proportions.
Ok, this is starting to sound like a journal post.
Julian Blake
4mo
Wow! This guy is so wise and clever. It's like a tougher version of Marshall lol! He is a bit intimidating, because he knows so much and communicates so well and confidently. He threw such complex bombs of wisdom in such a casual yet very articulate manner, I had to stop many times to take notes. Very intelligent and talented artist! You can feel all his years of study, knowledge and hard work. An inspiration indeed! Thanks so much for this!
The guy from BluishDot
6mo
A lot of interesting points and really inspiring. Thank you.

Jon Passig
6mo
Jeff the goat
N. Yeagy
6mo
Thank you for sharing, Jeff; he is inspiring.

@bonnieblue
6mo
Jeff says to set specific goals to keep moving forward. At this stage, what are my goals besides learn to draw or improve? I'm floundering here, i cant find the forrest OR the trees, specific daily/ weekly goals might help. The obvious goal is to draw everyday, but Jeff is talking about something more specific & meaningful. I'd like to know what please.
Julian Blake
4mo
I've felt the same for many years, but with this course I've seen I've improved in little more than a month more than I had done in like 5 years since I started learning how to draw. And I think that what has helped me improve is that this course is giving you the specific information that you can turn into your specific goals, that is, improving line quality, improving shape design, improving proportions etc. Of course all of them are important, but you can set your goals to improve in one specific area for a while, and then moving on to the other and so on. Another thing that has helped me a lot is doing the master studies, and drawing along with Stan in his demos, and taking notes on his decision-making process. Similar to Pedro who commented above, doing boxes and cylinders Peter Han style just made me hate drawing, but with the master studies and the demos, I've improved tons and my motivation has increased as well. Probably because I feel i am actually drawing something, not just doing abstract stuff.
I think part of your problem and your question is that when you ask the questions, they lack a complement: learning to draw "what"? Improving "what"? Without that complement, you'll be lost.
So your goals can be specific aspects that the course is giving us: line, shapes, proportions etc. Your goals can be to improve your line weight through master studies and your own practice. Do that a month or some weeks, then shapes and so on. Draw everyday, but draw with a specific learning purpose. If your proportions or shading are wrong, but your goal is improving line quality, proportions and shading don't matter, just do your best in your line quality. You don't even have to shade at all. You can study the other aspects as learning goals later, and in a similar way.
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Scott
6mo
Howdy! Sorry to hear you feel like you're floundering. It's a feeling that all artists experience. The important thing is to keep going!
Having studied both at Watts and here on Proko I can speak a little to what Jeff probably meant by setting goals.
Jeff speaks pretty regularly about systematically eliminating your weaknesses. This means identifying what isn't working in your regular practice/finished works and specifically targeting those issues with deliberate, mindful practice. For example, let's say you've been following along with these lessons and you've been constructing simple objects around your house. You notice after completing your practice that your proportions are all over the place. In your next study session you'd prioritize (over other skills) ensuring your proportions are as accurate as possible. Other areas of the drawing (shading, line weight, etc) may suffer because you're really focusing on your proportions. Rinse and repeat for all these different areas of study (line weight, edges, values). This also applies to specific forms/objects. For example, hands can be really difficult. If you're drawing a lot of figures and keep struggling with hands that probably means you don't understand the form of the hand (or you've forgotten the information, which will happen if you don't regularly revisit complex topics). You'd set a goal to sit down and study hand anatomy or drawings of hands from other artists.
The idea is to be mindful, be honest with yourself about what is and isn't working, and purposefully execute and study. It's also important to draw for yourself and not make everything an exercise. Invention and creativity are separate skill sets from the technical science of drawing/painting.
Sorry for the novel! I feel you with the frustration. Just know that literally everyone here in this forum, and every teacher you'll study with has experienced these same struggles. The importance lies in accepting where your skills are and moving forward.
Cheers!
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@pedrobranco
6mo
Yeah I would like to know too. I've started 2 years ago and by now I'm so tired of doing boxes and cylinders. I got back into figure and anatomy today since I've been fumbling my live drawing classes only to find that I still can't do any of it. One week I can see the "important relations" next week it's all gone and I'm back to trying to "write" my drawings. I also still can't shade worth a cent.
If it's any help I've been copying everything in "Fun with a pencil" by Loomis. I've also already copied Bridgman's Anatomy close to twice by now. I guess the big issue with this question is that there's way too much you can focus on and it is all somewhat necessary in the long run.
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Zach Pipher
6mo
Something fun i heard today in my watch though was how Jeff mentioned something about 10 tones. And it made me laugh because our only lesson was with half of that to warm us up.
Philippe Girard
6mo
10 is witchcraft wtf
Zach Pipher
6mo
i've been watching this every day sense it came out and i feel like i keep hearing new things i didnt quite get the first time through. Trying my best to soak up everything Jeff Watts has to say. I keep hearing things that i heard before, but on each consecutive watch though i understand a new thing he said that didnt come across on the previous viewings.
Zach Pipher
6mo
"Show you a picture that is closer to where your at" Proceeds to show something i'm years away from drawing anything close to that.
Dave Sakamoto
6mo
What does Jeff mean when he says his drawing has a tonal feel? Sorry, I'm a novice to artistic terms.

Jeremiah Anglin
6mo
It essentially means that the drawing it composed of shapes of relative values that transition into one another with a particular edge (hard,soft,firm,etc.). It mimics more so how light falls on a form in real life than say hatching or crosshatching.
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Dave Sakamoto
6mo
Jeff said that his drawing exemplifies a heavy calligraphic style of drawing. What does he mean by calligraphic? Calligraphy is the art of beautiful handwriting. Is he saying that his drawing has a handwriting style? And if so, what is that?

Jeremiah Anglin
6mo
A calligraphic style is kind of your own personal signature that makes it recognizable. For instance in observational drawing you could draw what you see while also adding bits of what you would like to see in the picture, adding your own personal style to it.
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VAGABOND
6mo
A lot of information and inspiration to keep driving forward. Really good video
julia pace
6mo
inspiring
S Beauchamp
6mo
That was awesome, really loved the nuanced discussion especially around choosing what kind of edges to use.
S Beauchamp
6mo
was there a link to buy a skull cast? did I imagine that?
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Samantha Maggard
6mo
Very informative and inspiring!
Philippe Girard
6mo
Damn, he really looks like a buff Marshall lol
Great lesson, very insightful.
Zach Pipher
6mo
This is the funniest comment
J B
6mo
Really insightful, thanks Jeff for sharing your knowledge!
Browny Sparks
6mo
I'm glad you brought on Jeff to talk about this stuff. I feel like the more exciting things reveal themselves as you move further into art and get deeper into more advanced topics. And I'm not someone who generally looks at other people's art that much and forget why I got into this in the first place, so seeing a master's work and his explanation of some of the more advanced things in a simplified way for beginners is definitely an inspirational boost! :D
Thank you Jeff and Stan! I hope to see more guests in future lessions as well to stoke my inner art fire.
Thank you!
Chris W
6mo
God damn...
I guess I will be setting up goals for myself, like Jeff said. I will try to draw more often. Especially with still life drawings, since they are much easier to do, and I can apply fundamentals that I learned here.
That was a great video, I will do more thinking when drawing, and not just doing it by the feeling.
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About instructors
Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.