Time audits...I do these, I know my chronotype and what times are best suited for what tasks, and yet if I schedule it in too strictly, despite well-considered NSDR (non-sleep deep recovery) breaks, it only works for a week at best, and then massive resistance and I have to change things up. Would love to know if anyone knows how to manage this kind of problem. Re: epiphanies, glad for the caution at the end. I think looking for answers is helpful and may or may not lead to an epiphany, but seeking them for their own sake seems like a good way of setting yourself up for reward prediction error.

Also, both of you wonderful answer about supporting your classmates and getting out of the mindframe of competition. Beautiful! 💖💖💖

Oh my Goodness, @Stan Prokopenko !!! I love you SO much in this moment!!! I've been struggling with photographing my graphite work for sooooooooo long in my teensy Japanese room - just crazy! I had the angle info, but didn't even think about polarizing lenses or sheets - and probably wouldn't ever have gotten to the idea of combining them on my own. This is so wonderfully helpful. Thank you SO MUCH!!! 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

It was really fun hearing your enthusiasm for the topic and experiences with it, Stan!

This went in some interesting directions. I wish you had talked about the impact of consuming so much visual content on screens, particularly in terms of the developmental impact that has on us as visual artists as we continuously strive to improve upon our craft.

Hi Yoni. How do we purchase/access this tool and the previous ones on your page? How are they different from the one that Stan just posted? Thank you.

5/16: 4 weeks later, I've switched to actual charcoal, finals are over, and I've rewarded myself with the pleasure of guilt-free doing nothingness for a few days which makes me wonder how people do nothing all day because I feel horrible not doing anything LOL (so not quite guilt free i guess). I didn't realize it's been that long. Since then I've moved on to the robo bean and gotten frustrated at my suckiness. All the work from the past 4 weeks is right here (in the reply thread), sectioned out. Feedback appreciated! @Liandro @Diego Lucia @Jesper Axelsson And updates on personal life, I've signed up for Marshall's perspective bootcamp and Kirk's analytical figure drawing class! Also planning to take perspective at CDA as well, so I can get my fundies up to scratch. My mom said she'd support my art classes as long as I keep up with school (AWESOME!). Really excited to see the launch of Proko 2.0! I'll try to post more often, the announcement of Proko 2.0's launch date made me realize I didn't post in forever (and should probably post before it launched for one more round of feedback before I'd likely have to pay for the feedback hehehehheh). Thanks @Stan Prokopenko @Mike Jara and the Proko team for the incredible work they do for the art community and acting as a gateway for aspiring (or curious) artists everywhere! Y'all changed my life :) ..hopefully I'll post more often than every 3-4 weeks from now on LOL

Hi Jo. I’m not an oil painter, but I did consider it and did lots of exploration and research. So here a bit of info based on what I found. Oils are going to take days to weeks to dry to the touch, and 6 months to a couple of years to “cure”. There are faster drying oil paints, but mainly they achieve this by using a faster drying additive, also available as a separate medium - and that means that there is less pigment. An important consideration if you are painting in layers with oil paints is the concept of “fat over lean”. The less oil in a layer, the more quickly it will dry. The more oil or “fat” the longer it will take to dry. If you put a thinned out, or paint mixed with a quick drying medium on top of a layer that has a lot of fat, or painted thickly that takes longer to dry, you might get cracking. Slower drying on top of faster drying, and the layers bond together nicely. The fumes are from the solvents used for cleaning and thinning, not the paints themselves, and the odorless kind can be just as dangerous, some say more so. If you plan to use them, make sure you have great ventilation and take appropriate precautions. Some people avoid using solvents altogether, and use oil to clean brushes. Think ancient Roman baths. Another option for easier oil paint cleanup is the water soluble oil paints. I mainly used the ones by Holbein. These have a kind of soap-like ingredient, so they can be thinned with water (instead of solvents) while doing underpainting layers, and clean up easily with conditioning brush soap and water. I don’t know what it’s like now, but in early days I had good luck with this website getting the lay of the land, https://oilpaintingwithethan.com/ The more I hear about NMA the more impressed I am, so as @Liandro mentioned, that’s probably a great way to go. Good luck! I hope this helps a little and you have fun with it!

Hey @Jo Sheridan, I'm no expert in oils at all, but I've taken a few classes a few years ago and hopefully my modest feedback can be of some help. Have you tried getting information at you local art supply store already? Sometimes the salespeople can help with some of the basic information, such as tips on use of the materials, types of surfaces to paint on etc. When I studied oil painting back in 2010, I used to buy canvases that came already stretched on a wooden frame because they where practical. I hardly remember using linseed oil because I really loved the feel and texture of the thick paint, but I learned its main use is to function as a thinner to make the paint more fluid and less opaque. I remember noticing that that some colors used to dry faster than others, but in general, oil paint usually takes a few days to dry, sometimes over a week - so yeah, you can leave it for a while and come back later. I always used an upright easel because I found it more comfortable to work on, and it also eliminated the perspective distortions of a horizontal surface. From what I know of your work, I'm guessing it might probably be better for you to work like that too - although, overall, I'd say using an upright easel is not absolutely essential (I mean, look at Jackson Pollock...) Another thing I found to be extremely useful was a sleek surface to mix the paint on (I used a wooden palette which had a layer of "formica" on top, which is sort of a painted and varnished covering sheet). But I've also seen some artists using glass surfaces instead to mix paint. As for the fumes, yeah, I think it's always something to be careful about, but you can reduce the risks by painting in open rooms and well ventilated areas. I remember using turpentine and Ecosolv, which was similar, but had a less strong odor. I think nowadays there might be less harmful options of solvents, so it's always good to do some research and consider what's available to you. And I've found some beginner-friendly courses on Oil Painting at New Masters Academy, maybe you might want to check out: . https://www.nma.art/videolessons/oil-paintings-basics/ . https://www.nma.art/videolessons/introduction-to-oil-painting-for-beginners-part-1-drawing-concepts-review/ Hope this helps! :)

Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Stan!!! You and your team have done an amazing job! Super excited for you!

This in an interesting case @TeResA Bolen . Could you let me know which specific videos you were not notified on? Which email announcement did you find out about them? Let me know these details and I'll investigate further.

Wow! This is a densely packed lesson! Thank you 😊. I’m very much interested in the topic and concepts you discussed, but I kept getting distracted watching what you were doing on Ps, so much so fast and furious, looked like a magician! (I’ve only ever used 2 brushes and the eraser and opacity for highly rendered pieces 😅, so I know next to nothing.) How much faster is the video than your working speed?

Hi Tom! I love your drive and the studies look good from what i can see of them. A bit blurry when I click and zoom in. My personal experience is that the more drawing I do the less tight I am and more intentional the line i make. I think the line quality just comes from training and drawing. Mileage. I don't know of any kind of secret to it other than time spent drawing. On top of that the ability to make good line quality has a diminishing return. If I try to power through a long study block without breaks my drawings will start to get worse. After a 5 minute break though it's better again. Have you noticed a similar thing happen?

From the time of my last post to now: I'm very lucky to be friends with someone who's my age and goes to artcenter and even more lucky to have him as a private mentor. Under his instruction I've started doing less 2 minute poses and more 1, 5, and 10 minute poses, which makes it kind of awkward for me to post all of them at once. The 1 minute poses will be on the main post, and the 5 and 10 minute poses will be on separate replies under this post. I'll talk about each of the time limits as I get to them. As for 1 minute, I didn't expect it to be so short. In my head I was like "oh its double 30 seconds thats forever" but then actually trying it I ran out of time super quickly. I started to get a handle on the time but still struggle with drawing the gesture of the legs from the front or the back. I remember the "2 c curves for the leg from the front" tip Stan said, but am still really shaky with legs in general. Any tips? As always, feedback appreciated! @Liandro @Diego Lucia @Jesper Axelsson

The time from my last post to this post: It's a funny thing bc once I forget to post my work on the site one week I say to myself "oh I'll just post it next sunday." And then I forget the next week. And just like that another 3 weeks pass. It's painfully obvious to me that I don't do enough of these beans. Maybe it's because I find it easy and decide to tackle other things. But I do need to do more of these. I find my bean proportions are still sometimes slightly off and very often don't feel exaggerated enough, though that obviously comes with more practice. The practice time I decide to investigate other things with concerning art, which are personally more enjoyable and interesting to me than the bean. Though I don't think that's a really valid excuse, it does make me feel a bit better LOL. Feedback appreciated (ignore any other drawings that are not the bean for this, they'll be in my other posts in appropriate lessons. Though the koala mannequization I did isn't. Probably bc it looks like its out of a nightmare)! @Liandro @Diego Lucia @Jesper Axelsson

Hi @TeResA Bolen 👋🏼 If I understand correctly, the bell dissappears from view. If you can replicate it, could you please take a screenshot on your ipad and upload them here. Thank you!

Have you looked around at @Irshad Karim ’s Draw A Box? I haven’t done it, but I hear good things from other members here - it might be worth taking a look around. Good luck ☺️.

Hi everyone! Here is my Pink Challenge! It took me some time. My goals were to have fun and learn, to present something complete (even if not perfect) in a composition that I liked. Here is the procedure that I followed: 1. I drew many Pink Panthers from the old cartoons (with my son) to become familiar with the character - and have fun 2. I studied the character from the anatomical point of view - I used these resources: - Proko Anatomy Course - Anatomy books - Web resources - Introduction to Animal Anatomy by Marshall Vandruff 3. I drew several preparatory sketches - as I have not yet studied anatomy in depth, I preferred to focus on the skeleton - the muscular representation is only sketched, more difficult    4. I combined everything together in a composition that I liked (actually I started from the very beginning thinking about the composition, drawing many thumbnails, and changing my mind several times) Thank you @Stan Prokopenko for choosing me as a beta tester, I never thanked you before for this