This message is spot on. The foundation of drawing is observing proportions. I can’t even fathom why someone would bother learning any kind of fancy rendering techniques until he or she has a good grasp of getting proportions right by eye. It’s like decorating a house before the foundation is even built.

@petewerehere

Жыл бұрын

They care more about having done art than actually doing it

@christofthedead

Жыл бұрын

Some people enjoy fancy rendering techniques more than they enjoy getting proportions right by eye. It's a similar phenomenon that led to interior decoration & house building becoming different industries/careers. Why do you think drawing, inking & colouring are different professions in the comic book industry? Not being able to fathom why different people enjoy different things is both a weird flex & a flimsy soapbox.

@Ahrone1586

Жыл бұрын

@@christofthedead 🤡

@keepyourshoesathedoor

Жыл бұрын

@@christofthedead Some people can’t process that not everyone wants to draw the same way as them. I agree with you, dude.

@GayToBeHere

Жыл бұрын

@@christofthedead OP's comment reminds me of the saying "learn realism before you learn to draw cartoon". As much as it can be applied to adult art students, it is very understandable that people who draw just for fun will ignore that! And you know, drawing for fun as a kid is a good way to get into art~

I was too lazy to draw the grids when i did portraits when i started learning on my own, i just kept eyeballing it. At first the proportions were always off and wonky, but eventually in time, i got used to the relationships of certain body/facial parts and it only got better from there. I'm glad being lazy helped me in a way I didn't expect.

@krystallindsey3378

Жыл бұрын

Yes I experienced this too. I didn't like having to draw the grids before doing the actual drawing. I just wanted to get to it.

@jonasbahn1466

Жыл бұрын

i know right? i used to always feel ashamed bc the grid-based tutorials with all their different tricks never really clicked with me, now i'm glad that i stuck to practicing the way i felt was right

@rinatennouji5988

Жыл бұрын

Tbh you can just use a notebook with grids already in it, but I agree that practice is necessary.

@Adam-kx2tp

Жыл бұрын

It's not laziness but actually passion.

@seatongrey315

Жыл бұрын

I started experiencing this but then listened to a ton of other popular artists who say construction is critical. It really made drawing a draining chore....Maybe I should go back to that freedom.

I was taught to draw completely freehand. When I saw the concept of using a grid in an art book, I loved how precise it was! And then I was taught tracing and projectors in another class. Although all have had their place in my art, there's nothing like picking up a pencil and just sketching! Thanks for the thoughts, very good advice.

@GayToBeHere

Жыл бұрын

Honestly tracing can give very poor results if you don't understand how the figure under works. My art teacher would encourage everyone to trace photos when most students didn't even know the basis for drawing people. Results were wonky af and lifeless.

@SUGAR_XYLER

Жыл бұрын

@@GayToBeHere exactly. I can't get into grids or tracing

@Koffling

Жыл бұрын

@@SUGAR_XYLER I used a grid for the first time the other day because I had to do a mural based on a very detailed digital drawing. I worked out great. :) definitely a huge help when translating a design from 8 to 120 cm...they're just tools.

@SDW90808

11 ай бұрын

@@GayToBeHere I like to trace to practice my line work, BUT... a big thing I've noticed is the original drawing doesn't always make sense to me, particularly in areas with detail. So, it's not a perfect solution. One thing that's helped step up my game is doing ink drawings of portraits from Earthsworld/Instagram/Google. I do these on cheap copy paper every morning, knowing they are disposable sketches, although I'll often scan them for later reference. A long winded way of saying I agree. lol

@fatherofdragons5477

10 ай бұрын

The different rewards you get with the different methods:: Seeing WHAT you can draw Seeing what YOU can draw

Got back into drawing 8 months ago after getting burned out some 4 years ago as I was just focused on studying "perfect" proportions on youtube videos (the easy, surgarcoated ones). Mind you, at that time I was drawing with a graphic tablet, and the stress of getting it right, creating something nice to look at was just too much for me. I got back into drawing with just some paper and a ballpoint pen, not caring about mistakes, making them permanent and still drawing over them, and as I got back, I found myself just wanting to "know" about some methods to get proportions down and completely disregard them most of the times, trusting my eyes first, which is actually extremely hard, but so much rewarding when it looks just "right. Something I noticed helped me is to look way more at the reference than I do at the paper, it takes time to get used to it but it's a game changer. I've been enjoying drawing ever since, and I'm now drawing at least once a month for the past 3 months, and I've just become so much better, each time I finish a sketch, I just notice how I'm getting better at something, little by little. Consistence is key. If you feel let down by drawings of yours just look at them, and look at much less recent ones, and you'll see just how much better you are, so keep going! Those are just some thoughts from a beginner artist, hope that can help someone out - or if it doesn't, it just felt nice to share. Wish everyone here a lovely life, and a great drawing time!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

I am sure you will help more than someone. And you’re so right looking more at the subject than at your paper works

@Hana-sd2ne

Жыл бұрын

Can someone please recommend me some other videos of Mr.Dunn that are relevant to this comment, particularly this part of the comment where it said “looking at the reference rather than the paper help with working the proportion of the subject more effectively.” Any other videos that provide helpful tips on that kind of topic?

@brownie3580

Жыл бұрын

Something my art teacher said to me was to draw what you see, not what you think you see - particularly when trying to draw 3d stuff in real life with perspective-. Its easy to try to imagine the stuff you see beind the apple, but if you try to draw what you think you see it wont come out good, you gotta (look at the reference) and literally just draw what you see and stick to it

@footytakeout

Жыл бұрын

@@alphonsodunn When I was a kid, I drew video game characters, however it's been about 16 years since I left all of that. I'm trying to get back into drawing but as a beginner. So I would like to know which of your Playlist would you recommend I start from?

@okaden1015

Жыл бұрын

@@Hana-sd2ne basically, as my art teacher said, and what the comment below your's says: draw what you see, not what you think you see. Study the reference, spend a good minute just looking at the reference before beginning. And once you start drawing, compare the 2 constantly. You should spend almost double the time looking at the reference than at your own photo. I hope this clears some things up. If you have any other questions, I would be more than willing to answer away

*Don't take shortcuts. I started drawing during the lockdown and worked through Alphonso's Pen & Ink Drawing workbook and textbook* . I did all of the exercises including the 30+ final drawings at the end of the workbook. My thoughts? Fabulous. Even if you draw or paint, ink is not only an unforgiving medium but forces you to be confident. Not going to lie: I made plenty of mistakes and had to redo a number of pages, but by the end of the workbook I didn't. *Figure Drawing Tips* I've worked on portraits and figure drawings since then, and I've posted some examples in the original comment, but YT keeps taking them down. In any case, what you take from these exercises will help the integration of your mind and body and help you see proportions and shapes better. As for figure drawing, I started with construction lines but no longer use them and draw interlocking shapes (Bridgman calls it wedging) directly and figure out the proportion with my eye. Why not use construction lines? Because people have different proportions from the Loomis and other construction techniques. Great way to learn and that's what I did, but you understand its limitations the more you draw figures. How long did that take? Oh, about a 1000 figure drawings.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

So inspiring! Thanks for sharing!

@leif1075

11 ай бұрын

​@@alphonsodunnThanks for shsring.xan you share what pen or pencil you are using here.and can you shareany tips on how to learn faster especially if you deal with ADD and depression and get discouraged easily? And do any of your videos cover how to learn to draw caricatures or caricature type.drawings quickly and easily? And how do you make such a long process like he posts above fun and enjoyable and not so time consuming ? Thanks for sharing.

😍😍😍 love watching your sketches come together! I am nearly 70 and have spent 55 of those years as a commercial artist and illustrator, after being thrown out of school for doing nothing but doodle. When it comes to drawing figures from the imagination, the SPINE HAS IT ALL! The weight of the attitude, how the head is angled, how the pelvis and shoulders turn and tilt... All of this depends on the spine.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

So true. The spine twists and turn and determines the angle of the axes

Hey Alphonso I started drawing at 12 and 13 and I'm proud to say I'm a free hand drawer I refuse to trace and use lightbox and I'm proud of it!!!!!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Such a great well structured video. I think a lot of the time students get too focused on the specifics of “perfect proportions” and matching their study to look exactly like the reference that they forget to look to see if the study actually looks right. Just because a study doesn’t mimic the ref exactly, doesn’t mean it’s a bad drawing 😤

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. Those works are often much more expressive

I always thought I was being lazy by not measuring out everything perfectly and just eyeing it. 😅Thank you so much for giving me a boost in confidence!

@tblack9711

Жыл бұрын

Same here.

Having just gone through a year of training up my proportions, I have this to say: every tool can be used as either a shortcut, or an error correction method. At the start of the process, I did some tracing in digital, using my phone and a capacitive stylus(the cheapest way to draw on a screen), and made the source material progressively more blurry so that I had to interpret more of the shape. This trained a lot of awareness of what proportions were, because I could see that every time I did this with a figure, I could maintain accuracy of the larger shapes but started to guess with the small ones and flatten out hands and heads. So I observed whole shapes, rather than lines. Later, I did some gesture drawing, using my desktop and a non-screen tablet. Here, I made a quadrant grid to start the sketch and give me a reference point for where my center is relative to the reference's center. This helped a little, but I was still working in digital, and what I noticed with digital was that the latency, aliasing, smoothing, scaling, and disconnected feel of a desktop tablet all made things more confusing and inconsistent: If I'm watching a cursor on a 60hz screen, the cursor is always at least 16 milliseconds behind what I'm doing, which means I can't easily adjust a line while I make it. This thought led me to compare screen vs not more closely and see what other people on KZread were using: my conclusion was that if you're really drawing for accuracy, you're probably going to gravitate towards traditional or a screen tablet. All the animators, in particular, seem to use large displays - and you know they're drawing a ton. But if you're rough sketching, painting, making edits, the difference matters a lot less, because you can go back and sculpt the shape. Finally, I moved towards ink sketching, and my main study project became to copy every page of Morpho. Here, I started applying sight-size and comparative measurement. I didn't pressure myself to get things perfect, just to make one attempt at each image. The first few pages looked like my gestures: I used a quadrant and rushed through each one. Gradually I introduced more use of sight-size, picking up the sketchbook to line it up with the source. By around page 100, I had had some breakthroughs, became increasingly fastidious, and could start using just my eye and my pen more and more. After another 100 pages I became more interested in comparative measurement just so that I wasn't constantly picking up the book. I had also learned some ways of disguising my prospecting marks. I've finished the book now and have started the same project with Ken Hultgren: Art of Animal Drawing, and I found that it taught me some new things about proportion because the style of drawing is different, not because the text had any advice on proportions. So my conclusion is that actually, it's not about whether these techniques are shortcuts, it's about "isolation practice": study of each of the techniques deeply, like Bruce Lee's "one kick 10,000 times", and you get more comfortable at accessing an overall sense of proportion; copying a book full of similar drawings builds up familiarity for that material. And at the very beginning, it's less frustrating to use techniques with very strong error correction, which tracing and grids do: you just have to also progress to other forms of training. I actually have a grid drawing book I'm planning to go through, because I'm pretty sure a more intensive use of grids will show me some new things.

Thank you! Now I know I'm not wasting my time just drawing! I've been banging away at it with no Loomis method, no nothing, just hours of work!

Many years ago trying to draw a portrait for a commission, and drawing draft after draft, using various methods and even trying to just draw it. In the end what was holding me back was something I learned in a sculpting class I had taken many years prior to that in which I learned that a nose was two eyeballs long. When I really looked at my reference images of the individual, I realized that the nose was almost three eyeballs long. Since then, I have strived to always see what is there, then draw what I see, not rely on perfect world models.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Precisely! In fact thats the way we should use models: As a base upon which you make adjustments, not as a “one size fits all” for all subjects.

My favorite tool has been a proportional divider. I try not to depend on it too heavily but I find it’s a great way to check my work when things seem a little off.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

That's completely fine, Its not let them get in the way of us learning the skills that's important

This is such a good video. I definitely avoid shortcuts when practicing and daily sketching, but if all I care about is getting a pretty looking result, I'll do whatever it takes to get there. I'm really glad you addressed that shortcuts have a place!! Occasionally making something that just looks good without putting a million hours into it really helps motivate me and then I practice more so maybe one day I can do it without needing any help from tracing or grids at all haha.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Ultimately, thats the goal

@atticustay1

Жыл бұрын

The more you use grids etc the longer it will take you to be able to do it without. Do you think Leonardo and Michelangelo used grids and tracing?

@GrammerPancreas

Жыл бұрын

@@atticustay1 I mean, we don't actually know what they did because we don't exactly have accounts of their processes. Considering Leonardo's obsession with inventions though, I feel he no doubt had some tools to help. It's not like people in the Renaissance did everything completely unassisted. Besides, that goes counter to the point of the video. The point is not to never use tools, it's to know when to use them, and when to not.

Fear of failure is HUGE for me. I am ok during sketching, for the most part, but I can freeze up when it comes to inking or painting.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

The best way to break that fear is to just push through it! Then you’ll wonder what was the fear about all this time

I like the message here and it brings attention to the ways I see my art and realize things are off when I draw without close reference, recently, I found a habit of measuring things in heads after I set the base outline with the basic anatomy, and I usually draw at an almost exact 6 head/5 head tall person at most times. This led to me trying out drawing children that had a noticeably different 4 head tall anatomy and it's been a fun challenge!

Literally was tracing 3d models as you posted this. Thanks for the mentorship!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

haha sorry.

@miqerman

Жыл бұрын

tracing could be useful when starting to learn anatomy i guess

My mother was an artist, but when I became interested in learning to draw and asked her to teach me, she was no help to me at all. She would take the pencil away from me, say "You go like this", and draw something. I would say, "Yes, I can see that "you go like that" but how do you KNOW to "go like that"? How do you know which way to turn the pencil and how far, etc.? This was back in the day before computers and KZread; I couldn't afford time or money for classes; so I resorted to the library and eventually came across a book called "The Natural Way to Draw" by Kimon Nicolaides, where I learned about blind contour drawing. Betty Edwards' book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is more comprehensive but actually I think his instructions on how to do blind contour are better than hers. There are many other good books which concern other aspects of drawing, but for me, doing blind contour studies was the foundational lesson. Anyway, I do admire your videos --- thanks for the good advice!

You are absolutely right. Sometimes I use a projector to create the underdrawing for a painting, but I'm so glad I learned how to draw in the classic way.

Always love checking out your videos! (They're short and concise, easy to digest.)

Thanks for the tip, I’ve recently got back into working on improving my drawing skills again.

I like the mirror test, Love your work!! Thank you 🙋🏼‍♀️

Love the focus on the idea of relationships. Thanks for stressing these foundational skills that are so important.

This makes me feel so much better. I am a beginner and was feeling that I should be drawing a grid etc. That just seems so boring and 'rigid', but I am struggling to do it freehand. I have tried using my pencil to try and work out proportions and I'm just going to keep practising! I love these short sweet videos, thank you. I've actually come here to try and find your books as I'm just re-starting and this time I plan to keep at it!

totally agree and I always struggled to articulate the same ideas myself when talking to people about it 👌

Such a good video, I have also been struggling with this for some time, until I started going to drawing lessons where the teacher opened my eyes. There are too many tracers on the internet who call themselves artists, and the young people who look up at them become skeptic about how their work needs to be perfect. The point of art is to be free, learn from your mistakes and explore as much as you can.

Wonderful. I especially appreciated the observation that relying on shortcuts trains your mind to be passive. Maybe that is stronger than you said, but I think that is what happens.

This is the only way I draw. Listening to you today confirmed what I am doing in my work and that I am doing the right thing. Thank you very much.

At 68 all my art has been out of my imagination. I’ve recently desired to learn how to draw what I see, even if just to enhance my imaginative pieces. Gosh it’s hard! I have to believe I can learn though. Off to buy your books!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

It is possible. You will have to slow down though, and really look more carefully

@DreamingCatStudio

Жыл бұрын

@@alphonsodunn Yes, those seem to be the trick. Plus those lines you teach to help orient everything to each other, the horizon and the whole. Plus an eraser! ☺️

I agree with the getting a feel for proportions as you do it more. You start to get an intuition for how the layout of a composition and line placement works without having to erase, but remaining loose and flexible is always important

The way you speak when you teach s so relaxing. It matches the way you draw. I also feel in the way you describe things that I can do it. You are a gifted and natural teacher. Thank you so much, I excited to practice. People keep telling me to make shapes but I have always drawn more through my own vision so I appreciate the realxed way you decribe drawing.

I have both your books which I ordered from Amazon about a year ago. Great books! Then, today I saw your video, didn’t know you were here on KZread, and of course I’m subscribed. I do like going out to different parts of town and filling a few pages with gesture drawings. You are forced to lean into the process and be fast, because no one is posing for you. You also have to pay attention to what you see, retain it and capture as much information as possible before the subject moves (which could be at any second). I haven’t done it in a while, been thinking about it, and watching your video has encouraged me to get out there again.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

That is awesome practice!

Thank you for this encouragement to use our hands and eyes and senses, it is very motivating! Had a portrait class which was amazing in most ways but the teacher would nitpick at the imperfections in our drawings, like being a tiny bit off on the precise line of the chin, or the exact width between the eyes, etc. We were told that if we wanted to trace instead of draw on our own, it was totally legit. Didn’t love this idea myself bc I can trace a photo in like 10 minutes and get very little satisfaction from it, and did not need to take a class to learn to trace. On the other hand, I was frustrated when a from-scratch drawing would turn out a little wonky. Then I just didn’t feel like doing much drawing after that, which I’m sure was my bad. Drawing is such a nice sensory experience though, plus I’m sure there are neurological benefits, umm like hand eye coordination or whatever, so thank you for this pep talk! 🤩 Oh here is a good article about the neurological benefits of sketching: www.invaluable.com/blog/sketch-drawing/

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

I agree, there is just something about the experience you get with a from-scratch drawing. Thanks for that very thoughtful comment, will definitely check out the article

@elsagrace3893

Жыл бұрын

I don’t think your teacher was nit picking. Knowing the proportion of eye distance and other face measurements is a basic in portraiture. Getting the centerlines are a basic too. If you haven’t done it you’ve efffed up. If you do t know it you will eff up.

this is an extremely important subject. and you handled it very well. nice work! thank you

Couldn't agree more. Never used grids or trace. I also find drawing without such shortcuts is the most satisfying, a very important aspect as I just make art for fun!

I am learning that this video is true from the first words. Thank you Alphonso.

This was a great video and at the perfect time. Having just sat down and knocked out a page of heads, then sitting back to review them, I'm seeing some decent proportions and perspective with some of the heads but also some proportions and perspective that are askew. It can be very aggravating to not have everything perfect but your video reaffirms the idea that I try to remember (but sometimes forget) that: it's not about perfection right now but a gradual path towards long term improvement. I love your work and the encouraging way you talk about drawing. Thanks.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

The timely process is what brings the deep long lasting sense of fulfillment, not the shortcut or quick way

Mr Alphonso your videos are really one of a kind! 🙏🏽🥰

Ive always been the type to struggle to rely on grids and things like that so seeing this is so reassuring. I still have a long way to go with my anatomy but I work so much better by eye. Thank you for this explanation ❤

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Practicing to work by eye is a very good thing. Grids are useful but don’t substitute them for learning the process

I'm a self-taught beginner. I learned so many things from your videos. I binged watch it. Thank you so much sir.

wow! I REALLY needed this! I was recently get stuck in this rut of just drawing blanks while I stared at this clean, perfect outlining I'd set up but by taking your advice and try to not rely so much on outlines and worrying about mistakes, I've really let my imagination take the reins and as a result I've drawn some really neat stuff! THANK YOU!!!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Thats so awesome!

Recently I started uploading some of my drawings on KZread and I'm running out of material, so I've been tempted to star tracing or even buy a tracing protector. This video reassured me that I'm doing the right thing by not using "short cuts" and keep training my brain of how to draw the right proportions. Thank you!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Keep training your mind and eye

So true! Your books have really inspired me and also helped me to let go of perfection and trust the process! Thank you Alfonso! 😊

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

🙏

Thanks-this lesson will make us stronger artists.

Excellent advice. I prefer working out proportions by eye rather than relying on shortcuts. It may not always come out right but it's all part of learning and improving ones skill.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Agreed 100%

A great teacher of art.

Excellent video for a decent but stiff and frustrated draftsman! Thank you

Awesome video! Being self-taught, I have only learned to draw by seeing. I have developed an uncanny ability to measure proportions, distances, relationships by eye. Then I took a course in measuring and proportion - and realized I concentrated more on doing measurements than looking, seeing and drawing! Thank you for this video.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Yes, spending more or just as much time looking at the subject as you do actually drawing is important

This is so helpful, and I wish I'd had this instruction seven years ago when I started to learn. I was so dreadful at proportions that I just gave up and resigned myself to tracing the outlines and general positions or using grids because I'm so much better at the finer details. (Partly due to my constant quest for perfection and the fact I'd lose interest if I couldn't get it right from the start.) It's really held me back and I'm only now gaining confidence and starting to truly enjoy working out proportions, even if they're still far from perfect. I always felt like a cheat when I was complimented on a finished product and felt compelled to explain each time that I could only claim credit for the details and not the layout. Now I truly feel like I've accomplished something worthy when I finish a piece on my own. I've enjoyed your videos for some time now and you continue to inspire me. Greetings from the Caribbean. Keep up the great work!. -bg

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

This is so inspiring! I am happy you came around. You found a shortcut to the finish line, only to realize the best feeling came from the long run

And drawing things in different styles can help you experiment with proportions as well. Specially if you’re going for a more stylized or cartoonish look.

Another fantastic video. It reminds that I'm doing the right thing, even if it is difficult.

another great vid. Thanks Alphonso.

Your drawing videos have been the most valuable in helping work on proportions and developing line drawing techniques. Thanks for the good work.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

🙏

Our art teacher used to always tell us to draw what our see. Not what our brain sees. As in, we have to draw however the subject is seen, not how you know it's supposed to be. And it truly helped me so much more than using grids.

I've been burned out on making original pieces for commissions. i had to step back to just draw straight from one reference for practice. this helps

great video. great advice. i taught painting and drawing for many years. So many students look for shortcuts and miss out on the beauty of eye-hand coordination, the sensualness of a beautiful line (like the sketch you were doing), the depth and breadth of color. Art makes a person who is interested search for answers to questions many people don't know to ask. So thanks. great video..

@alphonsodunn

9 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for sharing

This is spot on, just yesterday I drew without any grids and I'm so surprised the proportions looked really good and also I noticed some mistakes when it came to eyes and hands which I corrected later.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

👏👏👏Youre training your mind, eyes, and hand-eye coordination

@Madsdross

Жыл бұрын

@@alphonsodunn 💯

Thank you so much for this! As someone new to drawing, I wasn't sure I was going about learning the "right" way for me. I have never traced or used a grid. I am thinking of getting a tool to help me trace, but I like some of the things I'm doing by eye alone. I have a process of 3 steps. 1. I try to draw something from memory. 2. I watch and follow along with a tutorial. 3. I use a reference to look at. I found that using a reference works best for me, but I'm erasing a lot. I want to be able to confidently paint on canvas, but I don't think I'm there yet. Anyway, sorry for rambling. 🙄 Thank you for all the videos you post, they really do help!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Erasing is fine, eventually you’ll erase less and less

So nice to see the progress,

Thank you. I'm a beginner and I totally agree with you. Nevertheless, using some shortcuts has helped me getting a better look at the reference photo and finding out where my eyes (or my brain?) were getting me wrong. So it helped me drawing freehand too.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

And this is one of the ways it should be used. Not as the ONLY way

Good stuff man, thanks!

Excelente trazo y soltura en el dibujo, me parecio muy bueno, el video y sobre todo didactico, mis felicitaciones al buen artista!!.

The first part is pretty much how I do figure drawing. One piece of advice I got that always stayed with me was "draw what you see, not what it is." I feel like it's a little hard to explain without visuals, but basically instead of trying to draw a leg, I draw a serious of lines that resemble a leg. And these are drawn using reference points and measurements made through observation. This approach has helped me with foreshortening and perspective

@ClearAbyss

Жыл бұрын

Reminds me of my middle school art teacher. He would say, "Draw what you see, not what you think you see". Basically focus on taking down whats actually in front of you, and not your mental representation or symbol of the object(s).

Oh my God, I have your book! Didn't know that you had a channel! Instant subscriber!

Drawing what I love helps me get into the heavy task of layering the proportions/anatomy correctly pushing me to improve likeness and observation skills. This has motivated me enough to study form under the skin level, there is A LOT going on in the face region, it is valuable to have that knowledge in mind since it can always be ported on ANY refs. There is region of the face where the bones are dominant others where the muscles are overlapping in specific directions to guide the shading. Also drawing still life accurately require more observation, discipline and organisation sometimes and share similarity on how to draw hair since it can have complex shapes.

God bless! Thank you for this! Also prayer here when wanted!

your videos have helped me out a lot thank you for making them

Your teaching is so good thank you

I am drawing by intuition and trying to keep in mind shapes and curves, but sometimes an ear or en eye "fall" to low och get to close to eachother. Then I find it usefull to correct my drawing with measurementsteakniks (as I sholuld with my spelling now🙈 I'm from Sweden)😊 Before I've gone to far with the painting and the endresult would become a disappointment. But I'm happy to listen to your teaching that I'm on the right track though I'm spontanius in my 'art', and having fun doing it. 🌞

Great video. Thank you!

I agree 100%. I see too many people copying photos trying to do portraits without learning to draw first.

Sound advice, thank you.

Thank you!!!

Thats very true ! Thanks very much for all the info.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

🙏🙏🙏

I've always enjoyed drawing freehand and when i learned about the grid method i thought it was like cheating. And I still kept drawing freehand . Now I know that this was the best choice . I might not be as good at rendering but i get the proportions and perspective right

This is wisdom that can be applied in all aspects of life. Shortcuts cut you short!

love your art style

Great explanation and mannn you have a golden voice, could listen to an audiobook of War And Peace read by you on a long road trip

KZread has recommended me your channel recently, I'm so happy I've clicked on that thumbnail! Subscribed :)

Thank you soo much

While I agree that it's important as a foundational skill in art, for professional work (I make character illustrations) I always rely on measurements to have a very consistent looking output. I draw a lot freehand to improve and it does show up more and more when I use references since I know what to exaggerate better when comparing it to the freehand sketch.

Beautiful drawings!

Your videos are always great.

ngl you deserve more attention.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

🙏

Thank you very much for the video

I never understood art tutorials on yt where they would whip out a ruler then measure guidelines. I thought they were a waste of time and i never sat down and got to learn it 😭 i wanted to just get into the fun parts and draw. Im glad my stubbornness helped somehow lol

Thia ia. really cool video. I've just spent the last month working through a Giovanni Civardi anatomy book and when I went to lay down the sketch for a Siedah Garrett watercolour (she's liked a tweet of mine, what can I say?), I found my proportion judgement had improved immensely; I am looking at the late Greg Gilbert's (great pencil and biro artist) miniatures, I realised your stuff would help on that front too so thanks Alphonso!

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Very welcome. Glad it helped🙂

Good tutorial, thanks

Drawing from life and not from flat 2d images is necessary for developing the eye. Cheers

THANK YOU

Good video, and I love that sketch of the old dude

Brilliant wisdom

Ever since the pandemic, I was isolated on my home so I decided to just draw everyday, I was only learning for 2 years and my art was anatomically terrible and was inconsistent, and as a self taught artist, I eventually learned how to improve my art through redrawing them as well and also looking at them time to time to keep track of the mistake before moving into another, doing this from time to time eventually also developed my artstyle which 2 years later I have 3 artstyles for when doing doodles, portraits or big projects I also learned to study and decipher how to draw a certain part of the body by observing an artist draw online with real time speed and also reference with myself (even went far as looking in the mirror for few minutes buck naked in the bathroom just looking how muscles are formed) and also learned that trying out trying beyond your comfort zone will be a way to improve as you do them in the long run you'll have easier way to draw them as you know how to do it

this was fabulous video !! thank you so much... norakag 👍👍

I have your workbook but I'm scared to draw in it for fear I'll never get to again lmao. I also use graphite instead of ink (I do not erase) so exercises pertaining to line weight don't translate the same. But I want to say thank you for all your hard work in sharing your books, videos, and your journey.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

Thanks much! 🙏

This is so true. I was just thinking about the number of people on line who trace photographs onto watercolor paper and talk about learning watercolor techniques. I was wondering why many people don't learn to draw anymore.

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

I see less and less people taking pleasure in working through the process of getting proportions by eye

Love this. I think it comes down to what students want... some people are happy with tracing and using grids... but the real OG's to me are the ones who want to draw like the old masters.

@casanovafunkenstein5090

10 ай бұрын

The old masters literally used specialised lenses to project the image of the people they were painting directly onto the surface they were using.

@enriquepelenato4956

10 ай бұрын

@@casanovafunkenstein5090 probably, but it's dumb to assume those tools are responsible for all the masterpieces they created back then. There is such thing as developing your observational skills to a degree you can accurately capture what you're looking at. Tools help but to rely on it completely handicaps you in the long run.

Great advice, per usual! A bit of feedback: I found the blue pencil drawing to be pretty hard to see but the red had much better contrast

@alphonsodunn

Жыл бұрын

I noticed too, thanks.

Thanks..

Thanks, I am thinking of drawing again. My style is draw a bunch of lines and erase what doesn't fit. I used to use fingers to blend, but I am investigating using more than just pencils and coloured pencils. I have never learned grid, I think I would hate it.