I saw the Video Drawing Fundamentals from Sycra and I made a Drawing Routine of Training those one of the days of the week. Everyday 1hour Monday Proportion Placement Tuesday Form Construction Wednesday Perspective Thursday Anatomy Friday Gesture Saturday Composition Sunday Colour Theory + Values I also do extra drawings to train other things ,but the routine really improved my art skills
@@Poweranimal84 I just bought books or videos back in the days.I only saw the turorials from Sycra on these topics and after that I started looking through the internet and my local libary.I just trained what the books/videos suggests me.
I totally agree. You don't have to be "The Greatest", you just have to be demonstratively better than others in your niche or lane. And if you kinda create your own niche, it's much easier to be "the best". I think it was Seth Godin that said, "Different is better than better."
This is very true. I think it was Van Gogh that only started painting 12 years before he died, but is now considered one of the all-time greats anyway.
@@soujiroyoshizawa6655 No he was drawing since he was a child. A dog he drew aged 9 was fantastic but he only learnt to draw people better as an adult - on of his drawings of a man wearing boots is terrible. Some of Picasso's drawings are not that good. Gives hope to us all. Just try and keep trying and you will improve.
This is such a good idea!!! The whole 10,000 hours seems daunting for many , which prevent people from probably even starting to learn something. when the fact is, you can get pretty good at something investing just 1/10 of that time. And the 10,000 minute is a very achievable goal when it comes to learning a new skill. Ive always followed the idea of being good at few sets of things rather than just one thing, almost inventing a new genre because of that. I think the whole 'specialisation' thing beaten to death in our culture and doesnt seem to offer a well balanced life. and you covered everything so well in this video. Going to start using this idea in a more delibrate way :) p.s i love how you come up with these things like Finished not perfect, creative bank account and 10000 minutes and so on. They are really helpful!
I like the idea of focused practice on discrete skills. When I was first learning flamenco guitar (probably the most technically difficult style in existence, according to no less than Andres Segovia), my instructor had me focus on discrete skills, he used to say he would do this while watching tv: arpeggios (many kinds), rasguedos, left-hand techniques, etc. Then he told me to listen to masters like Segovia and Sabicas and try to emulate them. Exactly what you said. I started practicing a half-hour a day, and once I attained a bit of technical fluency, I increased to three to four hours of practice a day, and finally, six hours playing semi-professionally in cafes, in the street, etc. Same for oil painting. Now I am teaching myself to animate. Same pattern. Don't worry about total minutes, hours. . . do as much as you can without being tired/burned out/ without a life, etc. It is especially important to enjoy what you are doing, to be motivated, so burn-out is something to be avoided.
Yeah, the whole 10K hour theory has been always been kind of saddening and discouraging to me. I am 45 years old, have a regular job not related to art, have 4 kids, I am involved in church, and so on. So realistically I don't have a lot of hours left to pursue art. I feel encouraged and re-energized by this video! Thank you! Just hearing that I don't necessarily have to be a "master" or "the best" in order to be successful was very helpful. Seems like a simple idea now that you say it, but it's easy to forget. I guess we are just so bombarded with the idea that in order to succeed you need to be the best (and to be the best you need to buy these athletic shoes or whatever). Anyway, glad to see you doing videos again. Take care.
The sooner you get started the more hours you have. There's 8,760 hours in one year. The average lifespan in the US is about 78 years. You have plenty of time, get going :)
@@felixhenson9926 I have definitely already started and plan to keep working at it, it's just nice to hear that an artist can be successful even though they are not necessarily a master. What Jake's video is saying to me is don't let the 10K hour rule discourage you.
EveryPixelCounts nah, try to make some friend just a few hours a week. It’s important that art is part of life. It can’t be life. The mixture helps each side.
I only focus on being better then my last project and keep challenging my self. Mastery seems abstract to me cause even the masters feel theres much more to learn and improve.
@jakeparker thank you so much for everything. You’ve encouraged me over the last few years to continue my passion, and never stop drawing. Please never stop being the creative and brilliant soul you are, I will meet you one day and shake your hand. Hope your year started off great!
Thank you for another huuuuge slice of inspiration Jake. My tip is to carry a sketchbook everywhere. I always carry a bag with a few pencils, my sketchbook an eraser and a pencil sharpener. I draw whatever I can see. Objects. Life. Imagined characters. I find it allows me to squeeze in practice in many chunks. It’s not ideal if I want to work on a ‘finished piece’ but it allows me to plan those finished pieces by practicing composition etc. I am desperately trying to move forward with my art but a full time job (not related to art), family and living a life mean that I get about four to five hours a week at best. 10000 minutes seems much easier to achieve, and the micro skills idea is a revelation. Thank you again. I love your videos.
I'm sorry to hear you mention these wonderful tips! What really stood out to me was the "micro skills". I'm a high school teacher and I advise my art students to "compartmentalize" whatever area they wish to get better. Feedback is also HUGE and that's the one area I lack! For anyone interested, that'e a book called "Talent is Overrated" that speaks about these focused skillset practices. I checked it out via Amazon Audible. Good stuff, Jake! I'm assigning tis video as mandatory viewing to my students!
I've been doing 30 to 60 minutes of drawing each morning. Before I do anything else I grab my paper and my pencils and practice a topic that I've set myself for the week/month and I can't recommend this enough! In the beginning I felt like I wasn't improving a lot.... but now looking back I can see small improvements every week and after a couple month they started to add up a lot :D
This is encouraging. I've gotten into the habit of doing the "bean" technique, where you draw the torso as a bean shape to get the movement down. I went from drawing simple beans to drawing human beans. So I dub it the "human bean practice." Gradually add in details the more you get used to drawing the human torso. For a long time I sucked but just practicing it bit by bit makes it a bit easier to grasp.
@@_Nyxus_ This is awesome :D I've been doing this with figure drawing and now anatomy (one muscle a day) and it's going good so far :) are you tracking your progress somewhere? Like saving all the drawings. That way you can see your collection grow everyday hehe
@@Simonemaendl I use a sketchbook so it's all there! Also trying different utensils. I recently discovered that I really like drawing with pen rather than with pencil, which is interesting. But it gives more freedom in the fact that you can't erase, so you just accept your mistakes and move on rather than mess with them constantly. Almost through my first sketchbook too so there's lots to look over later :)
@@_Nyxus_ Finishing a sketchbook is such an awesome feeling :D I moved on to colored pencils because I could make light and dark lines with them and now I almost draw everything with them.
@@Simonemaendl That's really awesome! I bet they look beautiful too. I've been very tempted to try inks. In college one of the most interesting things we did was get a stick and sharpen it, then feather out the other end like a brush and use inks to sketch. Was a lot of fun and an interesting thing to try!
Honestly, I feel that stress of wanting mastery constantly and it's weighing so heavily on my conscience, especially since I've only got about two years before my study is over. I can't even focus on drawing because, even though I love doing it, I feel like so many people are already way ahead of me. So this idea of trying to become just "good" or "above average" really helps. Thank you!
Jake I saw you on a video with Baylee Jae my favorite artist girl. And you answered all my quesitons with your cool wisdom in art. I am a budding artist and have taken most of my life practicing my art. The spectrum for art is wide, creativity is endless, and I love the entire process. Thanks for explaining to me that I don't have to be great, I just have to be good at what I do. That is very helpful becuase I have worked hard all my life but I feel like there is always a long way ahead of me, doubt sets in. I also like that everyone has something to offer the world, and it is never too late to start. Thanks Again.
This particular video is right on time. The various perspectives that you've shared are just what I needed at this moment. For the better part of 2018 I had been concentrating on the matter of how I could obtain "mastery" as I had literally been away from my art for nearly thirty-five years! I'm now in my mid fifties and was feeling very vexed by the time lapse. This video along with some other content has allowed me to begin to release the past and to concentrate on the present for the sake of my future. Thus far, you have been the only creative to touch on the issue in the way that you have. Hopefully I will run into others who will recognize and create content on this topic of "mastery" with older folk in mind who for whatever reason put off their heart's desires or are late bloomers to creating. Thank you and much more peace, harmony, love, wellbeing and prosperity to you and all that concerns you from the MOST HIGH LIVING CREATOR of all the universe. 😊☝💛💚💜❤
I always think that wanting something really badly and being prepared to put in the work without giving up is the most important thing. It helps to really enjoy the process of learning and training and trying to keep a positive mind without letting the days when it all seems to be impossible to get to you. Keeping at it is more important than any kind of innate talent. I think that goes for whatever it is you want to get good at.
Jake- Something you said about the "balanced life" being good for artists (around 4.55) since it helps us experience life which translates into our art made me think that the 10,000 hours is actually more doable than we might think. If we cultivate a mindset of observing and thinking about our surroundings as well as thinking imaginatively, all of that activity contributes to being creative. Perhaps one of the greatest things we can do is to cultivate a deep appreciation and wonder towards the world and people around us-every day of our lives - which will translate into a wealth of ideas to express and explore in those 10,000 minutes of drawing. Thanks for you insights. Keep up the great work!
Observation is a good "micro skill" that you can do at many times when not able to draw. Like creativity, observation is like any other skill that you have to do regularly with some intent, but you'd be amazed how much it can improve your ability when you go to create.
Fantastic video, Jake! I was sad that you stopped making videos for a while but I admire your ability to prioritize that way. Your videos have been a huge part of my improvement not only as an artist, but also as a writer. You produce content in areas that no one else is--and at a quality that no one else is. I agree with others who have said this is one of your best videos.
You, your work and what you suggest and make possible for all of us are such WONDERFUL gifts Jake! A great video, full of lots to think about. Bravo Audible for choosing to sponsor.
I guess success slows people down, It would be nice if they taught kids how to build a Nintendo in school, it would be nice to have those standards kids have already been proven to be able to program computers.
I'm at the beginning of learning art and mastery is not on my mind yet - I would just like to be good enough to make money of of it someday. The quote that helps me when I feel very critical of my work is: "The forest would be very silent if only the best birds would sing." As far as practice goes what helps me is attacking my weaknesses - I suck at hands so when I do my daily 30 min. quickposes (minute per pose) I do 20 poses and 10 hands. Though my best work comes when I just play and don't study or worry about anything (but I rarely give myself permission to do that as there is so much to learn...)
I just want to say thank you very much for this kind of video, for your help, your tips, your love for art and the way you hope that everybody can and will probably be a better artist than yesterday. You are personally one of my favorite artists of all time, and one of my motivations to pursue my work in art. You are such a beautiful person, so thank you!
Jake, your insights are priceless! Thank you! Will you and others please help me to make a list of at least 40 micro skills to start practicing? Some that Jake mentioned and some of my own: -line weight -tone -proportion -light/shadow -design -form -composition -color -value -portrait -human figure -perspective
I got back to drawing (as a pure hobbyist) around two months ago. Doing little day after day, a bit of this (line work), then a bit of that (watercolour, and colour theory). After two months, I start to see a change, lines get less wobbly, and it is faster to work on a drawing from pencil lines, to ink, to color in one sitting. Thank you always for the good advice. I will try to organize the learning process in a more systematic way and see where it goes from there.
I would also add the importance of doing personal work from time to time. Not only does it help with burn out but it's a wonderful way to implement the skills you've been studying this whole time in a low pressure setting. I can't tell you how many hurdles I've overcome when I took a small break from master studies to paint my D&D character or something like that.
The way you broke that down makes SOOOO much sense to me . It's so funny because I was just talking to my friend about I noticed in the last 5-6 years, thier have been 3, maybe 4 significant spikes in my drawing ability. Each time, they were spans of 3-7 months in my life that I was real in My head and bummed out because I was struggling with addiction. (I would burry my face in a sketch book for 7-10 hours straight , sometimes High on aphenameiens) take a shower, smoke a cigarette and be back at it for another 5-7 hours till the bic penbi used ran out So I was explaining to her that the biggest part of becoming a better artist was , countiued practice . Meaning drawing (not doodling) everyday for a reasonable amount of time . Whitch I consider to be 3-5 hours. No if's , and's , or butt's . Zero exceptions. Now today it just so happens I come across your video ,witch by the way was awesome , seriously some of the best knowledge I have ever heard or explained to me . The way i kinda already believed the human brain worked or whatever . Anyways . Thank you very much.
Once again, even with the absence, everytime that a video from you pops-up really change my mind about my art, career and study. Thanks again for the time spend doing this kind of content!!!
Thanks for posting, your videos are always inspiring! 10k hours is super intimidating (especially for someone who's a self-taught artist trying to improve while working full time with multiple jobs), but 10k minutes is much more doable. I like the idea of separating the micro-skills and bringing your focus down to a particular element to improve on. I'll definitely be incorporating that! I have a private sketchbook where I just study other people's work; If I find something I really like for whatever reason, I'll draw it once, then put the picture away (original and the sketch) and draw it again. I find that while some things change, the aspects that drew me to the picture originally (shape language, expressions, poses, composition, etc) tend to stick around. Then I can do another sketch just using those elements, and come up with something completely different from the original picture I started from. It's really helped me build up my 'toolbox' and get more confident in drawing things out of my head.
Thanks Jake. It is finals time here for my graphic design students. They are all very overwhelmed by project work and self imposed time limits. I plan to let this run in the background of our next working lab as an encouragement to them. I believe this will not only help them focus but remind them that they are moving toward an achievable goal.
"How about we let mastery happen on it's own schedule, we don't worry about if we are getting our 10,000 hours in, and in the meantime, we just strive for being above average..." (6:30) PREACH! Everyone from fully matured adults, college years, to young adult teens need to remind themselves of this. So much pressure to be spectacular and not just be good at being themselves, at being a human. Great video!!!!
Excellent observation, and very inspirational. It's funny that in an age where so much information is out there that is easy to find on pretty much any interest you could have, so many people settle on being average.
I feel like ive been using this method subconsiously for the past 2 years in wich i experienced great progress. But i never fully understood how it really worked. Especially when asked by other people what the key was to my progress i would awnser in vague way like "You need to gain a better understanding of what your drawing" due to the fact that i didn't know how to verbally express what i experienced and because im no teacher nor am i great speaker. This video really sheds a light on the thought process and it really was interesting to find out how i personally shifted my mindset on things (if that made any sense what so ever). Im just really exited to show this video to other people. Thank you mr. Parker ~ a european art student (Sorry if there are any weird grammatical errors, english is not my first language)
Great advice! Not just for art, but for any skill in general. I especially see the benefit of deliberately learning one part at a time. When seeing how much there is to learn of any skill, it can be overwhelming.
Thank you for this video, it made me realize I'm being too harsh with myself, I've been having a rough time with depression for the last couple of months and thought I wasn't doing enough or even being enough, and when you mention the "microskillset" I notice that this year I've constantly had been focusing on things like silhouettes, tones and composition, and actually made my work better on the long run (I was just too centered on expectations to notice, until now).
Jake, It would be nice to know how this picture was set up, before you started inking. Is that tan colour line work the pencil on the page or did it get printed onto the paper from a graphite drawing?
Love the concept. I've recognized the need to limit what I undertake because I won't have the time to "master" them. I find that I need a purpose to make something. I like the idea of practicing a technique and using that as my purpose.
Excellent video! I agree with everything you said, especially that mastery is a side effect of being consistently a-little-bit-better . The one problem is, employers DO NOT see things the same way! It's not enough to be good or above average if you want to be competitive in ANY art industry. So young artists watching this, listen to Jake's advice, chip away at those 10,000 minutes/hours, and still be prepared to work 1000x harder than you ever imagined, lest you become bitter and unemployed at 26!
Yup, I know I have gotten better from the end of elementary school to the last year of middle school. I all so listen to music, it relaxes my tense muscles. But truly the best way for me is to do repetitive drawings and paintings, constantly doing them makes my brain memorize all the techniques that work for me. I thank you for this information, great background drawing:)
Really interesting. Specially about the microskills. I know I need to practise more anatomy, proportions, etc but I normally try to include new improvements inside drawings that are not exactly focused on that. I would love to try to focus on some microskills for a while and see what happens. One thing about this though, is what when you like digital, traditional, ink, copics, pencil, portraits, comic, anime, etc etc and you don’t want to stop creating in those mediums/styles, but you still want to improve on all of them? I jump a lot between those, it keeps me entertained as a creator as well, I don’t want to lose this, but also focus on microskills. Maybe split between microskill exercices and other creations can be a solution... thinking aloud now, your video made me think about my process. Thanks for sharing it.
I read deep work this year that's a good book. Good info on ways you can maximize the quality of your focus and by extension your work. Perhaps I will brush up with it for a new start in the new year.
I love this video. I'm going to try applying this. I love the structured advice you give, it really helps keep me focused and on task and gives me a framework for going towards my goals. Thank you!
virtually every member of my family have been some kind of artist for many generations. growing up granny gave me a piece of advice which works great for both practice and inspiration. draw a 'collage' of 10 interesting things you saw that day.
I love how you can stare at jakes art for so long. Cuz form far away you see the main details, then you get closer and see the smaller parts that make up the whole peice, then you can look even closer at the tiny details and just say “dang he’s good”
Thanks, Jake. The Micro Skills is a great idea. I can't always draw when I want due to Hand Tremors I've had since I was 15, but when I can draw focusing on those skills would be a great idea. Also I have been subscribing to Audible for almost 20 years and it's a great cost effective way way to get books.
Another thing I did starting out (this was with writing, but definitely applies to drawing too) was to rank-order the "microskills" and figure out which ones were dependent on others. For example, paragraph construction requires you to know a good deal about sentence structure, sentence variation and pacing. So, you have to learn those three first before you can get to paragraph construction.
I really needed this right now! I've been feeling like I've stagnated in my progress, and I feel like I'm not improving or developing. I don't think I have the same goals in terms of practice as I used to do, and this was a really good reminder.
man this was some heavy stuff. i try very hard to grow everyday and i have. but im one of those people who has spent 10000 mins drawing for fun, and like you said. it hasnt been enough. ive got a few sub skills going for me. thank for this jolt of inspiration. and as always, amazing line work. i love how fast you SHRED through them. like a surfer or skater. taking the turns and weights as they come, in a smooth flow. sick man.
Thank you for another video, that really inspired me. I used to just draw for fun and I never thought about learning these 40 micro skills. I definitely will focus on that!
Don't think about 10k hours/minutes per se. You won't be struggling 9,999 hours and right after 10,000th you'll suddenly become a Michelangelo. It's a gradual process and not linear. Think about consistency. Every day, same time, like brushing your teeth. Make a habit. For me Inktober was THE starting point of drawing every day no matter what (thank you on that, Mr. Parker!) After that I've started doing plein air pencil sketches every day after lunch (1 hour or so). In 2 months I've improved dramatically. Now I am confident in this way of learning. Now it's an artistic journey for me. Now I can't stop! Maintain the pace and you'll catch up on those who you adore, you'll pass by those you're working with, and they will never catch you up later!
This is awesome! Ive been freelancing for around 6 years already but have only just recently realized that inhave allowed my skills to deteriorate because of lack of practice. Will try these! Thanks Jake!
I find IMMENSE growth in my understanding when I teach some concept about art. I am no master but I am working on it. It helps to think in 10k hours. Good sentiment. Also, your character with the space banjo is very sublime. I'm in love with that headset and the nice round forms of her costume design. Inspiring.
To show working: to increase a number by 1% you multiply it by 1.01. To do that 167 times, we multiply it by that number, to the power of 167 (1.01^167). If we start with 100, 100*(1.01^167)=526.8. And rounded to 3 digits, that's an increase of 527% :P
@Zinogg 1% improvements on a beginner to intermediate journey are feasible though. It's like the linear progression in weight training. Beginners starting out will be able to put more weight on the bar every weak until they hit the intermediate level and hit a plateau. In other words. You hit the plateau after the (theoretical) 527% improvement
Yes, and the progress would grow exponentially which is kind of the opposite of what happens, isn't it? In the beginning you improve fast, and then the progress slows down. Maybe the progress grows logistically?
@Zinogg It does though. Learning any skill works like that. 520% sounds like a huge number, but it's really just going from crap to decent. It's after that initial improvement that you hit your first big plateau and the process as you describe it begins. The lifting analogy was just that, an analogy.
Studying cinematic framing & composition can really help give you an idea of how to better compose an image and help you learn how the audience will perceive your piece. If you're not naturally good at knowing how to do good layouts in an image researching how they do it in movies will help a lot. It also helps to research universal body language to help get a more powerful emotional gesture out of your characters. I love your stuff and your words hold great wisdom that makes me feel like I'm on the right path. Keep up the amazing work!
I was looking at Spanish videos because I've decided I want to learn Spanish and this was in my recommendations. The tracing was mesmerizing and the advice was solid so I stayed for the whole 24 minutes.
Thank you so much for giving concrete ideas about how to study alone, so many artists will tell you "just draw a lot!" but that doesn't help people understand what the most effective and efficient drawing practice is. I drive myself mad trying to figure out what I should be practicing at any given time because I need to work on everything. I arrived at the idea of "microskills" too but wasn't sure where I should start, I have just been doing a little of everything here and there and that's not getting me far. I'm going to list all of these things and work on them one at a time for a while, then maybe in my "for fun" stuff I'll dip into the other categories too.
This is great! Very helpful advice. This will surely enhance the quality of my drawing practice and martial arts practice. I also listen to audible when I’m drawing for long periods of time.
Micro and macro skill list would be really helpful! Also would like to mention that some micro skills are more important than others, depending on what you need to draw. For instance, a manga artist needs to learn line weight and pen control a lot more than she needs to learn color (though still valuable).
Thank you, you just gave floundering hobbyists a great "how do I start for real this time" plan. The idea of attacking the micro skills was explained very well, and concise. If you need UA-cam or SVS video ideas, I think one that reviews what you just said, along with those 40 skills, and maybe a suggestion or two for how to practice each would be illustration education GOLD. Question (for anyone who can answer): - I noticed a magnet to allow for drawing rotation on a tilted table, what is the magnet sticking to? something behind the paper, or behind the entire table? I need to get that.
"Great Advice!" -- I just got back into Art after, about 20 years. And I'm ALL IN. Plus, I've heard of Erickson before as well. As I love to Learn as well. And listening to Audio-books is a Fantastic way to stay Super Productive! "Cheers"
Great video! I love the idea because it allows you to focus on one task at a time, especially since as you said, many people feel they need to complete a finished piece each practice session to work on a skill. Personally, I realized a lot of my human figures were slightly wonky, so I switched to a dot journal for sketching. This allowed my eyes to create better symmetry and I felt no pressure to make anything presentable because the whole page is covered in dots.
I love learning and I learn new things every day and my very best tip is quality time. 3 minutes of full focus really absorbing something is better than 3 hours of not really absorbing because your brain checked out. Be aware of the moment, find your why and keep asking why. Why does this look good, what do I like about this? What would I maybe try differently? I love learning from masters but my new favorite is "my masters master", in other words find out which people inspired those that inspire me. Always have a beginners mind. The second you think "I know that already" your mind closes to something that might make your technique refined and in turn saving you time. Bloodflow to the brain, good sleep and good fuel (nutrition) to the brain will affect your effective learning. A sugar crash will not benefit you. Play. Kids learn fast because they play things out and attach new things with fun! Dare to let go of being serious and find your playful. You might get more out of using a bunch of colors instead of a regular pencil or maybe practicing on a certain organ that a middle schooler/high schooler might spend time drawing. If that is your key to having fun while learning more effectively then by all means have fun :) Oh and practice don't have to be fancy. It can be sloppy and messy and incomplete, as long as you get something out of it.
This is amazing video. I've always loved the idea of being an illustrator but always let frustration get in the way. After having a conversation with one of my college professor and working with artists it put things into perspective. This video adds on to list of motivation. Lately I been trying to focus on my line work instead of trying to finish piece which takes a few days to a few weeks depending on the medium. A good and cheap source of reference material are coloring books. Its nothing but line drawings. Its been helping focus on that one aspect and getting down.
This is so true! Gotta get your time in, whatever the form. I've painted over 70,000 panes of glass for window splashes over 42 years. I love painting window splashes and I love creating videos and teaching on you tube, I have made about 1600 videos over the past years. I am getting better at making videos, not sure how many hours I got in that. My focus now is character design. I am taking Aaron Blaise' Character Design Course. It's fabulous! So much to learn!
"How about we let mastery happen on its own schedule." Great line!
I saw the Video Drawing Fundamentals from Sycra and I made a Drawing Routine of Training those one of the days of the week.
Everyday 1hour
Monday Proportion Placement
Tuesday Form Construction
Wednesday Perspective
Thursday Anatomy
Friday Gesture
Saturday Composition
Sunday Colour Theory + Values
I also do extra drawings to train other things ,but the routine really improved my art skills
So how do you train on those days? Do you work out of a particular book? How best to practice each topic?
This sounds good! Thx!
@@Poweranimal84 I just bought books or videos back in the days.I only saw the turorials from Sycra
on these topics and after that I started looking through the internet and my local libary.I just trained
what the books/videos suggests me.
Takeshi Kishimoto what’s the exact title of the video?
@@vladimirgentil What are the Fundamentals in Art??? is the title
Yess! another Jake Parker video, time to be inspired!😄
yeet juice is smelly
Vexx oh yeah man!
3rd
Wow, you are the real one!
Soooo true
8:00 figure out micro skills
9:27 deliberate practice
12:45 establish a feedback loop
12:23 the 1% rule
I totally agree. You don't have to be "The Greatest", you just have to be demonstratively better than others in your niche or lane. And if you kinda create your own niche, it's much easier to be "the best". I think it was Seth Godin that said, "Different is better than better."
This is very true. I think it was Van Gogh that only started painting 12 years before he died, but is now considered one of the all-time greats anyway.
You don't even have to he better than others, just good enough to be credible, but not so much that you don't continue to strive.
@@soujiroyoshizawa6655 No he was drawing since he was a child. A dog he drew aged 9 was fantastic but he only learnt to draw people better as an adult - on of his drawings of a man wearing boots is terrible. Some of Picasso's drawings are not that good. Gives hope to us all. Just try and keep trying and you will improve.
This is such a good idea!!! The whole 10,000 hours seems daunting for many , which prevent people from probably even starting to learn something. when the fact is, you can get pretty good at something investing just 1/10 of that time. And the 10,000 minute is a very achievable goal when it comes to learning a new skill. Ive always followed the idea of being good at few sets of things rather than just one thing, almost inventing a new genre because of that. I think the whole 'specialisation' thing beaten to death in our culture and doesnt seem to offer a well balanced life. and you covered everything so well in this video. Going to start using this idea in a more delibrate way :)
p.s i love how you come up with these things like Finished not perfect, creative bank account and 10000 minutes and so on. They are really helpful!
Ketchup!
what do you think a good list of microskill is?, like if you could make a video or something about them that would be super cool :d
I watch your videos too haha
1/60, check your math
Well said! I love the idea of, and the name of "micro skills"
I like the idea of focused practice on discrete skills. When I was first learning flamenco guitar (probably the most technically difficult style in existence, according to no less than Andres Segovia), my instructor had me focus on discrete skills, he used to say he would do this while watching tv: arpeggios (many kinds), rasguedos, left-hand techniques, etc. Then he told me to listen to masters like Segovia and Sabicas and try to emulate them. Exactly what you said. I started practicing a half-hour a day, and once I attained a bit of technical fluency, I increased to three to four hours of practice a day, and finally, six hours playing semi-professionally in cafes, in the street, etc. Same for oil painting. Now I am teaching myself to animate. Same pattern. Don't worry about total minutes, hours. . . do as much as you can without being tired/burned out/ without a life, etc. It is especially important to enjoy what you are doing, to be motivated, so burn-out is something to be avoided.
Yeah, the whole 10K hour theory has been always been kind of saddening and discouraging to me. I am 45 years old, have a regular job not related to art, have 4 kids, I am involved in church, and so on. So realistically I don't have a lot of hours left to pursue art. I feel encouraged and re-energized by this video! Thank you! Just hearing that I don't necessarily have to be a "master" or "the best" in order to be successful was very helpful. Seems like a simple idea now that you say it, but it's easy to forget. I guess we are just so bombarded with the idea that in order to succeed you need to be the best (and to be the best you need to buy these athletic shoes or whatever). Anyway, glad to see you doing videos again. Take care.
The sooner you get started the more hours you have. There's 8,760 hours in one year. The average lifespan in the US is about 78 years. You have plenty of time, get going :)
Well kids and work you can’t get rid of but you could easily get rid of the church stuff. That’s not needed in your life if it’s getting in the way
@@felixhenson9926 I have definitely already started and plan to keep working at it, it's just nice to hear that an artist can be successful even though they are not necessarily a master. What Jake's video is saying to me is don't let the 10K hour rule discourage you.
@@Will_Hallett_Art I respectfully disagree.
@@mlmattin You could find a way to combine Church stuff with Art stuff. Maybe your fellow church people would like to make an Art club?
I don't have friends anyway, 8 hours a day it is!
EveryPixelCounts 😂
EveryPixelCounts nah, try to make some friend just a few hours a week. It’s important that art is part of life. It can’t be life. The mixture helps each side.
Same dude
mee
Doing what?
I only focus on being better then my last project and keep challenging my self. Mastery seems abstract to me cause even the masters feel theres much more to learn and improve.
@jakeparker thank you so much for everything. You’ve encouraged me over the last few years to continue my passion, and never stop drawing. Please never stop being the creative and brilliant soul you are, I will meet you one day and shake your hand. Hope your year started off great!
Thank you for another huuuuge slice of inspiration Jake.
My tip is to carry a sketchbook everywhere. I always carry a bag with a few pencils, my sketchbook an eraser and a pencil sharpener. I draw whatever I can see. Objects. Life. Imagined characters. I find it allows me to squeeze in practice in many chunks. It’s not ideal if I want to work on a ‘finished piece’ but it allows me to plan those finished pieces by practicing composition etc.
I am desperately trying to move forward with my art but a full time job (not related to art), family and living a life mean that I get about four to five hours a week at best.
10000 minutes seems much easier to achieve, and the micro skills idea is a revelation.
Thank you again. I love your videos.
Good idea
I'm sorry to hear you mention these wonderful tips! What really stood out to me was the "micro skills". I'm a high school teacher and I advise my art students to "compartmentalize" whatever area they wish to get better. Feedback is also HUGE and that's the one area I lack! For anyone interested, that'e a book called "Talent is Overrated" that speaks about these focused skillset practices. I checked it out via Amazon Audible. Good stuff, Jake! I'm assigning tis video as mandatory viewing to my students!
I've been doing 30 to 60 minutes of drawing each morning. Before I do anything else I grab my paper and my pencils and practice a topic that I've set myself for the week/month and I can't recommend this enough! In the beginning I felt like I wasn't improving a lot.... but now looking back I can see small improvements every week and after a couple month they started to add up a lot :D
This is encouraging. I've gotten into the habit of doing the "bean" technique, where you draw the torso as a bean shape to get the movement down. I went from drawing simple beans to drawing human beans. So I dub it the "human bean practice." Gradually add in details the more you get used to drawing the human torso. For a long time I sucked but just practicing it bit by bit makes it a bit easier to grasp.
@@_Nyxus_ This is awesome :D I've been doing this with figure drawing and now anatomy (one muscle a day) and it's going good so far :) are you tracking your progress somewhere? Like saving all the drawings. That way you can see your collection grow everyday hehe
@@Simonemaendl I use a sketchbook so it's all there! Also trying different utensils. I recently discovered that I really like drawing with pen rather than with pencil, which is interesting. But it gives more freedom in the fact that you can't erase, so you just accept your mistakes and move on rather than mess with them constantly. Almost through my first sketchbook too so there's lots to look over later :)
@@_Nyxus_ Finishing a sketchbook is such an awesome feeling :D I moved on to colored pencils because I could make light and dark lines with them and now I almost draw everything with them.
@@Simonemaendl That's really awesome! I bet they look beautiful too. I've been very tempted to try inks. In college one of the most interesting things we did was get a stick and sharpen it, then feather out the other end like a brush and use inks to sketch. Was a lot of fun and an interesting thing to try!
Honestly, I feel that stress of wanting mastery constantly and it's weighing so heavily on my conscience, especially since I've only got about two years before my study is over. I can't even focus on drawing because, even though I love doing it, I feel like so many people are already way ahead of me. So this idea of trying to become just "good" or "above average" really helps. Thank you!
Jake I saw you on a video with Baylee Jae my favorite artist girl. And you answered all my quesitons with your cool wisdom in art. I am a budding artist and have taken most of my life practicing my art. The spectrum for art is wide, creativity is endless, and I love the entire process. Thanks for explaining to me that I don't have to be great, I just have to be good at what I do. That is very helpful becuase I have worked hard all my life but I feel like there is always a long way ahead of me, doubt sets in. I also like that everyone has something to offer the world, and it is never too late to start. Thanks Again.
This particular video is right on time. The various perspectives that you've shared are just what I needed at this moment.
For the better part of 2018 I had been concentrating on the matter of how I could obtain "mastery" as I had literally been away from my art for nearly thirty-five years!
I'm now in my mid fifties and was feeling very vexed by the time lapse. This video along with some other content has allowed me to begin to release the past and to concentrate on the present for the sake of my future.
Thus far, you have been the only creative to touch on the issue in the way that you have.
Hopefully I will run into others who will recognize and create content on this topic of "mastery" with older folk in mind who for whatever reason put off their heart's desires or are late bloomers to creating.
Thank you and much more peace, harmony, love, wellbeing and prosperity to you and all that concerns you from the MOST HIGH LIVING CREATOR of all the universe. 😊☝💛💚💜❤
I always think that wanting something really badly and being prepared to put in the work without giving up is the most important thing. It helps to really enjoy the process of learning and training and trying to keep a positive mind without letting the days when it all seems to be impossible to get to you. Keeping at it is more important than any kind of innate talent. I think that goes for whatever it is you want to get good at.
Jake- Something you said about the "balanced life" being good for artists (around 4.55) since it helps us experience life which translates into our art made me think that the 10,000 hours is actually more doable than we might think. If we cultivate a mindset of observing and thinking about our surroundings as well as thinking imaginatively, all of that activity contributes to being creative. Perhaps one of the greatest things we can do is to cultivate a deep appreciation and wonder towards the world and people around us-every day of our lives - which will translate into a wealth of ideas to express and explore in those 10,000 minutes of drawing. Thanks for you insights. Keep up the great work!
Observation is a good "micro skill" that you can do at many times when not able to draw. Like creativity, observation is like any other skill that you have to do regularly with some intent, but you'd be amazed how much it can improve your ability when you go to create.
Fantastic video, Jake! I was sad that you stopped making videos for a while but I admire your ability to prioritize that way. Your videos have been a huge part of my improvement not only as an artist, but also as a writer. You produce content in areas that no one else is--and at a quality that no one else is. I agree with others who have said this is one of your best videos.
You, your work and what you suggest and make possible for all of us are such WONDERFUL gifts Jake! A great video, full of lots to think about. Bravo Audible for choosing to sponsor.
It was easy for people like Leonardo da Vinci. They didn’t have a Nintendo.
Same with studies. Back in the days, the socially awkward kids spent their time reading. Now they play games and watch TV.
It wasnt, he had to open corpses to see anatomy.
@@elsevillaart still wasn't a nintendo
@@elsevillaartfun fact, michelangelo is the one that opened up corpses to see anatomy, and he did it as a teenager! :)
I guess success slows people down, It would be nice if they taught kids how to build a Nintendo in school, it would be nice to have those standards kids have already been proven to be able to program computers.
I'm at the beginning of learning art and mastery is not on my mind yet - I would just like to be good enough to make money of of it someday. The quote that helps me when I feel very critical of my work is: "The forest would be very silent if only the best birds would sing."
As far as practice goes what helps me is attacking my weaknesses - I suck at hands so when I do my daily 30 min. quickposes (minute per pose) I do 20 poses and 10 hands. Though my best work comes when I just play and don't study or worry about anything (but I rarely give myself permission to do that as there is so much to learn...)
I love the positivity of this. 10,000 minutes is much more of a can-do challenge. Plus, it's easier to work in spare minutes than spare hours!
I just want to say thank you very much for this kind of video, for your help, your tips, your love for art and the way you hope that everybody can and will probably be a better artist than yesterday.
You are personally one of my favorite artists of all time, and one of my motivations to pursue my work in art. You are such a beautiful person, so thank you!
Jake, your insights are priceless! Thank you! Will you and others please help me to make a list of at least 40 micro skills to start practicing? Some that Jake mentioned and some of my own:
-line weight
-tone
-proportion
-light/shadow
-design
-form
-composition
-color
-value
-portrait
-human figure
-perspective
I got back to drawing (as a pure hobbyist) around two months ago. Doing little day after day, a bit of this (line work), then a bit of that (watercolour, and colour theory). After two months, I start to see a change, lines get less wobbly, and it is faster to work on a drawing from pencil lines, to ink, to color in one sitting. Thank you always for the good advice. I will try to organize the learning process in a more systematic way and see where it goes from there.
I would also add the importance of doing personal work from time to time. Not only does it help with burn out but it's a wonderful way to implement the skills you've been studying this whole time in a low pressure setting. I can't tell you how many hurdles I've overcome when I took a small break from master studies to paint my D&D character or something like that.
Jake, the video was right on point. Thank you for sharing your skills and knowledge with us.
What you’re doing here... is amazing man. These acts of philanthropy, sharing your knowledge... its amazing. Thank you sir
The way you broke that down makes SOOOO much sense to me . It's so funny because I was just talking to my friend about I noticed in the last 5-6 years, thier have been 3, maybe 4 significant spikes in my drawing ability. Each time, they were spans of 3-7 months in my life that I was real in My head and bummed out because I was struggling with addiction.
(I would burry my face in a sketch book for 7-10 hours straight , sometimes High on aphenameiens) take a shower, smoke a cigarette and be back at it for another 5-7 hours till the bic penbi used ran out So I was explaining to her that the biggest part of becoming a better artist was , countiued practice . Meaning drawing (not doodling) everyday for a reasonable amount of time . Whitch I consider to be 3-5 hours. No if's , and's , or butt's . Zero exceptions.
Now today it just so happens I come across your video ,witch by the way was awesome , seriously some of the best knowledge I have ever heard or explained to me . The way i kinda already believed the human brain worked or whatever . Anyways . Thank you very much.
Once again, even with the absence, everytime that a video from you pops-up really change my mind about my art, career and study. Thanks again for the time spend doing this kind of content!!!
Thanks for posting, your videos are always inspiring! 10k hours is super intimidating (especially for someone who's a self-taught artist trying to improve while working full time with multiple jobs), but 10k minutes is much more doable. I like the idea of separating the micro-skills and bringing your focus down to a particular element to improve on. I'll definitely be incorporating that! I have a private sketchbook where I just study other people's work; If I find something I really like for whatever reason, I'll draw it once, then put the picture away (original and the sketch) and draw it again. I find that while some things change, the aspects that drew me to the picture originally (shape language, expressions, poses, composition, etc) tend to stick around. Then I can do another sketch just using those elements, and come up with something completely different from the original picture I started from. It's really helped me build up my 'toolbox' and get more confident in drawing things out of my head.
Thanks Jake. It is finals time here for my graphic design students. They are all very overwhelmed by project work and self imposed time limits. I plan to let this run in the background of our next working lab as an encouragement to them. I believe this will not only help them focus but remind them that they are moving toward an achievable goal.
"How about we let mastery happen on it's own schedule, we don't worry about if we are getting our 10,000 hours in, and in the meantime, we just strive for being above average..." (6:30) PREACH! Everyone from fully matured adults, college years, to young adult teens need to remind themselves of this. So much pressure to be spectacular and not just be good at being themselves, at being a human. Great video!!!!
I missed your videossss!!!! I usually put on your videos while I do my Architecture drawings! Your a very good teacher.
Excellent observation, and very inspirational. It's funny that in an age where so much information is out there that is easy to find on pretty much any interest you could have, so many people settle on being average.
I feel like ive been using this method subconsiously for the past 2 years in wich i experienced great progress. But i never fully understood how it really worked. Especially when asked by other people what the key was to my progress i would awnser in vague way like "You need to gain a better understanding of what your drawing" due to the fact that i didn't know how to verbally express what i experienced and because im no teacher nor am i great speaker. This video really sheds a light on the thought process and it really was interesting to find out how i personally shifted my mindset on things (if that made any sense what so ever). Im just really exited to show this video to other people.
Thank you mr. Parker
~ a european art student
(Sorry if there are any weird grammatical errors, english is not my first language)
Reminds me of watching my brother draw when we were kids. It is mesmerizing watching the skill and talent.
Great advice! Not just for art, but for any skill in general.
I especially see the benefit of deliberately learning one part at a time. When seeing how much there is to learn of any skill, it can be overwhelming.
Thank you for this video, it made me realize I'm being too harsh with myself, I've been having a rough time with depression for the last couple of months and thought I wasn't doing enough or even being enough, and when you mention the "microskillset" I notice that this year I've constantly had been focusing on things like silhouettes, tones and composition, and actually made my work better on the long run (I was just too centered on expectations to notice, until now).
can u make a video about micro skills
That would be such a great companion to this video. Maybe a good podcast idea to come up with a micro skills list between the 3 of you guys.
That could even be a whole series of videos!
Jake, It would be nice to know how this picture was set up, before you started inking. Is that tan colour line work the pencil on the page or did it get printed onto the paper from a graphite drawing?
Love the concept. I've recognized the need to limit what I undertake because I won't have the time to "master" them. I find that I need a purpose to make something. I like the idea of practicing a technique and using that as my purpose.
Thanks, that was so helpful, and thanks for the audible offer! 👍😊
I'll for sure apply the 10,000 min practice regiment in the future; thank you as always Jake, and happy holidays from New York!
Excellent video! I agree with everything you said, especially that mastery is a side effect of being consistently a-little-bit-better . The one problem is, employers DO NOT see things the same way! It's not enough to be good or above average if you want to be competitive in ANY art industry. So young artists watching this, listen to Jake's advice, chip away at those 10,000 minutes/hours, and still be prepared to work 1000x harder than you ever imagined, lest you become bitter and unemployed at 26!
Yup, I know I have gotten better from the end of elementary school to the last year of middle school. I all so listen to music, it relaxes my tense muscles. But truly the best way for me is to do repetitive drawings and paintings, constantly doing them makes my brain memorize all the techniques that work for me. I thank you for this information, great background drawing:)
Really interesting. Specially about the microskills. I know I need to practise more anatomy, proportions, etc but I normally try to include new improvements inside drawings that are not exactly focused on that. I would love to try to focus on some microskills for a while and see what happens. One thing about this though, is what when you like digital, traditional, ink, copics, pencil, portraits, comic, anime, etc etc and you don’t want to stop creating in those mediums/styles, but you still want to improve on all of them? I jump a lot between those, it keeps me entertained as a creator as well, I don’t want to lose this, but also focus on microskills. Maybe split between microskill exercices and other creations can be a solution... thinking aloud now, your video made me think about my process. Thanks for sharing it.
When i'm drawing, i'm listening to you, and keeps me focused!
Great stuff. And it's funny how putting in the time and the 1% you don't really notice the improvement until you start looking back.
I read deep work this year that's a good book. Good info on ways you can maximize the quality of your focus and by extension your work. Perhaps I will brush up with it for a new start in the new year.
I really needed this. Thank you Jake.
Yes! Fresh content, this made my day.
I appreciate it Mr. Parker!
Thank you Jake...love all your videos...gotta say also...so glad i found you for the Inktober, it was fun...
I love this video. I'm going to try applying this. I love the structured advice you give, it really helps keep me focused and on task and gives me a framework for going towards my goals. Thank you!
virtually every member of my family have been some kind of artist for many generations. growing up granny gave me a piece of advice which works great for both practice and inspiration. draw a 'collage' of 10 interesting things you saw that day.
I love how you can stare at jakes art for so long. Cuz form far away you see the main details, then you get closer and see the smaller parts that make up the whole peice, then you can look even closer at the tiny details and just say “dang he’s good”
Thanks, Jake. The Micro Skills is a great idea. I can't always draw when I want due to Hand Tremors I've had since I was 15, but when I can draw focusing on those skills would be a great idea. Also I have been subscribing to Audible for almost 20 years and it's a great cost effective way way to get books.
Awesome illustration Jake!!
Another thing I did starting out (this was with writing, but definitely applies to drawing too) was to rank-order the "microskills" and figure out which ones were dependent on others. For example, paragraph construction requires you to know a good deal about sentence structure, sentence variation and pacing. So, you have to learn those three first before you can get to paragraph construction.
Very inspiring, I love a lot the art forms and lean everyday to get perfection...
I really needed this right now!
I've been feeling like I've stagnated in my progress, and I feel like I'm not improving or developing. I don't think I have the same goals in terms of practice as I used to do, and this was a really good reminder.
man this was some heavy stuff. i try very hard to grow everyday and i have. but im one of those people who has spent 10000 mins drawing for fun, and like you said. it hasnt been enough. ive got a few sub skills going for me. thank for this jolt of inspiration. and as always, amazing line work. i love how fast you SHRED through them. like a surfer or skater. taking the turns and weights as they come, in a smooth flow. sick man.
wow I had missed this video from Jake. Very insightful. I loved every minute.
Wow! So motivating during these unprecedented times.
Excellent speech. It's realistic. So many great suggestions
Thank you for another video, that really inspired me. I used to just draw for fun and I never thought about learning these 40 micro skills. I definitely will focus on that!
Don't think about 10k hours/minutes per se. You won't be struggling 9,999 hours and right after 10,000th you'll suddenly become a Michelangelo. It's a gradual process and not linear. Think about consistency. Every day, same time, like brushing your teeth. Make a habit. For me Inktober was THE starting point of drawing every day no matter what (thank you on that, Mr. Parker!) After that I've started doing plein air pencil sketches every day after lunch (1 hour or so). In 2 months I've improved dramatically. Now I am confident in this way of learning. Now it's an artistic journey for me. Now I can't stop! Maintain the pace and you'll catch up on those who you adore, you'll pass by those you're working with, and they will never catch you up later!
Maybe the best art advice ive ever gotten
This is awesome! Ive been freelancing for around 6 years already but have only just recently realized that inhave allowed my skills to deteriorate because of lack of practice. Will try these! Thanks Jake!
I find IMMENSE growth in my understanding when I teach some concept about art. I am no master but I am working on it. It helps to think in 10k hours. Good sentiment.
Also, your character with the space banjo is very sublime. I'm in love with that headset and the nice round forms of her costume design. Inspiring.
With a 1% improvement per day you would end up at roughly 527%.
To show working: to increase a number by 1% you multiply it by 1.01.
To do that 167 times, we multiply it by that number, to the power of 167 (1.01^167).
If we start with 100, 100*(1.01^167)=526.8.
And rounded to 3 digits, that's an increase of 527% :P
@Zinogg 1% improvements on a beginner to intermediate journey are feasible though. It's like the linear progression in weight training. Beginners starting out will be able to put more weight on the bar every weak until they hit the intermediate level and hit a plateau. In other words. You hit the plateau after the (theoretical) 527% improvement
Yes, and the progress would grow exponentially which is kind of the opposite of what happens, isn't it? In the beginning you improve fast, and then the progress slows down. Maybe the progress grows logistically?
@Zinogg It does though. Learning any skill works like that. 520% sounds like a huge number, but it's really just going from crap to decent. It's after that initial improvement that you hit your first big plateau and the process as you describe it begins. The lifting analogy was just that, an analogy.
Basically compounding at 1% interest.
You are an amazing artist never stop
Thanks Jake really needed this
Studying cinematic framing & composition can really help give you an idea of how to better compose an image and help you learn how the audience will perceive your piece. If you're not naturally good at knowing how to do good layouts in an image researching how they do it in movies will help a lot. It also helps to research universal body language to help get a more powerful emotional gesture out of your characters. I love your stuff and your words hold great wisdom that makes me feel like I'm on the right path. Keep up the amazing work!
TwistedAcrylics yas! This!
I was looking at Spanish videos because I've decided I want to learn Spanish and this was in my recommendations. The tracing was mesmerizing and the advice was solid so I stayed for the whole 24 minutes.
Thank you so much for giving concrete ideas about how to study alone, so many artists will tell you "just draw a lot!" but that doesn't help people understand what the most effective and efficient drawing practice is. I drive myself mad trying to figure out what I should be practicing at any given time because I need to work on everything. I arrived at the idea of "microskills" too but wasn't sure where I should start, I have just been doing a little of everything here and there and that's not getting me far. I'm going to list all of these things and work on them one at a time for a while, then maybe in my "for fun" stuff I'll dip into the other categories too.
This is great! Very helpful advice. This will surely enhance the quality of my drawing practice and martial arts practice. I also listen to audible when I’m drawing for long periods of time.
Micro and macro skill list would be really helpful! Also would like to mention that some micro skills are more important than others, depending on what you need to draw. For instance, a manga artist needs to learn line weight and pen control a lot more than she needs to learn color (though still valuable).
Thank you, you just gave floundering hobbyists a great "how do I start for real this time" plan. The idea of attacking the micro skills was explained very well, and concise. If you need UA-cam or SVS video ideas, I think one that reviews what you just said, along with those 40 skills, and maybe a suggestion or two for how to practice each would be illustration education GOLD.
Question (for anyone who can answer):
- I noticed a magnet to allow for drawing rotation on a tilted table, what is the magnet sticking to? something behind the paper, or behind the entire table? I need to get that.
Great Inspiring video! Thanks Jake!
Great video! Thanks Jake... Inspired me to get back into some deliberate practice on some of my weaknesses despite being a professional freelancer.
I’m loving the 10,000 min and micro skills focusing, thank you.👌
Great stuff Jake! Good to see you back on UA-cam
Great drawing. Thank you for sharing.
"Great Advice!" -- I just got back into Art after, about 20 years. And I'm ALL IN. Plus, I've heard of Erickson before as well. As I love to Learn as well. And listening to Audio-books is a Fantastic way to stay Super Productive!
"Cheers"
Great video! I love the idea because it allows you to focus on one task at a time, especially since as you said, many people feel they need to complete a finished piece each practice session to work on a skill. Personally, I realized a lot of my human figures were slightly wonky, so I switched to a dot journal for sketching. This allowed my eyes to create better symmetry and I felt no pressure to make anything presentable because the whole page is covered in dots.
I love learning and I learn new things every day and my very best tip is quality time. 3 minutes of full focus really absorbing something is better than 3 hours of not really absorbing because your brain checked out. Be aware of the moment, find your why and keep asking why. Why does this look good, what do I like about this? What would I maybe try differently? I love learning from masters but my new favorite is "my masters master", in other words find out which people inspired those that inspire me.
Always have a beginners mind. The second you think "I know that already" your mind closes to something that might make your technique refined and in turn saving you time.
Bloodflow to the brain, good sleep and good fuel (nutrition) to the brain will affect your effective learning. A sugar crash will not benefit you.
Play. Kids learn fast because they play things out and attach new things with fun! Dare to let go of being serious and find your playful. You might get more out of using a bunch of colors instead of a regular pencil or maybe practicing on a certain organ that a middle schooler/high schooler might spend time drawing. If that is your key to having fun while learning more effectively then by all means have fun :)
Oh and practice don't have to be fancy. It can be sloppy and messy and incomplete, as long as you get something out of it.
Excellent advice, thank you.
This is amazing video. I've always loved the idea of being an illustrator but always let frustration get in the way. After having a conversation with one of my college professor and working with artists it put things into perspective. This video adds on to list of motivation. Lately I been trying to focus on my line work instead of trying to finish piece which takes a few days to a few weeks depending on the medium. A good and cheap source of reference material are coloring books. Its nothing but line drawings. Its been helping focus on that one aspect and getting down.
It's so satisfying watching him ink.
This video is exactly what I was looking for, thank you.
This is so true! Gotta get your time in, whatever the form. I've painted over 70,000 panes of glass for window splashes over 42 years. I love painting window splashes and I love creating videos and teaching on you tube, I have made about 1600 videos over the past years. I am getting better at making videos, not sure how many hours I got in that. My focus now is character design. I am taking Aaron Blaise' Character Design Course. It's fabulous! So much to learn!
I have had an awesome day. I was inspired at work tonight and now I have been inspired by Jake Parker. Thanks for an awesome video. Great content.
The cumulative effect of improving just 1% every day, means after 167 days you’ve improved ~600%
Thanks for this, and though this sounds stupid, I'm still working on finishing Inktober! I fell behind, but I committed to finishing and I will!
I don't think it's stupid at all. I worked on inktober last year all through November and was super glad I did !
Un0rth0d0cz same here I’m still working on finishing inktober myself work and travel really messed up my flow this year
This is really helpful, thanks for putting this together!
Jake your absolutely right, it is hard to make time to draw outside other life responsibilities.
This is a great video Jake!
I love what you said. Very enlightening. Thank you