Most productive in my studio in the mornings when the family is away. The discomfort is getting time in and seeing the level of work out there and knowing I have to be as good or better to land the gigs.
I'm most productive when I am creating art for a story I am passionate about. Without a story, I don't know what to draw. I've always been obsessed with sci-fi art, the strange worlds they let us glimpse. Every time I look at art books, I get a sense of euphoria and I feel SO GOOD. The discomfort comes when I have all these ideas in my head that I don't have the artistic skills to convey. This desire to create and show new and strange worlds drives and motivates me, but also frustrates me when I can't even come close to conveying what I want. Listening to this podcast really helps keep me in the right mindset. In one of the previous podcasts, Marshall mentioned The Art of Mara McAfee. I ended up buying the book for the quote he mentioned: "The two most important qualities necessary for becoming the best at something are what sound the dullest: patience and discipline," she says. "I think to become a real artist, you have to have the patience to be ignored, even ridiculed, for years and to persevere quietly with only the joy of working and the faith in yourself to sustain you. You need the discipline to spend years on the unimaginative, uncreative aspects of art, such as mastering anatomy and painting techniques."
My wife had to take an art class (elective) during her undergraduate degree. It was your basic intro to drawing class, starting with cubes, spheres, and cylinders before moving into blocking and massing in the figure with straights (sight sizing). Her materials list was roughly $600! More than the textbooks combined for her other four classes combined together. The "you need a pencil and paper" mantra needs to be spread to art schools across the world.
This is the reason I let go of my dream to go into the art school. Getting a degree in the science field is often cheaper because the costs have been calculated into the fees and it's easier to get a scholarship to pay for your fees rather than your 'extra' own learning costs.
I gotta tell you guys, really enjoying these chats. So I went and bought on Ebay the Famous Artists Courses binders and I'm going through them carefully as a online course, I'm loving it. I take it seriously and do the assignments. It's all about the time and effort you put in.
It was Ray Bradbury who wrote a book in the library: "I went down in the basement of the UCLA Library and God, there was a room with 12 typewriters in it that you could rent for 10 cents a half-hour. And there were eight or nine students in there working away like crazy."
I lived in a no air conditioning house, usually 40ºC. I went to school all day, lived with a lot of siblings and share room, so my best time to art was on the night, when everyone slept and it wasn’t too hot. I use school cheap supplies for drawing and my sketch book was discarded papers from the printer that my dad bring from work, so one side was printed. I miss those days :) so much freedom in drawing with cheap supplies, no pressure at all.
I was waiting for this; the 56 minutes went by so fast you wouldn't believe it. I just want to say, I love you guys and what you're doing, and thank you for all the helpful information, tips and interesting trivia. The relaxed, but fun, atmosphere really helped lift my spirits lately as well. Also, Proko, I know you said you can't understand how some people can draw and listen to a podcast while doing it; I many times listen to Draftsmen while drawing and it's very useful in preventing me from overthinking my lines, which I always do for "fear of messing up". Thus, I stop being too involved in it and I can loosen up a bit, which is great.
I purchased your fundamentals course in 2014, I'm still here 6-7 years later. Thanks for the many years of great art tuition! I have learned so much from all of the courses you delivered. I'm now at university learning 3D but the skills I gained through your courses have helped me out in animation, 3d modelling, sculpting, rigging, storyboarding and concept design at school. That and live figure drawing has been invaluable. I'm looking forward to Marshall's perspective course, I'm sure it's well worth the wait.
Marshall!! Im an architectural Designer and loved hearing about your childhood house! In my designs I spend a lot of time considering how I can maximize the efficiency and usage of every square meter of any design I do. It's a wonderfully creative process. Thank you for sharing this, even though you percieved it to be a tangent.
I've done the DIY art school thing for about 16 months now. The most expensive aspect of it is getting good digital tools (aside from education from various sources). I also have a bit of "let's try all this tech out!" ADHD, which has allowed me try many devices and send many more back. Here are my opinions as someone who doesn't like to spend much: Tablets: When you're talking about the non-screen tablets (tablet pads), both Huion and XP-Pen are right up there with the Wacom Intuous products and for much cheaper money (30% to 60%) less. I've had all three, and stuck with the Huion. Wacom makes a more comfortable pen IMO, but that all depends on your grip, pressure, etc. Screen Tablets: I've tried many products and many brands. They all have their ups and downs. Here, Wacom reigns supreme. Huion and to a lesser degree XP Pen feel like you're etching into glass. Ouch. I'd take a 13" Wacom screen tablet over the biggest competitor product any day of the week, just for the stylus pressure and ergonomics alone. My Wacom Cintiq 16 is truly a pleasure to draw on. Screen Tablet Alternatives: As Proko mentioned, a decent PC/MAC that can run Photoshop, Clip Studio, etc. can start at $500 and, assuming 8GB of RAM, SSD, and GPU (non-integrated, which you may want if you ever expand to more complicated renderings in a 3 year span or so) will make out around $1,000. If you don't have this much money but still have some cash to invest, my suggestion is: Ipad Pro 12.9" second or third generation, used. If you look long enough, you'll get these at a steal. Then, factor in another $100 for the Apple Pencil or Apple Pencil 2, $10 for Procreate, and you have a solid workstation. However, this is just for drawing / digital painting and nothing else. But if that is what you value, the Ipad Pro 12.9 is still my favorite device to draw on. The newer Surface Pro models are quite good as well and you do get a fully functioning PC, but the Ipad just has that "it" factor that, like Wacom, makes drawing a real pleasure. Plus, as a beginner, Procreate is a godsend. You can learn the software in maybe an hour and produce gorgeous, hi-res art with it. My current setup is Wacom Cintiq 16 + HP Laptop and, when I need to get out of the office and still want to draw, my 2nd Gen Ipad Pro. The Apple Pencil 2 is much better than the first gen Apple Pencil, but I'm in no rush to upgrade. My first year training was an older Mac Mini + Photoshop + Huion Graphic Tablet. What having a decent digital tool set has really allowed, for me at least, is to make work more comfortably. My time practicing and making art has gone from maybe an hour a day to several. Better tools = better ergonomics which makes for longer, more productive and less painful practice.
Mike Pelosi this is great. What do you mean about the ipad not really being able to do anything else than drawing/painting? Not powerful enough to do what? I may be able to get a 6th gen ipad non-pro with a pencil for free, all I would want to do is draw/paint in procreate with it, so I hope it would work for me.
@@randominternetuser2 The Ipad can't handle other additional programs you may want to explore such as 3D modeling, animation, etc. as well as a PC/MAC could. The pro models (3rd and 4th gen) *could* handle these apps, but the developers simply aren't making anything for mobile/touch as far as I know. But if you're going to be doing drawing/painting and even vector work (Illustrator) on top of audio/visual editing, the Ipad is great. Just make sure the app store has what you need.
For the equipment. write down everything you need or think you will need. see what is the total then if its still too much start buying the items in the order of what is necessary right away and what can be held of for later. While you start to build your set up and collection practice your art and what ever you get stuck on that is what you should dedicate to learning that day. it gives you time to work on until you get new items or equipment and you dont overwhelm yourself with all the information at once. as time passes and you take a few steps at a time you will also notice that you might not need everything in that list.
Soon after you started speaking about the expense of practicing to draw with paints I took out my watercolors & settled myself in to make an illustration along to your conversations. Was relaxing and as entertaining to listen to as usual, thank you Marshall & Proko! Was wondering where you've been.
Love your chat lads. Particularly the straying conversations :) So many resonating topics. Love the library, if only for a quiet place to relax. Parks, yes. I drew a lot on the train, but worked early mornings to concentrate, to avoid family interruptions and phone calls. Software, look at free proggies like Blender for 3d, Davinci Resolve for movie editing, and Krita for painting. I also use an Intuos 4 instead of a cintiq. Materials can be cheap too, I use plain brand HB, 2B, H pencils, $3 fineliners, staedler school erasers, op shop containers, photocopy paper and sketch books from the mall and roll my own paper stumps. My paper supplies shelf is made from packing boxes, cut and glued. As long as the space is comfortable, convenient and functional, who cares what its made of. The art is more important :)
I spent several years in the navy stationed on USS Wadsworth FFG 9 out of 32 Street base in San Diego. I would spend my liberty days at Balboa Park and wander around the park and the museums. I loved Balboa Park because it was the only part of San Diego that was green outside of January. Good times!
That is exactly what happens to me. (I hate this job I said) I want to get out of it. I made a lot of sacrifices in the process and now I finally change my life. I am now doing art for a living. Best job ever 50 % work/ 50 % hobby.
I'm enjoying your conversations about art school vs self learning. Your advice in the series has been spot on in my experience about every aspect of self directed learning. I take a lot of online classes about drawing, painting, printmaking and various media to support me in acquiring the skills I need (at age 66) to accomplish my long time dream of becoming a textile designer. I will be enrolling in community college digital media classes next semester to jump start my technology skills. I agree totally with your analysis of the benefits of self directed learning and how to go about it. The only thing I wish to point out about the shared space recommendation in this video is, like many people, I'm someone who doesn't function well with people around. I need a quiet workspace with everything at my fingertips. There's no way I can get real work done in a shared environment or in a public place. I grew up as an isolated only child and am definitely what is considered a Highly Sensitive Person. I never, unlike Marshall, learned to tune out activity around me or to ask for quiet space to focus. Shared workspaces stress me out to the point where I experience so much anxiety that my work is adversely affected. Otherwise, I'm a well adjusted person who enjoys being with people on my terms and who has many friends and social connections. Stan and Marshall, I appreciate the depth of your conversations and your videos. I'm looking forward to learning from your anatomy tutorials. Thanks so much for doing what you do.
Sharing this with my artist friends!! Decades ago: I started to draw with a ballpen or pencil and paper. I started digital art by scanning my drawings with a 5" handheld scanner, a generic pen tablet and coloring on a pc with a 1.6 gig hard drive. 😁
PSA, Here are some free art programs for WIndows or Linux (not sure about Mac) --For painting, Krita is great alternative to Photoshop, and has a wrap-around view mode if you want to VERY easily make seamless textures. Personally I also really like MyPaint, especially for sketching because it has infinite canvas, but it can behave a bit funny sometimes. Neither of these is exactly like Photoshop, but I tend to think of it as analogous to oils being not exactly like acrylics. --GIMP is good for the photo editing side of Photoshop-Replacement. --For 3D (and 2D, lately) Blender is an fully capable program for modelling, sculpting, animating, texturing, rigging, lighting, compositing, and even some video editing. More and more professional studios are moving to Blender. And Blender does work on MacOS as well. --For vector, Inkscape is very good, but I haven't done much vector art, so I can't really attest to it personally. Hopefully this helps some people. And if anyone else has any other suggestions, please do share!
Thanks guys for another great episode. I really don’t like working at my apartment so I go to coffee shops to draw all the time and believe it or not I have scored many clients by working at coffee shops! People would look over my shoulder and say, “wow that looks cool!” And I would chat with them and end up giving them a business card and they become my next client.... so quarantine is killing my business :/
digital art is a lot cheaper in the long run, you pay the price once and that's it but with traditional art you do 1-3-5 paintings or drawing and you need to buy new tubes and pencils maybe brushes if you don't take care of them, but with digital all you need is a cheap laptop and a drawing tablet, and if you are not into the ways of the pirates there a lot of free drawing apps that are really good if your tablet doesn't come with one
I learned to paint using cheap gauche, to draw with the crayons I used to buy in the stationery shop when I was a child and I worked for 10 years with wacoom bamboo before I could afford the first Cintiq. I have a friend who still draws her comics with black ballpoint pens, the ones you buy for a few euros in the stationery shop, and the effect is great. To make sketches I use the A3 blocks they sometimes have at the discount store. I take whole boxes of them, because nobody else buys them anyway. If I wait a couple of weeks the price drops as well, and I can make a better stock. I've never understood the point of spending 20 euros for a sketch block. Sure, for a finished job good quality tools help, but if you don't develop technique and experience first, you're just throwing money away.
As soon as I bought my drawing tablet, I eliminated all the expenses. No more sketchbooks, pencils, rubbers, special tools etc. Everything became very simple, and I can spend all my time with practicing. If you have no money for an expensive drawing tablet, I would recommend to look for second hand Motion Computing products(they not making them anymore) . My J3500 was like $100, and it's perfect for drawing, it comes with stylus, it is actually a penabled wacom windows tablet, military grade case, so very durable too, and you draw on the screen. You can choose to operate with only pen, or finger too, which is still excellent, because it's only sensitive for the tip of your finger, not for your palm.
and why would you not do art just because you are a little hot? I live in a city in the middle of the desert and literally no one uses air conditioner XD I need to move to first world city
-I started learning through Gnomon Online videos and UA-cam (Aaron Blaise has TONS of amazing illustration videos in UA-cam for free) and pencil and paper. It's a very affordable way to test whether you have the commitment for it or not. -Once I saw I was committed, I leveled up to Wacom Intuos Art Medium. The kind where you look at the computer screen, and draw on the tablet. The learning curve was tough, but now I prefer it to anything. When I draw on display tablet, I find I get distracted by my hand, since I'm used to my wacom and just viewing my canvas 100% of the time without a hand. It's just a matter of getting used to it. I would recommend looking into stores for refurbished pieces, they are always cheaper. Or look at sites where second hand things are sold, there's plenty of people that level up their wacom tablet and then want to sell off their old one. - I used Photoshop long enough to learn the interface, but switched to Clip Studio Paint (previously manga studio) and haven't looked back. I set up the keyboard shortcuts in CSP to mimic Photoshop so I can switch between the two if a job required for it, but CSP is amazing for illustration. It was a one time payment, and it was on sale. If anyone has any questions about CSP I would be super happy to answer them. Just recently, they have been doing more events to get into the European market and they held a 21h drawing party just a few days ago, it was loads of fun. Follow them on Twitter, they usually hold give away events that can include licenses to their software.
I'm using my android phone to do digital art since 3 years now....i only do finished illustrations digitally ....and studies traditionally...if u want to learn something badly...nothing can stop you
That Harry's commercial! I was excited because I literally thought Marshal was introducing a class on Renaissance masters and it was just a commercial for razors.
I really recommend to anyone that you get a veikk/huion tablet, around 19" to start off with, you can get them for £30 - £80 (you can cut down costs by using websites like AliExpress), much better than my first tablet, a wacom tablet. Only drawback is you may encounter driver issues but these can usually be resolved
It feels good to try new tools, and a tool that really feels good is preferable over one which might be a better quality. That is why everyone asks "what pencil are you using". Nobody believes the pencil is a secret weapon. We're all, all of us, looking for another tool that feels good.
11:30 I have an Intuos M( it's Bluetooth and it came with three programs* license 2 years*). It's a very good tablet, it sure does the job. But, it's quite difficult to adjust to it if you suddenly transition from traditional to digital. But that's mostly because it doesn't have a screen, meaning that it will be a little difficult than a screen tablet. Also, the Bluetooth ain't that good, I bought two different kinds of Bluetooth adapters( a cheap one and an "expensive" one) and I was faced with the same problem... lagging. I don't even know why it has Bluetooth if it's lagging the pen while drawing...
If anyone is thinking about drawing on an ipad but cant afford an ipad pro, here's my take. I am using a regular 12 or so inch ipad with a 1st gen apple pencil. I waited to get both of them until black friday. I also have a knockoff paper like screen protector. It was a fairly sizable investment but I highly recommended it. You wont be able to use a ton of lairs and it won't be as good as a ipad pro, but It isn't a huge deal. You can get everything you need for under $500 and it is a very powerful tool. I recommend procreate, but sketchbook pro is very nice as well and it is free. I take it with me everywhere and it feels so much easier to get into digital painting. The best part is just that it is its own pc. You dont need to hook it in to anything. Even if you decide you dont like digital art, it is super useful for whatever else you need to do. For most schools, you could do your assignments just fine on an ipad and never need a laptop anyway. Even if you dont want to end up doing digital art, it is great for anatomy tracing and a ton of other exercises that are difficult to do traditionally.
@@randominternetuser2 In procreate it depends on the resolution. I don't know the exact ratio, but in a canvas that is 6000x4500 px I can only use 5 layers. I can usually find a happy medium between resolution and layer count, but I know some people have a layer heavy workflow so it might not work for all. I find that it helps build confidence and decisiveness in painting, two of the most important skills. Creativity comes from limitations.
That rent-a-typewriter story is ray bradbury who couldn't work at home anymore because of his young family. So he went to the library and threw dimes into the typewriters.
my house garage was upgraded to an art studio, desk, drawing table, two easels, press 'Intaglio', ceramic oven, etc, etc....I love my garage studio...The only bad part is no windows that killing me but I am looking for the solution!
This is a little random but here in El Salvador we have Quiznos too and I love it, way better than Subway. Marshall´s advertising is always amazing haha. By the way for people in 3rd world countries Huion, Xp-pen and other chinese brands are real life savers.
Xp pen makes a good tablet for 100 bucks.. 0 complaints with plenty of sensitivity built in. I use sketchbook pro which is free so it’s a good route if you are tight on cash.
I’m trying to learn how to get real good at art on a dime... I don’t have school, or a computer. I’ve got my phone, some pencils, crayons, pens, and copy paper.
I know that all is one problem.... starting out as freelancer/self-employed designer/illustrator I had bed and office in one room... it was awesome... and a Burnout that finally manifested. A lot of Time spend to return to the Craft, and now I at least have a Studio I can work from. It really is awesome to me. But it has its disadvantages though...
We love the subs! Cause they are good to us! The Quiznos subs!!! They are tasty, they are crunchy, they are warm because they toast them!!! They got a pepper bar!!! mmmm... toasty!
Started on pen and paper as kid. Now i am 30, yes i do digital but i allways have pen and paper with me whereever i go, and allways enough blank sheets at home. Never used watercolour or anything else. Just a mechanical pencil eraser(white work best) and paper. Even high qualit stuff, combined is like 10€.
Trueee, i recently brought a really cheap huion (huion HS64) and i use it to draw on my phone xD, and tbh it works well for me! (But before i bought this tablet i used to draw digitally on my phone using my finger x3)
I first learn how to make murals and then with that money I buy a med tier computer and a cheap 2018 wacom , so the thing it's to find jobs that slowly earn you those expensive things but those jobs need to be related with your vocation
On the subject of digital art, there are 30USD tablets I've heard good things about, And Medibang is a free drawing software that, while not as powerful as Clip Studio, It has pretty much all you'd need to do illustrations and comics.
To answer the software question that universities provide. A lot of companies will grant student licenses. If you aren't enrolled in a university to qualify don't let that discourage you. Get in contact with the company. A lot of times they will work with you and help you get set up. Also don't underestimate open source software. Want to be a 3d artist? Use blender to get started. For video game environment art you could use a combination of blender and unreal engine 4. Want to be a graphic designer? Use inkscape. Can't afford photoshop? Gimp. These programs might not always be the best compared to professional software, but they can help get your foot through the door and help you at least learn the fundamentals until it makes financial sense to invest in expensive software.
For digital art, I bought a Wacom Intuos for 60 Euros, I had 20 euros discount. (original price 80 euros). It works really well. Its rather tiny however.
The thing about digital is that it has a high upfront cost but you save money in the long run by not paying for physical equipment like paint, paper, canvas etc. If it's something you want to do and want to make art your living, consider it an investment. A powerful computer will last you a long time, and has more uses than just an art making machine. Buy what you can afford and save up if you need to. Digital art is hard to get into if you're a poor high schooler but if you really want it and really need it, sacrifice and work hard to get the stacks you need to buy your equipment. Lots of people gag at the prices of art equipment but for the most part you pay what you get for and if you take care of it, it'll last a long time. If you're casual about art then yeah a $300 pen or $1000 tablet may not be for you. Don't buy the tools your favorite artists are using because more than likely they're pros and make a living off of making art. They don't blink when they have to buy expensive equipment because it's a business expense. Buy within your means and try that medium out, if you like it, upgrade.
Where are you most productive? Are you experiencing some discomfort that is giving you the motivation to work harder?
Most productive in my studio in the mornings when the family is away. The discomfort is getting time in and seeing the level of work out there and knowing I have to be as good or better to land the gigs.
Being in my room at 3am😂
I'm most productive when I am creating art for a story I am passionate about. Without a story, I don't know what to draw. I've always been obsessed with sci-fi art, the strange worlds they let us glimpse. Every time I look at art books, I get a sense of euphoria and I feel SO GOOD. The discomfort comes when I have all these ideas in my head that I don't have the artistic skills to convey. This desire to create and show new and strange worlds drives and motivates me, but also frustrates me when I can't even come close to conveying what I want.
Listening to this podcast really helps keep me in the right mindset. In one of the previous podcasts, Marshall mentioned The Art of Mara McAfee. I ended up buying the book for the quote he mentioned:
"The two most important qualities necessary for becoming the best at something are what sound the dullest: patience and discipline," she says. "I think to become a real artist, you have to have the patience to be ignored, even ridiculed, for years and to persevere quietly with only the joy of working and the faith in yourself to sustain you. You need the discipline to spend years on the unimaginative, uncreative aspects of art, such as mastering anatomy and painting techniques."
Im sort of confused cos I listened to this episode last week on Spotify. Was there a delay? Or change in scheduling I wasn't aware of
@@edend3967 if you ever want some story ideas, let me know!
Marshall: Yeah, I'm eager!
Stan: My dad is Igor.
Stan taking dad jokes to the next level.
Marshall missed it completely though! 😂😂
I really do like marshalls tangents about his life, hes such a happy and full of life person!
He really is. And a marvelous artist. I bet he'd make an amazing friend.
Marshall's "tangents" are pearls of wisdom.
"You learn to drive in your parents' car, and see if you can get away from the cops." -Marshall Vandruff
Marshall is a treasure... I love that we get to just listen to him. He's one of those people I must meet if I ever go to the US
Same🤣🤣🤣
My wife had to take an art class (elective) during her undergraduate degree. It was your basic intro to drawing class, starting with cubes, spheres, and cylinders before moving into blocking and massing in the figure with straights (sight sizing). Her materials list was roughly $600! More than the textbooks combined for her other four classes combined together. The "you need a pencil and paper" mantra needs to be spread to art schools across the world.
This is the reason I let go of my dream to go into the art school. Getting a degree in the science field is often cheaper because the costs have been calculated into the fees and it's easier to get a scholarship to pay for your fees rather than your 'extra' own learning costs.
And KUDOS to the team saving screenshots of weird faces for thumbnails!!! They spark so much joy!
I gotta tell you guys, really enjoying these chats. So I went and bought on Ebay the Famous Artists Courses binders and I'm going through them carefully as a online course, I'm loving it. I take it seriously and do the assignments. It's all about the time and effort you put in.
You know you could've found scans of it for free lol
It was Ray Bradbury who wrote a book in the library:
"I went down in the basement of the UCLA Library and God, there was a room with 12 typewriters in it that you could rent for 10 cents a half-hour. And there were eight or nine students in there working away like crazy."
Yes, it was Fahrenheit 451 if I'm not mistaken.
"Libraries.... it's also a good resource for books, I guess" I love it!
"Hey I drew you, what're you gonna do about it?" damn art gangs terrorizing the public
Imagine getting drew. This post was made by Art Gang
that sounds hilarious
Even when I'm sad and stressed out on hard day your podcast make me smile after like 3 minutes of listening, thank you for that!
Your level of understanding and empathy is a breath of fresh air. Thank you, Marshall.
I lived in a no air conditioning house, usually 40ºC. I went to school all day, lived with a lot of siblings and share room, so my best time to art was on the night, when everyone slept and it wasn’t too hot. I use school cheap supplies for drawing and my sketch book was discarded papers from the printer that my dad bring from work, so one side was printed. I miss those days :) so much freedom in drawing with cheap supplies, no pressure at all.
I was waiting for this; the 56 minutes went by so fast you wouldn't believe it.
I just want to say, I love you guys and what you're doing, and thank you for all the helpful information, tips and interesting trivia. The relaxed, but fun, atmosphere really helped lift my spirits lately as well. Also, Proko, I know you said you can't understand how some people can draw and listen to a podcast while doing it; I many times listen to Draftsmen while drawing and it's very useful in preventing me from overthinking my lines, which I always do for "fear of messing up". Thus, I stop being too involved in it and I can loosen up a bit, which is great.
I purchased your fundamentals course in 2014, I'm still here 6-7 years later. Thanks for the many years of great art tuition! I have learned so much from all of the courses you delivered. I'm now at university learning 3D but the skills I gained through your courses have helped me out in animation, 3d modelling, sculpting, rigging, storyboarding and concept design at school. That and live figure drawing has been invaluable. I'm looking forward to Marshall's perspective course, I'm sure it's well worth the wait.
Marshall!! Im an architectural Designer and loved hearing about your childhood house! In my designs I spend a lot of time considering how I can maximize the efficiency and usage of every square meter of any design I do. It's a wonderfully creative process. Thank you for sharing this, even though you percieved it to be a tangent.
We love you Marshall!
I've done the DIY art school thing for about 16 months now. The most expensive aspect of it is getting good digital tools (aside from education from various sources). I also have a bit of "let's try all this tech out!" ADHD, which has allowed me try many devices and send many more back. Here are my opinions as someone who doesn't like to spend much:
Tablets: When you're talking about the non-screen tablets (tablet pads), both Huion and XP-Pen are right up there with the Wacom Intuous products and for much cheaper money (30% to 60%) less. I've had all three, and stuck with the Huion. Wacom makes a more comfortable pen IMO, but that all depends on your grip, pressure, etc.
Screen Tablets: I've tried many products and many brands. They all have their ups and downs. Here, Wacom reigns supreme. Huion and to a lesser degree XP Pen feel like you're etching into glass. Ouch. I'd take a 13" Wacom screen tablet over the biggest competitor product any day of the week, just for the stylus pressure and ergonomics alone. My Wacom Cintiq 16 is truly a pleasure to draw on.
Screen Tablet Alternatives: As Proko mentioned, a decent PC/MAC that can run Photoshop, Clip Studio, etc. can start at $500 and, assuming 8GB of RAM, SSD, and GPU (non-integrated, which you may want if you ever expand to more complicated renderings in a 3 year span or so) will make out around $1,000. If you don't have this much money but still have some cash to invest, my suggestion is:
Ipad Pro 12.9" second or third generation, used. If you look long enough, you'll get these at a steal. Then, factor in another $100 for the Apple Pencil or Apple Pencil 2, $10 for Procreate, and you have a solid workstation. However, this is just for drawing / digital painting and nothing else. But if that is what you value, the Ipad Pro 12.9 is still my favorite device to draw on. The newer Surface Pro models are quite good as well and you do get a fully functioning PC, but the Ipad just has that "it" factor that, like Wacom, makes drawing a real pleasure. Plus, as a beginner, Procreate is a godsend. You can learn the software in maybe an hour and produce gorgeous, hi-res art with it.
My current setup is Wacom Cintiq 16 + HP Laptop and, when I need to get out of the office and still want to draw, my 2nd Gen Ipad Pro. The Apple Pencil 2 is much better than the first gen Apple Pencil, but I'm in no rush to upgrade. My first year training was an older Mac Mini + Photoshop + Huion Graphic Tablet.
What having a decent digital tool set has really allowed, for me at least, is to make work more comfortably. My time practicing and making art has gone from maybe an hour a day to several. Better tools = better ergonomics which makes for longer, more productive and less painful practice.
Mike Pelosi this is great. What do you mean about the ipad not really being able to do anything else than drawing/painting? Not powerful enough to do what? I may be able to get a 6th gen ipad non-pro with a pencil for free, all I would want to do is draw/paint in procreate with it, so I hope it would work for me.
@@randominternetuser2 The Ipad can't handle other additional programs you may want to explore such as 3D modeling, animation, etc. as well as a PC/MAC could. The pro models (3rd and 4th gen) *could* handle these apps, but the developers simply aren't making anything for mobile/touch as far as I know. But if you're going to be doing drawing/painting and even vector work (Illustrator) on top of audio/visual editing, the Ipad is great. Just make sure the app store has what you need.
For the equipment. write down everything you need or think you will need. see what is the total then if its still too much start buying the items in the order of what is necessary right away and what can be held of for later. While you start to build your set up and collection practice your art and what ever you get stuck on that is what you should dedicate to learning that day. it gives you time to work on until you get new items or equipment and you dont overwhelm yourself with all the information at once. as time passes and you take a few steps at a time you will also notice that you might not need everything in that list.
Krita is a free Photoshop substitute when it comes to digital painting. No piracy required :))
Yes, Free and Open Source is the best!!
We love Marshall ❤
We love Marshal.
We love you and your stories Marshall!
Soon after you started speaking about the expense of practicing to draw with paints I took out my watercolors & settled myself in to make an illustration along to your conversations. Was relaxing and as entertaining to listen to as usual, thank you Marshall & Proko! Was wondering where you've been.
How come I love Marshall so much?
We really do love Marshall
Love your chat lads. Particularly the straying conversations :) So many resonating topics. Love the library, if only for a quiet place to relax. Parks, yes. I drew a lot on the train, but worked early mornings to concentrate, to avoid family interruptions and phone calls. Software, look at free proggies like Blender for 3d, Davinci Resolve for movie editing, and Krita for painting. I also use an Intuos 4 instead of a cintiq. Materials can be cheap too, I use plain brand HB, 2B, H pencils, $3 fineliners, staedler school erasers, op shop containers, photocopy paper and sketch books from the mall and roll my own paper stumps. My paper supplies shelf is made from packing boxes, cut and glued. As long as the space is comfortable, convenient and functional, who cares what its made of. The art is more important :)
Thanks for all you guys do.
I spent several years in the navy stationed on USS Wadsworth FFG 9 out of 32 Street base in San Diego. I would spend my liberty days at Balboa Park and wander around the park and the museums. I loved Balboa Park because it was the only part of San Diego that was green outside of January. Good times!
That is exactly what happens to me. (I hate this job I said) I want to get out of it. I made a lot of sacrifices in the process and now I finally change my life. I am now doing art for a living. Best job ever 50 % work/ 50 % hobby.
May I ask u how did you do that? And in which field do you work
I'm LOLing at Stan's "cave paintings" comment @ 14:07 and also how Marshall just totally brushed it off and kept talking lol
Your thumbnails should have their own gallery
Pleasssssss keep going with these episodes forever even if you do and talk about the same things over and over cause I love this
I'm enjoying your conversations about art school vs self learning. Your advice in the series has been spot on in my experience about every aspect of self directed learning. I take a lot of online classes about drawing, painting, printmaking and various media to support me in acquiring the skills I need (at age 66) to accomplish my long time dream of becoming a textile designer. I will be enrolling in community college digital media classes next semester to jump start my technology skills. I agree totally with your analysis of the benefits of self directed learning and how to go about it.
The only thing I wish to point out about the shared space recommendation in this video is, like many people, I'm someone who doesn't function well with people around. I need a quiet workspace with everything at my fingertips. There's no way I can get real work done in a shared environment or in a public place. I grew up as an isolated only child and am definitely what is considered a Highly Sensitive Person. I never, unlike Marshall, learned to tune out activity around me or to ask for quiet space to focus. Shared workspaces stress me out to the point where I experience so much anxiety that my work is adversely affected. Otherwise, I'm a well adjusted person who enjoys being with people on my terms and who has many friends and social connections.
Stan and Marshall, I appreciate the depth of your conversations and your videos. I'm looking forward to learning from your anatomy tutorials. Thanks so much for doing what you do.
Sharing this with my artist friends!!
Decades ago: I started to draw with a ballpen or pencil and paper. I started digital art by scanning my drawings with a 5" handheld scanner, a generic pen tablet and coloring on a pc with a 1.6 gig hard drive. 😁
PSA, Here are some free art programs for WIndows or Linux (not sure about Mac)
--For painting, Krita is great alternative to Photoshop, and has a wrap-around view mode if you want to VERY easily make seamless textures. Personally I also really like MyPaint, especially for sketching because it has infinite canvas, but it can behave a bit funny sometimes. Neither of these is exactly like Photoshop, but I tend to think of it as analogous to oils being not exactly like acrylics.
--GIMP is good for the photo editing side of Photoshop-Replacement.
--For 3D (and 2D, lately) Blender is an fully capable program for modelling, sculpting, animating, texturing, rigging, lighting, compositing, and even some video editing. More and more professional studios are moving to Blender. And Blender does work on MacOS as well.
--For vector, Inkscape is very good, but I haven't done much vector art, so I can't really attest to it personally.
Hopefully this helps some people. And if anyone else has any other suggestions, please do share!
For 2D animation OpenToonz exists. Not sure how good Blender is for 2D.
26:40 lmao, "So your first job as an artist was a Sandwich Artist?"
Thanks guys for another great episode. I really don’t like working at my apartment so I go to coffee shops to draw all the time and believe it or not I have scored many clients by working at coffee shops! People would look over my shoulder and say, “wow that looks cool!” And I would chat with them and end up giving them a business card and they become my next client.... so quarantine is killing my business :/
Thanks for adding subtitles. I don't even need them but I appreciate the effort.
18:30 Ray Bradburry wrote Fahrenheit 451 on a dime-at-a-time typewriter.
We love Marshall!
digital art is a lot cheaper in the long run, you pay the price once and that's it but with traditional art you do 1-3-5 paintings or drawing and you need to buy new tubes and pencils maybe brushes if you don't take care of them, but with digital all you need is a cheap laptop and a drawing tablet, and if you are not into the ways of the pirates there a lot of free drawing apps that are really good if your tablet doesn't come with one
Cheap laptop? U need some requirements to run softwares like photoshop i think. On mine it' s a bit laggy and sometimes crashes
I love it when the podcast is longer
I learned to paint using cheap gauche, to draw with the crayons I used to buy in the stationery shop when I was a child and I worked for 10 years with wacoom bamboo before I could afford the first Cintiq.
I have a friend who still draws her comics with black ballpoint pens, the ones you buy for a few euros in the stationery shop, and the effect is great.
To make sketches I use the A3 blocks they sometimes have at the discount store. I take whole boxes of them, because nobody else buys them anyway. If I wait a couple of weeks the price drops as well, and I can make a better stock.
I've never understood the point of spending 20 euros for a sketch block.
Sure, for a finished job good quality tools help, but if you don't develop technique and experience first, you're just throwing money away.
As soon as I bought my drawing tablet, I eliminated all the expenses. No more sketchbooks, pencils, rubbers, special tools etc. Everything became very simple, and I can spend all my time with practicing. If you have no money for an expensive drawing tablet, I would recommend to look for second hand Motion Computing products(they not making them anymore) . My J3500 was like $100, and it's perfect for drawing, it comes with stylus, it is actually a penabled wacom windows tablet, military grade case, so very durable too, and you draw on the screen. You can choose to operate with only pen, or finger too, which is still excellent, because it's only sensitive for the tip of your finger, not for your palm.
Big cintiqs and air conditioning? You guys should look at art schools in my area. Oh, wait, there aren't ones! :D
Same lol
and why would you not do art just because you are a little hot? I live in a city in the middle of the desert and literally no one uses air conditioner XD I need to move to first world city
At 18:40 Marshall is thinking of Ray Bradbury I think!
17:39 the sound of falling hair 😂
14:03 “Cave paintings” 😂😂
-I started learning through Gnomon Online videos and UA-cam (Aaron Blaise has TONS of amazing illustration videos in UA-cam for free) and pencil and paper. It's a very affordable way to test whether you have the commitment for it or not.
-Once I saw I was committed, I leveled up to Wacom Intuos Art Medium. The kind where you look at the computer screen, and draw on the tablet. The learning curve was tough, but now I prefer it to anything. When I draw on display tablet, I find I get distracted by my hand, since I'm used to my wacom and just viewing my canvas 100% of the time without a hand. It's just a matter of getting used to it. I would recommend looking into stores for refurbished pieces, they are always cheaper. Or look at sites where second hand things are sold, there's plenty of people that level up their wacom tablet and then want to sell off their old one.
- I used Photoshop long enough to learn the interface, but switched to Clip Studio Paint (previously manga studio) and haven't looked back. I set up the keyboard shortcuts in CSP to mimic Photoshop so I can switch between the two if a job required for it, but CSP is amazing for illustration. It was a one time payment, and it was on sale. If anyone has any questions about CSP I would be super happy to answer them. Just recently, they have been doing more events to get into the European market and they held a 21h drawing party just a few days ago, it was loads of fun. Follow them on Twitter, they usually hold give away events that can include licenses to their software.
"A stain, a wash, cheap gouache." I need a t-shirt of this!
I just love listening to you guys. The Kleenex box makes it look like it’s a therapist’s office and someone might cry. 😀
I'm using my android phone to do digital art since 3 years now....i only do finished illustrations digitally ....and studies traditionally...if u want to learn something badly...nothing can stop you
That Harry's commercial! I was excited because I literally thought Marshal was introducing a class on Renaissance masters and it was just a commercial for razors.
Stan interrupting Papa Vandruff's story time theatre >:(
I really recommend to anyone that you get a veikk/huion tablet, around 19" to start off with, you can get them for £30 - £80 (you can cut down costs by using websites like AliExpress), much better than my first tablet, a wacom tablet. Only drawback is you may encounter driver issues but these can usually be resolved
struggle builds and defines character.
It feels good to try new tools, and a tool that really feels good is preferable over one which might be a better quality. That is why everyone asks "what pencil are you using". Nobody believes the pencil is a secret weapon. We're all, all of us, looking for another tool that feels good.
It was not fire that made RAM expensive. It was Kobe earthquake. it desotryed half the world production capability of RAM
excellent video...
I don't need the Harry set, but your voice Mashall is very convincing!!! 🤣🤣🤣👍👍👍 Maybe for my dad?🤣😂
im still happy with my bamboo create, almost 8 years later :))
11:30 I have an Intuos M( it's Bluetooth and it came with three programs* license 2 years*). It's a very good tablet, it sure does the job. But, it's quite difficult to adjust to it if you suddenly transition from traditional to digital. But that's mostly because it doesn't have a screen, meaning that it will be a little difficult than a screen tablet. Also, the Bluetooth ain't that good, I bought two different kinds of Bluetooth adapters( a cheap one and an "expensive" one) and I was faced with the same problem... lagging. I don't even know why it has Bluetooth if it's lagging the pen while drawing...
@Draftsmen That was Ray Bradbury writing Fahrenheit 451.
Now I want to buy a shave even tho i don't have any facial hairs to shave to! Thanks Matshall! :D
the best part is Marshall's razor advertisement
I was waiting for this one ! =D
If anyone is thinking about drawing on an ipad but cant afford an ipad pro, here's my take. I am using a regular 12 or so inch ipad with a 1st gen apple pencil. I waited to get both of them until black friday. I also have a knockoff paper like screen protector. It was a fairly sizable investment but I highly recommended it. You wont be able to use a ton of lairs and it won't be as good as a ipad pro, but It isn't a huge deal. You can get everything you need for under $500 and it is a very powerful tool. I recommend procreate, but sketchbook pro is very nice as well and it is free. I take it with me everywhere and it feels so much easier to get into digital painting. The best part is just that it is its own pc. You dont need to hook it in to anything. Even if you decide you dont like digital art, it is super useful for whatever else you need to do. For most schools, you could do your assignments just fine on an ipad and never need a laptop anyway. Even if you dont want to end up doing digital art, it is great for anatomy tracing and a ton of other exercises that are difficult to do traditionally.
Jey Miraculous this is my plan I think. How limited with layers is it?
@@randominternetuser2 In procreate it depends on the resolution. I don't know the exact ratio, but in a canvas that is 6000x4500 px I can only use 5 layers. I can usually find a happy medium between resolution and layer count, but I know some people have a layer heavy workflow so it might not work for all. I find that it helps build confidence and decisiveness in painting, two of the most important skills. Creativity comes from limitations.
@@consumepant0 Thanks!
@@randominternetuser2 No problem
Really ,Good to know
That rent-a-typewriter story is ray bradbury who couldn't work at home anymore because of his young family. So he went to the library and threw dimes into the typewriters.
Hey Proko...Can you have an interview with Scott Robertson?...or a series maybe...
my house garage was upgraded to an art studio, desk, drawing table, two easels, press 'Intaglio', ceramic oven, etc, etc....I love my garage studio...The only bad part is no windows that killing me but I am looking for the solution!
RogerMari Art look to getting transparent panels as a roof, that’s what I had put in when I had to replace the asbestos roof...
Marshall's razor commercial lol!!! 29min in
This is a little random but here in El Salvador we have Quiznos too and I love it, way better than Subway. Marshall´s advertising is always amazing haha. By the way for people in 3rd world countries Huion, Xp-pen and other chinese brands are real life savers.
Xp pen makes a good tablet for 100 bucks.. 0 complaints with plenty of sensitivity built in. I use sketchbook pro which is free so it’s a good route if you are tight on cash.
I got a Huion for 50 bucks and it's amazing.
Lol, I've been using Cotman watercolours ever since I started doing it. Had no idea they were bad.
I’m trying to learn how to get real good at art on a dime... I don’t have school, or a computer. I’ve got my phone, some pencils, crayons, pens, and copy paper.
I know that all is one problem.... starting out as freelancer/self-employed designer/illustrator I had bed and office in one room... it was awesome... and a Burnout that finally manifested.
A lot of Time spend to return to the Craft, and now I at least have a Studio I can work from.
It really is awesome to me.
But it has its disadvantages though...
I remember when I started with Gimp and and a small bamboo tablet. Not I'm on a intuos 4 that l've for probably more than 5 years.
We love the subs!
Cause they are good to us!
The Quiznos subs!!!
They are tasty, they are crunchy, they are warm
because they toast them!!!
They got a pepper bar!!!
mmmm... toasty!
Wait why have I heard this episode already
that's basically why digital 'artists' are on the rise on ig.
light lawliet yikessss. Let’s keep the digital artist hate to a minimum, alright? We work just as hard as traditional artists
Started on pen and paper as kid. Now i am 30, yes i do digital but i allways have pen and paper with me whereever i go, and allways enough blank sheets at home. Never used watercolour or anything else. Just a mechanical pencil eraser(white work best) and paper. Even high qualit stuff, combined is like 10€.
Marshall goes brr!!!
Trueee, i recently brought a really cheap huion (huion HS64) and i use it to draw on my phone xD, and tbh it works well for me! (But before i bought this tablet i used to draw digitally on my phone using my finger x3)
7:30 LOL, fun fact from marshall number 129382758392
i feel like every episode stan just gradually gets ruder towards marshall lmao
I first learn how to make murals and then with that money I buy a med tier computer and a cheap 2018 wacom , so the thing it's to find jobs that slowly earn you those expensive things but those jobs need to be related with your vocation
Omg Marshall's ad narration I'M DEAD XDXDXD
haha this is the 2nd time i listen to a podcast & the ad just pops outta nowhere & its 60% higher volume then the rest of the show
Heck you can just draw on your phone with a touchscreen! You can do a lot with the bare mimimum
Anybody else remember the Graphire tablet? It was Wacom's cheaper alternative to the intuos a long time ago.
On the subject of digital art,
there are 30USD tablets I've heard good things about,
And Medibang is a free drawing software that, while not as powerful as Clip Studio,
It has pretty much all you'd need to do illustrations and comics.
To answer the software question that universities provide. A lot of companies will grant student licenses. If you aren't enrolled in a university to qualify don't let that discourage you. Get in contact with the company. A lot of times they will work with you and help you get set up. Also don't underestimate open source software. Want to be a 3d artist? Use blender to get started. For video game environment art you could use a combination of blender and unreal engine 4. Want to be a graphic designer? Use inkscape. Can't afford photoshop? Gimp. These programs might not always be the best compared to professional software, but they can help get your foot through the door and help you at least learn the fundamentals until it makes financial sense to invest in expensive software.
I am very interested in 3D art but have no space. I feel like this alone is why i should go to art school cos otherwise i would not have what i need.
For digital art, I bought a Wacom Intuos for 60 Euros, I had 20 euros discount. (original price 80 euros). It works really well. Its rather tiny however.
The thing about digital is that it has a high upfront cost but you save money in the long run by not paying for physical equipment like paint, paper, canvas etc. If it's something you want to do and want to make art your living, consider it an investment. A powerful computer will last you a long time, and has more uses than just an art making machine. Buy what you can afford and save up if you need to. Digital art is hard to get into if you're a poor high schooler but if you really want it and really need it, sacrifice and work hard to get the stacks you need to buy your equipment.
Lots of people gag at the prices of art equipment but for the most part you pay what you get for and if you take care of it, it'll last a long time. If you're casual about art then yeah a $300 pen or $1000 tablet may not be for you. Don't buy the tools your favorite artists are using because more than likely they're pros and make a living off of making art. They don't blink when they have to buy expensive equipment because it's a business expense. Buy within your means and try that medium out, if you like it, upgrade.
13.35 I was sure they're going to make "what's your thing" part