this video encapsulates ALL of learning in the internet age - it really takes a lot of discipline to even just hold yourself back from the "advanced levels" that are so easily available
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At the beginning and lots of hard work (self taught) by watching videos & their paintings looked so “easy” or even says, Easy flower painting” but now doing practice techniques that are the building blocks for the rest of your painting. Then with drawing first focused on the whole animal/flower then was taught do by shapes, then erase & fine tune it. Also do have a teacher & have learned so much especially perspective, proportions but didn’t start playing Mozart first piano lesson yet expected myself to do big masterpiece in watercolors! Go back to basics & drew on scary looking kola but did eucalyptus leaves instead & turned out very pretty! Ty!!
All you say applied to me until I discovered your video's ! I have always done a bit of pencil sketching but when I saw your amazing pen drawings, I knew that this is what I want to learn and where I want to be ! My efforts are improving all the time, and this is because I enjoy the relevant content and tons of information in every FREE video ! (have I mentioned how much I appreciate it that you offer these valuable lessons without charging even 1 dollar !? I don't do paypal etc so even a small fee is a no-go for me!) I am very happy to have found you ! You speak my "language" !!!😊
Never knew there was a "hidden step" to learn how to draw, learning how to learn. I always felt my way of learning was directionless and muddled. I think a lot of artists struggle with this, very helpful video! Amazing painting as well.
@@stephentraversart I schooled in Australia from the early 60s. I did a back to work course in the early 2000s where we were taught Maths and English and found out that when I was learning Maths it was "new" maths and it wasn't very good. The course teacher made it so much simpler. I've also learned as I've got older and done tertiary education that I am a visual and doing learner. The law teacher told me I didn't need to write notes because he was giving out the notes. I said that the writing is part of my learning. I very rarely tidied or wrote out my notes again because I seem to have a natural ability to "see" the page in my memory. For example when reading a book and going back to check on something I can know roughly where the page it is located!
Interesting. I too am an ex teacher and I agree with your points. One of the main problems I have encountered, with online art instruction, has been very poorly designed classes by people who are really more focused on building their following and UA-cam channel than actually teaching the skills budding artists really need. I found a nearby university college where I can attend in-person classes at a very reasonable price, and the difference it has made to my art is like night and day.
Thanks for your comment and experience. Yes, not all drawing videos are the same, that’s for sure. I’m glad you’ve found such a productive path ahead. All the best with it. 😀
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this video. I was feeling so confused by watching various UA-cam artist demos. I was actually regressing. I knew that there was something missing in my art journey. Your insight on this matter is spot on. It all makes so much sense to me now. Thank you!
I am a self-taught artist as well. And i was jumping from one book to another or one course to another. But lately i realized i needed to narrow down my studies to topics that i really want to improve on.
Master artist have biases and that's fine, is my perspective. Micheal Angelo liked sculpting so much so that, he believed painting was a inferior art form and that biases is fine. Because, you like to do a certain kind of art because you don't like certain aspect about other art-form. That creates a reason you do the art process you do. Without that, you are being a paper without a pencil. I don't doubt Leonardo thought that contemporary art were not pushing the boundaries like he wanted in his times too. Without biases, what are you expressing? Your perspective in your art? I mean, just painting comfortable art is statement, something like, art need not be complex, boundary pushing or from a unique perspective, Simplicity has its own beauty . So on and so forth but without biases. You are just studying art for studying sakes, in-order to give a exam perhaps, to be ostentatious perhaps, but certainly not for your own satisfaction.
Hearing how kids learn today is extremely enlightening, because as an “OK boomer” born in 1954, it was radically different when I was a kid. I witnessed firsthand the pervasive discrimination faced by African Americans during the Jim Crow era. The term “Negro” was the prevalent designation, and “equal rights” was a distant dream. I clearly recall hearing similar rhetoric that’s now targeted against today’s immigrants. Blacks were banned from sports, television and certain locations. My family was denied entry into public swimming pools or Woolworth’s. We were ridiculed in media outlets and cartoons. Some of which can be viewed on UA-cam. At age 3, my father gifted me a pencil, igniting my passion for drawing. I developed a unique learning style, relying on a keen eye to decipher the world around me. I recall observing my preschool peers drawing the sky, by painting a line at the top of the paper and blue above it. I painted the entire sky, extending it down to the horizon, mirroring my perception. Driven by curiosity, I relentlessly attempted to capture my surroundings. Unlike today’s contemporary learners, I decoded objects and sketched my favorite TV characters, WITHOUT using the basic construction shapes seen in today’s videos. At age 8, I convinced my parents to enroll me into a home correspondence drawing course, where I learned to sketch Caucasians sufficiently. However, the available examples for drawing “negroes” were limited to racist stereotypes. This fueled my frustration, prompting me to discover how to draw Black people by DARING to sketch my friends from life. Simultaneously, society and the media portrayed “Negroes” as subhuman, lacking intelligence for skilled professions. From this perspective, it seemed IMPOSSIBLE to enter the illustration field, art galleries or art history books, no MATTER HOW skilled. Even the local newspaper editor discouraged comic strips featuring “my people” and suggested I learn to draw funny animals instead. At 17, I sold oil paintings and worked at state fairs, offering portraits and caricatures. I even illustrated my first album cover in high school. I must admit that I had a flawed view of art teachers, thinking that they spent their time begging students to draw more, while I spent every waking moment drawing on my own. I believed I could learn just as much from personal observation, and could always learn on the job (if I ever got one). 😜 I also doubted my parents could support a college education. Despite all the adversity, I traveled to New York and became an accomplished illustrator. I’ve received awards for animation but REGRET never formally studying the craft at an art school. Now in semi-retirement, I’m FINALLY studying animation by constructing images using BASIC SHAPES, as suggested by today’s UA-cam videos. I’m discovering how imperative it is for “great” animation. Fortunately, times have changed, and I’m currently exhibiting in galleries throughout the country as an emerging fine artist.
What can I say in response to your experience except thank you for sharing it. I’ve had reasons that stopped me drawing for decades that were nowhere near the issues you’ve lived through and despite, still drawn. With much respect, congratulations on where you have travelled with your art. 😀
@ I hope you received as much inspiration from it, as I got from you. There is something to be said about dwelling in a society where forces are relentlessly attempting to suppress your existence. You either quickly resign or become unstoppable! 👊🏾 A pertinent example is the historical absence of female artists. Even when such artists emerged, society stigmatized the term as a derogatory label. But nowadays, women are producing some of the most innovative and exceptional art ever created. One such artist is Lauren Halsey, a friend of mine. Most artists aspire to become famous. But Lauren became an artist because as an architect, she dreamed of transforming the landscape of South Central LA, and so she used the New York Met as a venue to build a prototype of what that transformation might look like. She constructed massive Egyptian-styled monuments and sphinxes, enhanced with the FACES of her friends and family. Furthermore, Halsey has leveraged the concept of “art project” to establish a free food bank within her community during the pandemic. She’s worth researching for inspiration! 💫 www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/roof-commission-lauren-halsey
I fell into this trap 15 years ago, number 1 I was trying to learn by “figuring it out” I was refusing to use any sort of guidance whatsoever ever, then I blamed myself for an inherent lack of talent when I didn’t improve. :P Now I’m following a course book, I’ve made more progress in 3 month than in 5 years of doing it myself :P
My advice for learning is to always practice anything you want to stick after you learn it. With a lot of ‘tip’ videos especially, I think ‘I’ll keep that in mind’ but will I really? Utilizing it soon after will better help it be worked into your mind. Most people know this but some of us struggle to apply it if we have confidence in things like memorization skills etc. Don’t fall for it.
I was also a high school English teacher (British Lit). I should have known by the way you explain everything. Kindred spirit! Thank you so much for all you do. This was particularly appreciated. Thank you!
Man, the advice you're giving sounds a lot like the advice I (a software dev) gave to my friend who's interested in learning data science. It's encouraging to hear some of those concepts rhyme with someone way more experienced talking about learning their own field.
Another excellent video. People also learn in many different ways, some by watching, some through repetition, some by jumping in and doing. When I was doing my engineering qualifications I struggled with the maths, the teacher had a certain way of teaching which I struggled with. He just assumed everyone knew what he was talking about and the pace was at those who did understand. When challenged or asked to slow down and explain why he did certain things we were told we should know by now. I just managed to scrape through with help from work colleagues. The following year a different teacher, different methods and it all started to make sense. Learning to draw by teaching yourself is also about finding the right way for you. I am one who learns more from watch then having a go maybe with a lot of trial and error. When confronted with something in a drawing I an uncertain of, pick up a sketch book and do a trial run, maybe several times tweaking techniques until I get the look I want. Then I go back to the main piece and try and replicate it using what I had learnt. I have always wanted to draw, having that desire to do something also made the learning process easier. Learning should also be fun rather than a chore.
You’re spot on. Something I sort of organically realized going the self taught route was that I needed to narrow my focus and be more selective about who to learn from. I have specific teachers for the things I wish to learn and improve on. That and being able to give myself constructive criticism and to compare myself to myself first
Oh my! I have a BS in Psychology, and fortunately, I know how I learn. But I did not know where to find the resources until I found your videos! THANK YOU so much 😊
I jumped into doing art full-time. I was trying to improve my skills, trying different mediums, choosing various subjects, and finding my style. I went from one thing to another. It's been almost a year, and I finally decided to stay with one medium, one subject, one style, and develop that. I seek videos specifically on this topic. It has cut down time and money and smoothed out my frenetic journey. This video is so good. It reinforces what I learned the hard way.
I’m self taught. Many years ago, a successful local artist told me if I took lessons it would screw up what I’ve got going. 😂👍. He was impressed with my work. To be told to just stay away from taking lessons was very nice. It was quite a compliment.
I've done plenty of online courses in acrylics and watercolour and I'm happy enough with what I do. Early in my trek into my art I did enquire about a face to face art course in my local area but the teacher completely put me off painting altogether and also in doing her course when she was hyper critical and superior about a small piece I showed her when she asked to see something. My main problem is staying interested since I am so easily bored. I paint for relaxation, and for the lovely feeling I get when something works, for me. I'm not interested in selling my art or becoming famous. What I paint is my business and whether I do a course or not is my business as well. I don't want to paint like everyone else; I do it for myself, not for admiration. 😃
Wow, this is brilliant. Thank you very much. It popped up on my YT page after I had checked out a few other videos. I noticed your Peanuts t-shirt (see comment below about cartoons). I'm 67, recently retired so looking at what I can do, and been wanting to learn how to paint/draw since my early years. I don't want to go to classes, at least at this time. I want to learn so many different things, have collected some wonderful books and videos, have purchased lots of supplies but have been so overwhelmed about where to start. This video has nailed it for me. Most of what I have done in the past has been copy drawing (without grids). I used to collect the *Peanuts* cartoons (not strips) out of a magazine and copy those about 4x the original size. I've always thought that I cannot draw but only copy BUT yesterday I found a pencil sketch that I did back in the late 1970s of a real orchid flower and it made me realise that I can draw. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the original flower to compare how good the drawing is, but I know that when I finished it I was happy with the result.
already knew art videos were just small parts of a greater whole but I've gotta thank you for laying this concept down clearly and the part where you basically say "you got to focus your efforts on specific areas"
This video is so very thoughtful and considerate! I have fallen into the trap of watching so many videos that probably don't relate to the skills I need to be developing because the artists are so good and/or their art is so extraordinary! After 3 years of binging various artists' videos, I have decided that strong drawing skills are what is going to help me create the kind of art I want to make. I am glad I found you!
This is a very eye-opening talk. I spent so many years hating myself for not effectively cobbling together a skill-set out of assorted tips and tricks. Thinking of learning as its own skill is a much more helpful way to consider it. Thanks so much for this!
One thing that is often left out of school is teaching students how to sort through information (and misinformation) - something crucial in the age of information overload
I've noticed that they are taught what to think instead of how to think. They learn something basically by rote instead of sorting through like you said.
Не попадайтесь в ловушку Художника-самоучки! 00:00 Введение в проблему • Видео посвящено художникам-самоучкам и их проблемам. • Автор считает, что многие художники не чувствуют улучшения своих навыков. • Видео не предлагает пройти курс, а объясняет, как избежать ловушки. 00:51 Курсы и обучение • Курсы предоставляют структурированный и последовательный материал. • Навыки развиваются через логичный процесс, включая обратную связь от преподавателя. • Навыки разработки курса отличаются от навыков рисования. 02:46 Самостоятельное обучение • Художники-самоучки должны сами выбирать материалы, методы и техники. • Обратная связь ограничена самокритикой, что может демотивировать. • Важно научиться учиться раньше, чем рисовать. 04:42 Личный опыт автора • Автор избежал ловушки благодаря опыту преподавания. • Важно знать, какие ресурсы использовать и когда. • Переизбыток ресурсов может быть ошеломляющим и неорганизованным. 06:04 Проблемы с ресурсами • Видео и материалы в интернете могут быть противоречивыми и неорганизованными. • Качество обучающих материалов варьируется. • Художникам-самоучкам приходится принимать много решений о том, какие ресурсы использовать. 08:01 Как избежать ловушки • Важно четко фокусироваться на конечной цели. • Конкретные цели помогают выбрать лучшие материалы и методы. • Углубление в одну область рисования облегчает освоение других областей. 10:51 Конкретное обучение • Чем конкретнее обучение, тем легче найти важные и полезные материалы. • Двигайтесь от простого к сложному, чтобы эффективно переходить на следующий уровень. • Добавляйте полезные видео в закладки для будущего использования. 11:50 Выбор видео • Не смотрите видео, к которым не готовы, чтобы не ошибиться в своих способностях. • Работайте с ведущими видео, чтобы получить последовательный подход. • Избегайте постоянного изменения вида искусства, чтобы сосредоточиться на одном направлении. 13:20 Полезные советы • Используйте множество различных областей, но поверхностно. • Не путайте искусно сделанные видео с полезными для обучения рисованию. • Оценивайте видео по их полезности для вашего процесса обучения. 15:36 Советы и хитрости • Советы и хитрости могут быть полезны, но не всегда связаны с процессом рисования. • Используйте советы в контексте урока, чтобы лучше понять их применение. • Практикуйте использование советов на своих рисунках. 17:01 Обратная связь • Художникам-самоучкам важно критически оценивать свои работы. • Используйте конструктивную обратную связь от друзей или семьи. • Обратная связь помогает улучшить рисунки и сосредоточиться на правильном направлении. 18:45 Эффективность обучения • Учитесь не только рисовать, но и учиться. • Выбирайте полезные ресурсы для достижения конечных целей. • Сосредоточьтесь на процессе обучения, чтобы избежать случайных и разрозненных подходов. 20:14 Заключение • Рисование должно приносить удовольствие. • Используйте доступные онлайн-ресурсы с умом, чтобы избежать ловушек. • Продолжайте учиться и развиваться, несмотря на трудности.
From I started to really try and learn, I realized pretty quickly that I need to tackle one specific area at a time, but this has helped me see I need to be even more specific than that to tackle one type of subject matter at a time. Thank you.
Absolutely. Once again such sage advise. I have spent almost 3 years searching out and critiquing art instruction videos in my quest to become a watercolour artist. So why do I feel so indebted to you for improving my art? Number 1: You give such sage advice about the process of learning to be a visual artist. Number 2: Your insight into teaching some baseline skills that every artist can benefit from such as perspective, effective mark making and values. I am constantly asking what have I learned from Stephen that will help me with this next step. Another of my favorite instructors has been essential in my understanding of composition and he is a oil painter. These things are essential no matter what the media so don't be afraid to go cross medias to learn the essentials. Thank you as always.❤
Wow. Now there’s a happy start to my day, reading this. Such kind words Heather, thank you. I’m so pleased you’ve found my videos so helpful in these ways. I’ve really only been drawing since mid 2018, but I painted in oils for 10 years before that - Australian trees and flowers. I was surprised when I began to draw how much things I had learnt through the painting were relevant to my drawing - especially line versus form, edges, creating effect, depth and values. I’m actually wanting to start watercolour - it teams up so well with drawing. Have all the stuff, just need to make time. The watercolour work of @stephanieabower inspires me. Worth a look on Instagram if you don’t know it. Thanks again, and all the best with your art.
@@stephentraversart Oh if you want to dive into watercolour one of my FAVORITE artists is Poppy Balser, a fellow Canadian. She is absolutely amazing! She paints plein air right through our 'difficult' weather conditions. Now that's dedication.😄 Peter Sheeler from the same area, Nova Scotia, does some really whimsical line and wash you might like. I look forward to seeing some pieces of yours.❤
I'm learning perspective and basic drawing skills from these videos 😁 Heather I'm in the process of learning composition as well. Which artist is this?
@@shilpaswamy3610 It feels strange promoting him on Stephens site ( I hope you don't mind Stephen) but it's Ian Roberts. He is on UA-cam and has two excellent books out.
I love learning new skills and hobbies, my core 3 are digital art (traditional to some extent), playing the flute, and languages/linguistics. I love that I can find unique ways to incorporate all sorts of things into my artistic endeavours. The advice, put simply, comes down to “find a goal” and “find the best path to that goal”, which I absolutely agree with but I always find finding a goal the difficult part, I’ve gone on lots of meandering roads and plenty of exploration and do find I have favourite spots I revisit and develop. The way I learn personally is clearest in how my self taught progression with the flute went after teaching myself the keys and how to read music I went immediately to a piece that I loved but had many parts too complicated for me. I’d keep playing that, despite multiple sections I couldn’t do, and other simpler pieces. Without really noticing the simpler ones built the skills I needed until only a few parts of that original piece were problems for me. Then I found my goal, I wanted to learn how to play those high notes I just couldn’t do. One UA-cam video later and I was getting there. Now I can play it confidently and it feels great. So I do think there’s some merit in skipping to things that are too advanced, as long as it’s playful and explorative - used to find the path to get there
Tysm for this!! I've felt kind of stagnant with my art lately and have been hopping around with different tips/tutorials and whatnot tryjng to work on various things I want to improve. Definitely gonna take some of this info to heart!
I've actually been using learning to draw specifically to teach myself how to learn new skills from scratch. Here are some super beginner mistakes I made: Watching too many tutorials and getting my 'eye' far too ahead of my 'hand'. It left me being able to see a million faults and was discouraging. Spending all my time trying to improve... THEN I'd draw what I want when I have skill. This just leads to burn out. Spend 50% of your time (or whatever works for you) doing art for fun. Not doing project work. For me my projects are comics. They really help you with a totality of skills rather than just a focus on a few. Trying to get good at advanced skills too early. My biggest improvements have so far come from basic skills. Such as doing under sketches. Thinking of drawing as one major skill. I found once I learned to break the skill into its component forms (I call them micro-skills) I could then target the small skills. And the obvious. Spending more time watching/ reading how to draw and not enough time behind the pencil. Here are some general learning tips: Just get stuck in, then get information. Don't worry about having perfect or even good knowledge before you try. Find good sources of information. Learn to a specific task. That is learning "deep but narrow" rather than "broad but shallow" is a better way to do it. Then do it for a few things. Then worry about connecting all the skills. You got to be bad before you can be good. Try a variety of different techniques and see what works for you.
That's why I recommend in-depth books that cover the fundamentals instead of watching videos. Even some so-called video "courses" I've taken seem to be lackluster and was just made because it had a popular artist "teaching." For videos, the better courses are those that are built around a specific curriculum rather than just random stuff that seem cool to take.
You worded my experience so well! I've been trying to get into art for half a year now, but I never seem to get better further than the basic shapes. It's only through watching this video that things suddenly clicked, and now I feel like I can actually progress! Thank you!
I've been trying to learn to draw on my own for a year and I came to many same conclusions in this video. It's so important to actually decide what and HOW you want to draw and it took me so much time to finally answer this question. Before that I was watching various videos on "how to draw..." and while I gained some knowledge - it wasn't as consistant as I hoped Now I've decided to learn how to use ink and pencil and apply it in my digital art. Thank you for such an informative video !
I was slowly learning many of the points as I try and teach myself. The problems became glaringly obvious as I watched someone else start from the beginning. I felt like they were focusing on the wrong things, and told them the info that was actually important for their develeopment. After seeing it in them, I started to see it in myself. Making your own curriculum is like a full time job itself. Luckily, when you get into the rhythm of learning, things that you should be doing is more obvious, and therefore make it easier to teach yourself.
Thank u so much! Your video appeared on my feed just when I was getting overwhelmed about creating a module for myself! This calmed me down and made me focus on my present journey. I’m so grateful!
Glad I could help! I hope you check out some of my other vids. I have a playlist on this sort of advice for the self taught artist if you’re interested 😀
Thank you, I REALLY needed to hear this. I'm learning how to draw but I'm my biggest bully. I was so unhappy with my drawings that I thought that not only were they hideous but I should apologize to every artist I know for daring to think that I could obtain the same skill they have.
You described my feelings perfectly. I started drawing very recently and at a very late age. No prior experience whatsoever, my school did not taught me anything as well. I found a tutorial series, aimed for complete beginners. Drawing straight lines, circles, boxex, building basic objects from boxes and so on. And when it was over - i was completely at loss what to do next. I searched was some more stuff, but it was too advance for me and only made me feel terrible and discouraged from proceeding further. Understading what i need to learn is hard. For now i stick mostly to redrawing other peoples art and trying to "learn to see", i click on a very few guides as they usually only make me confused and anxious. Marc Brunet was not helpful at all. He has entertaining videos that promises to teach you every thing in the world but he really only advertises his payed course.
Hey Karina, I realise this comment is 6 months old and I hope you've been doing well on your art journey since. As someone who stopped drawing for years and then had to relearn most of what I knew, I felt your confusion. What eventually worked for me was sticking to pencils and pieces of different sized papers I stuck on a sketchboard. No colors, just finding objects with different textures and sketching them. Glass, metal, wood, plastic. Matte, shiny, transparent. Backlit, natural light, whatever you feel like. Nothing too complicated, especially in the beginning. Learning how light and textures should look and how to give that effect only using a pencil. It was frustrating at first, because I couldn't even tell properly what I should shade first and how hard I should do so. But once my hand got used to it it was very rewarding. And my eyes learned how to LOOK. I started out drawing twice a week and could definitely see a difference at the end of the month. My lines looked more confident, for one. I did this for about 6-7 weeks and made my sketches more complicated, sketching multiple objects together. Then I moved to human figures, as that was something I wanted to do, and it was very baffling again, because human bodies usually have smoother, rounder shapes. Now, I'm still working on those, I don't know for how long. There's no shortage of things to learn with so many poses to try and hands and faces, etc. Please take note that even though it's been years, I have drawn before. I do not know if this will help you at all, and everybody's timeline will differ. But since I was struggling with what to do first and it was keeping me from doing anything at all, I wanted to share. Good luck!
@@NoctilucaBloom thank you for the kind words! Although i havent learned almost anything in this 6 months and im ready to give up as drawing makes me even more sad 😄
@@Karina-winsmoreWhy not try watercolour? I copy most of my paintings but I enjoy the painting process and often the result a lot! I do plan to learn drawing later though😊.
Thank you for the video Stephen! I've been struggling to learn new techniques while juggling through projects, the amount of courses and videos available online are overwhelming. This video was an epiphany. :D
😮Stephen! God bless the UA-cam algorithm! It thrusted your vid into my feed. I've been painting for a few years now, but I'm all over the place. I've done still life(botanical), landscape and attempted portrait. I needed to hear this. Thank you.
Immensely affirming video. Thank you! I've been an artist since childhood yet only attended a semester of art school. I'm now a psychotherapist attending UA-cam University since 2020 to improve my watercolor skills. I've stuck with qnd feel great wanted to learn my about drawing with pen as when I've tried recently it ruined my watercolors. I have only been watching your videos for the past two months. Extremely helpful in understanding watch my challenges have been in not only understand perspective but how to create depth with pen. Thank you Thank you, thank you. No more bold one dimensional black lines. I listen our vides before work, like now. I'm running late. Then layer I watch the full video again. 🙏🏽🌷🌿
On the topic of not mistaking skillfully made videos to be better… there‘s I think a relatively fine line between putting time and effort into all aspects of your craft, video editing included, and the whole thing beung smoke and mirrors to make you click. Because I think making good looking videos can show that you‘re someone who takes a lot of care and has a good eye for what looks good, which as an artist I‘d say is a pretty useful skill, but on the other hand, I‘ve met artists who couldn‘t care less about presentation but are actually the craziest designers I‘ve ever seen. It can be rough finding good materials, but it‘s not impossible. Also, a lot of people on art station if you ask them how they did certain things, they‘ll just straight up show you
Don’t disagree with you. Always nice to have the best of both if we can. And there’s also nothing wrong with watching more for entertainment than education, unless we don’t realise that’s what we’re doing. We all get to choose. Thanks for your thoughts 😀
The “little of this, little of that” approach you talk about reminds me of a jr high/high school art course. They’re kind of overview courses and they’re designed to be that way, of course, but I always felt that my kids came away from them kind of muddled. I’m self taught. One of my issues is that I’m terrible about making a choice of where to focus 😬. I’m settled on one and ink now. I struggle with any shading method other than stippling and with ways to draw background elements like trees, so I know I need work there.
Have you seen my hatching playlist? It’s a way of thinking rather than patterns of marks. My trees playlist may help with the background trees. Or just look at my drawings of houses with trees behind them. Have fun. 😀
thank you so much for this video it exactely what i needed i have been pretty confused in my art journey and with all those youtube video and maybe because i am a teen i thought watching really entertaining videos with a lot of sound effect will help me but it din't i will follow your advise thank you again
The question to keep asking is ‘has this channel helped my drawing in a way I can see’. If the answer is yes, it’s a good channel for you at that stage of your drawing development. 😀
This advice is exactly what I needed because I just started my art journey and I subscribe to any channels that i see are related to art and followed so many artists and it is all so overwhelming like where to exactly start and what I want my end goal to be and all. thanks for this video very much😊
all these points in the video is true as a self taught this is basically what I do, I search up a specific material what I want to improve e.g shading, line confidence, drawing clothes, anatomy etc.. then i learn them and try to understand why or how it works, eventually, in the end I finally figured out. I knew at first I wasn't gonna jump into the "advanced" section yet. I have to set my goals little by little slowly building towards the advance level. just a tip if anyone reading this don't set ur goals unrealistically high, you'll only get discourage when it dosen't turn out the way u want it to be, so, don't expect it to be "perfect" in every piece. It's okay to set one main goal high like for example u want to be a great artist someday or to inspire others. these goals can also help u in the long run in the back of ur mind for the future, which is healthy and it keeps u motivated. but always remember to limit yourself and don't expect too high that's out of ur reach or ur current level. trust me, I've been there and I don't have the best mental health so It's personal lol. but that's just me also bc im a slow learner i took my time to break down each fundamentals I want to learn in my own pace. I also ask advice and criticism to an artist that is an expert in a certain areas I want to focus on.. very helpful ! self critic is great I often do this but don't forget to ask others for help when ur not sure abt it. this has become a habit of mine, fortunately, it did helped me improve tremendously in my art journey and its an eye opener :) I hope this make sense I wish everyone the best of luck in their journey💕
Such an interesting video that all beginning self-taught artists should watch! I am self-taught myself and I find that you’ve summarized the problem of solo learning very well. I really wish you had released this video a few years earlier! That would have saved me lots of time.😅 Thanks for sharing your point of view Stephen!
I trained in a different profession and then was involved in long term training of others. I did do the internet ‘lost years’ surfing Ytube to learn to draw and paint, but made halting progress. Then I checked curriculums of art schools at ateliers. I then created a curriculum for two years and sought out instruction from good quality content creators. I agree that minimising the number of people you learn from is the most efficient way to begin with. This has been invaluable. I also understood how I learn and choose people who reflect that. I ensure I have access to regular critiques from professional artists in a similar style to the one I naturally lean towards. It needs personal discipline but I have made steady progress. So this video is excellent advice.
I'm a self-taught artist (or more like a would-like-to-be artist) in the area of 3D-modeling. Your reasoning meant for artists working with pencil and brush apply to digital 3D-artists as well, so I found your video most interesting. i do, however, have an opinion about something you say near the end of the video. Someone might say "It does not look right" without being able to put the finger exactly on it. That might help you having an extra look, and then you later on figure out why it "feels" wrong for someone unprofessional. On the whole, I think that you made a great video that made me think about your wordings.
Im just finishing a cert 3 course totally unrelated to my art. You are absolutely correct. I feel im ready to be a productive student just now, 6 months later. It has improved what content i actually consume because im approaching my self taught learning with focus. Last couple of months has been compositition mainly with values in addition. I have been learning productively and effectively. Thanks very much for confirming what ive just learnt. 😊
Super helpful, interesting vid, Stephen! Thanks for the time and effort you put into it. It's so easy to jump around and get lost in the data seas. Great advice to choose just a few folks / sources and stick with them while focusing on learning how to draw just a one or two types of subjects. Then expand from there. Cheers ~
Thank you, that was very helpful. Now, I'll try to finish the drawing book I bought first and move on to new topics later. I hope this will speed things up.
Also, regarding, technical skills and practical artistic skills. A interesting observation I can make is this. In the days before UA-cam became monatizable . There were basically two types of art videos, one flashy edited and trite and boring and another one with a static camera, on a canvas actually drawing something and in that era , you would always choose the static camera videos because they were the one who actually were providing at-least a recreation of the process required to paint or sketch or draw or so on. But, later on, these edited video being popular with masses but dropping in view slowly, very very slightly, started imbuing personality in their videos using the flashy catchy editing and a creator on face and so on to dazzle the audience into staying, if not actual art advice perhaps personal anicdotes (like half the painting video people talk of their struggle instead of teaching how to paint, I can name some names here *cough cough* ,but we all know who they are *shots fired*), if not anicdotes perhaps silly expression or so on, it became less about sating the artist will to learn but to distract them. Even back then, I was thinking these videos are entertaining and well made but, the process is hardly explained at all and in the long run, I fear actual art videos which explain the process will be displaced by these videos. And now, I think the tables have turned. The actual artistic art videos with static cameras because the artist is more interested in the art than technical know hows are the less popular one no doubt because the razzle-dazzle videos are so wide-spread and just out-compete in the search algorithym for any search regarding art. Its just exhausting to find actual advice now, so people give up and assume there is no advice out there. Hmm, honestly, people should have been more careful and astute of what would have happened eventually.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I only have experience of the UA-cam landscape for the past few years. But at this point it all seems to favour what people watch. So . . . 😀
@@stephentraversart Yeah perhaps. I guess, you have to work with what is given. Perhaps, this so called hurdle is a opportunity to grow. To ensure a new age of art education who also know how to market it. But, I still fear overall the quality being averaged to a lower level. But, I am really cynical. Cautious optimism is the way to go. I can dream of art educators with know hows, actual skills and good editing ,I suppose, even though that sounds like a fairy tale . *On second note* , your videos , though I have only watched a few, are really well put together. Especially, when you go into different environment to demonstrate the art principle in practical day to day life. I really find it comprehensive and due to the practical aspect it click more in my brain. Thanks for the content, really. I commend you greatly sir, truly. Sincere, thanks from me. *Thirdly,a side note* I don't know what projects you are working on currently ,but , to be selfish, I current am trying to learn of toning by layering while sketching. Is there a video in your channel that exists on this topic, perhaps?
It's so true what you are saying. I learned how to teach myself how to cook, and that learningnof how to learn stuff. Got my art skills to improve really fast
Thank you for the reminder that you have playlists available on your channel. Yup, I’ve been jumping around finding instruction here and there. No consistent logical pathway. Keep repeated learned material and not progressing. I’m sure the playlists will lead me forward
I think it is also very important if someone knows its own learning style. For me it is ok to look around, see many videos and it feels like traveling around and gathering ideas. I just take pieces of what I see with me in my mind. During my creative proces when I have an idea where to go and then there are moment these things come back and help me. I have never liked fully organized journeys or courses that decide for me how I should learn, built up skills. It hardly ever fits the way my brain processes information.
Of course we should choose the journey which most gives to us what we are wanting to achieve. There is no best path, just best for each of us individually. You sound in a good spot with it all. 😀
Im glad im not the only self taught artist out there, despite my very very early start time drawing (started early 8th grade and currently in 9th grade) i get lots of comments (bad, when i started, or good, after a year) that really motivated me and i never really used a video to learn a technique or "tip, and when i did watch a few of them my art (except for one caase) always ended up worse than what i was promised. So i just decided to ditch the effort of learning from artist words and learn from their peice and yes while im still learning (Colors and sperpective) when i get asked if I went to art classes and my response is no, i get a small smile knowing i didnt fail teaching myself on how to draw 😊 also nice video, it was a great video to listen to while drawing
What you say was definitely true before the age of the internet. But now we have some great artists showing us how they paint, step by step. And classes depend very much on the teacher. If I went to a class given by the esteemed artist Ian Roberts I would come away thinking shape is everything in art, while mood and atmosphere are vital elements for me. Therefore I can seek out my teacher, the one who resonates with me and who I can learn from.
Yes, it can happen like this. But not everyone is in a position to assess if a given teacher is suitable for what they are wanting, or even be aware of the need and importance of it. Alerting people to this who might benefit from knowing it was my purpose. Thanks for adding your thoughts. 😀
The hardest part about being a self taught artist for me is finding the why. I know in my heart I’m an artist and creator. But what kind of artist am I? I like drawing yes, but sometimes I question if it’s for me. But I Like drawing cause I get to see my improvement and process in real time. I haven’t drawn in a while because I just don’t feel like I’m good enough and I should be working on this or studying that, or learning about this and figuring out that. Drawing for some reason has once been an outlet for learning a new skill and wanting to create something meaningful to when I look even at a blank page or my pencil, I feel nothing but anxiety and this heavy feeling in my chest.
One of the things we miss from not having classmates is realising we all face similar issues, and the sense of perspective that can give. Keep drawing but some days we just need a break. All the best with it. 😀
I'm a violin teacher. I think being good at teaching and planning the learning process is important for every artist. I teach kids once a week, then they're expected to practice on their own on all the other days. My focus in their lessons is not only teaching them how to play, but teaching them how to teach themselves how to play, because on every other day of the week, they have to be their own violin teacher. They have to be able to listen for problems and come up with good plans for how to solve those problems, and carry them out. That's a huge chunk of what it means to practice violin. So I think if you have art lessons, you'll get the most out of them if you're trying to learn how to teach yourself, but you'll progress way more smoothly and quickly than if you're going it alone.
I can't believe I've only just been reccommended this video, it is so relevant to what I'm going through. I have struggled with improvement for such a long time and that is because I wasn't aware of how to learn in and of itself, part of learning art is learning how to educate yourself and how to use the tools in your toolbox, unfortunately I still struggle, I still think my art is awful and the conflicting art advice is so difficult to get around, there is also very little criticism you can get even if you join spaces that are predominantly for that, because even if your art is bad the consensus is to always be kind and that unfortunately clouds peoples judgment, even when asking for very harsh criticism I wasn't able to get very much out of it at all because it was sadly sugarcoated in order to not hurt my feelings, and if it's not this kind of situation it's just that there are not enough people who are skilled enough to give you the advice that is personalized for your current issues. A good teacher knows where their student is lacking, social groups don't have that kind of awareness and it's why people pay for the courses, because the feedback you get is personalized to your specific issues. When you were talking about the conflicting information and thinking something is wrong with you... I really felt that, that's what I always default to. I have autism and ADHD and so I always tend to think that either I am too stupid or not intelligent enough or normal enough to understand the material and I always felt like it was an issue within myself, I still have these thoughts and very often, because I can't find what I need or be a good enough judge of my own work to improve. Unfortunately for me, art is always going to be a consistent painful struggle, I will still go through it because I love art and it's innate. There are not enough resources for people with autism or ADHD who have these struggles that are clear and straightforward, the main things I struggle with are perspective and foreshortening, because the reference material and videos are almost never straightforward, even after 8 years I still have no concept of what 1 point, 2 point and 3 point mean. I still don't understand foreshortening.... because it's not explained well, it's not simplified in a way that people with these learning disabilities can understand, but it's my goal to understand them and simplify them beyond what is given so that I can go on to teaching others and helping them overcome those struggles that I have had to face.
Thanks for sharing your experience. A lot of perspective videos (most?) teach in a way that may be suitable for architecture, but not for artists having to draw it in real life environments, not boxes on flat ground. And they never tell you what they haven’t told you, so you think you should understand it all when you haven’t had it all explained. My perspective playlists may help with this. But draw what you love, and then it will always be a pleasurable experience 😀
I have this vid on a watch later list, now with christmas break Im actually glad i watch this now and not during school days because my gosh I would forget about this lol
I took art classes through high school. I don't generally watch videos on how to draw, but this may be a video on how to teach. I do find I'm happier drawing what I like to draw, but sometimes I'm drawing for others, and it's what they want, not what I want.
As a self taught artist I am always trying to improve, constructive critique is always appreciated. I find blind praise to make me uncomfortable as I am always striving to improve.
Thanks Stephen, I'm listening to your back catalogue of videos to drown out the awful gym music - the ones like this are sooo useful to me. I am that person that collects tutorial videos like it's my job 😅. But after a year or so, I realise that I definitely need to stick to only a few artists otherwise I don't really get deeper than 5 tips for this or that. I thought I had found a course on drawing figures, but I think it's too advanced (even though they say it's for beginners), so I'm going back to the other course 😂 and sticking it out. Plus getting back to life drawing which actually was really helpful in getting rid of perfectionism. Thanks for these and keep doing them - with or without the mike 😂
I have a playlist on this sort of thing for the self taught artist. If you haven’t found it, it’s a good way to locate these videos of mine quickly. Glad they serve such a range of issues for you. 😆
Watching UA-cam videos to learn is a Nono , I’m a M.A (Magister Artium) and that title was giving to me by the Dutch government. And I’m an Autodidact, self thought, not by UA-cam but studying the great masters . I had an advantage I was born talented when I was 2 , drawing was already an ability, so to all people who want to learn art , learn to draw and put your tracer in the closet 😉 and put UA-cam off . Nice video , loved it 👌♥️
Great so I am going all over the place and not getting perspective, composition and vanishing points at all! So now....I choose you . I am going to start fresh. Which playlist should a beginner watch? How long to keep watching and when to turn off the watching and practice on my own? To just draw over and over cubes/box's or try to print simple landscapes to practice perceptive? better to draw from real life ( like my living room couch or outside) or a printed photo? I end up watching a ton and not drawing so much because it does not seem to translate and I feel bad about iitI know it is a lot of questions !! THANK YOU
I have a playlist of ten perspective videos which I think covers a good range of perspectives topics. There are actually 12 on it. I would recommend watch each one through first, just concentrating on it. Then practice afterwards. 😀
@@stephentraversart I watched them all!! and some twice! Now I think I just need to sit and draw and try. ALthough when I try I get so frustrated by how it turns out as it looks all wrong. SOmething is not translating still.
Thanks for your wishes. I write- same thing different pile.. Sort of thing. I doodle sometimes and it is so cute what I come up with. I took up lyric writing as a hobby but now I produced so much, I don’t know what to do with it. I can pay for help but it be big bucks and I’m off to the races way to soon for me….. so maybe a course from Berkeley that is affordable and see what’s going on in the next steps. It was helpful. Thanks and best wishes.
I’m not surprised to hear this Jennifer. Most learning skills can be applied to most creative endeavours, except for the very specific ones, I suspect. 😀
I found this channel recently and everything just sort of clicked for me. in the parts of the Internet i frequent, there's a focus on character design and portraits but that just doesn't appeal to me. Your art has been a huge inspiration for me to focus my efforts on what i genuinely enjoy drawing, that being architecture, and the past few weeks have been the most fun ive ever had making art. thank you so much for all this amazing content!
Very interesting, in a way you are right and wrong too. I trained as a architect studied Urban designed and worked as a landscape architect and an urban designer, now i have taken an interest in urban sketching so i watch your videos as they contains a lot of architectural content and other watercolour artists who i feel will help me get to what im seeking and this is a interesting challenge, Im critical of my work but it dosent pull me down. as i know i have improved in the last 6 months Most of my work is archetectural but i have improved my plant and portrait drawing skills too. Most importantly while a course may helo me in some aspects but need not necessarily give me what im looking for. In the end im confident in my direction, however what may help me is if someone like yourself looks at what im doing and suggest ways to improve. Thanks is you get to read and respond to my concerns.
It’s great that you’re pushing yourself into new directions Jalal, especially when you have such a strong foundation as architecture. I’m not completely sure what you are asking, but I do give individual critiquing sessions, but I have to charge for these. If this this is what you are interested in are you able to send me a DM on my Instagram account and I can give you the details.
My problem is inability to go off from path of least resistance. It's really hard to do something because well brain just tried to off me from learning anything that isn't urgent nor doesn't have instant gratification (this was since childhood before I had a phone) not to mention personal issues like most likely unsolved PTSD still unconfirmed because well people around me don't really believe those stuff so I'm going to get stuck for a while.
I've recently taken up sketching again. I also enrolled in the Urban Sketch Course. These are my goals. This is exactly what you have confirmed in this video. I want to improve my line drawings and learn watercolour painting and will hopefully stick to it. You are 100% correct about learning today. The amount of information can sometimes hinder your progress. Your channel is a great find for me. Many thanks
Fantastic video. I really like your helpful steps on how to avoid the trap and overwhelm. Thanks.
My pleasure. Prepare to really improve con your drawing. 👏👏👏🎉
Thankyou for saving me the time.
this video encapsulates ALL of learning in the internet age - it really takes a lot of discipline to even just hold yourself back from the "advanced levels" that are so easily available
I’m so pleased this was helpful. Thanks. 😀
Hey, I’m just replying here because I felt lead to share the gospel. Please consider the message I write.
To anyone reading this, please repent and believe the gospel! There is a loving God who wants to know you and save you. Jesus died on the cross and resurrected so we can be forgiven of our sins and be saved. Please consider the state of your soul. Believe in Jesus, turn away from your sin and follow Him so you may have salvation. Life is short, please make the right choice today!
At the beginning and lots of hard work (self taught) by watching videos & their paintings looked so “easy” or even says, Easy flower painting” but now doing practice techniques that are the building blocks for the rest of your painting.
Then with drawing first focused on the whole animal/flower then was taught do by shapes, then erase & fine tune it. Also do have a teacher & have learned so much especially perspective, proportions but didn’t start playing Mozart first piano lesson yet expected myself to do big masterpiece in watercolors!
Go back to basics & drew on scary looking kola but did eucalyptus leaves instead & turned out very pretty! Ty!!
All you say applied to me until I discovered your video's ! I have always done a bit of pencil sketching but when I saw your amazing pen drawings, I knew that this is what I want to learn and where I want to be ! My efforts are improving all the time, and this is because I enjoy the relevant content and tons of information in every FREE video ! (have I mentioned how much I appreciate it that you offer these valuable lessons without charging even 1 dollar !? I don't do paypal etc so even a small fee is a no-go for me!)
I am very happy to have found you ! You speak my "language" !!!😊
Very enoucraging to hear Karin. Just tell all your friends who draw about my channel and we'll call it even.
Never knew there was a "hidden step" to learn how to draw, learning how to learn. I always felt my way of learning was directionless and muddled. I think a lot of artists struggle with this, very helpful video! Amazing painting as well.
Thanks. I think it can be a game changer for many people - so often it’s not lack of capability, but rather a counterproductive learning method 😀
@@stephentraversart I schooled in Australia from the early 60s. I did a back to work course in the early 2000s where we were taught Maths and English and found out that when I was learning Maths it was "new" maths and it wasn't very good. The course teacher made it so much simpler.
I've also learned as I've got older and done tertiary education that I am a visual and doing learner. The law teacher told me I didn't need to write notes because he was giving out the notes. I said that the writing is part of my learning. I very rarely tidied or wrote out my notes again because I seem to have a natural ability to "see" the page in my memory. For example when reading a book and going back to check on something I can know roughly where the page it is located!
Interesting. I too am an ex teacher and I agree with your points. One of the main problems I have encountered, with online art instruction, has been very poorly designed classes by people who are really more focused on building their following and UA-cam channel than actually teaching the skills budding artists really need. I found a nearby university college where I can attend in-person classes at a very reasonable price, and the difference it has made to my art is like night and day.
Thanks for your comment and experience. Yes, not all drawing videos are the same, that’s for sure. I’m glad you’ve found such a productive path ahead. All the best with it. 😀
That’s been my experience as well with online tutorials. I’ve had to really dig to find the helpful stuff.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this video. I was feeling so confused by watching various UA-cam artist demos. I was actually regressing. I knew that there was something missing in my art journey. Your insight on this matter is spot on. It all makes so much sense to me now. Thank you!
It’s always so satisfying to read comments like this Sherry. Really glad this video has encouraged your feelings about your art. Onwards!😀
It can make you give up! I'm so glad I've found this video.
I am a self-taught artist as well. And i was jumping from one book to another or one course to another. But lately i realized i needed to narrow down my studies to topics that i really want to improve on.
Sounds helpful to me. Thanks for sharing your experience 😀
@@stephentraversart No problem. 😀
Good idea. I’m on it now. Thanks:)
I hear that. Vector is my area of specialty.
Master artist have biases and that's fine, is my perspective. Micheal Angelo liked sculpting so much so that, he believed painting was a inferior art form and that biases is fine. Because, you like to do a certain kind of art because you don't like certain aspect about other art-form. That creates a reason you do the art process you do. Without that, you are being a paper without a pencil. I don't doubt Leonardo thought that contemporary art were not pushing the boundaries like he wanted in his times too. Without biases, what are you expressing? Your perspective in your art? I mean, just painting comfortable art is statement, something like, art need not be complex, boundary pushing or from a unique perspective, Simplicity has its own beauty . So on and so forth but without biases. You are just studying art for studying sakes, in-order to give a exam perhaps, to be ostentatious perhaps, but certainly not for your own satisfaction.
Hearing how kids learn today is extremely enlightening, because as an “OK boomer” born in 1954, it was radically different when I was a kid.
I witnessed firsthand the pervasive discrimination faced by African Americans during the Jim Crow era.
The term “Negro” was the prevalent designation, and “equal rights” was a distant dream.
I clearly recall hearing similar rhetoric that’s now targeted against today’s immigrants.
Blacks were banned from sports, television and certain locations. My family was denied entry into public swimming pools or Woolworth’s. We were ridiculed in media outlets and cartoons. Some of which can be viewed on UA-cam.
At age 3, my father gifted me a pencil, igniting my passion for drawing.
I developed a unique learning style, relying on a keen eye to decipher the world around me.
I recall observing my preschool peers drawing the sky, by painting a line at the top of the paper and blue above it. I painted the entire sky, extending it down to the horizon, mirroring my perception.
Driven by curiosity, I relentlessly attempted to capture my surroundings. Unlike today’s contemporary learners, I decoded objects and sketched my favorite TV characters, WITHOUT using the basic construction shapes seen in today’s videos.
At age 8, I convinced my parents to enroll me into a home correspondence drawing course, where I learned to sketch Caucasians sufficiently. However, the available examples for drawing “negroes” were limited to racist stereotypes. This fueled my frustration, prompting me to discover how to draw Black people by DARING to sketch my friends from life.
Simultaneously, society and the media portrayed “Negroes” as subhuman, lacking intelligence for skilled professions. From this perspective, it seemed IMPOSSIBLE to enter the illustration field, art galleries or art history books, no MATTER HOW skilled.
Even the local newspaper editor discouraged comic strips featuring “my people” and suggested I learn to draw funny animals instead.
At 17, I sold oil paintings and worked at state fairs, offering portraits and caricatures. I even illustrated my first album cover in high school.
I must admit that I had a flawed view of art teachers, thinking that they spent their time begging students to draw more, while I spent every waking moment drawing on my own. I believed I could learn just as much from personal observation, and could always learn on the job (if I ever got one). 😜
I also doubted my parents could support a college education.
Despite all the adversity, I traveled to New York and became an accomplished illustrator.
I’ve received awards for animation but REGRET never formally studying the craft at an art school.
Now in semi-retirement, I’m FINALLY studying animation by constructing images using BASIC SHAPES, as suggested by today’s UA-cam videos. I’m discovering how imperative it is for “great” animation.
Fortunately, times have changed, and I’m currently exhibiting in galleries throughout the country as an emerging fine artist.
What can I say in response to your experience except thank you for sharing it. I’ve had reasons that stopped me drawing for decades that were nowhere near the issues you’ve lived through and despite, still drawn. With much respect, congratulations on where you have travelled with your art. 😀
@ I hope you received as much inspiration from it, as I got from you.
There is something to be said about dwelling in a society where forces are relentlessly attempting to suppress your existence.
You either quickly resign or become unstoppable! 👊🏾
A pertinent example is the historical absence of female artists. Even when such artists emerged, society stigmatized the term as a derogatory label.
But nowadays, women are producing some of the most innovative and exceptional art ever created.
One such artist is Lauren Halsey, a friend of mine.
Most artists aspire to become famous.
But Lauren became an artist because as an architect, she dreamed of transforming the landscape of South Central LA, and so she used the New York Met as a venue to build a prototype of what that transformation might look like.
She constructed massive Egyptian-styled monuments and sphinxes, enhanced with the FACES of her friends and family.
Furthermore, Halsey has leveraged the concept of “art project” to establish a free food bank within her community during the pandemic.
She’s worth researching for inspiration! 💫
www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/roof-commission-lauren-halsey
I fell into this trap 15 years ago, number 1 I was trying to learn by “figuring it out” I was refusing to use any sort of guidance whatsoever ever, then I blamed myself for an inherent lack of talent when I didn’t improve. :P
Now I’m following a course book, I’ve made more progress in 3 month than in 5 years of doing it myself :P
My advice for learning is to always practice anything you want to stick after you learn it. With a lot of ‘tip’ videos especially, I think ‘I’ll keep that in mind’ but will I really? Utilizing it soon after will better help it be worked into your mind.
Most people know this but some of us struggle to apply it if we have confidence in things like memorization skills etc. Don’t fall for it.
Yep, in the end, we have to actually draw to improve. Other input counts for nothing if not applied.
I discovered it by learning music, it's always practice is the main way to learn
I was also a high school English teacher (British Lit). I should have known by the way you explain everything. Kindred spirit! Thank you so much for all you do. This was particularly appreciated. Thank you!
My pleasure Mo. I haven’t taught since 1982, but UA-cam has made me realise I never stopped being a teacher inside. Glad to have helped. 😀
Man, the advice you're giving sounds a lot like the advice I (a software dev) gave to my friend who's interested in learning data science.
It's encouraging to hear some of those concepts rhyme with someone way more experienced talking about learning their own field.
Glad to have agreed. 😀
Another excellent video. People also learn in many different ways, some by watching, some through repetition, some by jumping in and doing. When I was doing my engineering qualifications I struggled with the maths, the teacher had a certain way of teaching which I struggled with. He just assumed everyone knew what he was talking about and the pace was at those who did understand. When challenged or asked to slow down and explain why he did certain things we were told we should know by now. I just managed to scrape through with help from work colleagues. The following year a different teacher, different methods and it all started to make sense.
Learning to draw by teaching yourself is also about finding the right way for you. I am one who learns more from watch then having a go maybe with a lot of trial and error. When confronted with something in a drawing I an uncertain of, pick up a sketch book and do a trial run, maybe several times tweaking techniques until I get the look I want. Then I go back to the main piece and try and replicate it using what I had learnt.
I have always wanted to draw, having that desire to do something also made the learning process easier. Learning should also be fun rather than a chore.
Thanks Paul. Yes, the learning experience is different for us all. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. All the best with your drawing. 😀
You’re spot on. Something I sort of organically realized going the self taught route was that I needed to narrow my focus and be more selective about who to learn from. I have specific teachers for the things I wish to learn and improve on.
That and being able to give myself constructive criticism and to compare myself to myself first
Sounds like you’ve learnt a lot a lot. Thanks for sharing your experience 😀
Oh my! I have a BS in Psychology, and fortunately, I know how I learn. But I did not know where to find the resources until I found your videos! THANK YOU so much 😊
Wonderful! Welcome aboard my channel, and please tell any friends who also draw you may have.
I jumped into doing art full-time. I was trying to improve my skills, trying different mediums, choosing various subjects, and finding my style. I went from one thing to another. It's been almost a year, and I finally decided to stay with one medium, one subject, one style, and develop that. I seek videos specifically on this topic. It has cut down time and money and smoothed out my frenetic journey. This video is so good. It reinforces what I learned the hard way.
This is the stage I'm at. It's so hard to choose! 😅
That’s great to hear. Thanks for sharing your experience 😀
I’m self taught. Many years ago, a successful local artist told me if I took lessons it would screw up what I’ve got going. 😂👍. He was impressed with my work. To be told to just stay away from taking lessons was very nice. It was quite a compliment.
I've done plenty of online courses in acrylics and watercolour and I'm happy enough with what I do. Early in my trek into my art I did enquire about a face to face art course in my local area but the teacher completely put me off painting altogether and also in doing her course when she was hyper critical and superior about a small piece I showed her when she asked to see something. My main problem is staying interested since I am so easily bored. I paint for relaxation, and for the lovely feeling I get when something works, for me. I'm not interested in selling my art or becoming famous. What I paint is my business and whether I do a course or not is my business as well. I don't want to paint like everyone else; I do it for myself, not for admiration. 😃
Thanks for sharing your experience; all the best with what you want to do. 😀
Wow, this is brilliant. Thank you very much. It popped up on my YT page after I had checked out a few other videos. I noticed your Peanuts t-shirt (see comment below about cartoons).
I'm 67, recently retired so looking at what I can do, and been wanting to learn how to paint/draw since my early years. I don't want to go to classes, at least at this time. I want to learn so many different things, have collected some wonderful books and videos, have purchased lots of supplies but have been so overwhelmed about where to start. This video has nailed it for me.
Most of what I have done in the past has been copy drawing (without grids). I used to collect the *Peanuts* cartoons (not strips) out of a magazine and copy those about 4x the original size. I've always thought that I cannot draw but only copy BUT yesterday I found a pencil sketch that I did back in the late 1970s of a real orchid flower and it made me realise that I can draw. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the original flower to compare how good the drawing is, but I know that when I finished it I was happy with the result.
already knew art videos were just small parts of a greater whole but I've gotta thank you for laying this concept down clearly and the part where you basically say "you got to focus your efforts on specific areas"
Glad it was helpful
This video is so very thoughtful and considerate! I have fallen into the trap of watching so many videos that probably don't relate to the skills I need to be developing because the artists are so good and/or their art is so extraordinary! After 3 years of binging various artists' videos, I have decided that strong drawing skills are what is going to help me create the kind of art I want to make. I am glad I found you!
Thanks for sharing your experience here. Hope it’s going well for you. 😀
This is a very eye-opening talk. I spent so many years hating myself for not effectively cobbling together a skill-set out of assorted tips and tricks. Thinking of learning as its own skill is a much more helpful way to consider it.
Thanks so much for this!
Always glad to help. 😀
One thing that is often left out of school is teaching students how to sort through information (and misinformation) - something crucial in the age of information overload
I've noticed that they are taught what to think instead of how to think. They learn something basically by rote instead of sorting through like you said.
As a want to be, beginning drawer, you are spot on with how to get started and who to follow.
Great. All the best as you start this amazing journey. 😀
Не попадайтесь в ловушку Художника-самоучки!
00:00 Введение в проблему
• Видео посвящено художникам-самоучкам и их проблемам.
• Автор считает, что многие художники не чувствуют улучшения своих навыков.
• Видео не предлагает пройти курс, а объясняет, как избежать ловушки.
00:51 Курсы и обучение
• Курсы предоставляют структурированный и последовательный материал.
• Навыки развиваются через логичный процесс, включая обратную связь от преподавателя.
• Навыки разработки курса отличаются от навыков рисования.
02:46 Самостоятельное обучение
• Художники-самоучки должны сами выбирать материалы, методы и техники.
• Обратная связь ограничена самокритикой, что может демотивировать.
• Важно научиться учиться раньше, чем рисовать.
04:42 Личный опыт автора
• Автор избежал ловушки благодаря опыту преподавания.
• Важно знать, какие ресурсы использовать и когда.
• Переизбыток ресурсов может быть ошеломляющим и неорганизованным.
06:04 Проблемы с ресурсами
• Видео и материалы в интернете могут быть противоречивыми и неорганизованными.
• Качество обучающих материалов варьируется.
• Художникам-самоучкам приходится принимать много решений о том, какие ресурсы использовать.
08:01 Как избежать ловушки
• Важно четко фокусироваться на конечной цели.
• Конкретные цели помогают выбрать лучшие материалы и методы.
• Углубление в одну область рисования облегчает освоение других областей.
10:51 Конкретное обучение
• Чем конкретнее обучение, тем легче найти важные и полезные материалы.
• Двигайтесь от простого к сложному, чтобы эффективно переходить на следующий уровень.
• Добавляйте полезные видео в закладки для будущего использования.
11:50 Выбор видео
• Не смотрите видео, к которым не готовы, чтобы не ошибиться в своих способностях.
• Работайте с ведущими видео, чтобы получить последовательный подход.
• Избегайте постоянного изменения вида искусства, чтобы сосредоточиться на одном направлении.
13:20 Полезные советы
• Используйте множество различных областей, но поверхностно.
• Не путайте искусно сделанные видео с полезными для обучения рисованию.
• Оценивайте видео по их полезности для вашего процесса обучения.
15:36 Советы и хитрости
• Советы и хитрости могут быть полезны, но не всегда связаны с процессом рисования.
• Используйте советы в контексте урока, чтобы лучше понять их применение.
• Практикуйте использование советов на своих рисунках.
17:01 Обратная связь
• Художникам-самоучкам важно критически оценивать свои работы.
• Используйте конструктивную обратную связь от друзей или семьи.
• Обратная связь помогает улучшить рисунки и сосредоточиться на правильном направлении.
18:45 Эффективность обучения
• Учитесь не только рисовать, но и учиться.
• Выбирайте полезные ресурсы для достижения конечных целей.
• Сосредоточьтесь на процессе обучения, чтобы избежать случайных и разрозненных подходов.
20:14 Заключение
• Рисование должно приносить удовольствие.
• Используйте доступные онлайн-ресурсы с умом, чтобы избежать ловушек.
• Продолжайте учиться и развиваться, несмотря на трудности.
From I started to really try and learn, I realized pretty quickly that I need to tackle one specific area at a time, but this has helped me see I need to be even more specific than that to tackle one type of subject matter at a time. Thank you.
Breaking complex tasks into simpler components can be a great way to build improvement momentum 😀
i think every word he spoke was straight out explaining my situation and it baffles how relative it is to me
Wonderful to hear. Thanks. 😀
Absolutely. Once again such sage advise. I have spent almost 3 years searching out and critiquing art instruction videos in my quest to become a watercolour artist. So why do I feel so indebted to you for improving my art? Number 1: You give such sage advice about the process of learning to be a visual artist. Number 2: Your insight into teaching some baseline skills that every artist can benefit from such as perspective, effective mark making and values. I am constantly asking what have I learned from Stephen that will help me with this next step. Another of my favorite instructors has been essential in my understanding of composition and he is a oil painter. These things are essential no matter what the media so don't be afraid to go cross medias to learn the essentials. Thank you as always.❤
Wow. Now there’s a happy start to my day, reading this. Such kind words Heather, thank you. I’m so pleased you’ve found my videos so helpful in these ways. I’ve really only been drawing since mid 2018, but I painted in oils for 10 years before that - Australian trees and flowers. I was surprised when I began to draw how much things I had learnt through the painting were relevant to my drawing - especially line versus form, edges, creating effect, depth and values. I’m actually wanting to start watercolour - it teams up so well with drawing. Have all the stuff, just need to make time. The watercolour work of @stephanieabower inspires me. Worth a look on Instagram if you don’t know it. Thanks again, and all the best with your art.
@@stephentraversart Oh if you want to dive into watercolour one of my FAVORITE artists is Poppy Balser, a fellow Canadian. She is absolutely amazing! She paints plein air right through our 'difficult' weather conditions. Now that's dedication.😄 Peter Sheeler from the same area, Nova Scotia, does some really whimsical line and wash you might like. I look forward to seeing some pieces of yours.❤
I'm learning perspective and basic drawing skills from these videos 😁
Heather I'm in the process of learning composition as well. Which artist is this?
@@shilpaswamy3610 It feels strange promoting him on Stephens site ( I hope you don't mind Stephen) but it's Ian Roberts. He is on UA-cam and has two excellent books out.
@@heatherh3457 thanks a lot 🙏
I love learning new skills and hobbies, my core 3 are digital art (traditional to some extent), playing the flute, and languages/linguistics. I love that I can find unique ways to incorporate all sorts of things into my artistic endeavours. The advice, put simply, comes down to “find a goal” and “find the best path to that goal”, which I absolutely agree with but I always find finding a goal the difficult part, I’ve gone on lots of meandering roads and plenty of exploration and do find I have favourite spots I revisit and develop.
The way I learn personally is clearest in how my self taught progression with the flute went after teaching myself the keys and how to read music I went immediately to a piece that I loved but had many parts too complicated for me. I’d keep playing that, despite multiple sections I couldn’t do, and other simpler pieces. Without really noticing the simpler ones built the skills I needed until only a few parts of that original piece were problems for me. Then I found my goal, I wanted to learn how to play those high notes I just couldn’t do. One UA-cam video later and I was getting there. Now I can play it confidently and it feels great. So I do think there’s some merit in skipping to things that are too advanced, as long as it’s playful and explorative - used to find the path to get there
Congratulations on your journey. Thanks for sharing 😀
Tysm for this!! I've felt kind of stagnant with my art lately and have been hopping around with different tips/tutorials and whatnot tryjng to work on various things I want to improve. Definitely gonna take some of this info to heart!
I've actually been using learning to draw specifically to teach myself how to learn new skills from scratch. Here are some super beginner mistakes I made:
Watching too many tutorials and getting my 'eye' far too ahead of my 'hand'. It left me being able to see a million faults and was discouraging.
Spending all my time trying to improve... THEN I'd draw what I want when I have skill. This just leads to burn out. Spend 50% of your time (or whatever works for you) doing art for fun.
Not doing project work. For me my projects are comics. They really help you with a totality of skills rather than just a focus on a few.
Trying to get good at advanced skills too early. My biggest improvements have so far come from basic skills. Such as doing under sketches.
Thinking of drawing as one major skill. I found once I learned to break the skill into its component forms (I call them micro-skills) I could then target the small skills.
And the obvious. Spending more time watching/ reading how to draw and not enough time behind the pencil.
Here are some general learning tips:
Just get stuck in, then get information. Don't worry about having perfect or even good knowledge before you try.
Find good sources of information.
Learn to a specific task. That is learning "deep but narrow" rather than "broad but shallow" is a better way to do it. Then do it for a few things. Then worry about connecting all the skills.
You got to be bad before you can be good.
Try a variety of different techniques and see what works for you.
Thanks for sharing your experience for others. All the best with your drawing 😀
Excellent insight, I am 2 months into my self taught artist journey and this is exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks!
Great. Glad you found it helpful. 😀
This is easily the best piece of advice I've ever heard from another artist on this platform! I hope more people find this!
Thank you. I’ve also just been told it was a waste of 20 minutes. Glad to hear the relevance and timing was better for you. 😉
Thanks!
Glad it was helpful Justin. I appreciate the SuperThanks 😀
That's why I recommend in-depth books that cover the fundamentals instead of watching videos. Even some so-called video "courses" I've taken seem to be lackluster and was just made because it had a popular artist "teaching." For videos, the better courses are those that are built around a specific curriculum rather than just random stuff that seem cool to take.
A printed book can have a lot of benefits not as easy to find in videos. Thanks for sharing your experience Dennis. 😀
You worded my experience so well! I've been trying to get into art for half a year now, but I never seem to get better further than the basic shapes. It's only through watching this video that things suddenly clicked, and now I feel like I can actually progress! Thank you!
I've been trying to learn to draw on my own for a year and I came to many same conclusions in this video.
It's so important to actually decide what and HOW you want to draw and it took me so much time to finally answer this question.
Before that I was watching various videos on "how to draw..." and while I gained some knowledge - it wasn't as consistant as I hoped
Now I've decided to learn how to use ink and pencil and apply it in my digital art.
Thank you for such an informative video !
Glad it resonated with you Kirya
I was slowly learning many of the points as I try and teach myself. The problems became glaringly obvious as I watched someone else start from the beginning. I felt like they were focusing on the wrong things, and told them the info that was actually important for their develeopment. After seeing it in them, I started to see it in myself. Making your own curriculum is like a full time job itself. Luckily, when you get into the rhythm of learning, things that you should be doing is more obvious, and therefore make it easier to teach yourself.
Great that you’ve got into the learning rhythm with your drawing. Such a productive thing to do. 😀
Thank u so much! Your video appeared on my feed just when I was getting overwhelmed about creating a module for myself! This calmed me down and made me focus on my present journey. I’m so grateful!
Glad I could help! I hope you check out some of my other vids. I have a playlist on this sort of advice for the self taught artist if you’re interested 😀
It feels good that someone understands what I am going through😢. Thank you for creating this video ❤
It’s easy to assume others don’t struggle, but I’m sure we all have a lot in common in this area😀
I love your painting on the wall, there. It's rare I find an artist who gives great advice and I like their art as well.
Thank you. Much appreciated - not that I give painting advice - don’t feel experienced enough there. 😀
Thank you, I REALLY needed to hear this. I'm learning how to draw but I'm my biggest bully. I was so unhappy with my drawings that I thought that not only were they hideous but I should apologize to every artist I know for daring to think that I could obtain the same skill they have.
We can be our own worst critic. But I hope you find it possible to go easier on yourself
You described my feelings perfectly. I started drawing very recently and at a very late age. No prior experience whatsoever, my school did not taught me anything as well. I found a tutorial series, aimed for complete beginners. Drawing straight lines, circles, boxex, building basic objects from boxes and so on. And when it was over - i was completely at loss what to do next. I searched was some more stuff, but it was too advance for me and only made me feel terrible and discouraged from proceeding further. Understading what i need to learn is hard. For now i stick mostly to redrawing other peoples art and trying to "learn to see", i click on a very few guides as they usually only make me confused and anxious.
Marc Brunet was not helpful at all. He has entertaining videos that promises to teach you every thing in the world but he really only advertises his payed course.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope you manage to find resources that match your needs. 😀
Hey Karina, I realise this comment is 6 months old and I hope you've been doing well on your art journey since. As someone who stopped drawing for years and then had to relearn most of what I knew, I felt your confusion.
What eventually worked for me was sticking to pencils and pieces of different sized papers I stuck on a sketchboard. No colors, just finding objects with different textures and sketching them. Glass, metal, wood, plastic. Matte, shiny, transparent. Backlit, natural light, whatever you feel like. Nothing too complicated, especially in the beginning. Learning how light and textures should look and how to give that effect only using a pencil. It was frustrating at first, because I couldn't even tell properly what I should shade first and how hard I should do so. But once my hand got used to it it was very rewarding. And my eyes learned how to LOOK. I started out drawing twice a week and could definitely see a difference at the end of the month. My lines looked more confident, for one. I did this for about 6-7 weeks and made my sketches more complicated, sketching multiple objects together. Then I moved to human figures, as that was something I wanted to do, and it was very baffling again, because human bodies usually have smoother, rounder shapes. Now, I'm still working on those, I don't know for how long. There's no shortage of things to learn with so many poses to try and hands and faces, etc.
Please take note that even though it's been years, I have drawn before. I do not know if this will help you at all, and everybody's timeline will differ. But since I was struggling with what to do first and it was keeping me from doing anything at all, I wanted to share.
Good luck!
@@NoctilucaBloom thank you for the kind words! Although i havent learned almost anything in this 6 months and im ready to give up as drawing makes me even more sad 😄
@@Karina-winsmoreWhy not try watercolour? I copy most of my paintings but I enjoy the painting process and often the result a lot!
I do plan to learn drawing later though😊.
Maybe Marc Brunet isn't for you yet! Like Stephen said, if you'd like you can bookmark them for later when you do need them
Thank you for the video Stephen! I've been struggling to learn new techniques while juggling through projects, the amount of courses and videos available online are overwhelming. This video was an epiphany. :D
My pleasure. And don’t underestimate your own ability to work out things for yourself. 😀
Content starts at 9:05.
😮Stephen! God bless the UA-cam algorithm! It thrusted your vid into my feed. I've been painting for a few years now, but I'm all over the place. I've done still life(botanical), landscape and attempted portrait. I needed to hear this. Thank you.
Thank you Ann. I’m just as pleased to have you aboard. All the best with your drawing journey 😀
Immensely affirming video. Thank you! I've been an artist since childhood yet only attended a semester of art school. I'm now a psychotherapist attending UA-cam University since 2020 to improve my watercolor skills. I've stuck with qnd feel great wanted to learn my about drawing with pen as when I've tried recently it ruined my watercolors.
I have only been watching your videos for the past two months. Extremely helpful in understanding watch my challenges have been in not only understand perspective but how to create depth with pen. Thank you Thank you, thank you. No more bold one dimensional black lines. I listen our vides before work, like now. I'm running late. Then layer I watch the full video again. 🙏🏽🌷🌿
On the topic of not mistaking skillfully made videos to be better… there‘s I think a relatively fine line between putting time and effort into all aspects of your craft, video editing included, and the whole thing beung smoke and mirrors to make you click. Because I think making good looking videos can show that you‘re someone who takes a lot of care and has a good eye for what looks good, which as an artist I‘d say is a pretty useful skill, but on the other hand, I‘ve met artists who couldn‘t care less about presentation but are actually the craziest designers I‘ve ever seen. It can be rough finding good materials, but it‘s not impossible.
Also, a lot of people on art station if you ask them how they did certain things, they‘ll just straight up show you
Don’t disagree with you. Always nice to have the best of both if we can. And there’s also nothing wrong with watching more for entertainment than education, unless we don’t realise that’s what we’re doing. We all get to choose. Thanks for your thoughts 😀
Yes! This is great guidance. Very helpful. Thank you so much.
I’m glad you found it helpful 😀
The “little of this, little of that” approach you talk about reminds me of a jr high/high school art course. They’re kind of overview courses and they’re designed to be that way, of course, but I always felt that my kids came away from them kind of muddled.
I’m self taught. One of my issues is that I’m terrible about making a choice of where to focus 😬. I’m settled on one and ink now. I struggle with any shading method other than stippling and with ways to draw background elements like trees, so I know I need work there.
Have you seen my hatching playlist? It’s a way of thinking rather than patterns of marks. My trees playlist may help with the background trees. Or just look at my drawings of houses with trees behind them. Have fun. 😀
Sooo helpful to everyone. I sort of figured this out, I thought, but the hard way. This is a priceless video. Thank you, STEPHEN!
Well that’s great to hear. Thanks. It’s not always clear how useful the information will be when I plan it out, so it’s helpful to hear. 😀
thank you so much for this video it exactely what i needed i have been pretty confused in my art journey and with all those youtube video and maybe because i am a teen i thought watching really entertaining videos with a lot of sound effect will help me but it din't i will follow your advise thank you again
The question to keep asking is ‘has this channel helped my drawing in a way I can see’. If the answer is yes, it’s a good channel for you at that stage of your drawing development. 😀
This advice is exactly what I needed because I just started my art journey and I subscribe to any channels that i see are related to art and followed so many artists and it is all so overwhelming like where to exactly start and what I want my end goal to be and all. thanks for this video very much😊
Glad you found my channel. All the best with your drawing journey 😀
all these points in the video is true
as a self taught this is basically what I do, I search up a specific material what I want to improve e.g shading, line confidence, drawing clothes, anatomy etc.. then i learn them and try to understand why or how it works, eventually, in the end I finally figured out.
I knew at first I wasn't gonna jump into the "advanced" section yet. I have to set my goals little by little slowly building towards the advance level.
just a tip if anyone reading this don't set ur goals unrealistically high, you'll only get discourage when it dosen't turn out the way u want it to be, so, don't expect it to be "perfect" in every piece. It's okay to set one main goal high like for example u want to be a great artist someday or to inspire others.
these goals can also help u in the long run in the back of ur mind for the future, which is healthy and it keeps u motivated. but always remember to limit yourself and don't expect too high that's out of ur reach or ur current level.
trust me, I've been there and I don't have the best mental health so It's personal lol.
but that's just me also bc im a slow learner i took my time to break down each fundamentals I want to learn in my own pace. I also ask advice and criticism to an artist that is an expert in a certain areas I want to focus on.. very helpful ! self critic is great I often do this but don't forget to ask others for help when ur not sure abt it.
this has become a habit of mine, fortunately, it did helped me improve tremendously in my art journey and its an eye opener :)
I hope this make sense I wish everyone the best of luck in their journey💕
Thanks for sharing your experience. All the best pushing through. 😀
Really appreciate this video. I’m a self taught artist (kind of). I just started a year ago and wish I saw this video then
That’s great Rory. I have a self taught artist playlist with similar videos if you’re interested 😀
Such an interesting video that all beginning self-taught artists should watch! I am self-taught myself and I find that you’ve summarized the problem of solo learning very well. I really wish you had released this video a few years earlier! That would have saved me lots of time.😅 Thanks for sharing your point of view Stephen!
I’m glad you’ve found my channel now Vanessa. Pleased to hear how you’ve been helped. 😀
I trained in a different profession and then was involved in long term training of others. I did do the internet ‘lost years’ surfing Ytube to learn to draw and paint, but made halting progress. Then I checked curriculums of art schools at ateliers. I then created a curriculum for two years and sought out instruction from good quality content creators. I agree that minimising the number of people you learn from is the most efficient way to begin with. This has been invaluable. I also understood how I learn and choose people who reflect that. I ensure I have access to regular critiques from professional artists in a similar style to the one I naturally lean towards. It needs personal discipline but I have made steady progress. So this video is excellent advice.
Thanks for sharing your experience Liz. Much appreciated 😀
I'm a self-taught artist (or more like a would-like-to-be artist) in the area of 3D-modeling. Your reasoning meant for artists working with pencil and brush apply to digital 3D-artists as well, so I found your video most interesting. i do, however, have an opinion about something you say near the end of the video. Someone might say "It does not look right" without being able to put the finger exactly on it. That might help you having an extra look, and then you later on figure out why it "feels" wrong for someone unprofessional. On the whole, I think that you made a great video that made me think about your wordings.
Glad it was helpful Jan. 😀
Im just finishing a cert 3 course totally unrelated to my art. You are absolutely correct. I feel im ready to be a productive student just now, 6 months later. It has improved what content i actually consume because im approaching my self taught learning with focus. Last couple of months has been compositition mainly with values in addition. I have been learning productively and effectively. Thanks very much for confirming what ive just learnt. 😊
Wonderful! Glad to give you confidence. 😀
Super helpful, interesting vid, Stephen! Thanks for the time and effort you put into it. It's so easy to jump around and get lost in the data seas. Great advice to choose just a few folks / sources and stick with them while focusing on learning how to draw just a one or two types of subjects. Then expand from there. Cheers ~
Thank you, that was very helpful. Now, I'll try to finish the drawing book I bought first and move on to new topics later. I hope this will speed things up.
I hope it does, as well, for you. 😀
Thank you Professor, you demonstrated great artistic technique
Also, regarding, technical skills and practical artistic skills. A interesting observation I can make is this. In the days before UA-cam became monatizable . There were basically two types of art videos, one flashy edited and trite and boring and another one with a static camera, on a canvas actually drawing something and in that era , you would always choose the static camera videos because they were the one who actually were providing at-least a recreation of the process required to paint or sketch or draw or so on. But, later on, these edited video being popular with masses but dropping in view slowly, very very slightly, started imbuing personality in their videos using the flashy catchy editing and a creator on face and so on to dazzle the audience into staying, if not actual art advice perhaps personal anicdotes (like half the painting video people talk of their struggle instead of teaching how to paint, I can name some names here *cough cough* ,but we all know who they are *shots fired*), if not anicdotes perhaps silly expression or so on, it became less about sating the artist will to learn but to distract them. Even back then, I was thinking these videos are entertaining and well made but, the process is hardly explained at all and in the long run, I fear actual art videos which explain the process will be displaced by these videos. And now, I think the tables have turned. The actual artistic art videos with static cameras because the artist is more interested in the art than technical know hows are the less popular one no doubt because the razzle-dazzle videos are so wide-spread and just out-compete in the search algorithym for any search regarding art. Its just exhausting to find actual advice now, so people give up and assume there is no advice out there. Hmm, honestly, people should have been more careful and astute of what would have happened eventually.
Thanks for sharing your observations. I only have experience of the UA-cam landscape for the past few years. But at this point it all seems to favour what people watch. So . . . 😀
@@stephentraversart Yeah perhaps. I guess, you have to work with what is given. Perhaps, this so called hurdle is a opportunity to grow. To ensure a new age of art education who also know how to market it. But, I still fear overall the quality being averaged to a lower level. But, I am really cynical. Cautious optimism is the way to go. I can dream of art educators with know hows, actual skills and good editing ,I suppose, even though that sounds like a fairy tale . *On second note* , your videos , though I have only watched a few, are really well put together. Especially, when you go into different environment to demonstrate the art principle in practical day to day life. I really find it comprehensive and due to the practical aspect it click more in my brain. Thanks for the content, really. I commend you greatly sir, truly. Sincere, thanks from me. *Thirdly,a side note* I don't know what projects you are working on currently ,but , to be selfish, I current am trying to learn of toning by layering while sketching. Is there a video in your channel that exists on this topic, perhaps?
This is why I need to make a list for myself. When I make art without direction I’m all over the place but I feel like a list will help
This video contains universal information that can be applied to mastering a wide variety of skills, from drawing to even skateboarding
Thanks. Although I think I’ll stick to drawing 😆
It's so true what you are saying. I learned how to teach myself how to cook, and that learningnof how to learn stuff. Got my art skills to improve really fast
Thank you for the reminder that you have playlists available on your channel. Yup, I’ve been jumping around finding instruction here and there. No consistent logical pathway. Keep repeated learned material and not progressing. I’m sure the playlists will lead me forward
Fantastic Lily. All the best with it. 😀
I think it is also very important if someone knows its own learning style. For me it is ok to look around, see many videos and it feels like traveling around and gathering ideas. I just take pieces of what I see with me in my mind. During my creative proces when I have an idea where to go and then there are moment these things come back and help me. I have never liked fully organized journeys or courses that decide for me how I should learn, built up skills. It hardly ever fits the way my brain processes information.
Of course we should choose the journey which most gives to us what we are wanting to achieve. There is no best path, just best for each of us individually. You sound in a good spot with it all. 😀
Im glad im not the only self taught artist out there, despite my very very early start time drawing (started early 8th grade and currently in 9th grade) i get lots of comments (bad, when i started, or good, after a year) that really motivated me and i never really used a video to learn a technique or "tip, and when i did watch a few of them my art (except for one caase) always ended up worse than what i was promised. So i just decided to ditch the effort of learning from artist words and learn from their peice and yes while im still learning (Colors and sperpective) when i get asked if I went to art classes and my response is no, i get a small smile knowing i didnt fail teaching myself on how to draw 😊 also nice video, it was a great video to listen to while drawing
Appreciate you sharing your experience. Keep doing whatever you enjoy and what gives you results you are wanting. 😀
I am so glad I found your channel! I love how you explain things. Do you have a playlist that takes complete beginners through the fundamentals?
Not yet! It’s on the list. 😀
What you say was definitely true before the age of the internet. But now we have some great artists showing us how they paint, step by step. And classes depend very much on the teacher. If I went to a class given by the esteemed artist Ian Roberts I would come away thinking shape is everything in art, while mood and atmosphere are vital elements for me. Therefore I can seek out my teacher, the one who resonates with me and who I can learn from.
Yes, it can happen like this. But not everyone is in a position to assess if a given teacher is suitable for what they are wanting, or even be aware of the need and importance of it. Alerting people to this who might benefit from knowing it was my purpose. Thanks for adding your thoughts. 😀
Wow! So powerful and true. That explains a lot. Thank you for sharing.
Glad it made such sense to you. All the best with your drawing 😀
This is a very helpful vid for me, trying to figure out my style for a long time. This is gonna be a new start for me. Thank you so much..
Really pleased to hear this. All the best with the new start. 😀
The hardest part about being a self taught artist for me is finding the why. I know in my heart I’m an artist and creator. But what kind of artist am I? I like drawing yes, but sometimes I question if it’s for me. But I Like drawing cause I get to see my improvement and process in real time. I haven’t drawn in a while because I just don’t feel like I’m good enough and I should be working on this or studying that, or learning about this and figuring out that. Drawing for some reason has once been an outlet for learning a new skill and wanting to create something meaningful to when I look even at a blank page or my pencil, I feel nothing but anxiety and this heavy feeling in my chest.
One of the things we miss from not having classmates is realising we all face similar issues, and the sense of perspective that can give. Keep drawing but some days we just need a break. All the best with it. 😀
Thank you, I love your videos, they are so pleasant.
That’s great to hear. Thank you. ❤️
Well done,
I know who to choose as my art teacher, you!
Thank you
Haha. Very kind of you to say 😀
I love your Tshirt Stephen 🙂
Wise advices, it s so easy to wander in our own art journey instead of focusing on acquiring a skill
In the end, it all depends where we want to end up in terms of our drawing. But this is how I've ended up in the place I'm in. :)
I'm a violin teacher. I think being good at teaching and planning the learning process is important for every artist. I teach kids once a week, then they're expected to practice on their own on all the other days. My focus in their lessons is not only teaching them how to play, but teaching them how to teach themselves how to play, because on every other day of the week, they have to be their own violin teacher. They have to be able to listen for problems and come up with good plans for how to solve those problems, and carry them out. That's a huge chunk of what it means to practice violin. So I think if you have art lessons, you'll get the most out of them if you're trying to learn how to teach yourself, but you'll progress way more smoothly and quickly than if you're going it alone.
Learning to learn is such an important life skill. Thanks for sharing your experience 😀
I can't believe I've only just been reccommended this video, it is so relevant to what I'm going through. I have struggled with improvement for such a long time and that is because I wasn't aware of how to learn in and of itself, part of learning art is learning how to educate yourself and how to use the tools in your toolbox, unfortunately I still struggle, I still think my art is awful and the conflicting art advice is so difficult to get around, there is also very little criticism you can get even if you join spaces that are predominantly for that, because even if your art is bad the consensus is to always be kind and that unfortunately clouds peoples judgment, even when asking for very harsh criticism I wasn't able to get very much out of it at all because it was sadly sugarcoated in order to not hurt my feelings, and if it's not this kind of situation it's just that there are not enough people who are skilled enough to give you the advice that is personalized for your current issues. A good teacher knows where their student is lacking, social groups don't have that kind of awareness and it's why people pay for the courses, because the feedback you get is personalized to your specific issues.
When you were talking about the conflicting information and thinking something is wrong with you... I really felt that, that's what I always default to. I have autism and ADHD and so I always tend to think that either I am too stupid or not intelligent enough or normal enough to understand the material and I always felt like it was an issue within myself, I still have these thoughts and very often, because I can't find what I need or be a good enough judge of my own work to improve.
Unfortunately for me, art is always going to be a consistent painful struggle, I will still go through it because I love art and it's innate. There are not enough resources for people with autism or ADHD who have these struggles that are clear and straightforward, the main things I struggle with are perspective and foreshortening, because the reference material and videos are almost never straightforward, even after 8 years I still have no concept of what 1 point, 2 point and 3 point mean. I still don't understand foreshortening.... because it's not explained well, it's not simplified in a way that people with these learning disabilities can understand, but it's my goal to understand them and simplify them beyond what is given so that I can go on to teaching others and helping them overcome those struggles that I have had to face.
Thanks for sharing your experience. A lot of perspective videos (most?) teach in a way that may be suitable for architecture, but not for artists having to draw it in real life environments, not boxes on flat ground. And they never tell you what they haven’t told you, so you think you should understand it all when you haven’t had it all explained. My perspective playlists may help with this. But draw what you love, and then it will always be a pleasurable experience 😀
I have this vid on a watch later list, now with christmas break Im actually glad i watch this now and not during school days because my gosh I would forget about this lol
I’m happy whatever time you watch it. 😀
I took art classes through high school. I don't generally watch videos on how to draw, but this may be a video on how to teach. I do find I'm happier drawing what I like to draw, but sometimes I'm drawing for others, and it's what they want, not what I want.
I'm glad you made an exception. Thanks for sharing your experience.😀
As a self taught artist I am always trying to improve, constructive critique is always appreciated. I find blind praise to make me uncomfortable as I am always striving to improve.
Getting accurate focus for what we’re about to do is so important 😀
This makes a lot more sense to me than drawing various simple things every day. Draw what you want, getting more advanced as your skills progress.
Makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for sharing. 😀
I appreciate the advice, practical amd helpful thank you
Just what I like. Thanks. 😀
Thanks Stephen, I'm listening to your back catalogue of videos to drown out the awful gym music - the ones like this are sooo useful to me. I am that person that collects tutorial videos like it's my job 😅. But after a year or so, I realise that I definitely need to stick to only a few artists otherwise I don't really get deeper than 5 tips for this or that. I thought I had found a course on drawing figures, but I think it's too advanced (even though they say it's for beginners), so I'm going back to the other course 😂 and sticking it out. Plus getting back to life drawing which actually was really helpful in getting rid of perfectionism. Thanks for these and keep doing them - with or without the mike 😂
I have a playlist on this sort of thing for the self taught artist. If you haven’t found it, it’s a good way to locate these videos of mine quickly. Glad they serve such a range of issues for you. 😆
@@stephentraversart thank you Stephen. Woo plenty to watch! ☺️
Watching UA-cam videos to learn is a Nono , I’m a M.A (Magister Artium) and that title was giving to me by the Dutch government. And I’m an Autodidact, self thought, not by UA-cam but studying the great masters . I had an advantage I was born talented when I was 2 , drawing was already an ability, so to all people who want to learn art , learn to draw and put your tracer in the closet 😉 and put UA-cam off . Nice video , loved it 👌♥️
Great to hear. Thanks for sharing 😀
Great so I am going all over the place and not getting perspective, composition and vanishing points at all! So now....I choose you . I am going to start fresh. Which playlist should a beginner watch? How long to keep watching and when to turn off the watching and practice on my own? To just draw over and over cubes/box's or try to print simple landscapes to practice perceptive? better to draw from real life ( like my living room couch or outside) or a printed photo? I end up watching a ton and not drawing so much because it does not seem to translate and I feel bad about iitI know it is a lot of questions !! THANK YOU
I have a playlist of ten perspective videos which I think covers a good range of perspectives topics. There are actually 12 on it. I would recommend watch each one through first, just concentrating on it. Then practice afterwards. 😀
@@stephentraversart I watched them all!! and some twice! Now I think I just need to sit and draw and try. ALthough when I try I get so frustrated by how it turns out as it looks all wrong. SOmething is not translating still.
Just keep going? Try to find a course? Use reference image or go into real life and just keep going?
I suggest starting a sketchbook. Try sketching school videos to get started. A daily practice makes sense in learning
@@isabelleg9118 ty
Thanks for your wishes. I write- same thing different pile.. Sort of thing.
I doodle sometimes and it is so cute what I come up with. I took up lyric writing as a hobby but now I produced so much, I don’t know what to do with it.
I can pay for help but it be big bucks and I’m off to the races way to soon for me….. so maybe a course from Berkeley that is affordable and see what’s going on in the next steps.
It was helpful.
Thanks and best wishes.
I’m not surprised to hear this Jennifer. Most learning skills can be applied to most creative endeavours, except for the very specific ones, I suspect. 😀
He was offering some very insightful information for those who have insight
I hope so. Thanks Joann 😀
This is so on point. I' fit this category big-time. Thank you for this video
I hope it helps you move forward. 😀
As a former university Instructional Designer, very well said!
Thank you. Much appreciated 😀
You're an excellent teacher! Thanks.
That’s kind of you to say Suzanne. Thanks 😀
I totally appreciate you. I have learned so much.
So great to hear. All the best with it. 😀
Self taught artist is the TRUE creative 🎉
We often need to trust our own creative instincts more 😀
I made a curriculum for my art class of one after watching this, thank you!
Well done. And you’ll always come top of your class. Congratulations Birdie 😀
I found this channel recently and everything just sort of clicked for me. in the parts of the Internet i frequent, there's a focus on character design and portraits but that just doesn't appeal to me. Your art has been a huge inspiration for me to focus my efforts on what i genuinely enjoy drawing, that being architecture, and the past few weeks have been the most fun ive ever had making art. thank you so much for all this amazing content!
What a wonderful and satisfying comment to read Amelia. Thank you for sharing your experience here. I’m sure there’s even more fun ahead for you. 😀
Very interesting, in a way you are right and wrong too. I trained as a architect studied Urban designed and worked as a landscape architect and an urban designer, now i have taken an interest in urban sketching so i watch your videos as they contains a lot of architectural content and other watercolour artists who i feel will help me get to what im seeking and this is a interesting challenge, Im critical of my work but it dosent pull me down. as i know i have improved in the last 6 months Most of my work is archetectural but i have improved my plant and portrait drawing skills too.
Most importantly while a course may helo me in some aspects but need not necessarily give me what im looking for. In the end im confident in my direction, however what may help me is if someone like yourself looks at what im doing and suggest ways to improve.
Thanks is you get to read and respond to my concerns.
It’s great that you’re pushing yourself into new directions Jalal, especially when you have such a strong foundation as architecture. I’m not completely sure what you are asking, but I do give individual critiquing sessions, but I have to charge for these. If this this is what you are interested in are you able to send me a DM on my Instagram account and I can give you the details.
My problem is inability to go off from path of least resistance.
It's really hard to do something because well brain just tried to off me from learning anything that isn't urgent nor doesn't have instant gratification (this was since childhood before I had a phone) not to mention personal issues like most likely unsolved PTSD still unconfirmed because well people around me don't really believe those stuff so I'm going to get stuck for a while.
Each of us can only give it a try the best we can. I hope you’re able to keep drawing in some way.
Being a self taught artist is like jumping a cliff, only when your not scared of failing is when you are more likely to get better
I've recently taken up sketching again. I also enrolled in the Urban Sketch Course. These are my goals. This is exactly what you have confirmed in this video. I want to improve my line drawings and learn watercolour painting and will hopefully stick to it. You are 100% correct about learning today. The amount of information can sometimes hinder your progress. Your channel is a great find for me. Many thanks