This is fantastic. It's really important that students hear from one another about things like false starts, burnout, and the things we learn when eventually taking another swing at learning later on (whether with Drawabox or other resources). These kinds of things are a lot more common than most expect, and I've had plenty of students from whom I hadn't heard a peep for months, or even a year or two, before they suddenly popped back in at Lesson 1, ready to approach things with a fresh mindset.
Thank you so much! I felt like such a failure for not being able to continue and I really wanted to walk away from it entirely since I failed at doing it. It's comforting to hear how most other people have quit at some point as well and resumed and been successful.
My art teacher used to call me "Doctor Zhivago." I still haven't read the novel, but I understand the reference much better now. I used to leave and come back to his classes constantly and, lo and behold, here I am looking at making art again. He always used to say, "Whenever you wake up--that is your morning!"
How long would you saw it should take to complete Drawbox? What's the recommended weekly hours to invest? I'm planning to start once my materials are here but in ordr to ensure I complete the course and not take months and years I need help with setting my goals corectly - so need some advise. I do work full time so will need to adjust the recommended times to my own free time. Appreciate your help.
@@linorkirkpatrick Unfortunately I really stress to students how important it is that they not go in with an expectation of setting specific deadlines for themselves. Different students take varying amounts of time - some have completed the course in about 5 months (that's the fastest I've seen without someone necessarily rushing) while others have taken over a year. What matters is that you adhere to a schedule, work on things regularly, but not set arbitrary deadlines for yourself or expect yourself to finish by a particular time. Deadlines and other pressures can help a lot when dealing with later subject matter, but Drawabox focuses on the core fundamentals that will hold up your skillset, so it is critical that they are given as much time as you need to get through them well. So, to that point, all I tell students is that they must give each and every exercise as much time as it requires to be done to the best of their *current* ability. That doesn't mean grinding away til things are perfect - just that you should be taking your time with each and every mark, striving to apply the concepts covered in the course. It's also important that you accept that you are not in a position to spend all your time drawing - you have a life, a full time job, and perhaps other hobbies. That doesn't mean that things like the 50% rule introduced in Lesson 0 (which stresses the importance of drawing outside of courses and lessons) should be cast aside in favour of getting through the course more quickly. Long story short, if you ultimately stick with it up to the end, it will take you quite a few months at the very least, and you should not feel discouraged if it takes even longer. This is completely normal, and the skills you're developing are important. This also doesn't mean that you shouldn't explore other topics - figure drawing, painting, etc. are all a great deal of fun, and you should indulge in them alongside gradually solidifying your grasp of the fundamentals.
@@linorkirkpatrick That's a really good question, I'd like to know the answer to this as well! Drawing is only one of the many skills you need as an illustrator, so I'm hesitant to put all my efforts into that one thing and let the other skills get rusty. (Skills like visual storytelling, problem solving, process, and knowledge of subjects like history.)
Problem with drawabox is that you start the lessons with a good mood and full dedication towards finishing them all. But somewhere half way you just get burnt out and you almost quit drawing altogether. That's why it's important to always mix the 2, one day start doing some lessons and the other day draw whatever u want.
You're very right, I had a lot of trouble with that so now I've chosen a different curriculum that does not require any self chosen drawing outside of the classes.
@@neekoko4962 Ever since this comment i´ve been drawing and improved drastically. I started with drawabox but quit around the elipses part. I still draw simple symbols almost daily but only to feel comfortable with my pencil. Just draw whatever u want to draw, practice it and do it daily. If u dont feel like drawing still pick up the pencil and draw some stupid lines it doesnt matter. At the very beginning I didnt know what to draw but I loved anime so I searched how to draw manga. I´ve been doing that for weeks and along the line u´ll come across multiple things u want to learn eventually. Its hard to describe but drawing has to become a habit like brushing ur teeth, to become good. Draw what U want to draw, and u will suck at it for a very long time but do it daily. U´r gonna notice how ur lines become way much smooth resulting in ur drawing becoming more clean.
I also expected something else from the title. I had expected maybe a critique from someone who didn't like drawabox, the video is actually very much a recommendation of the site. That's fine of course, just saying I got got a different impression from the title
Yeah, the title is misleading, but I got used to this. Who produce content needs to think on title and thumbnails to catch attention and this usually yelds in click bait things, But thats just part of how content production works. The content is pretty dope though.
@@Mithrilda This kind of title is used in negative contexts usually, like "Why I left my baseball team", where the creator talks about the bad parts making him take the decision to leave. A title like "Why I left DrawABox *first time I tried it*". This title doesn't imply bad conotation, but even the idea that you started again, thus making the title clear for the video.
@@kaelw758 But it gets imprinted on your brain, so you can see, in four seconds, if a box has the right perspective. That is the whole point of the exercise.
learnin how to have fun is to me the most important part of art imo. alot of ppl are incredible at art and dont enjoy it because they feel like they have to be good, and make things to please ppl. sounds like a horrible time. i just draws knights and samurai, its fun, who cares if its not a portrait of a person sitting in a chair or something lol
Someone tell that to Chris Hong. That girl is downright depressing, yet she is one of the most skilled artists on all of UA-cam. Imagine being _that_ good and still hating almost everything you draw, constantly being dispirited and complaining endlessly. So frustrating.
I relate to this video so much. Draw A Box is an amazing resource, but I've struggled to stay on track with some of the later exercises. It's encouraging to hear from other people who are on the same journey. BTW, I think your voice-over style is warm and engaging. Great work!
Learning to expect and enjoy drawing badly is an extremely important part of persisting from a novice to an intermediate to an expert. If you can retain the understand that you will always be learning, and that even when you're an expert you will look back on some of your drawings and find mistakes, then you will be more likely to be able to draw (or in my case, write) over and over, never being discouraged by faults, since you were expecting those from the beginning. Of course, the problem is that it usually takes you so long to learn _that_ lesson that you'll have already been experiencing continual heart-wrenching discouragement and consequent procrastination for months.
Haha, that's right. I feel like this is the one thing that you can't learn from someone saying it or warning you or whatever. I heard it alllll before and I didn't get it until I ran myself off the road and picked back it. It's a rite of passage of sorts I suppose. I'm just glad in surrounded by understanding people who have been through the same thing.
@@Mithrilda I'm enjoying your responses. It'll be a shame when you get too popular to reasonably respond to us anymore, but I hope you get there anyway, because you're doing good stuff here. Also, I haven't actually USED your "draw a box with me" series yet, but I do believe I will, because the idea of having you as "creative company" (when my sister isn't available) sounds great.
@@Selrisitai hahaha, talking with people who really understand me has to be my favorite part of doing UA-cam and I hope I'll always get the opportunity to keep doing it. I really appreciate that everyone has been contributing their well formed, thoughtful comments. I hope you enjoy the Draw a Box With Me if you get a chance to take a look at it! Definitely planning on making more 😤😤
I'm a professional artist and drawing teacher. Practicing perfect lines and boxes over and over again is not a very good way to learn to draw unless you want to do technical drawing- that is, drawings of vehicles, machines, architecture etc. Most artists aren't aiming to be technical artists. Those that are would be better advised to learn 3D skills and supplement those with 2D drawing skills for basic sketching. It is far more precise and efficient to use a computer for that sort of work, and that's what professionals do. Learning to draw is not just about mindless repetition of technical exercises. It is about learning to create something. Students learn better and stick with their learning when they can see progress that is meaningful to them. The rewards of personal achievement, self expression, social connection and recognition are powerful motivators that give drawing meaning and keep people learning for years. You don't get those rewards from drawing page after page of lines, boxes or perfect ellipses. As many people have written here in the comments- you just get burned out, frustrated and discouraged because it is disconnected from the reasons why people draw in the first place. It is the opposite of fun, the opposite of self expression, and ultimately devoid of meaning. If you want to learn to draw, draw whatever you like looking at. Then do a mixture of observational drawing, creative drawing and learn basic perspective. Most importantly try to find a good teacher who can give you knowledgeable feedback on your work and keep you accountable to your practice. Look at the artists you admire and study them- so many artists these days have their own process videos or articles available online- and make copies of their work to understand how they work/think. Share your work with people who support you so you can get the encouragement to keep going, and slowly show it to more and more people as your confidence and skill increases. Throughout the process always try to focus on improvement rather than 'perfection' or mastery. If you're improving, you're succeeding. If you're not improving, get feedback on where you can improve and practice techniques that help you improve in that area. It is far more important to enjoy what you draw than it is to draw perfectly.
I like your advice to draw what you like looking at, because I have trouble with the 50% rule. Its suppose to be that I spend 50% of my time drawing what I want to draw, without worrying if it's any good. But what do I like to draw? I don't know. But I do enjoy looking at my cat. So I guess I can start with that. Cheers
@@donnagreene83 Yeah, draw your cat! Or draw the kind of art you like looking at. If you like manga, draw manga. If you like the art from an animated show or movie, draw that. If you like looking at animals, draw animals and look for drawing resources that teach you to draw animals. You will learn a lot faster spending 100% of your time doing that than drawing things you like 50% of the time and then begrudgingly drawing boxes the other 50%. Understanding perspective is important, but it's a terrible starting point for most people.
Drawing was one of my hobbies as a child. I used to love drawing, reading manga, even wanna become an artist. But I knew my drawing sucked, and I clearly didn't have a talent. Maybe drawing was better just as a hobby for me. The last time I drew was when I was in high school doing art class. Since then I literally stop drawing, but still once in a while read manga and web comics. Now being 25 y.o. physics graduate, I miss drawing. I miss that childhood memories, when I just had fun no matter how ugly my drawings were. This week when trying to find free lessons on drawing, I just found out Draw a Box. Looking about its lessons which focus on the fundamentals: draw a line, a box, etc., brings back my memories on my high school art class. My teacher often gave those same boring assignments, just drawing a line, a box, a different kind of perspective drawings and other, lol. Then I found this video. Nice thought, this motivates me to start drawing again (as a hobby), and try to learn from Draw a Box. Thank you, Mithrilda. I've just subscribed.
Keep in mind just because someone missed a detail on how to execute a lesson doesn't mean they clearly didn't read the entirety of the lesson and watch the videos. I've actually noticed this mindset a lot toward others and also found myself being told I didn't read the material when being critiqued. Keep in mind that some people are coming here for their first exposure to drawing and it's a lot to digest. My routine is to read the material twice and watch the videos at least once before starting. Including uncomfortable's, ScyllaStew's, and Victor Pauter content. Then while I work on the lesson I typically let ScyllaStew's live streams play in the background or let the video lectures replay while I draw. Then I re-read the lessons in the evening when laying down to sleep. I still miss details and/or forget to do things a certain way sometimes. I get it, you guys probably do see a lot of people who don't read the instructions but be mindful when accusing someone of not. Putting in all that effort just to be told you clearly didn't read the instructions can be extremely discouraging to some people. It comes across as "you clearly didn't try" when maybe they did and are just actually new to drawing and struggling through it.
I totally get that. However, there's also the side of the critiquer. Usually, the people critiquing are just as new to drawing as the people asking for critique. The mistakes Uncomfortable outlines in the lessons only apply to the exercise as it is written. If anyone deviates from that path, then those critique points no longer apply and people who are doing the critiques no longer have any idea what to judge the exercise on. These are pretty much beginners trying to help each other out. Uncomfortable himself just told me that I made a mistake, but to move on since I understood the core of what the lesson was trying to teach. Other beginner artists will have no idea what to even say about homework in that circumstance since they (we) only understand it on a surface level ourselves. It's not trying to put down new artists or nail them just for not being able to understand well enough, it's the fact that we/they aren't skilled enough to make any modifications and still know what's good and bad in the realm of what Uncomfortable is trying to teach. I hope this made sense :) please let me know if I can make any clarification.
Are you me? That really hit home! The fear of not doing something to perfection at my very first try. It's so incredibly scary to do something knowing its going to turn out bad.
You could say to yourself - everybody has a load of bad drawings in them. The more you draw, the more you'll do but also the more you'll do good drawings too as everybody has plenty of them inside too.
Oh, wow, I didn't know how much I needed this video! I started Drawabox 2 years ago, finished the first homeworks and drew 125 boxes then suddenly... quit. And didn't draw even a stick figure in the last 2 years. Two weeks ago I pulled out all my colorful markers and had a BLAST with drawing without intention, without any plan, almost without control. So I decided to start to learn draw again because it's frustrating to not be able to draw what I want - only what I can, which is not much. Drawabox instantly came into my mind but I dropped the idea because all work and no play makes me a dull girl. :) I didn't feel any motivation. Then I watched your video and realized where I messed up the first time: I believed that I have to learn to draw properly BEFORE I can have fun with it! So I bought a sketchbook and started to play with my markers and pencils because I LOVE colors, and when I start to feel frustrated about my incompetence with lines and shapes, I learn on Drawabox. Or I start with Drawabox, and when it feels like too much work, I grab my sketchbook. It was painful, but I started again from zero - and it's so good to see that I'm not on the same level when I started the first time! Luckily my hand, wrist and shoulder didn't forget everything, hehe. :) I'm almost at the 250 boxes homework again, and very excited to finally get past Box Number 125!
thx for sharing your thoughts and the courage to share your feelings and frustrations. drawabox does recommend keeping up drawing what you love next to the lessons and I'm glad you rediscovered that ;) keep it up, make t your journey with a good balance of enjoyable things and things outside your comfort zone. All the best wishes!!
I'm so glad I found this video. The fears you described about needing to learn fundamentals and being scared about wasting your time are fears I feel daily. I've been searching for helpful tutorials and/or lessons but to avail and I've been practicing (and I use this loosely) on my own with tons of frustration. Thanks to this video, I'm going start Draw a Box. Thanks again!
Thanks. This video is helpful because this is the problem I have as a beginner. I’m “not ready” to draw anything. I grew up with a very computational and logical way of going about things. I want to learn to hold a pen, then how much pressure to put, then how to draw a straight line, then a curved line, then a circle, etc etc etc. it worked so well in school. It works well in games. In a creative aspect, it doesn’t really work. I have vivid dreams and ideas in my head, but I’m just “not ready” to do it. But I think I’ll just start drawing things or following tutorials on things that I’m “not ready” for, while also learning with DAB, and other resources as a secondary. These learning resources should supplement me, I shouldn’t be supplementing the resource by showing that it makes you better at making lines or ellipses or whatever.
this story is eerily similar to mine right now, im starting drawabox and i havent been allowing myself to draw anything or learn anything else. ive been taking careful steps to learn drawabox, then faces, then body, etc... Thank you for your advice, ill try to branch out more while doing drawabox alongside.
I just started drawabox again... for the second time. Though I only read through lesson 0 and did the exercises up until the ghosted lines the first time. Before drawabox I watched a video from Mattias Pilhede where I learned about the fundamentals and when I looked for resources how to properly pick up the fundamentals I got to drawabox. I've two main obstacles, one being that I'm often unfocused and want to rush things... I've been trying to accept my skill level even if it is discouraging at times and keeping in mind that I don't need to take tackle everything at once and can take it slow. The second thing is that I've self image issues which is a recurring theme everywhere, which come with the additional mindsets of 'I can't do it', 'I'll never be able to do it' among others. This is why I stopped drawing for a while and stopped drawabox that I barely started... Now that I picked it up again, I'll take it very slow in the beginning and pick up the pace when I feel comfortable with it... And on the side try to draw things that are fun, I'm mainly interested in drawing monsters/( mythical) creatures, have an interest in backgrounds and also have a slight interest in drawing animals/characters as well. And even if it looks bad right now I really want to keep going without the discouragement to fully stop me
Milthrilda, I want to thank you soo much for this video. Everything you felt, thought, experienced was exactly how I felt. I love Draw a Box and I love Uncomfortable for taking the time to share his knowledge. I emailed him once for a question and he replied very quickly. That is what sealed the deal for me. I love art, I love creating and I feel like I should be better than I am in my life, and watching this video has given me a renewed flame for it. Thanks, I will be following and drawing and creating. Peace and Blessings!
So glad I'm not the only one returning, I started back in early 2018, it's also how I found your channel then. Incidentally I started Draw a Box when I was dealing with a long bout of depression, so it sadly didn't last. Been drawing again recently, and I have learned to have fun, and don't really hate what I make. Glad this video popped up on my feed, it's making pretty excited and determined to take on Draw a Box this time.
Honestly I feel Draw-A-Box is a good supplemental course for once you have found the fun in drawing. A way to bolster a core that makes that already fun drawing into something more fun & satisfying. For myself I am working through a Udemy course by Scott Harris in his Character Art School series as my 'fun' drawing lessons & working on Draw-A-Box as my warm-ups or breaks from that lesson. Kinda like having actual classes. You don't just go to one class everyday until completion but rotate between them in a set order. This allows you to properly learn the content before moving on to the next section. Edit: Also I can't imagine drawing entirely from imagination... (buh-dum-tish?) No matter what I would want to have references to ensure things look right.
Sounds good! I think drawing from imagination for me means learning things so well that I'm confident I don't need references to render something well. That's a feeling I can't even imagine having, but it's the dream lol. I definitely understand that it's a supplemental course now and I have more realistic expectations for how I should treat it in my learning routine. I might look into that course as well, it looks fun! Best of luck to you!
@@apple11995 So far it isn't bad. Admittedly I am going to have to restart it again because of a recent injury forcing me to take a break, alongside the loss of my notes due to the incident that caused said injury, but it has a lot of good information and is well organized. (Honestly Draw-A-Box and similar resources could probably benefit from being made in a similar way to his course...)
@@Mithrilda Yeah, I figured it was like that. My own take is the whole 'better to have & not need than to need & not have' when it comes to references. Especially since when I hunt for references I usually end up with better ideas than I originally was planning. And I really recommend Scott Harris's courses. They are well organized & broken down in a way to where you can easily organize breaks around the videos. Best of luck to you as well.
@@JTMC93 that's an interesting take! My thought process is that I don't want to be limited by needing references. I want to be able to draw things that don't exist in this world, maybe a beautiful girl I'm picturing or an exact scene and I just want to vomit it out onto a paper exactly as it is in my mind, not have to hunt down similar things and then be able to draw it like I have to now
Thank you so much. I’m getting ready to restart it the first (second?) time, and this is so reassuring, and reminds me yet again that I will need to get on the 50% rule.
Glad I ran across this video. Definitely needed to hear it as I am just starting and feeling extremely overwhelmed by the information out there, and I was searching for "the optimal way".
i can't thank you enough,you can't imagine how much i needed to see this video not just to learn drawing ,but everything else i want to achieve (i was struggling on that for the last 2-3 weeks , i was searching for the best videos and courses and in reality i was doing nothing ) Thank you very very much 🥰
Draw a box has killeddrawing for me as well. I filled about 3 sketch books in my journey to learn drawing and jumped into draw a box and stopped somewhere around 150 boxes and haven't drawn again in almost a year. I always watch drawing videos look at art. Just can't get motivated again even doing the stuff I found fun feels like a chore. Idk
I get what you mean. If this is a big dream of yours, you'll come back to it. Otherwise, there's lots of other great things to learn out there. Good luck to you!
Thinking about starting drawabox. I've been drawing for years however I feel like i'm missing certain fundamentals, specifically the understanding of perspective. I really felt what you said when you mentioned the fear of learning something wrong and then having to unlearn your mistakes. I think that is what has been keeping me from starting. Anyhow, great video. Keep going!
The advice I can give to newcomers is to separate their learning times and not try to learn everything at once. I am passionate about manga and I have a schedule to learn each thing. For example, Sundays are for studying manga, sequences, panels, inking, narrative, storytelling. Mondays are all about perspective. Tuesdays are about anatomy, faces, expressions, poses. Wednesdays I'm back to studying manga. On Thursday I study perspective, and on Friday I do a free illustration of whatever I want, Applying the concepts learned during the week so that on Saturday I have it completely free. It's a piece of advice I give to you so you don't burn out suddenly.
I tried it for one day, but the thing is, I wanted to improve my line confidence. But halfway through the exercises, I realized it isn’t technical skill I am lacking, it’s not the lack of confidence in the ability to draw a line, it’s the lack of confidence in knowing what line to draw. When I draw a face, I try to visualize very much where the line should be. I look at the chin, the the space by the brow, and I try to connect them, but I don’t know what line to use, what shape to give the face, so I keep on being hesitant and indecisive on how my face should look.
I picked up drawing 2 years ago with drawabox. In a couple weeks I ended up quitting for similar reasons you mentioned. It's been bothering me since and I picked up drawing again a month ago. Every couple days I decide to learn figure drawing, open a Loomis or Hampton book, end up copying a limb then close the book. I've been copying other people's drawings and while it's FUN I don't know if I'm learning 'enough' this way. How does one start drawing from imagination if not copying from other drawings / reference pics?
Draw from imagination badly. Like Uncomfortable says, we can draw anything we want if we accept that it'll come out badly at first. Then we can realize the gaps we have, all the stuff that's missing from our visual libraries and we'll know exactly what to look for and what to study in order to draw that thing we want better next time. Read this page and watch both videos, he does a much better job at explaining than I can. The overall thing to keep in mind is that if you practice and put in the work, you'll blow past this early stuff so quickly you'll hardly remember it. So draw those bad drawings, get them out, get your brain primed with so many questions to answer and when you see the answer, it'll slot right in place and you'll know exactly how to apply it. Otherwise, you end up with a bunch of "skills" you don't know how to use or you'll get burnt out and never gain those skills in the first place. drawabox.com/lesson/0/2
@@Mithrilda the passage about finding someone to teach me really hit the point. Been telling myself the same as sort of a 'hack' around the fact I fear failure. I guess everything is obvious now. Thanks for the guidance, much love!
3:58 I'm being attacked! I'm glad I found this video because that's exactly what I needed to hear. I'm doing this with my drawing, guitar playing, and studying Japanese. I feel like I can't properly start because I need to find the perfect equipment and the perfect lessons to get started when really I just need to start and have fun with it.
I don't know how I came across this video in my suggested, but it was incredibly insightful and exactly what I needed. Thankyou so, so much. Subscribed.
i've been doing art for about 2 yrs from now and i have no absolute idea about any basic things such as perspective,shapes etc. i kept drawing from references thru references and not actually gain something from it. i thought it was just a hobby that maybe someday i could earn from (commission) but now that i think about it i really wanna just devote myself into practice and actually learn. good luck on us. :D
So like....i think I'm giving up... Like...I actually want to cry in frustration I've tried a lot of things and I'm just not getting it. I don't know how to draw, I tried drawing but it gets really discouraging, watching all those video tutorials on how how draw. Now a days, drawing feels like solving a math question, and I've never been good at math in my whole life. I really don't know what to do anymore.
Hi, I'm really sorry you feel that way. If you want to talk things through and see if I can help a bit, please feel free to join the discord then private message my profile. Let's talk this through because I believe that you can improve if you want it. I know that can be hard to see right now so let's chat :)
The first part sounds exactly like myself. I finished Lesson 1 and the 250 boxes challenge but never got around to starting lesson 2 due to how stressed out I was. I was aiming at pretty lessons and results but I was constantly in my head too much so I just wasn't thinking nor drawing with confidence. I can produce very clean and almost pristine drawings but I end up drawing very simple poses, same things over and over again and my backgrounds are either just washes of watercolor or very plain, sterile and lazy doodles. I also search for the perfect reference which I then alter into my style. But at the end of the day it's all just copying. If you give me a piece of paper and a pencil and tell me to draw something, I will produce nothing. Because I won't be able to and I know it will suck. Big time. This is starting to become a real problem and I can't progress with my art until I fix it. I'm trying to get back into drawing now again and I'm starting my days with at least an hour of the Lesson 1 exercises. Trying to figure out the problem I'm having with them. Mainly ovals inside planes and free-hand boxes. I'm also trying out iterative drawing when I have the time. Trying to practice the things I actually want to draw one part at a time. First doing very quick studies of references and then drawing more from memory/imagination.
Wow I just opened my sketchbook. I tried to do drawabox 4.5 years ago and quit within the first day. I also always had these self imposed boundaries and fear of making ugly drawings, so I always gave up drawing. Gonna give it another try though. Nice to hear about the challenges you dealt with. It helped me realize a lot of us encounter the same feelings.
Happy to help in whatever way I can! I feel like people feel these things by themselves and these types of thoughts often get shut down in forums and stuff where they just tell you to draw more. I don't want this to be a place of judgement, just honesty, hard work, and improvement. Good luck to you!
I quit draw a box for the same reason and haven’t come back. I want to draw, but it looks so overwhelming. And I have almost zero experience doing it so I have no idea where to start. Other than draw a box, what resources can a newbie go to to learn how to draw heads and faces and everything else?
Proko is a great one. If you're an absolute beginner, my first book was "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It was a great first step for me and gave me some basic skills and confidence.
I've used a book called 'Drawing for the Absolute & Utter Beginner' by Claire Watson-Garcia and that was a great, gentle, really encouraging introduction to some of the fundementals - but in a way that isn't drill-based. I'd absolutely recommend it! She gets you drawing portraits, too, in the second half of the book.
Just came across your channel as I'm starting out in draw a box. And your goal of making an art channel, showing the good, bad, and the ugly in your art journey with the end goal showing that anyone can be good at drawing with enough hard work and dedication is really relatable, and is the exact same reason I started an art channel as well! Good luck in your journey!
I'm so glad you shared your experience. My first approach on draw a box was pretty much the same. And besides that, I always watched other tutorials on UA-cam on how to draw this and how to draw that, because I believed I wasn't good enough yet. I watched more, than I drew. (Does anyone did the same? xD) I completly burned out. But I never gave up and after some time I thought - Hmm, I can't get better at things when I dont draw them. Even if they are bad. I don't care if they are bad, because I want to have fun again, like in my childhood! Now I'm drawing things that come into to my mind and I'm loving it. I started Draw a Box again to strengthen my fundamentals, but I take breaks for fun parts. :)
I liked when you mentioned people talking about talent, not to long ago I had the same conversation with a friend, he was saying he'd never get good because he has no talent. I tried to convince him otherwise, but for him meant little because "I'm talented" at art, only after I showed him my 6 and half years of progression he understood. I won't say I'm a terrible artist, but what I've achieved in that time, I know people who've got that down in less than half the time. Either way, I got to where I am, I keep on improving and have lots of fun; sure, a lot of people out there improved way faster but if we stop doing things we like for the lack of "talent", we won't get anything done.
It's all about having a growth mindset or not. We all try to fight too much to keep and justify our limitations. Good on you for practicing and keeping up the hustle for six years.
@@Mithrilda excatly, it all comes down to mindsets, people usually don't believe me when I say anyone can draw long as they want. I don't believe I am wrong though, long as you want to do something you really like, you will get good at it sooner or later. In my case was later, but I got there anyway. ^^
hey if you like drawing faces, one resource I'm loving is marco bucci's head class. He compares the structure and features to those of a... box c: which is enlightening. Good luck on your journey o/
I relate to your struggle! To the point where I was comforted by the video title thinking it'd be a good excuse to stop with Draw a Box entirely and maybe you'd provide a better learning curriculum. What finally got me over the hump was just, drawing. Drawing what I wanted to draw even though the outcome was frustrating and horrible. I could then identify my weaknesses and work on them through Draw a Box. I think the curriculum would benefit from having practical 'mini-projects' where you can apply the principles of each exercise to a recognisable drawing - like a rudimentary city street for the perspective lessons etc. I must have drawn lines, boxes and ellipses for dozens of hours before getting burnt out - thinking, as you did, that I wasn't ready to actually draw anything.
Right, drawing is the most important part because you don't even know what kind of weaknesses there are to develop until you run into it! I think what Uncomfortable is trying to get us to do is to incorporate the skills from the curriculum into our own drawings over time rather than giving us assignments. We all have different interests and motivations so no project would fit all. For somebody, the application project would just be another boring exercise I think.
I was just thinking about starting draw-a-box, had this urge of drawing within for years but could not, due to other study & life related issues. Also I was super skeptical at the same time as everyone around me always said drawing is not for me who have poor talent and creativity and who only relies on hard-working. But Drawabox's first approach video gave me hope. And thanks to this video of yours now I think I have the confidante that if I work hard with my passion, I might be able to learn enough to draw things I want myself. Thank you a lot
I'm glad to help! I've also been told that I just didn't have a "knack" for art, and I believed it for a long time. Over time, the urge to draw built more and more until I decided to test it out for myself if I could learn to draw or not and hell, why not make a UA-cam channel to show others whether I succeeded or failed? Well, now two years later, I think I'm definitely on an upward journey with my art and I'm so happy. Take care of yourself and nurture your passions. Feed that urge and let it grow into a talent, a skill that you can utilize. Not everyone wants to do everything, but if you want to do art, I know you can. Good luck!
Yeah right now i feel like you too, i want to draw characters, watched many videos but was afraid to draw. Learned some things etc. but how can i draw this when im not practising hands, poses, perspective, hair, coloration, shadows etc etc. but when i draw it looks better than i thought. Now is started drawabox and it helps me A LOT to understand perspective. before that i cant understand how to draw perpectives. And the key to learn is understanding what, and how you do it.
it depends on your learning type... many good artists outthere never touched something like drawbox or any similar. Its not needed at the end, but can helf certaint learning type persons. I have ADS and its nearly impossible for me, i get extreme bored. I gain mutch more skill if i draw what i like and love ... and yes... i improve too. Maybe not so fast but it do the job. Yes and english isnt my native language, thats makes things even harder.
I just stumbled upon your videos and gosh I appreciate what you are doing so much! I recently had the realization about drawing for fun/myself and I'm just now coming back to draw a box after a very long hiatus. I love your honesty in your vids and as a beginner myself, it's refreshing to see someone drawing like me haha.
Cheers for finishing college! I'll be finishing mine the next semester, y'know! Also this is a new beginning to my life in a sense that I'll be doing this quite seriously since I've always been a creative type and never explored it until college, and college helped me quite a bit in understanding myself. Anyway, thanks for all the awesome content, I'm so glad that I get to see this side of the world. This is exciting. I love your content and hope to see more in future. Also, yeah it would be great idea if you cover up the exercises.
My opinion, from someone that comes from the education field, I don't think you're supposed to only advance with drawing after you do certain exercises. One should draw whatever they like and have draw-a-box as a tool to improve your skills. What I am currently doing is I dedicate myself to one lesson and then I draw whatever I feel like. Even if it's not that good. I feel the box exercises and explanations have been helping me a lot to draw the bad things I draw in different angles.
Thank you! I've been trying to explore more of Loomis as well. It's honestly really confusing to me, but I'm trying to push through it and study (copy) it until I understand it better.
just started this course last week, I've been making my way through it slowly due to college stuff being in the way but I've been making a point to come back to it as often as I can. This video answered some of my own doubts, as I feel the same about "not being ready" to draw from my own imagination. My winter break is coming up this Friday so thankfully I'll have some time off to really practice and free draw, even if I suck at one of those lol Thank you for posting this!
Wow. Just... wow. The whole "I can't draw this until I learn to draw THIS", the "what if I learn it wrong?", and 100% the "what if there's a BETTER course out there?!" was like you were reading my mind. I LITERALLY just finished Part 0 of DrawABox yesterday, and I was already scared to death to actually put pen to paper! THANK YOU for this video. :)
Well, there is a correct way to draw a hand and and many incorrect ways, unless you learn the correct way there will always be something broken in any drawing you do that entails humans. A cop out is to claim lack of understanding is "my style"
@@urielmesenja1040 people shouldn't opt out of learning fundamentals of course, but one doesn't need to understand everything before they start learning and drawing. Hope that makes sense :)
I think that’s why Uncomfortable talks about 50% of your drawing time being just drawing... no instruction, no anything, just drawing. You develop your style in between. 😁
I have been there too. Personally, I found a solution into doing both abstract studies (lines etc) and studies of what I want to draw well. It's a bit like playing a sport. At a side you do workouts in order to prepare the body for the purpose and on the other hand you learn how to practice that sport you chose, with all its related tricks. Translated to art, I usually start studying by doing some lines curved etc to loose the arm and hand... then I study what I want :)
Thank you for this. I've been struggling for years now, because its overwhelming and I just couldn't get myself to stay on track to practice everyday, because I was scared. I want to make characters and make amazing stories with animation, so thank you for inspiring me on this(: !!!!
I quit before even starting the first lesson. The demand I draw for fun already sort of put me off, but when I then realized he wanted ink on paper and I didn't have any paper, I put it on ice for the time being. Then after mulling it over a bit, I realized if a lack of paper is enough to stop me, maybe I don't want to draw that badly. I guess it's just not something for me.
My problem with draw a box 📦. Was that I didn't know how long I had to do one lesson. I have Aspbergers and Add. So I need to know how often I need to do it. Like do every exercise in one day or until they are perfect.
I'm a visual and auditory learner and just started draw-a-box. I'm gonna try to learn what I can from the videos, and I'll take a shot at the written information and homework once I've understood the video part of the segment properly
i wish i found your channel earlier. i just started to draw again after 3 years. apparently i lost my skills lol. so i started over. thank you for this video. im starting my 250 box challenge today and really afraid of the number of boxes. wish me luck :D
wow.. I was able to relate to what you said at minute 4. I have spent my entire weekend looking at drawAbox, proko, NMA, sadie valeri etc, trying to decide which is the best course to take. i am still not able to decide. so did you get back to drawAbox after discontinuing it? if yes, then how to did you manage to not get burnt out or feel bored? you mention that you did figure drawing for few weeks after quiting, was it some other course or was it just you trying it? sorry for so many questions, i am lost, afraid and confused. i have given up on drawing many times, and i am afraid i will give up on drawAbox as well. thats why i want to chose something i wont give up.
Thanks I need this. I almost give up because my lines over extend my desired points. I guess it's my fault though cause I'm lazy reading the page so I just watched his video then I read Scott robertson how to draw a long which he said over extended lines is fine. Now, even though I haven't read lesson 1 I'll correct my mistakes on lessons 2-7
such a great video! a thought that always consoles any worries i have about how "bad" my art is, is the fact that EVERY SINGLE ARTIST that I look up to and aspire so deeply to be as good as has had to draw bad- over and over and over again. every single one!
Omg, thank you for putting this video out, I can relate so much (I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling with this). In fact my friend was just advising me today to just draw for fun, what I want to and I kept saying but I can’t draw, I need to do the boring stuff first... Oh boy, 50/50 golden rule :) My problem (apart from overthinking what to actually draw and learn) is my high standards and perfectionism so when I draw something I instantly hate it and hate myself, get frustrated and discouraged coz it means the world to me and I definitely do connect it with my worth which isn’t healthy, I know but it happens subconsciously. But like you said those ugly drawings are a must so it’s ok, gotta keep reminding myself, this is supposed to be fun. We gotta make bad drawings ok and approach learning as children. Thank you for the reminder, just needed this today.
Thank you for this video! I just started the first exercise yesterday and this video was really informative! Can't wait to see you become an amazing artist!
I think this is related to the topic, I tried posting my plans and goals in a facebook art group and because my short term goal is to draw cute anime girls. Even though I made it clear there that I'm doing Drawabox and figure drawings, people there say that I have to learn to draw a real human FIRST being before I get to anime girls. Which means, I have to grind my fundamentals first before I can draw anime girls. That's a VERY HORRIBLE advice for self-taught artist. There are so MANY people who aren't aware that drawing for fun is as important as doing your fundamentals. I'm glad that you released this video because there are so many people who quit drawing because of grinding.
Pretty much the same goal here. Along with draw a box, what side lesson or side "fun thing to do" did u settled with to learn how to draw figures and manga faces?
Wow...this is amazing 👏. I just found this video while I was researching about draw a box 📦. I was thinking of starting it. I'm currently on a journey to learn how to draw and I can express how relatable 😅 most of the things you said at the start of the videos are. Concerning the possibility of a course out there that may be better, the worry of if im practicing the right way, and the struggles of not really knowing if I am ready to start drawing something yet. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for this video. I've just started draw a box and it really helps to hear this perspective from another student. I do fear that I can fall into the trap of just doing exercises instead of actually trying to draw.
Just randomly found this video and it made me open up my sketch book that i got last december to start drawing. and i actually was amazed by some of the drawings. like i could see them with a fresh mind because it's so easy to get too much into the details when you actual draw the thing... i think i might give it another go
Thank you I am the same I don’t need to even make the o-< to make a character but just because I saw that you have to learn perspective.boxes and the sketches etc.that only slows us down if you are good at what you are we shouldn’t listen to everything we heard thank you this helped so much.
Woot Mith, congrats on finishing college!!! Haha, I'm thinking about restarting DrawABox for the 3rd time too! The reasons I gave it up before had to do with really stressful things in my life that had nothing to do with the course. However I wanted to restart it last month but I have a movement disorder and the thought of seeing all my shaky lines in INK really put me off. So I bought a course during Udemy's black Friday sale because I wanted something to spoon feed what to practice. Now that I'm getting comfortable with making lots of crappy marks on paper again I'm ready to get back to DrawABox (and continue with the animal drawing course). I just want to wait til after the Christmas because of travel and Uncomfortable seems to do a major overhaul of the website every Christmas (thank you so much for your dedication to this resource, sir!) Even if the DrawABox lessons disappeared from the face of the earth, I'm so grateful for the mentality and practice methods that were taught in the first 2 lessons. Plus it's how I found your channel :)
Ayy good luck to you! I swear every person who tries Draw a Box goes through something like this haha. It seems like we've gone through similar ish paths and we found our ways back to Draw a Box :3. I'm glad that you feel more comfortable with your art making, I get the struggle. Good luck to both of us I suppose. Cheers!
Damn i relate a lot to your point of view, when starting years ago i was like ok lets draw anime portraits, then later i started learning fundamentals like doing perspective for months then shading, rn im doing drawabox and drawing mushrooms or a tree when im working in class etc, one advice i could give thats a double edged sword is ti accept your mistakes and not spend months on one little part of fundamentals
I’m new to art and was going to start Drawabox courses and I did some months ago but stopped for the same exact reason as you did. I had the exact same mentality that if I didn’t know my structure, form, line quality and so on that I could learn how to draw the human body anatomy and other things that interested me. Now today I’m pretty committed to becoming an artist and am going to be starting Drawabox again as well as not making the same mistakes you and I did. Great video
You sound just like me, glad I found this video today. I am currently struggling with drawing my own characters. Even though I have improved certain aspects of anatomy. Love this video.
Hello complete newbie here, planning to start my drawing journey from complete scratch and came across your wonderful video. Motivated by RossDraws drawings and paintings, I wanted to achieve this style of drawing. I am planning to add draw a box to my routine for fundumentals. But as for something fun to do in the side, I don't know where to start. Should I just try drawing fictional(anime) characters from references or even following step by step tutorials on how to draw this certain characters?
Hi, welcome to the channel and to drawing! This is a super tough thing to figure out, but remember that there is no right answer for how you should go about this. The most important thing is to draw what you wanted to draw when you got into art. If your goal is to draw anime characters, then some things you could do are: -copy drawings of those characters -copy frames from the animation -follow step by step tutorials -draw fanart to the best of your ability -trace pictures that you like If you're enjoying it, then you're on the right track. Remember that there is a time for practice and a time for performance and they are measured using different things. Try out all sorts of things and see what you enjoy the most! And never let yourself get stopped by that thought that says "wait, but to do that, I need to learn...first" or "I really want to draw that, but I'm not ready yet". You become ready by doing it over and over. Good luck!
@@Mithrilda The issue is that copying (or doing "studies" as it says in lesson 0) is classed as the same 50% as DAB. It's difficult to know what to draw for the "fun" 50%, especially when you really don't know what you want to draw, I kind of want to learn to draw anything.
I'm glad I found your video. I wanted to know how other people are coping with Draw A Box. Personally I watched every videos and read every text. I only skim text I already understand or have knowledge. Luckily perspective is something I'm familiar with. ITs a great course I am not burnt out yet probably something more complex like organic shapes. My favorite drawing is drawing forms and countour lines in the past. So this course Is Actually super fun! Lets keep going guys yeaha! :)
Hi. Thank you for this video. I find myself being burnt out by Drawabox as well because I was falling into the same mental traps. I'd do fairly well in the exercises so I placed the expectation on myself that anything I drew had to also be good. But I was scared to draw anything in case it turned out badly. But what you (and Uncomfortable) are saying is draw badly lol. It is okay because its how we learn, I suppose? Welp. Im gonna keep at it. Thanks again
I'm in the same boot-ish. I use to draw alot and share with other but getting others approval and likes and whatnots ruined my own perspective on my own art and made me jealous of other artists. I decide to quit for 4 years and i got the itch to draw but i'm so rusty. So now i'm trying to find a way to enjoy art for my pleasure.
Ah, interesting. I've never gotten to a point yet where I even get approval from others really about my art. There's so many pitfalls we can fall into. Good luck to you and your art journey!
I have been drawing for about a year now and I have quit draw a box twice but didnt stop drawing. I would really recommend searching something that you want to draw and watch a tutorial then you realise why draw a box is SO important. Also look up other places aswell although draw a box is very good for fundamentals.
This is fantastic. It's really important that students hear from one another about things like false starts, burnout, and the things we learn when eventually taking another swing at learning later on (whether with Drawabox or other resources). These kinds of things are a lot more common than most expect, and I've had plenty of students from whom I hadn't heard a peep for months, or even a year or two, before they suddenly popped back in at Lesson 1, ready to approach things with a fresh mindset.
Thank you so much! I felt like such a failure for not being able to continue and I really wanted to walk away from it entirely since I failed at doing it. It's comforting to hear how most other people have quit at some point as well and resumed and been successful.
My art teacher used to call me "Doctor Zhivago." I still haven't read the novel, but I understand the reference much better now. I used to leave and come back to his classes constantly and, lo and behold, here I am looking at making art again. He always used to say, "Whenever you wake up--that is your morning!"
How long would you saw it should take to complete Drawbox? What's the recommended weekly hours to invest? I'm planning to start once my materials are here but in ordr to ensure I complete the course and not take months and years I need help with setting my goals corectly - so need some advise. I do work full time so will need to adjust the recommended times to my own free time. Appreciate your help.
@@linorkirkpatrick Unfortunately I really stress to students how important it is that they not go in with an expectation of setting specific deadlines for themselves. Different students take varying amounts of time - some have completed the course in about 5 months (that's the fastest I've seen without someone necessarily rushing) while others have taken over a year.
What matters is that you adhere to a schedule, work on things regularly, but not set arbitrary deadlines for yourself or expect yourself to finish by a particular time. Deadlines and other pressures can help a lot when dealing with later subject matter, but Drawabox focuses on the core fundamentals that will hold up your skillset, so it is critical that they are given as much time as you need to get through them well.
So, to that point, all I tell students is that they must give each and every exercise as much time as it requires to be done to the best of their *current* ability. That doesn't mean grinding away til things are perfect - just that you should be taking your time with each and every mark, striving to apply the concepts covered in the course.
It's also important that you accept that you are not in a position to spend all your time drawing - you have a life, a full time job, and perhaps other hobbies. That doesn't mean that things like the 50% rule introduced in Lesson 0 (which stresses the importance of drawing outside of courses and lessons) should be cast aside in favour of getting through the course more quickly.
Long story short, if you ultimately stick with it up to the end, it will take you quite a few months at the very least, and you should not feel discouraged if it takes even longer. This is completely normal, and the skills you're developing are important.
This also doesn't mean that you shouldn't explore other topics - figure drawing, painting, etc. are all a great deal of fun, and you should indulge in them alongside gradually solidifying your grasp of the fundamentals.
@@linorkirkpatrick That's a really good question, I'd like to know the answer to this as well! Drawing is only one of the many skills you need as an illustrator, so I'm hesitant to put all my efforts into that one thing and let the other skills get rusty. (Skills like visual storytelling, problem solving, process, and knowledge of subjects like history.)
Problem with drawabox is that you start the lessons with a good mood and full dedication towards finishing them all. But somewhere half way you just get burnt out and you almost quit drawing altogether.
That's why it's important to always mix the 2, one day start doing some lessons and the other day draw whatever u want.
You're very right, I had a lot of trouble with that so now I've chosen a different curriculum that does not require any self chosen drawing outside of the classes.
Could I ask what curriculum you started instead?
@@neekoko4962 Ever since this comment i´ve been drawing and improved drastically. I started with drawabox but quit around the elipses part. I still draw simple symbols almost daily but only to feel comfortable with my pencil. Just draw whatever u want to draw, practice it and do it daily. If u dont feel like drawing still pick up the pencil and draw some stupid lines it doesnt matter.
At the very beginning I didnt know what to draw but I loved anime so I searched how to draw manga. I´ve been doing that for weeks and along the line u´ll come across multiple things u want to learn eventually.
Its hard to describe but drawing has to become a habit like brushing ur teeth, to become good. Draw what U want to draw, and u will suck at it for a very long time but do it daily. U´r gonna notice how ur lines become way much smooth resulting in ur drawing becoming more clean.
@@tunod- thanks for the detailed reply!
Nice
Well that's a missleading title. I know it isn't intentional but I got totally the wrong idea when I clicked on this video.
I also expected something else from the title. I had expected maybe a critique from someone who didn't like drawabox, the video is actually very much a recommendation of the site. That's fine of course, just saying I got got a different impression from the title
Yeah, the title is misleading, but I got used to this. Who produce content needs to think on title and thumbnails to catch attention and this usually yelds in click bait things, But thats just part of how content production works. The content is pretty dope though.
@@Mithrilda i expected something else as well, like a video explaining why I am losing my time with it :))
@@Mithrilda This kind of title is used in negative contexts usually, like "Why I left my baseball team", where the creator talks about the bad parts making him take the decision to leave. A title like "Why I left DrawABox *first time I tried it*". This title doesn't imply bad conotation, but even the idea that you started again, thus making the title clear for the video.
It's called clickbait. But it's nice to hear that the "bad video" we thought was a recommendation. This made me trust even more in Drawabox
Don't fear the person who knows 250 techniques. But fear the person that has drawing one box 250 times. 😂
🤣🤣😂👍
more like 250000000 boxes
Bruh thats literally me and thats the reason of why i got burnout.. I've even draw like 400 box and that shit's painfull lol
@@kaelw758 But it gets imprinted on your brain, so you can see, in four seconds, if a box has the right perspective. That is the whole point of the exercise.
@@RobAngol yep you're right.. And when you've achieved the way of seeing things in shape and perspective is what they called "Neo phase"
There are 10000 ugly drawings before the good ones
Heck yeah! Gotta get them out
1000 guly drawings with effort put into them* don't forget. Effort matters. Just doodling won't do much for you.
I really believe drawing what you want while practicing fundamentals is best way to learn
100
thats what the course literally tells you to do, duh
@@shadowdemon9043 Nobody said otherwise genius. They are just agreeing with it.
learnin how to have fun is to me the most important part of art imo. alot of ppl are incredible at art and dont enjoy it because they feel like they have to be good, and make things to please ppl. sounds like a horrible time. i just draws knights and samurai, its fun, who cares if its not a portrait of a person sitting in a chair or something lol
I feel that. People have different goals in art. Trying to fit into someone else's dream just ends in frustration and burnout
Someone tell that to Chris Hong. That girl is downright depressing, yet she is one of the most skilled artists on all of UA-cam.
Imagine being _that_ good and still hating almost everything you draw, constantly being dispirited and complaining endlessly.
So frustrating.
@@Selrisitai she complains about her art?
@@vibing6530 Endlessly.
DJ Khaled suffering from success
I relate to this video so much. Draw A Box is an amazing resource, but I've struggled to stay on track with some of the later exercises. It's encouraging to hear from other people who are on the same journey.
BTW, I think your voice-over style is warm and engaging. Great work!
Thank you so much! I'm really glad you've enjoyed my videos :)
Learning to expect and enjoy drawing badly is an extremely important part of persisting from a novice to an intermediate to an expert. If you can retain the understand that you will always be learning, and that even when you're an expert you will look back on some of your drawings and find mistakes, then you will be more likely to be able to draw (or in my case, write) over and over, never being discouraged by faults, since you were expecting those from the beginning.
Of course, the problem is that it usually takes you so long to learn _that_ lesson that you'll have already been experiencing continual heart-wrenching discouragement and consequent procrastination for months.
Haha, that's right. I feel like this is the one thing that you can't learn from someone saying it or warning you or whatever. I heard it alllll before and I didn't get it until I ran myself off the road and picked back it. It's a rite of passage of sorts I suppose. I'm just glad in surrounded by understanding people who have been through the same thing.
@@Mithrilda I'm enjoying your responses. It'll be a shame when you get too popular to reasonably respond to us anymore, but I hope you get there anyway, because you're doing good stuff here.
Also, I haven't actually USED your "draw a box with me" series yet, but I do believe I will, because the idea of having you as "creative company" (when my sister isn't available) sounds great.
@@Selrisitai hahaha, talking with people who really understand me has to be my favorite part of doing UA-cam and I hope I'll always get the opportunity to keep doing it. I really appreciate that everyone has been contributing their well formed, thoughtful comments. I hope you enjoy the Draw a Box With Me if you get a chance to take a look at it! Definitely planning on making more 😤😤
I'm a professional artist and drawing teacher. Practicing perfect lines and boxes over and over again is not a very good way to learn to draw unless you want to do technical drawing- that is, drawings of vehicles, machines, architecture etc. Most artists aren't aiming to be technical artists. Those that are would be better advised to learn 3D skills and supplement those with 2D drawing skills for basic sketching. It is far more precise and efficient to use a computer for that sort of work, and that's what professionals do.
Learning to draw is not just about mindless repetition of technical exercises. It is about learning to create something. Students learn better and stick with their learning when they can see progress that is meaningful to them. The rewards of personal achievement, self expression, social connection and recognition are powerful motivators that give drawing meaning and keep people learning for years.
You don't get those rewards from drawing page after page of lines, boxes or perfect ellipses. As many people have written here in the comments- you just get burned out, frustrated and discouraged because it is disconnected from the reasons why people draw in the first place. It is the opposite of fun, the opposite of self expression, and ultimately devoid of meaning.
If you want to learn to draw, draw whatever you like looking at. Then do a mixture of observational drawing, creative drawing and learn basic perspective. Most importantly try to find a good teacher who can give you knowledgeable feedback on your work and keep you accountable to your practice. Look at the artists you admire and study them- so many artists these days have their own process videos or articles available online- and make copies of their work to understand how they work/think. Share your work with people who support you so you can get the encouragement to keep going, and slowly show it to more and more people as your confidence and skill increases. Throughout the process always try to focus on improvement rather than 'perfection' or mastery. If you're improving, you're succeeding. If you're not improving, get feedback on where you can improve and practice techniques that help you improve in that area.
It is far more important to enjoy what you draw than it is to draw perfectly.
It was already addressed by Unforgettable in his website. That's why there's a 50/50 rule.
I like your advice to draw what you like looking at, because I have trouble with the 50% rule. Its suppose to be that I spend 50% of my time drawing what I want to draw, without worrying if it's any good. But what do I like to draw? I don't know. But I do enjoy looking at my cat. So I guess I can start with that. Cheers
@@donnagreene83 Yeah, draw your cat! Or draw the kind of art you like looking at. If you like manga, draw manga. If you like the art from an animated show or movie, draw that. If you like looking at animals, draw animals and look for drawing resources that teach you to draw animals.
You will learn a lot faster spending 100% of your time doing that than drawing things you like 50% of the time and then begrudgingly drawing boxes the other 50%.
Understanding perspective is important, but it's a terrible starting point for most people.
Drawing was one of my hobbies as a child. I used to love drawing, reading manga, even wanna become an artist. But I knew my drawing sucked, and I clearly didn't have a talent. Maybe drawing was better just as a hobby for me. The last time I drew was when I was in high school doing art class. Since then I literally stop drawing, but still once in a while read manga and web comics. Now being 25 y.o. physics graduate, I miss drawing. I miss that childhood memories, when I just had fun no matter how ugly my drawings were.
This week when trying to find free lessons on drawing, I just found out Draw a Box. Looking about its lessons which focus on the fundamentals: draw a line, a box, etc., brings back my memories on my high school art class. My teacher often gave those same boring assignments, just drawing a line, a box, a different kind of perspective drawings and other, lol. Then I found this video. Nice thought, this motivates me to start drawing again (as a hobby), and try to learn from Draw a Box. Thank you, Mithrilda. I've just subscribed.
you still drawing?
@@timthetimes4865 either he's dead or he doesn't draw
Keep in mind just because someone missed a detail on how to execute a lesson doesn't mean they clearly didn't read the entirety of the lesson and watch the videos. I've actually noticed this mindset a lot toward others and also found myself being told I didn't read the material when being critiqued. Keep in mind that some people are coming here for their first exposure to drawing and it's a lot to digest.
My routine is to read the material twice and watch the videos at least once before starting. Including uncomfortable's, ScyllaStew's, and Victor Pauter content. Then while I work on the lesson I typically let ScyllaStew's live streams play in the background or let the video lectures replay while I draw. Then I re-read the lessons in the evening when laying down to sleep. I still miss details and/or forget to do things a certain way sometimes.
I get it, you guys probably do see a lot of people who don't read the instructions but be mindful when accusing someone of not. Putting in all that effort just to be told you clearly didn't read the instructions can be extremely discouraging to some people. It comes across as "you clearly didn't try" when maybe they did and are just actually new to drawing and struggling through it.
I totally get that. However, there's also the side of the critiquer. Usually, the people critiquing are just as new to drawing as the people asking for critique. The mistakes Uncomfortable outlines in the lessons only apply to the exercise as it is written. If anyone deviates from that path, then those critique points no longer apply and people who are doing the critiques no longer have any idea what to judge the exercise on. These are pretty much beginners trying to help each other out. Uncomfortable himself just told me that I made a mistake, but to move on since I understood the core of what the lesson was trying to teach. Other beginner artists will have no idea what to even say about homework in that circumstance since they (we) only understand it on a surface level ourselves. It's not trying to put down new artists or nail them just for not being able to understand well enough, it's the fact that we/they aren't skilled enough to make any modifications and still know what's good and bad in the realm of what Uncomfortable is trying to teach. I hope this made sense :) please let me know if I can make any clarification.
Your faces are looking better every time I tune in! Keep going! You're on the right track.
Thank you very much Trent :))
Oh my god Trent I love your videos!
Are you me? That really hit home! The fear of not doing something to perfection at my very first try. It's so incredibly scary to do something knowing its going to turn out bad.
You could say to yourself - everybody has a load of bad drawings in them. The more you draw, the more you'll do but also the more you'll do good drawings too as everybody has plenty of them inside too.
Oh, wow, I didn't know how much I needed this video! I started Drawabox 2 years ago, finished the first homeworks and drew 125 boxes then suddenly... quit. And didn't draw even a stick figure in the last 2 years. Two weeks ago I pulled out all my colorful markers and had a BLAST with drawing without intention, without any plan, almost without control. So I decided to start to learn draw again because it's frustrating to not be able to draw what I want - only what I can, which is not much. Drawabox instantly came into my mind but I dropped the idea because all work and no play makes me a dull girl. :) I didn't feel any motivation.
Then I watched your video and realized where I messed up the first time: I believed that I have to learn to draw properly BEFORE I can have fun with it! So I bought a sketchbook and started to play with my markers and pencils because I LOVE colors, and when I start to feel frustrated about my incompetence with lines and shapes, I learn on Drawabox. Or I start with Drawabox, and when it feels like too much work, I grab my sketchbook. It was painful, but I started again from zero - and it's so good to see that I'm not on the same level when I started the first time! Luckily my hand, wrist and shoulder didn't forget everything, hehe. :) I'm almost at the 250 boxes homework again, and very excited to finally get past Box Number 125!
thx for sharing your thoughts and the courage to share your feelings and frustrations.
drawabox does recommend keeping up drawing what you love next to the lessons and I'm glad you rediscovered that ;)
keep it up, make t your journey with a good balance of enjoyable things and things outside your comfort zone. All the best wishes!!
Thank you so much! Glad to help and I’m wishing you good luck on your art journey as well :)
I'm so glad I found this video. The fears you described about needing to learn fundamentals and being scared about wasting your time are fears I feel daily. I've been searching for helpful tutorials and/or lessons but to avail and I've been practicing (and I use this loosely) on my own with tons of frustration.
Thanks to this video, I'm going start Draw a Box.
Thanks again!
She drew way more lines than I did on the first homework 😐
Nothing wrong with that! Just be sure to do enough to practice and learn the concept!
Thought you had to draw 8 lines not 6? 😉
Fineliners are expensive mate.
@@jaysonscaccia3188 huh? i thought you had to draw 6 lines not 9
Thanks. This video is helpful because this is the problem I have as a beginner. I’m “not ready” to draw anything. I grew up with a very computational and logical way of going about things. I want to learn to hold a pen, then how much pressure to put, then how to draw a straight line, then a curved line, then a circle, etc etc etc. it worked so well in school. It works well in games. In a creative aspect, it doesn’t really work. I have vivid dreams and ideas in my head, but I’m just “not ready” to do it. But I think I’ll just start drawing things or following tutorials on things that I’m “not ready” for, while also learning with DAB, and other resources as a secondary. These learning resources should supplement me, I shouldn’t be supplementing the resource by showing that it makes you better at making lines or ellipses or whatever.
Yes! That's a great way to think about it. You sound like you have a lot of cool stuff you want to draw. I want to see you make that a reality :)
this story is eerily similar to mine right now, im starting drawabox and i havent been allowing myself to draw anything or learn anything else. ive been taking careful steps to learn drawabox, then faces, then body, etc... Thank you for your advice, ill try to branch out more while doing drawabox alongside.
I just started drawabox again... for the second time. Though I only read through lesson 0 and did the exercises up until the ghosted lines the first time.
Before drawabox I watched a video from Mattias Pilhede where I learned about the fundamentals and when I looked for resources how to properly pick up the fundamentals I got to drawabox.
I've two main obstacles, one being that I'm often unfocused and want to rush things... I've been trying to accept my skill level even if it is discouraging at times and keeping in mind that I don't need to take tackle everything at once and can take it slow. The second thing is that I've self image issues which is a recurring theme everywhere, which come with the additional mindsets of 'I can't do it', 'I'll never be able to do it' among others. This is why I stopped drawing for a while and stopped drawabox that I barely started...
Now that I picked it up again, I'll take it very slow in the beginning and pick up the pace when I feel comfortable with it... And on the side try to draw things that are fun, I'm mainly interested in drawing monsters/(
mythical) creatures, have an interest in backgrounds and also have a slight interest in drawing animals/characters as well. And even if it looks bad right now I really want to keep going without the discouragement to fully stop me
Not drawing what i want because i feel like i'm not ready... damn, too real.
damn, same feels
Milthrilda, I want to thank you soo much for this video. Everything you felt, thought, experienced was exactly how I felt. I love Draw a Box and I love Uncomfortable for taking the time to share his knowledge. I emailed him once for a question and he replied very quickly. That is what sealed the deal for me. I love art, I love creating and I feel like I should be better than I am in my life, and watching this video has given me a renewed flame for it. Thanks, I will be following and drawing and creating. Peace and Blessings!
I'm so glad I could help! Good luck to you on your art journey!
So glad I'm not the only one returning, I started back in early 2018, it's also how I found your channel then. Incidentally I started Draw a Box when I was dealing with a long bout of depression, so it sadly didn't last. Been drawing again recently, and I have learned to have fun, and don't really hate what I make. Glad this video popped up on my feed, it's making pretty excited and determined to take on Draw a Box this time.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm starting drawabox again and your words gave me a lot of confidence. Wish you luck on your art journey.
Wow thank you so much for putting this video out there 🙂 This is exactly where I've been up until this hour!
Honestly I feel Draw-A-Box is a good supplemental course for once you have found the fun in drawing. A way to bolster a core that makes that already fun drawing into something more fun & satisfying.
For myself I am working through a Udemy course by Scott Harris in his Character Art School series as my 'fun' drawing lessons & working on Draw-A-Box as my warm-ups or breaks from that lesson. Kinda like having actual classes. You don't just go to one class everyday until completion but rotate between them in a set order. This allows you to properly learn the content before moving on to the next section.
Edit: Also I can't imagine drawing entirely from imagination... (buh-dum-tish?) No matter what I would want to have references to ensure things look right.
How are you liking the Scott Harris course? I was thinking about trying it out.
Sounds good! I think drawing from imagination for me means learning things so well that I'm confident I don't need references to render something well. That's a feeling I can't even imagine having, but it's the dream lol. I definitely understand that it's a supplemental course now and I have more realistic expectations for how I should treat it in my learning routine. I might look into that course as well, it looks fun! Best of luck to you!
@@apple11995 So far it isn't bad. Admittedly I am going to have to restart it again because of a recent injury forcing me to take a break, alongside the loss of my notes due to the incident that caused said injury, but it has a lot of good information and is well organized. (Honestly Draw-A-Box and similar resources could probably benefit from being made in a similar way to his course...)
@@Mithrilda Yeah, I figured it was like that. My own take is the whole 'better to have & not need than to need & not have' when it comes to references. Especially since when I hunt for references I usually end up with better ideas than I originally was planning.
And I really recommend Scott Harris's courses. They are well organized & broken down in a way to where you can easily organize breaks around the videos.
Best of luck to you as well.
@@JTMC93 that's an interesting take! My thought process is that I don't want to be limited by needing references. I want to be able to draw things that don't exist in this world, maybe a beautiful girl I'm picturing or an exact scene and I just want to vomit it out onto a paper exactly as it is in my mind, not have to hunt down similar things and then be able to draw it like I have to now
Thank you so much. I’m getting ready to restart it the first (second?) time, and this is so reassuring, and reminds me yet again that I will need to get on the 50% rule.
Glad I ran across this video. Definitely needed to hear it as I am just starting and feeling extremely overwhelmed by the information out there, and I was searching for "the optimal way".
i can't thank you enough,you can't imagine how much i needed to see this video not just to learn drawing ,but everything else i want to achieve (i was struggling on that for the last 2-3 weeks , i was searching for the best videos and courses and in reality i was doing nothing )
Thank you very very much 🥰
Draw a box has killeddrawing for me as well. I filled about 3 sketch books in my journey to learn drawing and jumped into draw a box and stopped somewhere around 150 boxes and haven't drawn again in almost a year. I always watch drawing videos look at art. Just can't get motivated again even doing the stuff I found fun feels like a chore. Idk
I get what you mean. If this is a big dream of yours, you'll come back to it. Otherwise, there's lots of other great things to learn out there. Good luck to you!
I love this. Thank you so much for your honesty, it's very inspiring. Best of luck on your art journey!
I'm so glad to help! Good luck on your art journey as well!
Thinking about starting drawabox. I've been drawing for years however I feel like i'm missing certain fundamentals, specifically the understanding of perspective. I really felt what you said when you mentioned the fear of learning something wrong and then having to unlearn your mistakes. I think that is what has been keeping me from starting. Anyhow, great video. Keep going!
The advice I can give to newcomers is to separate their learning times and not try to learn everything at once. I am passionate about manga and I have a schedule to learn each thing. For example, Sundays are for studying manga, sequences, panels, inking, narrative, storytelling. Mondays are all about perspective. Tuesdays are about anatomy, faces, expressions, poses. Wednesdays I'm back to studying manga. On Thursday I study perspective, and on Friday I do a free illustration of whatever I want, Applying the concepts learned during the week so that on Saturday I have it completely free. It's a piece of advice I give to you so you don't burn out suddenly.
Your video arrived in my life right on time ;) thx
I tried it for one day, but the thing is, I wanted to improve my line confidence. But halfway through the exercises, I realized it isn’t technical skill I am lacking, it’s not the lack of confidence in the ability to draw a line, it’s the lack of confidence in knowing what line to draw. When I draw a face, I try to visualize very much where the line should be. I look at the chin, the the space by the brow, and I try to connect them, but I don’t know what line to use, what shape to give the face, so I keep on being hesitant and indecisive on how my face should look.
I really agree with you there. Now that I know what I'm doing, the confidence comes by itself.
I picked up drawing 2 years ago with drawabox. In a couple weeks I ended up quitting for similar reasons you mentioned. It's been bothering me since and I picked up drawing again a month ago. Every couple days I decide to learn figure drawing, open a Loomis or Hampton book, end up copying a limb then close the book. I've been copying other people's drawings and while it's FUN I don't know if I'm learning 'enough' this way. How does one start drawing from imagination if not copying from other drawings / reference pics?
Draw from imagination badly. Like Uncomfortable says, we can draw anything we want if we accept that it'll come out badly at first. Then we can realize the gaps we have, all the stuff that's missing from our visual libraries and we'll know exactly what to look for and what to study in order to draw that thing we want better next time. Read this page and watch both videos, he does a much better job at explaining than I can. The overall thing to keep in mind is that if you practice and put in the work, you'll blow past this early stuff so quickly you'll hardly remember it. So draw those bad drawings, get them out, get your brain primed with so many questions to answer and when you see the answer, it'll slot right in place and you'll know exactly how to apply it. Otherwise, you end up with a bunch of "skills" you don't know how to use or you'll get burnt out and never gain those skills in the first place. drawabox.com/lesson/0/2
@@Mithrilda the passage about finding someone to teach me really hit the point. Been telling myself the same as sort of a 'hack' around the fact I fear failure. I guess everything is obvious now. Thanks for the guidance, much love!
3:58 I'm being attacked!
I'm glad I found this video because that's exactly what I needed to hear. I'm doing this with my drawing, guitar playing, and studying Japanese. I feel like I can't properly start because I need to find the perfect equipment and the perfect lessons to get started when really I just need to start and have fun with it.
I don't know how I came across this video in my suggested, but it was incredibly insightful and exactly what I needed. Thankyou so, so much. Subscribed.
i've been doing art for about 2 yrs from now and i have no absolute idea about any basic things such as perspective,shapes etc. i kept drawing from references thru references and not actually gain something from it. i thought it was just a hobby that maybe someday i could earn from (commission) but now that i think about it i really wanna just devote myself into practice and actually learn. good luck on us. :D
I appreciate so much the hard work you put into making those videos
Thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed :) it makes it all worth it
So like....i think I'm giving up...
Like...I actually want to cry in frustration
I've tried a lot of things and I'm just not getting it.
I don't know how to draw, I tried drawing but it gets really discouraging, watching all those video tutorials on how how draw.
Now a days, drawing feels like solving a math question, and I've never been good at math in my whole life.
I really don't know what to do anymore.
Hi, I'm really sorry you feel that way. If you want to talk things through and see if I can help a bit, please feel free to join the discord then private message my profile. Let's talk this through because I believe that you can improve if you want it. I know that can be hard to see right now so let's chat :)
Damn-I feel you at times-trying to be a math major but at certain areas of math it just doesn't crack
The first part sounds exactly like myself. I finished Lesson 1 and the 250 boxes challenge but never got around to starting lesson 2 due to how stressed out I was. I was aiming at pretty lessons and results but I was constantly in my head too much so I just wasn't thinking nor drawing with confidence. I can produce very clean and almost pristine drawings but I end up drawing very simple poses, same things over and over again and my backgrounds are either just washes of watercolor or very plain, sterile and lazy doodles. I also search for the perfect reference which I then alter into my style. But at the end of the day it's all just copying. If you give me a piece of paper and a pencil and tell me to draw something, I will produce nothing. Because I won't be able to and I know it will suck. Big time.
This is starting to become a real problem and I can't progress with my art until I fix it. I'm trying to get back into drawing now again and I'm starting my days with at least an hour of the Lesson 1 exercises. Trying to figure out the problem I'm having with them. Mainly ovals inside planes and free-hand boxes. I'm also trying out iterative drawing when I have the time. Trying to practice the things I actually want to draw one part at a time. First doing very quick studies of references and then drawing more from memory/imagination.
This is beautiful, thank you for sharing! I'm sure a lot of people will find it as relatable as I did
Wow I just opened my sketchbook. I tried to do drawabox 4.5 years ago and quit within the first day. I also always had these self imposed boundaries and fear of making ugly drawings, so I always gave up drawing. Gonna give it another try though. Nice to hear about the challenges you dealt with. It helped me realize a lot of us encounter the same feelings.
Happy to help in whatever way I can! I feel like people feel these things by themselves and these types of thoughts often get shut down in forums and stuff where they just tell you to draw more. I don't want this to be a place of judgement, just honesty, hard work, and improvement. Good luck to you!
I quit draw a box for the same reason and haven’t come back. I want to draw, but it looks so overwhelming. And I have almost zero experience doing it so I have no idea where to start.
Other than draw a box, what resources can a newbie go to to learn how to draw heads and faces and everything else?
Proko is a great one. If you're an absolute beginner, my first book was "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It was a great first step for me and gave me some basic skills and confidence.
I've used a book called 'Drawing for the Absolute & Utter Beginner' by Claire Watson-Garcia and that was a great, gentle, really encouraging introduction to some of the fundementals - but in a way that isn't drill-based. I'd absolutely recommend it! She gets you drawing portraits, too, in the second half of the book.
Just came across your channel as I'm starting out in draw a box. And your goal of making an art channel, showing the good, bad, and the ugly in your art journey with the end goal showing that anyone can be good at drawing with enough hard work and dedication is really relatable, and is the exact same reason I started an art channel as well! Good luck in your journey!
I'm so glad you shared your experience. My first approach on draw a box was pretty much the same. And besides that, I always watched other tutorials on UA-cam on how to draw this and how to draw that, because I believed I wasn't good enough yet. I watched more, than I drew. (Does anyone did the same? xD) I completly burned out. But I never gave up and after some time I thought - Hmm, I can't get better at things when I dont draw them. Even if they are bad. I don't care if they are bad, because I want to have fun again, like in my childhood!
Now I'm drawing things that come into to my mind and I'm loving it. I started Draw a Box again to strengthen my fundamentals, but I take breaks for fun parts. :)
Drawing from imagination as a beginner is scary. Producing something that looks bad is such a specific feeling
I liked when you mentioned people talking about talent, not to long ago I had the same conversation with a friend, he was saying he'd never get good because he has no talent. I tried to convince him otherwise, but for him meant little because "I'm talented" at art, only after I showed him my 6 and half years of progression he understood. I won't say I'm a terrible artist, but what I've achieved in that time, I know people who've got that down in less than half the time. Either way, I got to where I am, I keep on improving and have lots of fun; sure, a lot of people out there improved way faster but if we stop doing things we like for the lack of "talent", we won't get anything done.
It's all about having a growth mindset or not. We all try to fight too much to keep and justify our limitations. Good on you for practicing and keeping up the hustle for six years.
@@Mithrilda excatly, it all comes down to mindsets, people usually don't believe me when I say anyone can draw long as they want. I don't believe I am wrong though, long as you want to do something you really like, you will get good at it sooner or later. In my case was later, but I got there anyway. ^^
hey if you like drawing faces, one resource I'm loving is marco bucci's head class. He compares the structure and features to those of a... box c: which is enlightening. Good luck on your journey o/
Thank you! I've heard a lot about his stuff, I'll definitely have to check it out!
Adriano Marco is one of my favorite artists. And his channel has the best art lessons on UA-cam. Entertaining too!
I relate to your struggle! To the point where I was comforted by the video title thinking it'd be a good excuse to stop with Draw a Box entirely and maybe you'd provide a better learning curriculum.
What finally got me over the hump was just, drawing. Drawing what I wanted to draw even though the outcome was frustrating and horrible. I could then identify my weaknesses and work on them through Draw a Box.
I think the curriculum would benefit from having practical 'mini-projects' where you can apply the principles of each exercise to a recognisable drawing - like a rudimentary city street for the perspective lessons etc. I must have drawn lines, boxes and ellipses for dozens of hours before getting burnt out - thinking, as you did, that I wasn't ready to actually draw anything.
Right, drawing is the most important part because you don't even know what kind of weaknesses there are to develop until you run into it! I think what Uncomfortable is trying to get us to do is to incorporate the skills from the curriculum into our own drawings over time rather than giving us assignments. We all have different interests and motivations so no project would fit all. For somebody, the application project would just be another boring exercise I think.
I needed to hear this today!! Thank you.
I was just thinking about starting draw-a-box, had this urge of drawing within for years but could not, due to other study & life related issues. Also I was super skeptical at the same time as everyone around me always said drawing is not for me who have poor talent and creativity and who only relies on hard-working. But Drawabox's first approach video gave me hope. And thanks to this video of yours now I think I have the confidante that if I work hard with my passion, I might be able to learn enough to draw things I want myself.
Thank you a lot
I'm glad to help! I've also been told that I just didn't have a "knack" for art, and I believed it for a long time. Over time, the urge to draw built more and more until I decided to test it out for myself if I could learn to draw or not and hell, why not make a UA-cam channel to show others whether I succeeded or failed? Well, now two years later, I think I'm definitely on an upward journey with my art and I'm so happy. Take care of yourself and nurture your passions. Feed that urge and let it grow into a talent, a skill that you can utilize. Not everyone wants to do everything, but if you want to do art, I know you can. Good luck!
Yeah right now i feel like you too, i want to draw characters, watched many videos but was afraid to draw. Learned some things etc. but how can i draw this when im not practising hands, poses, perspective, hair, coloration, shadows etc etc. but when i draw it looks better than i thought. Now is started drawabox and it helps me A LOT to understand perspective. before that i cant understand how to draw perpectives. And the key to learn is understanding what, and how you do it.
This just makes me never wanna quit no matter how many times I burn out😂
Damn my perfectionist tendencies.
It's no problem as long as you learn and improve everytime so one day you don't quit 💪💪 good luck!
perfectionism is the worst habit any creative can develop.
Ouch me too..
it depends on your learning type... many good artists outthere never touched something like drawbox or any similar. Its not needed at the end, but can helf certaint learning type persons.
I have ADS and its nearly impossible for me, i get extreme bored. I gain mutch more skill if i draw what i like and love ... and yes... i improve too. Maybe not so fast but it do the job.
Yes and english isnt my native language, thats makes things even harder.
I just stumbled upon your videos and gosh I appreciate what you are doing so much! I recently had the realization about drawing for fun/myself and I'm just now coming back to draw a box after a very long hiatus. I love your honesty in your vids and as a beginner myself, it's refreshing to see someone drawing like me haha.
I'm glad to hear! I'm humbled that my video could have been of use to you and I wish you every luck on your art journey.
Cheers for finishing college! I'll be finishing mine the next semester, y'know! Also this is a new beginning to my life in a sense that I'll be doing this quite seriously since I've always been a creative type and never explored it until college, and college helped me quite a bit in understanding myself.
Anyway, thanks for all the awesome content, I'm so glad that I get to see this side of the world. This is exciting. I love your content and hope to see more in future.
Also, yeah it would be great idea if you cover up the exercises.
Thank you! I'm excited too since I've decided to actually pursue my art seriously now that I'm done with school. Good luck on your last semester!
@@Mithrilda Thank you :)
Thank you for showing your process. I've been thinking the same and I subscribed now immediately as the journey is important. :)
My opinion, from someone that comes from the education field, I don't think you're supposed to only advance with drawing after you do certain exercises. One should draw whatever they like and have draw-a-box as a tool to improve your skills.
What I am currently doing is I dedicate myself to one lesson and then I draw whatever I feel like. Even if it's not that good. I feel the box exercises and explanations have been helping me a lot to draw the bad things I draw in different angles.
You're totally right! It's definitely something I need to work on 😅
I like using Loomis' book on drawing the head when I have no clue on how to construct them. Your honesty and tenacity to learn really inspires me.
Thank you! I've been trying to explore more of Loomis as well. It's honestly really confusing to me, but I'm trying to push through it and study (copy) it until I understand it better.
just started this course last week, I've been making my way through it slowly due to college stuff being in the way but I've been making a point to come back to it as often as I can. This video answered some of my own doubts, as I feel the same about "not being ready" to draw from my own imagination. My winter break is coming up this Friday so thankfully I'll have some time off to really practice and free draw, even if I suck at one of those lol
Thank you for posting this!
Wow. Just... wow. The whole "I can't draw this until I learn to draw THIS", the "what if I learn it wrong?", and 100% the "what if there's a BETTER course out there?!" was like you were reading my mind. I LITERALLY just finished Part 0 of DrawABox yesterday, and I was already scared to death to actually put pen to paper!
THANK YOU for this video. :)
Glad to have helped :) now get drawing!!!
Well, there is a correct way to draw a hand and and many incorrect ways, unless you learn the correct way there will always be something broken in any drawing you do that entails humans. A cop out is to claim lack of understanding is "my style"
@@urielmesenja1040 people shouldn't opt out of learning fundamentals of course, but one doesn't need to understand everything before they start learning and drawing. Hope that makes sense :)
I think that’s why Uncomfortable talks about 50% of your drawing time being just drawing... no instruction, no anything, just drawing. You develop your style in between. 😁
I have been there too. Personally, I found a solution into doing both abstract studies (lines etc) and studies of what I want to draw well.
It's a bit like playing a sport. At a side you do workouts in order to prepare the body for the purpose and on the other hand you learn how to practice that sport you chose, with all its related tricks.
Translated to art, I usually start studying by doing some lines curved etc to loose the arm and hand... then I study what I want :)
how did it went did you make it until the end this time?
Thank you for this. I've been struggling for years now, because its overwhelming and I just couldn't get myself to stay on track to practice everyday, because I was scared. I want to make characters and make amazing stories with animation, so thank you for inspiring me on this(: !!!!
I quit before even starting the first lesson. The demand I draw for fun already sort of put me off, but when I then realized he wanted ink on paper and I didn't have any paper, I put it on ice for the time being. Then after mulling it over a bit, I realized if a lack of paper is enough to stop me, maybe I don't want to draw that badly. I guess it's just not something for me.
And that's totally okay! Life is all about priorities so making sure you're spending your time on things that are worth it to you is a win in my book
My problem with draw a box 📦. Was that I didn't know how long I had to do one lesson. I have Aspbergers and Add. So I need to know how often I need to do it. Like do every exercise in one day or until they are perfect.
I'm a visual and auditory learner and just started draw-a-box. I'm gonna try to learn what I can from the videos, and I'll take a shot at the written information and homework once I've understood the video part of the segment properly
i wish i found your channel earlier. i just started to draw again after 3 years. apparently i lost my skills lol. so i started over. thank you for this video. im starting my 250 box challenge today and really afraid of the number of boxes. wish me luck :D
Wow, good luck! I'm really happy you're enjoying my work :)
@@Mithrilda thanks!! your artwroks and youtube videos are great!! im sure you'll grow more and more!! keep it up!! :D
wow.. I was able to relate to what you said at minute 4. I have spent my entire weekend looking at drawAbox, proko, NMA, sadie valeri etc, trying to decide which is the best course to take. i am still not able to decide. so did you get back to drawAbox after discontinuing it? if yes, then how to did you manage to not get burnt out or feel bored? you mention that you did figure drawing for few weeks after quiting, was it some other course or was it just you trying it? sorry for so many questions, i am lost, afraid and confused. i have given up on drawing many times, and i am afraid i will give up on drawAbox as well. thats why i want to chose something i wont give up.
did i mention, i am 40. i have been trying to draw for last two years. may be age is the factor.
I've been following this solo artist curriculum. imgur.com/gallery/RXJ2nmH It's been fun so far!
Thanks for the words on video! Greetings from Brazil!
Thanks I need this. I almost give up because my lines over extend my desired points. I guess it's my fault though cause I'm lazy reading the page so I just watched his video then I read Scott robertson how to draw a long which he said over extended lines is fine. Now, even though I haven't read lesson 1 I'll correct my mistakes on lessons 2-7
such a great video! a thought that always consoles any worries i have about how "bad" my art is, is the fact that EVERY SINGLE ARTIST that I look up to and aspire so deeply to be as good as has had to draw bad- over and over and over again. every single one!
Yes! It's hard to remember sometimes and I have to keep reminding myself, but that is totally true!
Omg, thank you for putting this video out, I can relate so much (I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling with this). In fact my friend was just advising me today to just draw for fun, what I want to and I kept saying but I can’t draw, I need to do the boring stuff first... Oh boy, 50/50 golden rule :) My problem (apart from overthinking what to actually draw and learn) is my high standards and perfectionism so when I draw something I instantly hate it and hate myself, get frustrated and discouraged coz it means the world to me and I definitely do connect it with my worth which isn’t healthy, I know but it happens subconsciously. But like you said those ugly drawings are a must so it’s ok, gotta keep reminding myself, this is supposed to be fun. We gotta make bad drawings ok and approach learning as children. Thank you for the reminder, just needed this today.
Awesome video, thank you!
Thank you for this video!
I just started the first exercise yesterday and this video was really informative!
Can't wait to see you become an amazing artist!
Thank you so much, I'm glad you've enjoyed!
Oh, I love this! This was a great video and it's proved to be really inspiring.
I think this is related to the topic,
I tried posting my plans and goals in a facebook art group and because my short term goal is to draw cute anime girls. Even though I made it clear there that I'm doing Drawabox and figure drawings, people there say that I have to learn to draw a real human FIRST being before I get to anime girls. Which means, I have to grind my fundamentals first before I can draw anime girls. That's a VERY HORRIBLE advice for self-taught artist.
There are so MANY people who aren't aware that drawing for fun is as important as doing your fundamentals. I'm glad that you released this video because there are so many people who quit drawing because of grinding.
Fuck that. Draw anime girls AND real people. Welcome to the mythology :3
Pretty much the same goal here. Along with draw a box, what side lesson or side "fun thing to do" did u settled with to learn how to draw figures and manga faces?
Wow...this is amazing 👏. I just found this video while I was researching about draw a box 📦. I was thinking of starting it. I'm currently on a journey to learn how to draw and I can express how relatable 😅 most of the things you said at the start of the videos are. Concerning the possibility of a course out there that may be better, the worry of if im practicing the right way, and the struggles of not really knowing if I am ready to start drawing something yet. Thanks for sharing this.
Good luck to you on your art journey!
@@Mithrilda thank you
Thanks, that video was rly motivational and I needed that :)
Thanks for this video. I've just started draw a box and it really helps to hear this perspective from another student. I do fear that I can fall into the trap of just doing exercises instead of actually trying to draw.
Just randomly found this video and it made me open up my sketch book that i got last december to start drawing. and i actually was amazed by some of the drawings. like i could see them with a fresh mind because it's so easy to get too much into the details when you actual draw the thing... i think i might give it another go
I'm so glad to hear! If you can add one more happy activity to your life, then I'm happy :)
Just finished mine! Thanks for this video. Maybe I need to do something similar to look back at my own progress ☺️
Omg thank you for this video! Congratulations on finishing college btw!
Thank you very much and I'm glad to help :))
Thank you I am the same I don’t need to even make the o-< to make a character but just because I saw that you have to learn perspective.boxes and the sketches etc.that only slows us down if you are good at what you are we shouldn’t listen to everything we heard thank you this helped so much.
If you can't read instructions like the ones on the lessons how can you expect to read and understand a brief for a design spec at a job?
Woot Mith, congrats on finishing college!!!
Haha, I'm thinking about restarting DrawABox for the 3rd time too! The reasons I gave it up before had to do with really stressful things in my life that had nothing to do with the course. However I wanted to restart it last month but I have a movement disorder and the thought of seeing all my shaky lines in INK really put me off. So I bought a course during Udemy's black Friday sale because I wanted something to spoon feed what to practice. Now that I'm getting comfortable with making lots of crappy marks on paper again I'm ready to get back to DrawABox (and continue with the animal drawing course). I just want to wait til after the Christmas because of travel and Uncomfortable seems to do a major overhaul of the website every Christmas (thank you so much for your dedication to this resource, sir!)
Even if the DrawABox lessons disappeared from the face of the earth, I'm so grateful for the mentality and practice methods that were taught in the first 2 lessons. Plus it's how I found your channel :)
Ayy good luck to you! I swear every person who tries Draw a Box goes through something like this haha. It seems like we've gone through similar ish paths and we found our ways back to Draw a Box :3. I'm glad that you feel more comfortable with your art making, I get the struggle. Good luck to both of us I suppose. Cheers!
Damn i relate a lot to your point of view, when starting years ago i was like ok lets draw anime portraits, then later i started learning fundamentals like doing perspective for months then shading, rn im doing drawabox and drawing mushrooms or a tree when im working in class etc, one advice i could give thats a double edged sword is ti accept your mistakes and not spend months on one little part of fundamentals
I’m new to art and was going to start Drawabox courses and I did some months ago but stopped for the same exact reason as you did. I had the exact same mentality that if I didn’t know my structure, form, line quality and so on that I could learn how to draw the human body anatomy and other things that interested me. Now today I’m pretty committed to becoming an artist and am going to be starting Drawabox again as well as not making the same mistakes you and I did. Great video
Thank you! Good luck to you!
You sound just like me, glad I found this video today. I am currently struggling with drawing my own characters. Even though I have improved certain aspects of anatomy. Love this video.
So glad to be able to help :) Good luck on your art journey and feel free to join the discord to ask questions and share you work!
I relate to the fast monolgue at 4:00 so much, oof.
Hello complete newbie here, planning to start my drawing journey from complete scratch and came across your wonderful video. Motivated by RossDraws drawings and paintings, I wanted to achieve this style of drawing. I am planning to add draw a box to my routine for fundumentals. But as for something fun to do in the side, I don't know where to start. Should I just try drawing fictional(anime) characters from references or even following step by step tutorials on how to draw this certain characters?
Hi, welcome to the channel and to drawing! This is a super tough thing to figure out, but remember that there is no right answer for how you should go about this. The most important thing is to draw what you wanted to draw when you got into art. If your goal is to draw anime characters, then some things you could do are:
-copy drawings of those characters
-copy frames from the animation
-follow step by step tutorials
-draw fanart to the best of your ability
-trace pictures that you like
If you're enjoying it, then you're on the right track. Remember that there is a time for practice and a time for performance and they are measured using different things. Try out all sorts of things and see what you enjoy the most! And never let yourself get stopped by that thought that says "wait, but to do that, I need to learn...first" or "I really want to draw that, but I'm not ready yet". You become ready by doing it over and over. Good luck!
@@Mithrilda Thx and I really appreciate the feedback
@@Mithrilda The issue is that copying (or doing "studies" as it says in lesson 0) is classed as the same 50% as DAB. It's difficult to know what to draw for the "fun" 50%, especially when you really don't know what you want to draw, I kind of want to learn to draw anything.
I'm glad I found your video. I wanted to know how other people are coping with Draw A Box. Personally I watched every videos and read every text. I only skim text I already understand or have knowledge. Luckily perspective is something I'm familiar with. ITs a great course I am not burnt out yet probably something more complex like organic shapes. My favorite drawing is drawing forms and countour lines in the past. So this course Is Actually super fun! Lets keep going guys yeaha! :)
Hi. Thank you for this video. I find myself being burnt out by Drawabox as well because I was falling into the same mental traps. I'd do fairly well in the exercises so I placed the expectation on myself that anything I drew had to also be good. But I was scared to draw anything in case it turned out badly.
But what you (and Uncomfortable) are saying is draw badly lol. It is okay because its how we learn, I suppose? Welp. Im gonna keep at it. Thanks again
this video is so relatable lol, had the same experience when first starting drawabox one year ago
I'm in the same boot-ish. I use to draw alot and share with other but getting others approval and likes and whatnots ruined my own perspective on my own art and made me jealous of other artists. I decide to quit for 4 years and i got the itch to draw but i'm so rusty. So now i'm trying to find a way to enjoy art for my pleasure.
Ah, interesting. I've never gotten to a point yet where I even get approval from others really about my art. There's so many pitfalls we can fall into. Good luck to you and your art journey!
Mithrilda I blame social media but hey we're all in this journey together. Thanks for listen to my rambles
What kind of ruler is that? Looks cool.
Thanks!
I have been drawing for about a year now and I have quit draw a box twice but didnt stop drawing. I would really recommend searching something that you want to draw and watch a tutorial then you realise why draw a box is SO important. Also look up other places aswell although draw a box is very good for fundamentals.