How could you, steven? How could you SHAMELESSLEY, IMORALLY destroy entire careers like this? Think of all the people who work in art schools, who are soon to be bereft of a job thanks to your accurate advice? How can you sleep, knowing that a new generation of young artists have been robbed of the ability to overobsess about the technical side of art, and instead focus on meanigful things like message and artistic freedom? Does thy heart not shrivel, when you realize that all of your followers will not be able to relate to the art world at large; they will be focused on trying to be happy when they draw, pursue flow instead of cookie cutter process, rather than partake in the (may i remind you) ANCIENT artist tradtion of self flagulation and wasted potential? Steven zapata, prey the art gods smile mercifully on your intrangescence, now that youve decided to pull back their modern day smoke and capitalist work-culture mirrors and show people what their lives and art can really mean. Abandon all hate, ye who enter here.
being trapped in your own inability to make the things in your head come to life is just as bad as "overobsessing about the technical side of art" and trying to quantify one as more "meaningful" than the other is just silly. And suggesting one has a monopoly over generating happiness is just as silly. Say no to snobbery, kids.
@@Snowjob109 i feel, hundreds or even thousands of ideas and variations have been left to fade away because of my lack of skill, I digress, I shall peruse all the childish ideas and desires that plague my mind say no to restraint(in art)
@@safwanosman6329 That's a false dichotomy I'm more worried about people not "perusing all the childish ideas and desires that plague their minds" because snobs are telling them it's not "meaningful" or "capable of generating happiness" say no to snobs trying to restrain you by gatekeeping what's meaningful or worthy of happiness (in everything, but especially art)
I just got a job teaching sketching in an International University. Ive been a professional artist for 20 years, no degree and Im teaching the same philosophy talk, the other professors like my students. Just the rules can be taught not the person, easier to adapt to complex challenges. I tell my students I can teach you in this moment, but it will takes your lifetime to master it. Listening to you is crazy but good to know l m not alone lol. Thanks for the videos always a pleasure.
A good listen Steven. I’m an ACCD alumni also, retired from Disney scenic department. Enjoyed a long rewarding art career. Still drawing in my sketchbook and swamped with painting at 72. Thanks Oh, my three favorite teachers from Art Center were.. David Mocarski, Dwight Harmon, and Mark Strickland.
I think this might be the first video i had watched of you when it came out, I’m so glad i did, i enjoy your videos and streams so much. I love the community you’ve created, it’s so hard to socialize with other artists since it can be a very solitary job. Your channel has allowed me to feel like part of something, like an art club family. I appreciate the knowledge and wisdom that you share. I love your hilarious humor and now that I’ve watched more of your streams and videos i feel i can truly appreciate this video. The stevenverse is truly extensive and vast. May there always be cafes for you to acquire your coffee and that the baristas be not afraid. 😊 thank you. sincerely, ZellaFae
Since I'm this early I hope you can read my comment, you've been a huge inspiration to me to keep going sir and you've opened up new ways for me to think about art! As well as move past my art insecurities, to more videos to come! :)
Wow this one really hit me. I’m in my second year of art school and what you are talking about is both reassuring and nerve racking at the same time. I really appreciate the advice and inside info you are providing and I would love to have a more in depth conversation about the topic of art school and self advocacy as an artist. I’m joining your patreon page today because I strongly agree with what you are doing and I want to support good content like this. Thanks Steven
From personal experience people who complain about school not giving them freedom to be original, or teaching them well, most often lack the basic fundamental skills necessary for drawing. I myself used to complain at the beginning of my art school, but at the end of the day that's just assigning blame to someone else instead of taking responsibility. If you graduate without any ability to draw, it's your own fault at the end of the day. I'm not defending schools by the way, I agree with what's said in the video about them.
Glad to hear my question made you laugh! I don't normally comment on whatever art you're creating while you talk, but man I love this piece! I'm inspired to try something similar as a fun experiment in self exploration, humility and humour, hah!
Thanks Steven, thanks to you im back at drawing again, im absolutely blown away by your pencil drawings and that's where i go, where i feel best, straight to the roots, right where i started.
One thing is im not looking to get a studio job from making art so that will lift huge amount of stress off my back. Im just focusing on doing art and loving it such a simple way of living. The traditional way is severely underrated and not apprectiated enough when you have these hyper realistic 3D ways of doing stuff.
Great to see the channel growing Steven! I'm excited to see where this goes. Also great questions and answers. It's definetely different from what you can find in others places. Glad to not hear another "what kind of pen/brush/tablet do you use?" 🙄
I'm in an art college currently and boy i hate it. I want to get out so i can learn from life and study properly. Between school and my own personal project i don't have the time i'd like to dedicate towards learning
I went to 3D school for a degree to realize after 13k of debts that a degree serves nothing and all I learned I could have learned it free on the internet.
15:08 I can relate with that Also I have a question if you or this beautiful community can answer (maybe you have experienced it). How can I introduce a friend to drawing? A person who has tried, "failed" and strongly thinks that people are genetically made for certain things and sadly drawing is not one of them for him. Thanks for sharing your insights Steven
Have you tried to get them back into drawing? If so, what have you tried? Knowing what doesn’t work can help you learn what will. I think the first question you must ask is if it is even what that person wants, or it is just what you may think they want. Sorry if that comes off a bit cold or rude, but as their friend you should make sure that they would really enjoy drawing and that they were just putting themselves down.
I agree mostly with Thomas here, if they express a great interest in picking drawing up again I would encourage them and remind them that plenty of untalented people have become great artists through fun and perseverance. More importantly though, I'd see if they take the same mindset into the next thing they want to try - drawing or not- and see if you can be a good friend and help them avoid the same pitfall of not connecting with their interest because they think a comparison to a "genetically talented" other matters.
I like finding the why and the what, then when I make it and its not as good as I hoped, I try to research the How. Afterall, any artists true goal should to be able to make something the way it is in their mind, an almost impossible, but possible goal.
Minute 6:30 "Art schools are...wtf hahah" xD I needed to pause and go back just hearing again what you just said hahahah xD Enjoy your videos everytime 👂
You have a reference image floating in a box in the top left while you work on your piece. Is that separate photoshop file where you just shrunk the window or is that some sort of library you can reference while working on the main piece? I'd love to know, I really love your workflow! Also, epic vid.
I know, its not the point here. But i just have to say it o.o As i seen the thumbnail, i thought “maybe he shows something from one of those “old masters“. I love such paintings. So lets take a look :) Then i realized you did this yourself o.o Mucho respect to you o.o
Not sure how open you are to answering comments outside of patreon donors, but maybe other viewers can help me... So, I've come to terms (kind of) with the fact that my work will, in all likelihood, not be technically great for a long time. You said it yourself right here in this video, even people who have been at it for a decade can't really be said to be true experts. So I'll just draw things that I think are interesting or culturally relevant or whatever and develop technical skills along the way. But this leaves me with another problem: I can't seem to well.... have ideas to put down! It feels pretty pathetic to type this out, but when I go looking for something to sit down and draw, I never come up with something that really gets me going. And the harder I prod my brain for something worth doing, or even something to scribble out for some momentum, the worse the response, like I'm yelling into a void, hoping that it will yell back this time. So that sucks, but we can just do studies or something, wait until the art block is over, right...? (though saying "art block" implies that it is not a constant.) Well, no. This has had a nasty side effect, a thought that has paralyzed my ability to put down even a single line: If I'm not saying anything with my art... then what in the hell am I doing? If the things that inspire and interest me have already been drawn by another, what I am drawing for? Why am I putting in so much effort (or rather, pretending) if I don't have anything to say? This has led me down an even darker hole, questioning whether I actually enjoy drawing at all or if I just feel inadequate due to hanging out with a lot of creators and wanting to be like them, hoping that I'll just pick up some purpose in life along the way. Somehow it feels like drawing has actually been a net negative in my life, even consuming my time outside of drawing with constant thoughts of artistic inadequacy... And yet, I can't seem to divorce myself from the idea that I want to draw, so I can't help but think that something else is wrong with me, and maybe someone here knows what that is. Now that I've reread this, I realize that I'm basically just venting. I believe I may just need professional help.
I think we could all use some professional help at some point. But I appreciate the vent- remember the "logic" of not drawing "because" the things we like have been done before or better is just a story we're choosing- on some level- to believe. It's not actually the way things have to be. You can unravel all the bullshit by filling a page in your sketchbook and not worrying. It's in fact quite a wild form of protest against the myriad feelings that we link together into a narrative about ourselves and our practice.
@@StevenZapataArt Christ, I came back to my post this morning (I wrote this at like 1am) and it reads like an oddly-eloquent drunk wrote this, which is a shame because I'm not even old enough to drink. I've come to the conclusion that trying to draw while tired with a fried brain is like getting angry that my car won't start without gas, and I shouldn't do that again, lest I inspire more angry, melodramatic rants (even though I am apparently rather skilled at writing them). A good sleep solved enough, and I managed to actually draw something that wasn't a study today, so I'll take that as good progress from last night. And as usual, your words are always on the money and as helpful as ever. I feel compelled to give a patreon subscription for a while as repayment for reading my bullshit. I suppose that a youtube comment isn't really that low of a low anyway, I could always be making self-hatred threads every two days on an anonymous image board.
Your eloquence and unabashed honestly cancel out any and all cringe for me. Even though you often challenge my basic beliefs it's intriguing rather than discomforting.
How could you, steven? How could you SHAMELESSLEY, IMORALLY destroy entire careers like this? Think of all the people who work in art schools, who are soon to be bereft of a job thanks to your accurate advice? How can you sleep, knowing that a new generation of young artists have been robbed of the ability to overobsess about the technical side of art, and instead focus on meanigful things like message and artistic freedom? Does thy heart not shrivel, when you realize that all of your followers will not be able to relate to the art world at large; they will be focused on trying to be happy when they draw, pursue flow instead of cookie cutter process, rather than partake in the (may i remind you) ANCIENT artist tradtion of self flagulation and wasted potential? Steven zapata, prey the art gods smile mercifully on your intrangescence, now that youve decided to pull back their modern day smoke and capitalist work-culture mirrors and show people what their lives and art can really mean.
Abandon all hate, ye who enter here.
being trapped in your own inability to make the things in your head come to life is just as bad as "overobsessing about the technical side of art" and trying to quantify one as more "meaningful" than the other is just silly. And suggesting one has a monopoly over generating happiness is just as silly.
Say no to snobbery, kids.
Uh
now that's a masterpiece.
@@Snowjob109 i feel, hundreds or even thousands of ideas and variations have been left to fade away because of my lack of skill, I digress, I shall peruse all the childish ideas and desires that plague my mind
say no to restraint(in art)
@@safwanosman6329 That's a false dichotomy
I'm more worried about people not "perusing all the childish ideas and desires that plague their minds" because snobs are telling them it's not "meaningful" or "capable of generating happiness"
say no to snobs trying to restrain you by gatekeeping what's meaningful or worthy of happiness (in everything, but especially art)
I just got a job teaching sketching in an International University. Ive been a professional artist for 20 years, no degree and Im teaching the same philosophy talk, the other professors like my students. Just the rules can be taught not the person, easier to adapt to complex challenges. I tell my students I can teach you in this moment, but it will takes your lifetime to master it. Listening to you is crazy but good to know l m not alone lol. Thanks for the videos always a pleasure.
Super cool. Thanks for watching.
A good listen Steven. I’m an ACCD alumni also, retired from Disney scenic department. Enjoyed a long rewarding art career. Still drawing in my sketchbook and swamped with painting at 72. Thanks
Oh, my three favorite teachers from Art Center were.. David Mocarski, Dwight Harmon, and Mark Strickland.
I go to Art School. These videos are changing my life. Thank you.
Glad to hear it. Good luck in school! Keep your friends close, they're the best part of school.
Thanks for everything, Demonic Witch Steven! Congratulations on the 2️⃣0️⃣K 🙌🙌
Thank you thank you
I think this might be the first video i had watched of you when it came out, I’m so glad i did, i enjoy your videos and streams so much. I love the community you’ve created, it’s so hard to socialize with other artists since it can be a very solitary job. Your channel has allowed me to feel like part of something, like an art club family. I appreciate the knowledge and wisdom that you share. I love your hilarious humor and now that I’ve watched more of your streams and videos i feel i can truly appreciate this video. The stevenverse is truly extensive and vast. May there always be cafes for you to acquire your coffee and that the baristas be not afraid. 😊 thank you. sincerely, ZellaFae
Since I'm this early I hope you can read my comment, you've been a huge inspiration to me to keep going sir and you've opened up new ways for me to think about art! As well as move past my art insecurities, to more videos to come! :)
I'm so happy to hear that- screw those art insecurities! Happy drawing to you friend.
Wow this one really hit me. I’m in my second year of art school and what you are talking about is both reassuring and nerve racking at the same time. I really appreciate the advice and inside info you are providing and I would love to have a more in depth conversation about the topic of art school and self advocacy as an artist. I’m joining your patreon page today because I strongly agree with what you are doing and I want to support good content like this. Thanks Steven
Thank you Steven,you have opened a whole new pespective on Life and Art itself for me.Its a blessing to have you in this Mad world.
From personal experience people who complain about school not giving them freedom to be original, or teaching them well, most often lack the basic fundamental skills necessary for drawing. I myself used to complain at the beginning of my art school, but at the end of the day that's just assigning blame to someone else instead of taking responsibility. If you graduate without any ability to draw, it's your own fault at the end of the day. I'm not defending schools by the way, I agree with what's said in the video about them.
the talk around 13:40 actually made me physically shout “YES YES YES”
I just love everything you say and how you say it man wow I've never heatd anyone talk about drawing or art how you do, one of kind dude
The description of art school at 8.00 Jesus man that's accurate.
IKR omg it's the harsh truth
Glad to hear my question made you laugh! I don't normally comment on whatever art you're creating while you talk, but man I love this piece! I'm inspired to try something similar as a fun experiment in self exploration, humility and humour, hah!
It's great fun, give it a try!
Incredible piece Steven
Love your videos, they are rare cause they dont explain drawing techniques, but they are even more useful and help a lot!
Thank you. Just… thank you!
man you're videos are great ! , clear help from and ideas that really get you thinking , thanks Steven :D
Thanks Steven, thanks to you im back at drawing again, im absolutely blown away by your pencil drawings and that's where i go, where i feel best, straight to the roots, right where i started.
Congrats on the 20k man!!! you deserve lots more coming
One thing is im not looking to get a studio job from making art so that will lift huge amount of stress off my back. Im just focusing on doing art and loving it such a simple way of living. The traditional way is severely underrated and not apprectiated enough when you have these hyper realistic 3D ways of doing stuff.
Thank You !
Hope you stay healthy :) !
Looks fantastic! Amazing artwork! keep it up... 👏👏👏
just the best art advices, thank u
Check out the essay "fossil angel" by Alan moore.
Great to see the channel growing Steven! I'm excited to see where this goes.
Also great questions and answers. It's definetely different from what you can find in others places. Glad to not hear another "what kind of pen/brush/tablet do you use?" 🙄
Thank you so much for this video, the topics you talk about speak right to my soul
Thoroughly enjoyed this, and maybe learned a little insight.
Thanks! 👍
Congratulations! This is by far my favorite art channel of all time.
Love listening to your wisdom! Very encouraging, not thinking in absolutes is hard for a lot of us
It sure is!
I'm in an art college currently and boy i hate it. I want to get out so i can learn from life and study properly. Between school and my own personal project i don't have the time i'd like to dedicate towards learning
thank you
"Thanks for drawing today" 41min, and the very last part resonated the most with me. Now THAT is a quote to hang on my wall.
amazing episode. and...nice piece of art!
I went to 3D school for a degree to realize after 13k of debts that a degree serves nothing and all I learned I could have learned it free on the internet.
thats a killer reference pic and of course your digital rendering, is it possible to find it in a good resolution somewhere...
This looks awesome
Hey, Steven! I've bought your shading tutorial on Gumroad and loved it. Do you plan on ever doing a "digital painting" one? :)
15:08 I can relate with that
Also I have a question if you or this beautiful community can answer (maybe you have experienced it). How can I introduce a friend to drawing? A person who has tried, "failed" and strongly thinks that people are genetically made for certain things and sadly drawing is not one of them for him. Thanks for sharing your insights Steven
Have you tried to get them back into drawing? If so, what have you tried? Knowing what doesn’t work can help you learn what will. I think the first question you must ask is if it is even what that person wants, or it is just what you may think they want. Sorry if that comes off a bit cold or rude, but as their friend you should make sure that they would really enjoy drawing and that they were just putting themselves down.
I agree mostly with Thomas here, if they express a great interest in picking drawing up again I would encourage them and remind them that plenty of untalented people have become great artists through fun and perseverance. More importantly though, I'd see if they take the same mindset into the next thing they want to try - drawing or not- and see if you can be a good friend and help them avoid the same pitfall of not connecting with their interest because they think a comparison to a "genetically talented" other matters.
I like finding the why and the what, then when I make it and its not as good as I hoped, I try to research the How. Afterall, any artists true goal should to be able to make something the way it is in their mind, an almost impossible, but possible goal.
Minute 6:30 "Art schools are...wtf hahah" xD I needed to pause and go back just hearing again what you just said hahahah xD Enjoy your videos everytime 👂
Been an artist for years since childhood and i feel like i have been looking for just these words :/
I just ....love you.😍
You have a reference image floating in a box in the top left while you work on your piece. Is that separate photoshop file where you just shrunk the window or is that some sort of library you can reference while working on the main piece? I'd love to know, I really love your workflow! Also, epic vid.
There is the same drawing by Geliy Corjov, you can find in internet 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
What is that panel of Layer Controls? I haven't seen it before and it looks really handy.
That’s Layer Factory! You can find it on Gumroad
Geliy Mikhailovich Korzhev; 1925-1944
Wow almost at 40k now
Do you have a podcast if you do please someone tell me what it is....
I know, its not the point here. But i just have to say it o.o
As i seen the thumbnail, i thought “maybe he shows something from one of those “old masters“. I love such paintings. So lets take a look :)
Then i realized you did this yourself o.o
Mucho respect to you o.o
let’s go
👍
WOWWWWWWWWOWWWWWWWW
Do you use a drawing pad? Or mouse?
a Wacom tablet- the intuos pro medium.
Not sure how open you are to answering comments outside of patreon donors, but maybe other viewers can help me...
So, I've come to terms (kind of) with the fact that my work will, in all likelihood, not be technically great for a long time. You said it yourself right here in this video, even people who have been at it for a decade can't really be said to be true experts. So I'll just draw things that I think are interesting or culturally relevant or whatever and develop technical skills along the way. But this leaves me with another problem: I can't seem to well.... have ideas to put down! It feels pretty pathetic to type this out, but when I go looking for something to sit down and draw, I never come up with something that really gets me going. And the harder I prod my brain for something worth doing, or even something to scribble out for some momentum, the worse the response, like I'm yelling into a void, hoping that it will yell back this time. So that sucks, but we can just do studies or something, wait until the art block is over, right...? (though saying "art block" implies that it is not a constant.)
Well, no. This has had a nasty side effect, a thought that has paralyzed my ability to put down even a single line: If I'm not saying anything with my art... then what in the hell am I doing? If the things that inspire and interest me have already been drawn by another, what I am drawing for? Why am I putting in so much effort (or rather, pretending) if I don't have anything to say? This has led me down an even darker hole, questioning whether I actually enjoy drawing at all or if I just feel inadequate due to hanging out with a lot of creators and wanting to be like them, hoping that I'll just pick up some purpose in life along the way. Somehow it feels like drawing has actually been a net negative in my life, even consuming my time outside of drawing with constant thoughts of artistic inadequacy... And yet, I can't seem to divorce myself from the idea that I want to draw, so I can't help but think that something else is wrong with me, and maybe someone here knows what that is.
Now that I've reread this, I realize that I'm basically just venting. I believe I may just need professional help.
I think we could all use some professional help at some point. But I appreciate the vent- remember the "logic" of not drawing "because" the things we like have been done before or better is just a story we're choosing- on some level- to believe. It's not actually the way things have to be. You can unravel all the bullshit by filling a page in your sketchbook and not worrying. It's in fact quite a wild form of protest against the myriad feelings that we link together into a narrative about ourselves and our practice.
@@StevenZapataArt Christ, I came back to my post this morning (I wrote this at like 1am) and it reads like an oddly-eloquent drunk wrote this, which is a shame because I'm not even old enough to drink. I've come to the conclusion that trying to draw while tired with a fried brain is like getting angry that my car won't start without gas, and I shouldn't do that again, lest I inspire more angry, melodramatic rants (even though I am apparently rather skilled at writing them). A good sleep solved enough, and I managed to actually draw something that wasn't a study today, so I'll take that as good progress from last night. And as usual, your words are always on the money and as helpful as ever. I feel compelled to give a patreon subscription for a while as repayment for reading my bullshit.
I suppose that a youtube comment isn't really that low of a low anyway, I could always be making self-hatred threads every two days on an anonymous image board.
Your eloquence and unabashed honestly cancel out any and all cringe for me. Even though you often challenge my basic beliefs it's intriguing rather than discomforting.
Well I'm glad to hear that. Thank you.
TIP: 39:10 There is way too much WHITE in the eyes and teeth. Looks artificial.