This advice can be misleading for beginners. Usually we write with the fingers and the wrist. While it is much better to draw with the arm or even the shoulder. Linework usually is much more flowing and crisper that way. The challenge is to achieve the precision necessary to place the line where you want it to be. Drawing lines from the wrist or fingers usually means to have more of that precision feel, however they come out scratchy and less flowing.
This is generally true, and perhaps I have an unpopular opinion, but I think that advice is outdated now that a huge number of artists are drawing digitally where the active space is much smaller than say, a large drawing pad you'd use for traditional figure drawing. Personally I've found precision based movements more helpful for my art style (which is line heavy anime/manga lol). Most of my observations come from folks who appear to be struggling getting their hand/eye coordination under control with their tablets, so indeed it may not be applicable to those who want to work in a larger format or traditionally (edit) Been thinking abt this for the last week and noticed I do make a lot more arm movements than I thought. Perhaps I was just getting defensive before, but if you watch the video nothing indicates you should only draw with your wrists/fingers. Quite the opposite. Take the principles of precision (writing) and apply them to your larger movements (drawing). I advise anyone posting reactionary comments to the title/thumbnail to actually watch the video lol
I never learnt how to draw using my arm, only my wrist, due mainly being self taught. But this should be avoided due the amount of strain I put on during the process, and has caused me to have a tendinitis I cannot cure for being too fidgety
@@OrvAddict I had a hard time adapting to this way of drawing, still learning and practicing every day. Lines immediately look better from my experience by locking your fingers and drawing with the whole arm. But boy, is it hard to get that precision xD Most important - stay safe & healthy, you still want to do this for a while, cheers!
Agree, prolonging bad habits can lead from mild wrist ache to carpal tunnel in extreme cases. I dislike drawing on my tablet for too long for that exact reason lol, sketching on paper and working from that digitally is waaay easier from experience and looks better so, shrugs
I got a good tip from Drawfee about this. Draw too much rather than too little. It's easier to connect the lines by going a little too far and then erasing the excess, than drawing too short and having to draw a tiny stroke to make up for it. It's okay to take space. Be bold!
When I saw "Drawfee" and "Draw too much", my immediate reaction was thinking about Julia drawing an entire human skull before drawing the face on top, lol.
This can actually differ for people growing up writing in different languages. Some languages have only curved lines whereas some have more corners and are nuanced. The English alphabets can be broken down into simple lines and curves but some languages have letter that are written in one go/ without breaking them down. The key here is indeed just learning to write clearly. I really liked how u pointed out that having unreadable handwriting can result to uncertain lines in drawings. Thank you for the video!
my native language is Arabic, so this might explain a lot tbh the letters get mixed into one thing following one or more connected lines and my handwriting in Arabic sucks 😭😭😭😭 I feel like even when perfected, the Arabic way of writing just translates into a lot of squiggles and connected lines for me and they aren't precise at all lol
This might be true for some people, but there are also many studies that say "sloppy" or "thoughtless" handwriting is actually the result of the inverse. As in, your brain is working faster than your hand can, so the crisp words are lost in the attempt to just get the words down before they're gone from your head. Which, I have found, is generally true. If we're connecting handwriting to drawing or creating art of any kind I would say "sloppy" writers are going to be better at fast-paced art such as abstract or impressionism, while those with crisp and "perfect" writing will be better suited for smaller more detail-oriented work.
That is a succinct analysis, though in my case it is more of a style choice. If anyone does it long enough they learn the skills and learn what expresses themselves in art in there preferred manner. To begin with, however, I believe this was true in my case. I found photo realism harder because it has more detail than you think, and now I do it sometimes to show I can but it's not my preferred method of expression so I use it as it fits in specific pieces now, because I can, but... meh. I have met others who decided they preferred realism despite it having been harder to learn to begin with and whom do wonderful small detailed works now because in the end we become better at the things we practice and enjoy. - In the beginning though... yes. Painfully. Yes.
This is a good perspective. When I write my own thoughts, aside from lists I want looking neat, my writing is sloppier to get the words down before my brain gets ahead. When I am copying someone else's notes, my writing is much neater.
Indeed. Additionally, I think the context of why you write things by hand matters. Since *every single handwritten word* I have written for years has been notes for college lectures, I need to write fast, or the lecturer will leave me behind (studying physics means *a lot* of formulas that take a while to write down). Since I never actually used handwriting before I started doing handwritten notes in college, I can definitely see that as being part of the reason why I am struggling with getting even basic linework to look nice, however. Maybe I should look into practicing handwriting.
as a person who have the worst handwriting that no one can read unless i make efforts lol i agree with this i find myself good at abstract stuff than detailed stuff
Draftsman here , we use capital letters not because of that CSI shindig , we use it because its clear and easy to read compared to using both lower and uppercase , example would be lowercase n looks kinda similar to "m" or "rn" but uppercase not so much , so its easier on the eyes
Yeah I’ve always noticed that and thought to myself “why do I always do full upper case when making notes and such?” It’s more bold and stands out more assertive too.
To say its not because of that CSI shindig, do you mean it isnt because of that CSI thing (as a taught concept)? Or it isnt because those three basic shapes are more clearly defined and the parts that make up written capital letters? Because I think she makes a totally valid argument that the latter is a big part of why full cap text has better readibility whether or not that's said "reasoning" you were taught. Do they actually teach you to use full cap?
@@SmokeandSpirit what I meant is the CSI type of capital writing wont really help you with drawing - if you want to make an argument with writing correlated to drawing and draftsmanship , what we did to get better confident lines was to write in spencerian script/cursive with a fountain pen (you don't need to buy an expensive one ,I think pilot sells plastic ones for 2 dollars) as it requires for you to move your shoulder and elbow rather than your wrist with writing capital letters , though in doing so I often find myself moving my whole arm writing capital letters too lol just shows you how habitual drawing with "proper" form becomes a ritual. and yes , architectural drafting schools teaches us to write in capital for our casual notes, script for our more formal /serious writings and any roman typeface with a dip pen for titles , it was hard as hell at first but if you make it a habit it greatly helps your drawing skills at gives you great control with your wrist , elbow and shoulder.
@@snoot6629 Fascinating. I guess that clears it up a fair bit. I understand using your arm instead of your wrist for better control. That is more standard practice in most art school. I never knew they teach such an emphasis on writing and are so particular about how you write and when. It almost sounds like etiquette training. lol. Most this stuff seems a bit of a stretch still. I mean my writing is pretty bad, but I still manage to do decent linework. No.. if Im honest I probably could work on line precision and confidence. Still you'd never really think penmanship would make such an impact. Wild.
I am an academic artist, I work both digitaly and traditionaly and I consider myself to have a very bad and inconsistent writing. I think those are just 2 separete things in my mind, to me writing is monotonous and mandatory task, where as drawing is creative and has to be inconsistent to portray the organic nature of a subject. But I think it's the result of me being able to transform my disadvantage into a positive result.
I agree. I think the theory in this video sadly is bullshit. I’ve had comprehensive art education and see no correlation between «good» handwriting and skilled drawers. In fact the best drawers I know have shit writing. I myself have sloppy and inconsistent writing, but am a decent drawer. The key to drawing well isn’t so much lines and rythm as much as mass, proportions, value, emphasis, volume etc. That’s more important than a polished, adopted style line. Multiple passes and attempts over a torso in a loose sketch-like manner is WAY more interesting than a polished cartoony torso in my opinion. I say be sloppy, use your body, chisel away, feel the form with your pencil. Way better.
@@fromeveryting29this comment is what I really wanted to see here. I used to spend so much time making my lines flowy smooth and perfect, but something really felt off in my work, once I just started to let mistakes stay, have multiple strokes for a single line, leave a little misplaced line here or there, my art started to feel more alive, and it's not perfect but I really like when I see it come together, and I love my lineart in the new sketchier look. This video seems misleading, not a huge fan of theories being presented like this
@@fromeveryting29Exactly! i ‘m an artist and i also have very and i mean VERY bad handwriting, its unreadable but i still am able to draw perfect lines and my hands arne’t shaky
I've been struggling with a bit of art block of the "didn't draw enough for a while and kinda forgot how to" variety lately, and I think this video put a crack in the wall for me. I naturally gravitate towards sketchy/scratchy art, and this is really good advice for balancing that preference with readability. Using only (or primarily) a few different types of lines forces you to be more intentional and think about the structure of the thing you're drawing beforehand, and reminders with a "fresh" (to some) approach like this are really helpful for people like me who tend to be overly eager to "see" the final product in a sketch haha. Thank you!
I think unreadable handwriting does not mean that you wont have good art. Unreadable handwriting contains variety of characters where each character can feel different in shape(thats right it is uncertain but maybe uncertainty has some art value in itself as well). Drawing should also have variety you do not have to draw same rectangle always sometimes just bend shapes as you like :)
Moreover, i think if you figure out the form correctly when you draw that form it is already clean and certain. Just focusing on drawing straight lines can help you draw it clean but if you have bad form your art will have issues.
My handwriting has always been awful, I write fast and rush through a lot, but I consider myself a strong sketcher and digital artist. The most that translates I feel might be my speed? But I have much more control over my drawing than my handwriting for some reason. @@demirtopaktas3596
Mine as well My handwriting was so bad at school that my teachers always complaint but my drawing skills are so good and this video kinda explains alot now about this situation
After reading the comments for a few weeks, I think I should clarify something... My handwriting was crap for the majority of my life, I would constantly get nagged over it. I would write wobbly and messy lines, and my drawings looked about the same. After learning how to draw with proper draftsmanship, my handwriting naturally became better along with my drawings. They are the same concepts, I just say draw like you write because it's easier for most ppl to understand the concept of creating letters than say, a complex form. Earlier drafts of this video also included practicing cursive, perhaps other languages, or purposefully bold/messy forms of writing and prompting you to create a drawing in the same manner. It got too complicated and seemed like I was saying a whole lot of nothing, so this video is now focused on the basic draftsmanship concepts of C/S/I. I hope those of you with bad handwriting don't feel discouraged!
I finished college in May, then I started an online art course and now I've started 2D and 3D animation studies. My handwriting has improved a lot since May, after learning to draw shapes, lines and sketching, I've passed from having a very straight calligraphy to a more curvy, conected and stylish handwriting. I also think the way you write influences how you draw.
It doesn’t quite equate the same way, not tooting my own horn by I’m a pretty experienced and competent comic artist, but my handwriting leaves a lot to be desired, I write for functionality, I’m making sure people can read it, but it’s not super fancy calligraphy or anything whatsoever, in fact, everybody says it’s bad even though they can understand it perfectly, and it always has been bad, the way we draw and write are typically different in how we do it, if I started drawing how I write… I will become terrible at it in comparison lol, albiet I do see that this will be one of a handful of ways to improve your linework, I just do it through art practice specifically.
This is really interesting. I've had the same idea for a long time. And this ties perfectly with how Japanese people, in particular, are good with drawing/learning drawing. They use Kanji in their writing system, which have 2 main challenges : 1/ They can be complicated and difficult to write neatly and be legible. (trust me, I've tried). So, to relate it to drawing, that's how they learn quickly to position their lines to make a nice drawing. 2/ there are thousands of them that they need to memorize how to write. So again, relating it to drawing, that's how they are able to quickly develop their visual library. So, from a young age, Japanese people develop these 2 abilities, which gives them a huge advantage when translated to drawing. Keep in mind that this is only my "hypothesis", if you will.
This is similar to how Chinese (Mandarin) native learners are good at math because of how their language works describing numbers. 1-10 are simple, and then 20s are simply two tens. Same with 30s up to hundreds and beyond. Fascinating connections.
Just because they have so many anime/ manga means a lot of them are good at drawing. Many japanese people don't know how to draw and like in all parts of the world, only a few people have a talent in drawing.
@@DivineLightPaladin have to respectfully disagree there. i grew up speaking mandarin and english (i am of chinese descent) and could easily name numbers 1-10 and so on, but my math is terrible.. rather than math skill being tied to language, it's more probable that east asia takes their education very seriously/strictly lol.
@@nathanielrobles3284 agreed. people see many skilled artists from japan/who are japanese and believe they might have naturally somehow been born with it (sarcasm). but japan is mostly known for the anime industry, aka people who live in the big cities are surrounded by anime media which might've inspired them to pursue such a career. alongside that, i would argue they have more opportunities and access to learning art compared to the west or something. of course, even then there's still tons of japanese who don't know how to draw well. knowing a specific language does not give you an inherent advantage over others when learning any skill (we all know that hard work, time, effort>>talent)
At my university, a whole semester was devoted to calligraphy. In general, after six months of training with a parallelpen, you feel how the hand becomes stronger and more confident, and the lines are more accurate
This supports my theory that hand lettering is a really good entry level art form... Because as long as you know how to write you can learn to hand letter. Learning to hand letter will give you the fundamental skills you're talking about here.
Personally I don't buy this, since my handwriting is god awful but my drawings are (allegedly) pretty good. I get the idea, but honestly I don't think they're connected at all.
A lot of people have commented the same 😂 and me too...bad handwriting but (allegedly) great at drawing and painting 😂😅 I thought it was because art was more freedom while writing had to be legible 😅
@@qrbitsartthere can be a connection to how art correlates to writing, but as you know they are typically two different forms, I have pretty cruddy but readable handwriting, and I just practice my linework with art specifically.
This was very insightful! My handwriting is pretty decent, but I’m not good at lines at all. I think it might be more of a knowledge issue, haha. I tend to have a more sketchy, messy, art style and don’t do lines much but I’m sure these tips will be very helpful for the times I do! I work traditionally and lack line confidence.
Draw like you write... That's actually brilliant! I always struggled how to explain to people how to do the "flick" gesture when drawing. But that's just literally your #2 rule. Defining form. Don't write E with several sketchy/wobbly lines, write it with 4 confident strokes!
Well this is odd. I just watched a video the other day about how we should have different grips for drawing and writing. It was a good source and made good points. So I'm going into this conflicted after only watching a few minutes. Perhaps I'm just not the target audience -- but there's also the case of stroke length being undeniably different in writing and drawing (outside of small details). You rarely ever have to "write big" when doing class assignments, and you'll rarely run into situations where these same strokes transition well to drawing outside of smaller details (unless you're using a smaller detached graphics tablet/digitizer that isn't consistent with the actual size of the stroke you physically make). And while you can certainly do this if you have the hardware, this just won't apply to everyone UNLESS they relearn handwriting using larger strokes that utilize our entire arm (or at east our forearms)
PErsonality is very linked in with handwriting. There are studies that if someone has to learn how to write with different limbs and even Chuck Close had to learn how to paint and write with his mouth. Do NOT be hard on yourself about your handwritting. It is likely that all the drafting people she is aspiring to be like, has similar personalities. (Cognitive functions play a big part in how we take in information and how we output it.) While the tips are very helpful and I am not disagreeing with her at all, as a person who tried to force myself to change into what I'm not, just embrase the style you have and practice it. Yes, practice writing in all caps and see how it feels but do not force yourself to only write in all caps. You will always learn something new by trying things out so try many styles and techniques but if something doesn't feel like your style don't make yourself do it if you are losing motivation
Something that really helped with my line work was trying out calligraphy and "drawing" different type faces! It helped me be way more intentional with my lines and evening out my strokes :)
This is completely true! Thanks for making this video so I can link it to people haha. I discovered this as well a few months ago and it has been very impactful.
Thank you for this video. I’m a writer but my passion is drawing. I stopped drawing after 2-3 years of practicing and never got back into it because of fear. Instead writing because my passion but I walk around with images in my head that I want to draw. Instead I turned to hiring artists to draw what I see but it’s never the same. I’m going to practice drawing like I write
This is the first video of yours Ive encountered. It was well done, short, and had some interesting concepts I want to sit with for awhile. Thanks! Your piqued my curiosity!
I have always been interested in comic Lettering and have dedicated a lot of time learning about it because I thought my handwriting was bad. One of my classmates during college complimented my handwriting, which was great since I worked hard on it since I really wanted to letter comics and make it legible. I didn't even know it helped with my drawing skills and why some people ask me how I do lines and strokes with confidence. This video was very informative.
This is a super fascinating video! I agree that i think theres a correlation between drawing and writing. I have several friends with very neat handwriting who aren't artists, but occasionally draw for school projects and such. I noticed that they're much more confident and successful using a pen to make clean lines first try than I am, and I draw 24/7. I have fairly messy handwriting, which while I dont think it makes my art necessarily worse, probably gives me a looser style than if i had more confident line work w/neater handwriting. Overall, great video!
The information is so good and it's something I have long forgotten and went to the back of my mind or I never really understood. Actively practicing my lines to those 3 basic shapes, minimizing my stroke count, and actively paying attention to where I want my lines to go has improved my mark making drastically. For a long time my eye could always tell that an artist has good mark making ability but I never could place my finger on why there's was excellent and mine was poor and this video has helped with that drastically. Actively changing my handwriting scratches a spot on my brain that hasn't been hit in a while.
I’ve drawn my whole life and fallen in and out of love with art for one simple reason. My linework always displeased me and I could never figure out why or how to fix it. Unfortunately I have a tremor so writing with precision is often difficult for me but now that I’ve seen this video it makes a lot of sense. I’ve been a slow writer my whole life cause of my handwriting and I never found the need to take time to practice it cause I never really saw how that would help me. I feel like I’m getting off track here but basically what I’m trying to say is I’m happy I stumbled across this video because it has helped inspire me to begin practicing my writing so I can draw again. And hopefully love art just as much as I used to. ❤
Hahahaha, As a professional artist/animator I still have the handwriting of my 8-year-old self so won't apply to many. On a serious note, in all honesty, most of us don't realize we are practicing bad habits when it comes to writing that transfers over to our drawings. Especially bad writing habits that are hard to break away from when is all we have known, I have always preached that schools should also teach calligraphy since it should go hand and hand with learning how to write. It greatly helped me to understand how my hand really works and fonts are made and a good example is how kanji is made in Asian cultures where calligraphy is key. Learning how your hand and body actually work in unison and how you are supposed to actually write will help greatly improve your line work, which will build confidence, you don't need precision you need proper technique, which will build proper line confidence, that comes with practicing proper technique and time. Bring everything you have learned with good calligraphy into any art form and that precision you want becomes muscle memory and it will greatly improve one's artistic skills even if it didn't help improve my handwriting, but sure has help my artistic career greatly. lol =XD
To be honest this video is quite helpful to me and most importantly I get to know about stuffs which are not usually being told by other artists. Thank you😊
This is certainly a point I haven't seen addressed, whether it gets it right or not is teaches precision well, although you have to use it with caution, maybe write using your whole arm so you don't end up in the situation of drawing as if you were writing, writing is still contained, so it's important to use the full arm movement.
Out of all the drawing videos I've watched over the years, this is one of the few videos that stood out to me. I've been an artist for years. My artwork has improved, but still needs work in certain areas. But this video has pointed out something that I never would have considered. How your own handwriting is the key to drawing better. This was a very informative video about this topic. Also, thanks for providing examples. I will certainly give this a try to see how this goes. I definitely want to continue improving my art skills. Also, tracing? Blasphemy! J/k. 😉 It's very interesting to hear more people say that it's okay to trace so long as your doing it for studying purposes only. Tracing is wrong if a person traces another artist's drawing and reuploads it and claims it as their own. But if it's used for what you've stated, it's fine. During this summer, I did trace a drawing. For studying purposes. Well, it was a 3D model. I only traced it to get a feel of the shapes of the character. It helped me a lot. It gave me an idea on how to break down the shapes and proportions of the character. Then I created a new drawing from scratch and used the traced drawing as a guide.
This is some interesting advice. I've been having trouble with my line work for as long as i can remember and have heard advice that using multiple lines just slows down your work. But having concrete exercises like using C, S and I in my work may actually be the missing puzzle piece ive been looking for. I'll be trying this out amd hopefully it'll improve the speed and readability of my work!
First time i see a video about this but i did recognize this issue a long time ago in myself and it got me so frustrated i entirely stopped drawing altogheter 25y ago. Back in the 90' i got into the Hip Hop movement and really got interested in Graffiti and street art in general so this started me drawing. But time and time again i got confronted with one major issue, i could choose a letter lets say A and give it some kind of look and style but then the problem arised that it seemed impossible to me to finish a complete word in the same style as he 1st letter. After observing friends that also tagged and made graffiti and made way better stuff than me i noticed that their handwriting was also more consistent than mine which is readable but all over the place. I never saw i specialist about it as a kid to see what could be a cause, but i absolutely hated the ABC writing lessons we received in school cause i always seem to be so terrible at it compared to my peers. So now that i want to get back into drawing so many years later and watching this video i'm questioning myself: Should i start with the drawing basics? or Should i first teaching myself to write again?
Oo yes graffiti is a great example of how lettering and art merge together. I would say when (re)learning a skill, there is no correct order to doing it, the more variety of things you are working on, the more you can start seeing how they help each other
idk why but i love ppl that break things down to understand every step and develop singular repetitions to practice said steps. I genuinely think that's a rare talent in and of itself.
Going back to elements of art, you were able to break form and shape structures down to basic lines. I think this is an excellent way to practice new lines in a way that feels organized. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom, this is inspiring.
This blew my mind. I have bad handwriting because of a ✨️fun✨️ set of seizures, and I love to write by hand or typing, and I'm learning to draw now, so this is a really amazing correlation. I think this video would pair well with "How To Train Like Kim Gong Ji" by dr. Draw, as he discusses how writing notes and such WHILE learning to draw, sketch and so on, as it helps cement what you learn, while you're learning it, and the art of "doing less to learn more". Thank you for this video!!!! It helped a lot, and gave me some much needed hope! ❤❤❤
This is really good. No lie, I was really sceptical about this concept but by the end you've convinced me. Damn my terrible handwriting. Thanks for the advice
I've done stuff like this, but never realized why. Now thinking back, when I focused on improving my handwriting and experimenting with different styles it did noticeably improve my art. Excent video, I will definately be sharing this!
This is an amazing video with a lot of useful information. I struggle with line art and have been doing lots of drills to improve. Your drills and discussion of line theory ( idk what else to call it 😭) are really interesting. Adding these exercises to my sets immediately 💪😈
I have a disorder called DCD developmental coordination disorder, and the primary symptom of that is illegible handwriting. I went to occupational therapy for years just to get it readable. Needless to say this video stings. I have spent my life proving that having a disability that effects hand eye coordination, more specifically one that effects handwriting, does not stop someone from being an artist. Point being it may be a little ableist to say these are so closely linked that ones handwriting is a good indication of ones drawing acumen.
glad you explained the knowledge vs skill I don't draw that much but when I do its very scratchy or that sketchy appearance which I gaslight myself into thinking I enjoy more. I did quite a bit of pixel art tho so I actually think in small sketches I'm pretty knowledgable
while I do agree about the readability. there's a few points where I disagree. 1) it's gonna improve your lines but only on short strokes. Letters are not made of long strokes unless you do cursive, which is contradictory with the theory of only using Uppercase print letters, since they are written with different technique. 2) my second point is also about this. If you think about the origins of script and the abilities you need for writing then lowercase and cursive should be in theory better (emphasis in theory). Cursive and lowercase were developed to be written with pen and ink, so in theory they should intuitively be better for practicing strokes, curves and hand movements. Uppercase on the other hand are based in runes and stone carving, and that's why the lines are composed of short strokes of straight lines. They also mean you put a lot more pressure when writing. Illustrators use uppercase not because it has better shape but probably because their notes are supposed to stand out and be noticed, and thus are written with more force. if your handwriting theory is right then writing in cursive would make your lines longer and have better pressure and flow, since it's also based on traditional dip pen writing and drawing as well as brush drawing.
I find this has helped me no end instead of scribbling I now concentrate on neatness .Now doing the same when drawing has me more relaxed and I see an improvement in my line work. Thankyou from Scotland.
lol my mom actually says the opposite all the time. Having horrible handwriting means you're an artist. I have terrible handwriting XD but not quite cause of the reasons stated here for what makes good lines etc. When I write (on paper), it's usually cause I NEED to. I mostly write digitally otherwise (as in typing). My brain is just....too fast and my hands are too slow (+joint problems) so writing is horrible for me. I write super quick while not knowing cursive, and just sort of end up sqaubbling it all. The letters get smaller and smaller and the line curves down. Ough But when I draw I'm free of a NEED to do something right away in the moment (like writing a note, or a signature), so I am much more at ease and just draw peacefully. I'd say my writing when using a stylus is so much better than with pencil and paper
This was a very interesting video and I'm glad I fall within that exception zone you pointed out initially otherwise my lines sure would be... something
nope. my writing can be shit or good depending on how close i am to a mental breakdown or generally just wanna write something down fast because my thoughts often escape especially when i really wanna write them for english. sometimes when i have the time and patience my handwriting is very good
Maybe! I think practicing any language can achieve the same purpose in the end (eg being more mindful over line placement). But I have been thinking about how different languages affect the way artists from that country tend to draw... I've definitely noticed clear differences in how lines are expressed in Western art vs Eastern art, it's something to study for sure
I can see where you are coming from but writing and drawing are two separate things in two separate places in yours brain. So it goes deeper than muscles and understanding your brain fundamentally thinks about them differently. I’ve got severe dyslexia and dysgraphia so my handwriting is almost illegible but I can draw a readable picture with a sharpie. you wouldn’t think the same person could draw with that much confidence and write with that much sprawl. One uses your wrist and drawing technique should use your full arm (some people don’t that’s fine but I’ve found it’s much less fatiguing once you get used to it and you get more control with practice) an interesting comparison might be people with “sloppy” that handwriting might be under confident or rushing through processes or pressing down too hard which would affect drawing but I don’t think handwriting affects drawing as much as you do. I was interested to hear your thoughts nevertheless and am simply sharing my perspective.
I’ll add an extra note your tips are good. Confident lines, knowing where you are going, smooth arcs, repeating shapes for cohesion etc. Although I don’t warm up with letters, the idea of establishing confidence in my lines is there. I warm up with a big sheet of paper even if I am drawing digitally, to unlock my shoulder, and draw as long of a straight line as I can connecting two dots a few times and lots of ellipses of different sizes. I think stylistically we disagree about lines needing to be perfectly connected (particularly in the inside of an object) as the brain is pretty good at filling in details but I understand why you are recommending to do so for beginners And if everyone thought the same about art, art would get pretty boring :)
4:54 I actually would say that you SHOULD use many lines when you are sketching, it is a very good way to see where to put your final ink lines. While sketching do very light lines and make it a bit ambiguous because your brain will want to pick the lines and shapes that are most natural. However, when you are finalizing it with ink lines, this is where you want to make sure you are fluid and don't break the lines apart. I would say work with a fine liner to start off with, that way when you have any accidental breaks you can go over the lines a couple times to smooth out the look of the line. YOU DON'T always have to have a perfect line the first time even in pen. You can always correct and adjust it so if you have issues with clean lines please think about how you can either build the line for smoothness OR you can use paint or other mediums to paint over mistakes. A lot of artists will actually go over their whole line work with a small paint brush or a white jelly roll pen to clean up their art. Best thing about art is it is never -ruined- you can always make it into something amazing! Don't forget that! Also, there are different styles while doing computer art! :) You can either erase a line you don't like and try again (I urge beginners to do it this way so they can practice drawing lines more) Or you can just draw the lines and correct them with an eraser. Always! put your line art on a different layer😊
"Connect your lines" Such crucial information has been absent throughout all of my artistic, and my whole life as a matter of fact. I have dysgraphia, I've struggled so hard with my technical ability and it's fed into this negative feedback loop of frustration, depression and envy (conscious inferiority). I have no words to say but thank you. I will try again, and be kinder to myself while practicing, progress can be made.
I really believe this is why manga artists have such beautiful hard and soft lines, because they grow up with hiragana, katakana and kanji, so many different shapes of lines and really important to get it right. I am so jealous.. My writing looks like shit and people can still partly read it so I never bothered to work on it. >_< free exp
The main reason professional manga artists are good is because they practice drawing, not writing, it’s all about expressing your lines and practicing them, you don’t necessarily need to write to do that, I know amazing manga artists that rival the best, their linework is amazing, a couple of them have shoddy handwriting
@@DoktrDub This exactly. It's a completely different type of motion. Yes practicing lines is good, but this only really helps with art if you write how you draw, not draw how you write. Drawing how you write is a great way to develop Carpal Tunnel.
This is a bit lengthy: I appreciate how you connected the idea of clarity in communication as the underline theme and how practicing your writing can increase that awareness. I started out writing - a lot before I could draw but one of my main thoughts for getting into drawing was that I wanted to communicate more in one place seemingly faster. (I was very small so I my logic was simple in concluding that pictures were “faster” and had more information than words Loll- which I suppose in some way they do but I was thinking about the actually time it took to write vs drawing something to tell a whole story due to the fact I thought speech was tiring so I didn’t do it often or well.) I did both side by side for a long time to understand what I wanted to convey and I still have a bias towards the drawings based off my writing than just simply drawing. I didn’t think that the two would or could be connected in English but I noticed that connection more in countries with older written languages and have read some things on there being a connection between the clarity of line drawing when you practice letter writing with clarity and intention. I always knew there was a mental value in writing regardless but seeing how it has most likely affected my drawing skills this entire time is quiet enlightening! The core being enhancing your mindfulness - Is one of the takeaways I got from this video. This would be a wonderful subject to see as a more in-depth series if possible. Thank you for sharing your perspective and learnings! (edit!) I forgot to add I appreciate you emphasizing how building skill allows choices to be made! It reminded me of something my sister always told me whenever I was feeling stubborn: “..The difference between a professional and an amateur is that one of them is doing what they do on purpose..” That advise is always in the back of my head! Practice so you have choices and consciousness in your applied techniques and works! Again great video 😊
This is terrible advice for artists, especially for new ones. I can see a lot of people agreeing with you and that just tells me most of the people who watched this are beginners, and having beginners think this is the way to go only makes it more difficult for them in their art journey. This just sounds like a lot of assumptions and misinformation. What might have worked for you will definitely not work for everyone, please don't talk about it as if drawing using your whole arm is an outdated method of drawing. Use your wrists and fingers when drawing short lines and details and use your whole arm for sweeping long lines, they both have their use cases and it's better to be able to use both methods. Don't force one method for everything. Also, most of the time, it's not even muscle memory that's the cause of bad lines, it's just the lack of knowledge on how to draw and where to put the line. There are a lot of considerations: line weight, flow, the form of the object as it exists in 3d, perspective, etc. etc. Muscle memory is only part of the whole decision making process of putting down a line, all other decisions regarding the ones I mentioned above all factor in towards that. All of these concepts work together. On the art critique part, you mentioned their forms weren't readable when they very much were so. Just because the lines weren't completely connected doesn't mean people can't comprehend what the form is, our brains fill in the gap- it's not crucial in every situation and sometimes the suggestion of flow is even better than a complete line. The artwork also showed confidence in their lines and it was pretty clear those were sketches and not line art. In sketches we use exploratory lines so it's fine to have some repeated lines here and there - and the irony here is the repeated lines for the leg is exactly what you get by only using your fingers, that was exactly the case where you'd use your whole arm. Even though the "backwards C" in the "DUCK" shirt wasn't great, it could have just been wobble due to the slippery surface of their tablet and can be 100% remedied with the right amount of stabilization. Please, I know the art journey we're in is difficult but don't just stick to what's easy. While I get that hand writing has some effect on your art, it's just one method of putting line on canvas, but by only focusing on that, you limit your growth as an artist. Don't take shortcuts and understand why fundamentals are important.
ikr, not only that but the handwriting patterns are very different depending on where you're from. where i live the norm is writing in cursive, we were given cursive training sheets as kids to make our letters look pretty. while writing and drawing are made using the same tools and motions, they are still two very separate things and are approached very differently. honestly, this video just screams harmful guesswork statements made by someone who has run out of video ideas.
and the thing about muscle memory is 100% true. muscle training is the LEAST important thing in art. if an artist has their dominant hand chopped off, it's not like they'll have to learn drawing all over again, they'll just have to get used to controlling their non-dominant hand because their skills are not motor-exclusive
Finding analogies like these can be really insightful for the drawing process! (-and other skills.) One I've given some thought to is how learning words in a foreign language is like learning shapes that you can draw with.
Fascinating. I struggled with getting nice writing in large lettering. The piece of advice that shifted it for me was to draw the letters, instead of writing them. My lettering improved overnight. I haven’t drawn anything in a while, I wonder if my improvement in my writing has translated to drawing (which has always been stick figure level…).
Not sure if I agree totally, but this video and the comments have given me some really interesting food for thought. I don’t know that I would have ever connected drawing and handwriting. Thanks!
This is actually pretty interesting to think about ever since I got my new desk job I’ve been writing a lot more and I feel like it has actually improved my drawing in the past couple months and it’s crazy to think that I did it all subconsciously 😅😅
I think this is interesting. While growing up I was pressured to learn cursive and it felt like hell. But learning to write do affect how confident we are holding a pen (at least for me). I'll try this pratice, since confidence is something that i really need now. Thank you for the video.
Huh that is interesting because I have written a diary after I have had a long break from drawing and have noticed that my drawings have improved again. I didn't know that my writing can affect how I draw. Thank you so much for teaching me about it
This advice can be misleading for beginners. Usually we write with the fingers and the wrist. While it is much better to draw with the arm or even the shoulder. Linework usually is much more flowing and crisper that way. The challenge is to achieve the precision necessary to place the line where you want it to be. Drawing lines from the wrist or fingers usually means to have more of that precision feel, however they come out scratchy and less flowing.
This is generally true, and perhaps I have an unpopular opinion, but I think that advice is outdated now that a huge number of artists are drawing digitally where the active space is much smaller than say, a large drawing pad you'd use for traditional figure drawing. Personally I've found precision based movements more helpful for my art style (which is line heavy anime/manga lol). Most of my observations come from folks who appear to be struggling getting their hand/eye coordination under control with their tablets, so indeed it may not be applicable to those who want to work in a larger format or traditionally
(edit) Been thinking abt this for the last week and noticed I do make a lot more arm movements than I thought. Perhaps I was just getting defensive before, but if you watch the video nothing indicates you should only draw with your wrists/fingers. Quite the opposite. Take the principles of precision (writing) and apply them to your larger movements (drawing). I advise anyone posting reactionary comments to the title/thumbnail to actually watch the video lol
I never learnt how to draw using my arm, only my wrist, due mainly being self taught. But this should be avoided due the amount of strain I put on during the process, and has caused me to have a tendinitis I cannot cure for being too fidgety
@@OrvAddict I had a hard time adapting to this way of drawing, still learning and practicing every day. Lines immediately look better from my experience by locking your fingers and drawing with the whole arm. But boy, is it hard to get that precision xD Most important - stay safe & healthy, you still want to do this for a while, cheers!
@@Charles_Bro-son thanks! I will eventually get the hang of it. I would like to see my renders getting better after all
Agree, prolonging bad habits can lead from mild wrist ache to carpal tunnel in extreme cases. I dislike drawing on my tablet for too long for that exact reason lol, sketching on paper and working from that digitally is waaay easier from experience and looks better so, shrugs
Hell yeah! Time to go write the bee movie script by hand
o my god james 💀
Good idea
nice, i’ll try that next.
YEAAAAAAA GOOD LUCK
HOLY SHIT😨
I got a good tip from Drawfee about this. Draw too much rather than too little. It's easier to connect the lines by going a little too far and then erasing the excess, than drawing too short and having to draw a tiny stroke to make up for it. It's okay to take space. Be bold!
Good little tip there
and delete ur art!
Yesss, I love drawfee!
When I saw "Drawfee" and "Draw too much", my immediate reaction was thinking about Julia drawing an entire human skull before drawing the face on top, lol.
Or you could just leave the gaps
This can actually differ for people growing up writing in different languages. Some languages have only curved lines whereas some have more corners and are nuanced. The English alphabets can be broken down into simple lines and curves but some languages have letter that are written in one go/ without breaking them down.
The key here is indeed just learning to write clearly. I really liked how u pointed out that having unreadable handwriting can result to uncertain lines in drawings.
Thank you for the video!
😮😮😮
Is this why some Thai artists have that specific style/vibe to their artworks?
@@drawhanidraw That's an interesting thought!! Maybe so. Do you have some artists in mind?
@@drawhanidraw Japanese too! They love their straight and quick strokes. And Koreans have them beat over the straightest lines lol.
I write in cursive so it's also in one go 😂
my native language is Arabic, so this might explain a lot tbh the letters get mixed into one thing following one or more connected lines and my handwriting in Arabic sucks 😭😭😭😭 I feel like even when perfected, the Arabic way of writing just translates into a lot of squiggles and connected lines for me and they aren't precise at all lol
This might be true for some people, but there are also many studies that say "sloppy" or "thoughtless" handwriting is actually the result of the inverse. As in, your brain is working faster than your hand can, so the crisp words are lost in the attempt to just get the words down before they're gone from your head.
Which, I have found, is generally true.
If we're connecting handwriting to drawing or creating art of any kind I would say "sloppy" writers are going to be better at fast-paced art such as abstract or impressionism, while those with crisp and "perfect" writing will be better suited for smaller more detail-oriented work.
That is a succinct analysis, though in my case it is more of a style choice. If anyone does it long enough they learn the skills and learn what expresses themselves in art in there preferred manner. To begin with, however, I believe this was true in my case. I found photo realism harder because it has more detail than you think, and now I do it sometimes to show I can but it's not my preferred method of expression so I use it as it fits in specific pieces now, because I can, but... meh. I have met others who decided they preferred realism despite it having been harder to learn to begin with and whom do wonderful small detailed works now because in the end we become better at the things we practice and enjoy. - In the beginning though... yes. Painfully. Yes.
This is a good perspective. When I write my own thoughts, aside from lists I want looking neat, my writing is sloppier to get the words down before my brain gets ahead. When I am copying someone else's notes, my writing is much neater.
Indeed.
Additionally, I think the context of why you write things by hand matters.
Since *every single handwritten word* I have written for years has been notes for college lectures, I need to write fast, or the lecturer will leave me behind (studying physics means *a lot* of formulas that take a while to write down).
Since I never actually used handwriting before I started doing handwritten notes in college, I can definitely see that as being part of the reason why I am struggling with getting even basic linework to look nice, however.
Maybe I should look into practicing handwriting.
yeah my art is way cleaner than my handwriting. I go slower to get my shapes right when I draw, but when writing its really hard for me to do that.
as a person who have the worst handwriting that no one can read unless i make efforts lol i agree with this i find myself good at abstract stuff than detailed stuff
Draftsman here , we use capital letters not because of that CSI shindig , we use it because its clear and easy to read compared to using both lower and uppercase
, example would be lowercase n looks kinda similar to "m" or "rn" but uppercase not so much , so its easier on the eyes
Yeah I’ve always noticed that and thought to myself “why do I always do full upper case when making notes and such?”
It’s more bold and stands out more assertive too.
To say its not because of that CSI shindig, do you mean it isnt because of that CSI thing (as a taught concept)? Or it isnt because those three basic shapes are more clearly defined and the parts that make up written capital letters? Because I think she makes a totally valid argument that the latter is a big part of why full cap text has better readibility whether or not that's said "reasoning" you were taught.
Do they actually teach you to use full cap?
@@SmokeandSpirit what I meant is the CSI type of capital writing wont really help you with drawing - if you want to make an argument with writing correlated to drawing and draftsmanship , what we did to get better confident lines was to write in spencerian script/cursive with a fountain pen (you don't need to buy an expensive one ,I think pilot sells plastic ones for 2 dollars) as it requires for you to move your shoulder and elbow rather than your wrist with writing capital letters , though in doing so I often find myself moving my whole arm writing capital letters too lol just shows you how habitual drawing with "proper" form becomes a ritual.
and yes , architectural drafting schools teaches us to write in capital for our casual notes, script for our more formal /serious writings and any roman typeface with a dip pen for titles , it was hard as hell at first but if you make it a habit it greatly helps your drawing skills at gives you great control with your wrist , elbow and shoulder.
@@snoot6629 Fascinating. I guess that clears it up a fair bit. I understand using your arm instead of your wrist for better control. That is more standard practice in most art school. I never knew they teach such an emphasis on writing and are so particular about how you write and when. It almost sounds like etiquette training. lol. Most this stuff seems a bit of a stretch still. I mean my writing is pretty bad, but I still manage to do decent linework. No.. if Im honest I probably could work on line precision and confidence. Still you'd never really think penmanship would make such an impact. Wild.
@@snoot6629 i love spencerian script! i never see it much, glad to hear it is still in use
I am an academic artist, I work both digitaly and traditionaly and I consider myself to have a very bad and inconsistent writing. I think those are just 2 separete things in my mind, to me writing is monotonous and mandatory task, where as drawing is creative and has to be inconsistent to portray the organic nature of a subject. But I think it's the result of me being able to transform my disadvantage into a positive result.
Creativity is shown either way. Im trying to draw to illustrate some writing. Some mine some not.
I agree. I think the theory in this video sadly is bullshit. I’ve had comprehensive art education and see no correlation between «good» handwriting and skilled drawers. In fact the best drawers I know have shit writing. I myself have sloppy and inconsistent writing, but am a decent drawer.
The key to drawing well isn’t so much lines and rythm as much as mass, proportions, value, emphasis, volume etc. That’s more important than a polished, adopted style line.
Multiple passes and attempts over a torso in a loose sketch-like manner is WAY more interesting than a polished cartoony torso in my opinion.
I say be sloppy, use your body, chisel away, feel the form with your pencil. Way better.
@@fromeveryting29this comment is what I really wanted to see here. I used to spend so much time making my lines flowy smooth and perfect, but something really felt off in my work, once I just started to let mistakes stay, have multiple strokes for a single line, leave a little misplaced line here or there, my art started to feel more alive, and it's not perfect but I really like when I see it come together, and I love my lineart in the new sketchier look.
This video seems misleading, not a huge fan of theories being presented like this
@@fromeveryting29Exactly! i ‘m an artist and i also have very and i mean VERY bad handwriting, its unreadable but i still am able to draw perfect lines and my hands arne’t shaky
so real its probably because I write too fast@@fromeveryting29
I've been struggling with a bit of art block of the "didn't draw enough for a while and kinda forgot how to" variety lately, and I think this video put a crack in the wall for me. I naturally gravitate towards sketchy/scratchy art, and this is really good advice for balancing that preference with readability. Using only (or primarily) a few different types of lines forces you to be more intentional and think about the structure of the thing you're drawing beforehand, and reminders with a "fresh" (to some) approach like this are really helpful for people like me who tend to be overly eager to "see" the final product in a sketch haha. Thank you!
I think unreadable handwriting does not mean that you wont have good art. Unreadable handwriting contains variety of characters where each character can feel different in shape(thats right it is uncertain but maybe uncertainty has some art value in itself as well). Drawing should also have variety you do not have to draw same rectangle always sometimes just bend shapes as you like :)
Moreover, i think if you figure out the form correctly when you draw that form it is already clean and certain. Just focusing on drawing straight lines can help you draw it clean but if you have bad form your art will have issues.
My handwriting has always been awful, I write fast and rush through a lot, but I consider myself a strong sketcher and digital artist. The most that translates I feel might be my speed? But I have much more control over my drawing than my handwriting for some reason. @@demirtopaktas3596
I totally agree with u
My handwriting fucking sucks and my art is somewhat pretty?
Mine as well
My handwriting was so bad at school that my teachers always complaint but my drawing skills are so good and this video kinda explains alot now about this situation
I have dysgraphia and I pride myself in my art. It's a different motion entirely
After reading the comments for a few weeks, I think I should clarify something... My handwriting was crap for the majority of my life, I would constantly get nagged over it. I would write wobbly and messy lines, and my drawings looked about the same. After learning how to draw with proper draftsmanship, my handwriting naturally became better along with my drawings. They are the same concepts, I just say draw like you write because it's easier for most ppl to understand the concept of creating letters than say, a complex form.
Earlier drafts of this video also included practicing cursive, perhaps other languages, or purposefully bold/messy forms of writing and prompting you to create a drawing in the same manner. It got too complicated and seemed like I was saying a whole lot of nothing, so this video is now focused on the basic draftsmanship concepts of C/S/I.
I hope those of you with bad handwriting don't feel discouraged!
I finished college in May, then I started an online art course and now I've started 2D and 3D animation studies. My handwriting has improved a lot since May, after learning to draw shapes, lines and sketching, I've passed from having a very straight calligraphy to a more curvy, conected and stylish handwriting. I also think the way you write influences how you draw.
It doesn’t quite equate the same way, not tooting my own horn by I’m a pretty experienced and competent comic artist, but my handwriting leaves a lot to be desired, I write for functionality, I’m making sure people can read it, but it’s not super fancy calligraphy or anything whatsoever, in fact, everybody says it’s bad even though they can understand it perfectly, and it always has been bad, the way we draw and write are typically different in how we do it, if I started drawing how I write… I will become terrible at it in comparison lol, albiet I do see that this will be one of a handful of ways to improve your linework, I just do it through art practice specifically.
Same for me, handwriting is shit, drawing is smooth and quick.
This is really interesting. I've had the same idea for a long time.
And this ties perfectly with how Japanese people, in particular, are good with drawing/learning drawing. They use Kanji in their writing system, which have 2 main challenges :
1/ They can be complicated and difficult to write neatly and be legible. (trust me, I've tried). So, to relate it to drawing, that's how they learn quickly to position their lines to make a nice drawing.
2/ there are thousands of them that they need to memorize how to write. So again, relating it to drawing, that's how they are able to quickly develop their visual library.
So, from a young age, Japanese people develop these 2 abilities, which gives them a huge advantage when translated to drawing.
Keep in mind that this is only my "hypothesis", if you will.
Also the fact that hiragana has very round shapes, cause kanji is mostly lines
This is similar to how Chinese (Mandarin) native learners are good at math because of how their language works describing numbers. 1-10 are simple, and then 20s are simply two tens. Same with 30s up to hundreds and beyond. Fascinating connections.
Just because they have so many anime/ manga means a lot of them are good at drawing. Many japanese people don't know how to draw and like in all parts of the world, only a few people have a talent in drawing.
@@DivineLightPaladin have to respectfully disagree there. i grew up speaking mandarin and english (i am of chinese descent) and could easily name numbers 1-10 and so on, but my math is terrible.. rather than math skill being tied to language, it's more probable that east asia takes their education very seriously/strictly lol.
@@nathanielrobles3284 agreed. people see many skilled artists from japan/who are japanese and believe they might have naturally somehow been born with it (sarcasm). but japan is mostly known for the anime industry, aka people who live in the big cities are surrounded by anime media which might've inspired them to pursue such a career. alongside that, i would argue they have more opportunities and access to learning art compared to the west or something. of course, even then there's still tons of japanese who don't know how to draw well. knowing a specific language does not give you an inherent advantage over others when learning any skill (we all know that hard work, time, effort>>talent)
At my university, a whole semester was devoted to calligraphy. In general, after six months of training with a parallelpen, you feel how the hand becomes stronger and more confident, and the lines are more accurate
This supports my theory that hand lettering is a really good entry level art form... Because as long as you know how to write you can learn to hand letter. Learning to hand letter will give you the fundamental skills you're talking about here.
Personally I don't buy this, since my handwriting is god awful but my drawings are (allegedly) pretty good. I get the idea, but honestly I don't think they're connected at all.
haha I rly wish I found some case studies of people like you, it would have spiced the video up
same here!
A lot of people have commented the same 😂 and me too...bad handwriting but (allegedly) great at drawing and painting 😂😅 I thought it was because art was more freedom while writing had to be legible 😅
@@qrbitsartthere can be a connection to how art correlates to writing, but as you know they are typically two different forms, I have pretty cruddy but readable handwriting, and I just practice my linework with art specifically.
@@qrbitsart I think this would be pretty cool and insightful research.
This was very insightful! My handwriting is pretty decent, but I’m not good at lines at all. I think it might be more of a knowledge issue, haha. I tend to have a more sketchy, messy, art style and don’t do lines much but I’m sure these tips will be very helpful for the times I do! I work traditionally and lack line confidence.
Draw like you write... That's actually brilliant! I always struggled how to explain to people how to do the "flick" gesture when drawing. But that's just literally your #2 rule. Defining form. Don't write E with several sketchy/wobbly lines, write it with 4 confident strokes!
Writing and Drawing are completely different beasts.
Well this is odd. I just watched a video the other day about how we should have different grips for drawing and writing. It was a good source and made good points. So I'm going into this conflicted after only watching a few minutes. Perhaps I'm just not the target audience -- but there's also the case of stroke length being undeniably different in writing and drawing (outside of small details). You rarely ever have to "write big" when doing class assignments, and you'll rarely run into situations where these same strokes transition well to drawing outside of smaller details (unless you're using a smaller detached graphics tablet/digitizer that isn't consistent with the actual size of the stroke you physically make).
And while you can certainly do this if you have the hardware, this just won't apply to everyone UNLESS they relearn handwriting using larger strokes that utilize our entire arm (or at east our forearms)
PErsonality is very linked in with handwriting. There are studies that if someone has to learn how to write with different limbs and even Chuck Close had to learn how to paint and write with his mouth. Do NOT be hard on yourself about your handwritting. It is likely that all the drafting people she is aspiring to be like, has similar personalities. (Cognitive functions play a big part in how we take in information and how we output it.) While the tips are very helpful and I am not disagreeing with her at all, as a person who tried to force myself to change into what I'm not, just embrase the style you have and practice it. Yes, practice writing in all caps and see how it feels but do not force yourself to only write in all caps. You will always learn something new by trying things out so try many styles and techniques but if something doesn't feel like your style don't make yourself do it if you are losing motivation
Another information rich video by one of the best art youtube channels? Freaking let's goooo! The editing is really well done!
Aw u flatter me, thank u!
Something that really helped with my line work was trying out calligraphy and "drawing" different type faces! It helped me be way more intentional with my lines and evening out my strokes :)
I've noticed that when my art improves, so does my handwriting
I've never attempted to make my writing better, so this is really interesting!
I just discovered your channel and I'm so glad I did!! your content is super informative and helpful
Some of the most valuable drawing advice I've ever received, thank you
This is completely true! Thanks for making this video so I can link it to people haha. I discovered this as well a few months ago and it has been very impactful.
Thank you for this video. I’m a writer but my passion is drawing. I stopped drawing after 2-3 years of practicing and never got back into it because of fear. Instead writing because my passion but I walk around with images in my head that I want to draw. Instead I turned to hiring artists to draw what I see but it’s never the same. I’m going to practice drawing like I write
When you have bad handwriting:
LOVE the editing and the creative direction of this entire video
This is the first video of yours Ive encountered. It was well done, short, and had some interesting concepts I want to sit with for awhile. Thanks! Your piqued my curiosity!
I have always been interested in comic Lettering and have dedicated a lot of time learning about it because I thought my handwriting was bad. One of my classmates during college complimented my handwriting, which was great since I worked hard on it since I really wanted to letter comics and make it legible. I didn't even know it helped with my drawing skills and why some people ask me how I do lines and strokes with confidence. This video was very informative.
This is a super fascinating video! I agree that i think theres a correlation between drawing and writing. I have several friends with very neat handwriting who aren't artists, but occasionally draw for school projects and such. I noticed that they're much more confident and successful using a pen to make clean lines first try than I am, and I draw 24/7. I have fairly messy handwriting, which while I dont think it makes my art necessarily worse, probably gives me a looser style than if i had more confident line work w/neater handwriting. Overall, great video!
such a great video, im so glad you added tracing as an exercise! there's a huge difference between tracing to practice and tracing to steal art.
The information is so good and it's something I have long forgotten and went to the back of my mind or I never really understood. Actively practicing my lines to those 3 basic shapes, minimizing my stroke count, and actively paying attention to where I want my lines to go has improved my mark making drastically. For a long time my eye could always tell that an artist has good mark making ability but I never could place my finger on why there's was excellent and mine was poor and this video has helped with that drastically. Actively changing my handwriting scratches a spot on my brain that hasn't been hit in a while.
I’ve drawn my whole life and fallen in and out of love with art for one simple reason. My linework always displeased me and I could never figure out why or how to fix it. Unfortunately I have a tremor so writing with precision is often difficult for me but now that I’ve seen this video it makes a lot of sense. I’ve been a slow writer my whole life cause of my handwriting and I never found the need to take time to practice it cause I never really saw how that would help me. I feel like I’m getting off track here but basically what I’m trying to say is I’m happy I stumbled across this video because it has helped inspire me to begin practicing my writing so I can draw again. And hopefully love art just as much as I used to. ❤
Hahahaha, As a professional artist/animator I still have the handwriting of my 8-year-old self so won't apply to many. On a serious note, in all honesty, most of us don't realize we are practicing bad habits when it comes to writing that transfers over to our drawings. Especially bad writing habits that are hard to break away from when is all we have known, I have always preached that schools should also teach calligraphy since it should go hand and hand with learning how to write. It greatly helped me to understand how my hand really works and fonts are made and a good example is how kanji is made in Asian cultures where calligraphy is key. Learning how your hand and body actually work in unison and how you are supposed to actually write will help greatly improve your line work, which will build confidence, you don't need precision you need proper technique, which will build proper line confidence, that comes with practicing proper technique and time. Bring everything you have learned with good calligraphy into any art form and that precision you want becomes muscle memory and it will greatly improve one's artistic skills even if it didn't help improve my handwriting, but sure has help my artistic career greatly. lol =XD
Omg, This tip was amazing! I saw your channel and I really like your consistency, I hope you get more recognition.
To be honest this video is quite helpful to me and most importantly I get to know about stuffs which are not usually being told by other artists. Thank you😊
This is certainly a point I haven't seen addressed, whether it gets it right or not is teaches precision well, although you have to use it with caution, maybe write using your whole arm so you don't end up in the situation of drawing as if you were writing, writing is still contained, so it's important to use the full arm movement.
Out of all the drawing videos I've watched over the years, this is one of the few videos that stood out to me.
I've been an artist for years. My artwork has improved, but still needs work in certain areas. But this video has pointed out something that I never would have considered. How your own handwriting is the key to drawing better.
This was a very informative video about this topic. Also, thanks for providing examples. I will certainly give this a try to see how this goes. I definitely want to continue improving my art skills. Also, tracing? Blasphemy! J/k. 😉
It's very interesting to hear more people say that it's okay to trace so long as your doing it for studying purposes only. Tracing is wrong if a person traces another artist's drawing and reuploads it and claims it as their own. But if it's used for what you've stated, it's fine.
During this summer, I did trace a drawing. For studying purposes. Well, it was a 3D model. I only traced it to get a feel of the shapes of the character. It helped me a lot. It gave me an idea on how to break down the shapes and proportions of the character. Then I created a new drawing from scratch and used the traced drawing as a guide.
This is some interesting advice. I've been having trouble with my line work for as long as i can remember and have heard advice that using multiple lines just slows down your work. But having concrete exercises like using C, S and I in my work may actually be the missing puzzle piece ive been looking for. I'll be trying this out amd hopefully it'll improve the speed and readability of my work!
Wow! I have not watched an art video as helpful and thought-provoking as this in a long time!
The worst my handwriting got, the better my art became 💀💀💀
First time i see a video about this but i did recognize this issue a long time ago in myself and it got me so frustrated i entirely stopped drawing altogheter 25y ago. Back in the 90' i got into the Hip Hop movement and really got interested in Graffiti and street art in general so this started me drawing. But time and time again i got confronted with one major issue, i could choose a letter lets say A and give it some kind of look and style but then the problem arised that it seemed impossible to me to finish a complete word in the same style as he 1st letter. After observing friends that also tagged and made graffiti and made way better stuff than me i noticed that their handwriting was also more consistent than mine which is readable but all over the place. I never saw i specialist about it as a kid to see what could be a cause, but i absolutely hated the ABC writing lessons we received in school cause i always seem to be so terrible at it compared to my peers. So now that i want to get back into drawing so many years later and watching this video i'm questioning myself: Should i start with the drawing basics? or Should i first teaching myself to write again?
Oo yes graffiti is a great example of how lettering and art merge together. I would say when (re)learning a skill, there is no correct order to doing it, the more variety of things you are working on, the more you can start seeing how they help each other
idk why but i love ppl that break things down to understand every step and develop singular repetitions to practice said steps. I genuinely think that's a rare talent in and of itself.
Going back to elements of art, you were able to break form and shape structures down to basic lines. I think this is an excellent way to practice new lines in a way that feels organized. Thank you so much for your words of wisdom, this is inspiring.
This blew my mind. I have bad handwriting because of a ✨️fun✨️ set of seizures, and I love to write by hand or typing, and I'm learning to draw now, so this is a really amazing correlation. I think this video would pair well with "How To Train Like Kim Gong Ji" by dr. Draw, as he discusses how writing notes and such WHILE learning to draw, sketch and so on, as it helps cement what you learn, while you're learning it, and the art of "doing less to learn more".
Thank you for this video!!!! It helped a lot, and gave me some much needed hope! ❤❤❤
This is really good. No lie, I was really sceptical about this concept but by the end you've convinced me. Damn my terrible handwriting. Thanks for the advice
the cover that i needed is finally is here thank you🙏
I've done stuff like this, but never realized why. Now thinking back, when I focused on improving my handwriting and experimenting with different styles it did noticeably improve my art. Excent video, I will definately be sharing this!
This is an amazing video with a lot of useful information. I struggle with line art and have been doing lots of drills to improve. Your drills and discussion of line theory ( idk what else to call it 😭) are really interesting. Adding these exercises to my sets immediately 💪😈
I think line theory is a pretty eloquent way of putting it
I have a disorder called DCD developmental coordination disorder, and the primary symptom of that is illegible handwriting. I went to occupational therapy for years just to get it readable. Needless to say this video stings. I have spent my life proving that having a disability that effects hand eye coordination, more specifically one that effects handwriting, does not stop someone from being an artist.
Point being it may be a little ableist to say these are so closely linked that ones handwriting is a good indication of ones drawing acumen.
Very good video. I'm decades out of art school but I still learned some useful info here about improving my drawing.
glad you explained the knowledge vs skill
I don't draw that much but when I do its very scratchy or that sketchy appearance which I gaslight myself into thinking I enjoy more. I did quite a bit of pixel art tho so I actually think in small sketches I'm pretty knowledgable
while I do agree about the readability. there's a few points where I disagree. 1) it's gonna improve your lines but only on short strokes. Letters are not made of long strokes unless you do cursive, which is contradictory with the theory of only using Uppercase print letters, since they are written with different technique.
2) my second point is also about this. If you think about the origins of script and the abilities you need for writing then lowercase and cursive should be in theory better (emphasis in theory). Cursive and lowercase were developed to be written with pen and ink, so in theory they should intuitively be better for practicing strokes, curves and hand movements. Uppercase on the other hand are based in runes and stone carving, and that's why the lines are composed of short strokes of straight lines. They also mean you put a lot more pressure when writing. Illustrators use uppercase not because it has better shape but probably because their notes are supposed to stand out and be noticed, and thus are written with more force. if your handwriting theory is right then writing in cursive would make your lines longer and have better pressure and flow, since it's also based on traditional dip pen writing and drawing as well as brush drawing.
bro my handwriting literally looks like i used a ketchup bottle to write and then my art just looks completely different and much better😭😭
I find this has helped me no end instead of scribbling I now concentrate on neatness .Now doing the same when drawing has me more relaxed and I see an improvement in my line work. Thankyou from Scotland.
This is so insightful. Thank you!
lol my mom actually says the opposite all the time. Having horrible handwriting means you're an artist. I have terrible handwriting XD but not quite cause of the reasons stated here for what makes good lines etc. When I write (on paper), it's usually cause I NEED to. I mostly write digitally otherwise (as in typing). My brain is just....too fast and my hands are too slow (+joint problems) so writing is horrible for me. I write super quick while not knowing cursive, and just sort of end up sqaubbling it all. The letters get smaller and smaller and the line curves down. Ough
But when I draw I'm free of a NEED to do something right away in the moment (like writing a note, or a signature), so I am much more at ease and just draw peacefully. I'd say my writing when using a stylus is so much better than with pencil and paper
People who see my drawings instantly think I write good and at the same time people who see my hellish writing assume Im shit at drawing.. Lmao
Never let them know your next move 😂
I never have heard of it this way - excellent insights!
This was a very interesting video and I'm glad I fall within that exception zone you pointed out initially otherwise my lines sure would be... something
nope. my writing can be shit or good depending on how close i am to a mental breakdown or generally just wanna write something down fast because my thoughts often escape especially when i really wanna write them for english. sometimes when i have the time and patience my handwriting is very good
Great video! So would that mean a language that's heavy into lines like Chinese makes for a better option then??
Maybe! I think practicing any language can achieve the same purpose in the end (eg being more mindful over line placement). But I have been thinking about how different languages affect the way artists from that country tend to draw... I've definitely noticed clear differences in how lines are expressed in Western art vs Eastern art, it's something to study for sure
Just practice linework and art, no need to practice languages and writing specifically.
Well done! I completely agree.
cool I never would have made the connection between the two thank you for spreeing the knowledge
I can see where you are coming from but writing and drawing are two separate things in two separate places in yours brain. So it goes deeper than muscles and understanding your brain fundamentally thinks about them differently. I’ve got severe dyslexia and dysgraphia so my handwriting is almost illegible but I can draw a readable picture with a sharpie. you wouldn’t think the same person could draw with that much confidence and write with that much sprawl. One uses your wrist and drawing technique should use your full arm (some people don’t that’s fine but I’ve found it’s much less fatiguing once you get used to it and you get more control with practice) an interesting comparison might be people with “sloppy” that handwriting might be under confident or rushing through processes or pressing down too hard which would affect drawing but I don’t think handwriting affects drawing as much as you do. I was interested to hear your thoughts nevertheless and am simply sharing my perspective.
I’ll add an extra note your tips are good. Confident lines, knowing where you are going, smooth arcs, repeating shapes for cohesion etc.
Although I don’t warm up with letters, the idea of establishing confidence in my lines is there. I warm up with a big sheet of paper even if I am drawing digitally, to unlock my shoulder, and draw as long of a straight line as I can connecting two dots a few times and lots of ellipses of different sizes.
I think stylistically we disagree about lines needing to be perfectly connected (particularly in the inside of an object) as the brain is pretty good at filling in details but I understand why you are recommending to do so for beginners
And if everyone thought the same about art, art would get pretty boring :)
4:54 I actually would say that you SHOULD use many lines when you are sketching, it is a very good way to see where to put your final ink lines. While sketching do very light lines and make it a bit ambiguous because your brain will want to pick the lines and shapes that are most natural. However, when you are finalizing it with ink lines, this is where you want to make sure you are fluid and don't break the lines apart. I would say work with a fine liner to start off with, that way when you have any accidental breaks you can go over the lines a couple times to smooth out the look of the line. YOU DON'T always have to have a perfect line the first time even in pen. You can always correct and adjust it so if you have issues with clean lines please think about how you can either build the line for smoothness OR you can use paint or other mediums to paint over mistakes. A lot of artists will actually go over their whole line work with a small paint brush or a white jelly roll pen to clean up their art. Best thing about art is it is never -ruined- you can always make it into something amazing! Don't forget that!
Also, there are different styles while doing computer art! :) You can either erase a line you don't like and try again (I urge beginners to do it this way so they can practice drawing lines more) Or you can just draw the lines and correct them with an eraser. Always! put your line art on a different layer😊
Man, the Thumbnail looks absolutely stunning it's so good. Kinda feels like scene from weathering with you i love it.
"Connect your lines"
Such crucial information has been absent throughout all of my artistic, and my whole life as a matter of fact.
I have dysgraphia, I've struggled so hard with my technical ability and it's fed into this negative feedback loop of frustration, depression and envy (conscious inferiority).
I have no words to say but thank you. I will try again, and be kinder to myself while practicing, progress can be made.
I really believe this is why manga artists have such beautiful hard and soft lines, because they grow up with hiragana, katakana and kanji, so many different shapes of lines and really important to get it right.
I am so jealous.. My writing looks like shit and people can still partly read it so I never bothered to work on it. >_< free exp
The main reason professional manga artists are good is because they practice drawing, not writing, it’s all about expressing your lines and practicing them, you don’t necessarily need to write to do that, I know amazing manga artists that rival the best, their linework is amazing, a couple of them have shoddy handwriting
@@DoktrDub This exactly. It's a completely different type of motion. Yes practicing lines is good, but this only really helps with art if you write how you draw, not draw how you write. Drawing how you write is a great way to develop Carpal Tunnel.
If you don’t think lowercase is useful then I wonder how you feel about cursive lol
happy to see you blowing up!
Thank you for this. I've always wanted to improve my hand writing as well as learn how to draw.
My handwriting is atrocious, but I can draw so it doesn’t always apply.
This is a bit lengthy:
I appreciate how you connected the idea of clarity in communication as the underline theme and how practicing your writing can increase that awareness.
I started out writing - a lot before I could draw but one of my main thoughts for getting into drawing was that I wanted to communicate more in one place seemingly faster. (I was very small so I my logic was simple in concluding that pictures were “faster” and had more information than words Loll- which I suppose in some way they do but I was thinking about the actually time it took to write vs drawing something to tell a whole story due to the fact I thought speech was tiring so I didn’t do it often or well.)
I did both side by side for a long time to understand what I wanted to convey and I still have a bias towards the drawings based off my writing than just simply drawing. I didn’t think that the two would or could be connected in English but I noticed that connection more in countries with older written languages and have read some things on there being a connection between the clarity of line drawing when you practice letter writing with clarity and intention. I always knew there was a mental value in writing regardless but seeing how it has most likely affected my drawing skills this entire time is quiet enlightening! The core being enhancing your mindfulness - Is one of the takeaways I got from this video.
This would be a wonderful subject to see as a more in-depth series if possible. Thank you for sharing your perspective and learnings!
(edit!) I forgot to add I appreciate you emphasizing how building skill allows choices to be made! It reminded me of something my sister always told me whenever I was feeling stubborn: “..The difference between a professional and an amateur is that one of them is doing what they do on purpose..” That advise is always in the back of my head! Practice so you have choices and consciousness in your applied techniques and works! Again great video 😊
wow never expect that writing and drawing were connected cool video !
This is terrible advice for artists, especially for new ones. I can see a lot of people agreeing with you and that just tells me most of the people who watched this are beginners, and having beginners think this is the way to go only makes it more difficult for them in their art journey.
This just sounds like a lot of assumptions and misinformation. What might have worked for you will definitely not work for everyone, please don't talk about it as if drawing using your whole arm is an outdated method of drawing. Use your wrists and fingers when drawing short lines and details and use your whole arm for sweeping long lines, they both have their use cases and it's better to be able to use both methods. Don't force one method for everything.
Also, most of the time, it's not even muscle memory that's the cause of bad lines, it's just the lack of knowledge on how to draw and where to put the line. There are a lot of considerations: line weight, flow, the form of the object as it exists in 3d, perspective, etc. etc. Muscle memory is only part of the whole decision making process of putting down a line, all other decisions regarding the ones I mentioned above all factor in towards that. All of these concepts work together.
On the art critique part, you mentioned their forms weren't readable when they very much were so. Just because the lines weren't completely connected doesn't mean people can't comprehend what the form is, our brains fill in the gap- it's not crucial in every situation and sometimes the suggestion of flow is even better than a complete line.
The artwork also showed confidence in their lines and it was pretty clear those were sketches and not line art. In sketches we use exploratory lines so it's fine to have some repeated lines here and there - and the irony here is the repeated lines for the leg is exactly what you get by only using your fingers, that was exactly the case where you'd use your whole arm. Even though the "backwards C" in the "DUCK" shirt wasn't great, it could have just been wobble due to the slippery surface of their tablet and can be 100% remedied with the right amount of stabilization.
Please, I know the art journey we're in is difficult but don't just stick to what's easy. While I get that hand writing has some effect on your art, it's just one method of putting line on canvas, but by only focusing on that, you limit your growth as an artist. Don't take shortcuts and understand why fundamentals are important.
ikr, not only that but the handwriting patterns are very different depending on where you're from. where i live the norm is writing in cursive, we were given cursive training sheets as kids to make our letters look pretty. while writing and drawing are made using the same tools and motions, they are still two very separate things and are approached very differently.
honestly, this video just screams harmful guesswork statements made by someone who has run out of video ideas.
and the thing about muscle memory is 100% true. muscle training is the LEAST important thing in art. if an artist has their dominant hand chopped off, it's not like they'll have to learn drawing all over again, they'll just have to get used to controlling their non-dominant hand because their skills are not motor-exclusive
My handwriting is awful, and I can draw realistic animals-
i wonder if you have broken brush strokes in your handwriting- maybe that helps you create fur? Lines that aren’t connected
Finding analogies like these can be really insightful for the drawing process! (-and other skills.) One I've given some thought to is how learning words in a foreign language is like learning shapes that you can draw with.
Killer thumbnails, keep up the good work!
Love the part where we were told how this can make our drawings better
Fascinating. I struggled with getting nice writing in large lettering. The piece of advice that shifted it for me was to draw the letters, instead of writing them. My lettering improved overnight. I haven’t drawn anything in a while, I wonder if my improvement in my writing has translated to drawing (which has always been stick figure level…).
This is probably the first tutotial that made me want to stop what im doing and get to practicing
Not sure if I agree totally, but this video and the comments have given me some really interesting food for thought. I don’t know that I would have ever connected drawing and handwriting. Thanks!
will definitely take this advise and start practicing again!
This is actually pretty interesting to think about ever since I got my new desk job I’ve been writing a lot more and I feel like it has actually improved my drawing in the past couple months and it’s crazy to think that I did it all subconsciously 😅😅
This just opened a part of my mind that I didn't know I had. Thanks.
Thank you for this, very insightful
I think this is interesting. While growing up I was pressured to learn cursive and it felt like hell. But learning to write do affect how confident we are holding a pen (at least for me).
I'll try this pratice, since confidence is something that i really need now. Thank you for the video.
Amazing video, i really never thought about this!
Huh that is interesting because I have written a diary after I have had a long break from drawing and have noticed that my drawings have improved again. I didn't know that my writing can affect how I draw. Thank you so much for teaching me about it
This advice helped me and I'm a beginner. Thanks.
Gosh that thumbnail is beautiful great work !
Thumbnail tripped me up. Title got it right. Good video. This is something I never considered and found it very interesting.
This is such a cool and informative video!! 💗
I've always wondered if writing in Japanese is what gave Manga artist their distinctive style
Great video! I never heard anyone correlate Capital Letters with linework. Great concept. Connecting lines is also crucial to readability. Thanks.
This was perfect, thank you.