Indeed. Actually the only one who seriously teaches me. Others are interesting to watch, but they never really teach anything. When someone asks I always say: "There is someone called Alphonso Dunn on TH-cam, you should check him out, he is my art teacher too" xD ♥
I think the most contradictory advice ive ever gotten was when a painter told me to take time with every drawing to make sure its the best thing I can do up to that point, while an animator told me to just scribble out as many drawings in as many different ways as possible while taking note of mistakes but not going back to fix them, just making sure you fix it in your next drawing. I took the animators advice because it more strongly lined up with who I am and what I want to do, but I can still understand why the painters advice has some merit for what he was trying to accomplish.
That may be partly due to advice from 2 people from very different industries. One a painter has more free time and every work he creates must be his very best as he needs to sell it. Painters care more about perfection, and form. Animators on the other hand are trained very differently. They are trained to be able to draw a lot of sketches, thumbnails and focus more on concept and the process rather than the final product. Even in a art school, a fine art program is different from an animation program. The animator gave you the advice to just scribble out as many drawings because in his industry he need to put out tons and tons of ideas under a strict deadline. If they make a lot, they find something in each that is noteworthy and then they can put it together for their final concept which often they need to present. In other words an animator is trained to present ideas and concepts as fast as possible, where as a painter is trained to be more of a perfectionist and that everything he produces must be his best work.
Actually both pieces of advice can work together. Usually (for serious work) I do both. I start out with a bunch of loose, exploratory sketches. Nothing serious, kind of playful even. Just searching and feeling things out. Then, gradually I hone in on a single drawing that hopefully reflects what I was looking for and what I'm trying to convey. That last drawing is the first advice you mentioned and what I did first is the latter.
I'd largely ignore the first advice, you learn much more by working quickly, trying to get the essence of a drawing in one or two minutes. After that you can detail as much as you want.
@@Doppe1ganger I'd largely ignore the second. It's not good enough to take notes of your mistakes and fix them next time. Fix them now. Like playing the wrong notes in a piano piece, you're just practising mistakes by not correcting them there and then.
@@nomoremrniceguy368 That makes zero sense. You're practising to correct mistakes, because you're working at a much higher tempo and thus are prone to make more mistakes to fix. It's about experience and automation. What does a piano player do? Work quickly and a lot instead of trying to master a difficult piece from the start. When you have no experience and you work slow and detailed, than what you're really doing is trying to cover up the mistakes you make instead of learning from them and how to avoid them next time. It's super clear when you look at detailed realistic amateur art, looks decent at a very shallow first glance, but is actually shit and generic 99.9% of the time.
I'm relatively new to all this, but I find it fascinating and very helpful. My background has almost always been in science and engineering, although I used to mess about painting and drawing with my three children: colouring books and free-hand sketches of animals, people and simple scenes. Now I'm 62, and a little over 4 years ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was one of the lucky ones and I have made an excellent recovery. During the hard months of chemotherapy that followed the operation to remove the tumour, I found I was over-stimulated by steroids (used to combat sickness and rejection of the chemo meds.), which meant I had to find something quiet to do at night while my wife was asleep! That's how I got into art, starting first with Zentangle. After all my chemotherapy I then moved from the UK to Spain and suddenly found myself with lots of time on my hands, which eventually led me to start messing with watercolours. My first attempts were like children's paintings, they still are in many ways, but I found it incredibly therapeutic and it helped me pull myself out of the post-chemo depression and anxiety I was suffering for a few months. I managed to rediscover two things: Tai Chi practice and Art, which have now become a key part of my "new life" as a person looking forward each day and either expressing myself through stillness and meditation, movement and flow or painting and drawing. As my watercolour painting went from initial interest to almost obsession (although it kind of fluctuates a lot), I found that my drawing skills were not up to supporting the painting. It was during this time I found your channel, which not only gives me clear and concise instructions, but also inspires me to explore and develop as if discovering a new toy for the first time. Not only that, you have a very calming voice and those super expressive hands that dance on the screen as you explain ideas and concepts. You are a gifted individual who deserves every success in what you do. It's clear to me that you are passionate and practical in your approach, which unleashes a freedom of expression that is truly mind-blowing (at least to me). Your first book arrived yesterday and I've become engrossed in reading it and doing some of the exercises. The advice on sketchbooks, and using them to practise anything and everything, has been like putting a flame to a fire cracker for me. It's like removing blinkers and just letting the light come in, so that the light can shine out too.
I agree with this video. My art teacher always taught me that I should not just draw mindlessly and draw what I see. But at the same time, you can't really do that when the subject constantly moves. That's why I occasionally do drawings of the same subject but with different approaches each time. That way, it will improve what I know and also how I view that subject.
YOU ARE FABULOUS!! The way you share information makes it so easy to hear and absorb. Sometimes art classes can make a person feel like they aren't talented enough to create something solely from the instruction given, but you are so encouraging! You demonstrate briefly what you MEAN by what you say, which helps me to absorb it so much more easily! Thank you for being willing to share your gift on TH-cam for those of us who can't afford , or don't have time for brick and mortar based classes. You are truly appreciated!!
Thank you so much. Those were excellent points and you explained them well. As a beginner, I wanted to just draw what I saw and thought that was the only thing I would ever need to know. But I often can’t see something well or get confused at what I see or don’t have the time to look as carefully as I want to. In those cases, who wouldn’t want to know those anatomy facts so you could keep yourself from making obvious mistakes? That means learning anatomy, perspective, the way light reflects off objects, etc. That knowledge doesn’t make you a cheater who changes reality. It makes you more aware and less likely to makes mistakes.
if i would show you my workbook now, and told you that 2 years ago i started with your videos, you would be proud! when people ask for recommendation, you are the first choice to recommend! thank you!
I’m glad you did this video. My latest thing actually has been altering reference photos to create a more interesting painting. I’ve found doing this is far more liberating than just copying the reference and it helps exercise my creativity
Юлия Кандыба Just brilliant! There is no contradiction really. You might put it in words of choosing one or the other, or making a good understandable compromise between the two as You Alphonso do in this video. It is a communicable attitude, good for teaching. But it is a teachers trick to make us pupils grasp the two aspects of the same thing. Seeing and knowing are aspects of the same process.
@@Johan-vk5yd Thank you. A person cannot see the whole process while he or she is not well-determined enough, not knowing the categories of him/herself.
I've been studying from your channel since 2014. Just got your book in the mail yesterday and couldn't be more pleased. Your passion, talent, and clear instruction seemingly leap off the pages. I can see that I will be using this book as a reference for years and years. Thank you, sir, for sharing your insights with us!
I usually draw what I see but watching your video has made me understand its ok to compromise things such as cast off shadows to look better to the eye. You're a really great teacher and you break it down in an understandable way. I really do appreciate that as I will be getting back into drawing and soon starting up my business again. Will be subscribing and looking into purchasing your books. Thanks again!
Alphonso, I LOVE your work! Your drawings as well as the writing in your book radiates with such a charming personality - Thank you so much for your tips and advice! I got your first book and I loved it dearly, really looking forward to get my hands on your second one as well!
Draw what you see with what you know. Most people don't realize that their eyes fool them, like a lot...! you think you see something but when you get close up or go around your subject that's a whole different story. Love both your books, great practice !
This is amazing advice! I have been doing realistic portraits in charcoal for a couple years now and I always feel like I have to draw the photo EXACTLY. I love the freedom you just gave me to slightly tweak the reference image to look better to me! Thank you!
I definitely agree that these statements can be used together, especially when drawing a moving subject. Drawing animals for example: you have draw what you see in the animal but also what you know about the animal because animals don't typically stay in one pose.
Very good remark! Photography, even, of animals ia a great challenge! When I tried to make a photo portrait of my cat, I ended up virtually filming him, taking an abundance of single shots, each of them representing what You should see ( optically perceive) in that every single split second. Then I scrapped most of them as not giving the ”true” impression of him, and choosing a few, being good portraits of my animal friend. Hmm, thinking of it, this should apply to human portraits as well. (Writing things down seems to make thinking easier. Maybe those two are related in the same way as seeing and knowing?:-)I guess the answer is ”40”:-D
@8:50 Pow! Mind blown, just learned something. And such a change in the simple sine wave, just add two overlaps and it expands out from 2D to 3D instantly. This is why I watch TH-cam.
I just had to grab both of your books the second I got the chance. They’re both amazing and add to the fundamentals I’ve been trying to learn. Your skill at rendering or drafting (I’m still learning the terms) is phenomenal and I wish you much success as an artist.
Sometimes, I feel I need to know something first, before I can see it in front of me. It's like I overlooking things without knowledge. Maybe I'm too impatient to observe things. I'm not sure haha. Thanks for the video! It was really informative and helpful!!
LOL I think all these years, I may have completely taken the advice, "draw what you SEE, & not what you KNOW" from a totally different viewpoint! 😆 I understood it as it was taught to me, (and how I've taught others over the many years) to be part of a basic lesson on how to break away from viewing the objects that you're drawing, with mental "baggage" attached. Or in a way that has been deeply engrained mentally since childhood. "Knowledge" can sometimes leak out subconsciously, contaminating our drawings. "Dont draw what you KNOW!" I guess I have just always been a doofus and taken it just for its literal meaning. Lol For example, drawing hair: Although you KNOW that there are thousands of hairs on your head, you shouldn't try to draw each and every strand. Instead you draw what you can SEE. If you stop seeing it as "hair", (detatching from what you KNOW it is.) Often what you SEE are a lot of different shapes. With all sorts of shades, gradients, highlights etc with only a FEW strands of loose hairs showing here and there along the edges. What you SEE is very different from what you KNOW! But I didn't read/understand that advice the same way as others might have, I guess. Lol I didn't see it as to not ever taking additional creative license to my drawing, or to never add on to what I can see, (or had seen) in front of me. But I understood it was more about breaking it down into simple objects/shapes that in the end, when put together, will create a much more realistic drawing. Funny how differently all our brains work. We can take the same lesson to have different meanings! Thank you so very much for taking the time to create these videos. They are very inspiring and educational! I enjoy watching them very much!
Thank you so much for all your work!!! I am so happy I found your channel. I’ve been looking for the information like this on drawing with ink and this is the best! Ordered your books and can’t wait until I get them. Also, just wanted to say that you have a gift of teaching. I started going through your tutorials from the beginning and just after few of them I felt like something switched in my head and my vision of what I draw changed. You have a true talent of being able to explain what is so hard to explain. Thank you so much and please don’t stop!
Some of things I learned from here is that both contradictory actually applies at the same time. So first you have to draw from what you see to get a better understanding of the subject and draw from what you know by applying all the fundamentals/basic principles from your subconscious mind to make it visually appealing then go back again to drawing what you see to create a drawing that is more organic or close to what the subject really looks like in reality. For example, I want a portrait of my face. I have bigger eyebags so the artist can tweak the image with lesser eyebags to make it more appealing and healthy but still keeping the organic information of my face. I dont want to have a symmetrical eyebrows when my eyebrows arent really at level. It's about keeping key information of my face and tweaking that may lose its "unique" or "organic" quality so to speak XD BTW Great videos♥️
Alphonso one of the best! Thanks for the videos. I hope I become decent one day. I had a 6 month lay off drawing and looking back at what I could do I feel so bad for quitting I fell so far behind.
No worries, I always draw for months, then stop. After a few months I come back to drawing, then after months I stop again, and so on... I still make progress in the end. So you also will improve again soon : )
I mostly follow my own advice of learning what I can and to have fun with what I am doing and most importantly not to take things so seriously especially for me because I draw a lot of bad stuff right now but the important thing is I am learning and developing
Also cast shadows under the nose can be mistaken for a mustache. Thank you for all of your assistance you provide your fans with. You have rendered far more help than you know. I couldn't have finished Inktober this year without knowing things that I learned from your books and videos.
@@alphonsodunn I had that happen to me on a picture of my great grandfather. I inherited most of my family photos. So, I drew a picture just like the original 80 year old photo. My older family members, said it looks great, but I never knew he had a mustache. I was like, do I tell them it's just a shadow, or just let them think he tried growing a 'stache once?
Ive been practicing pure observational drawing as of late and im starting to feel burned out and stumped. But seeing this video, perhaps I should brush up on construction and learn to do both things as well. Sure they will compliment each other, yes? Great vid btw!
To understand what you see you have to learn how much you dont know by repititon and failure. Only through failure will you strengthen your weaknesses so that you can understand what you see. Only then can you draw what you know by seeing the mistakes and correcting them.
Totally not related to the video, but more about your books: I'm working my way through the workbook, BUT I decided to just make my own templates based on the same measurements in your books so I can then go back and do them over again using various types of pens (right now I'm going between my Copic Fineliners, Tombow calligraphy pens and a pilot pocket brush. But I want to play with dip pens after this round) Anyway, just had to share how important it is to do your exercises with various mediums and not just "one" because of how each type of pen requires different ways of holding them, plus how they provide different results.
"Drawing what you see, not what you know" - What some mean by this is that some people look at a pencilcase, see that it's a pencilcase and then draws a pencilcase from a different angle or a different pencil case, instead of actually drawing what they see.
I don't think that's what people mean. Mostly people mean you shouldnt draw preconceived symbols of what you think you know something looks like, and actually draw what you are seeing as it is. To copy, that is. Vilppu says that in order to figure draw properly you need to draw what you understand of a person's pose, and NOT what you see or what it is. It's on the Vilppu drawing manual.
@@sebaba001 What I meant was the thing about not drawing symbols and drawing what you see instead. Words can have different meanings though, and Alphonso's advice isn't wrong per se.
I use staedtler pens and I was wondering if their a good choice, because I’ve able to get pretty good at art with them ( thanks to watching a lot of your videos ) but this kid at school who also likes art says I should not draw with them. What do you think? Pls reply
I’m an artist who is best at abstract and Patterns which I’m really good at but I don’t feel like it’s “real art” so I want to branch out to realistic things like animals and people but I don’t really know where to start when it comes to learning basics, proportions, and anatomy. Any advice?
He has many great videos on proportions and anatomy. Following them really helped me, so I recommend you go through his videos and create a playlist for yourself and your topics of interest.
Pen and ink you often have to draw what you know, because contour is often not observable and hatch marks need to follow the contour. In general I would say you have to draw what you see when you don't know anything about the subject, but a lot of subjects will be difficult to draw, particularly from photographs or from a distance where you can't learn about the subject by going to various perspectives. Drawing what you see, when you already know lots about the subject, means don't be arrogant / learn new things / look for the personality in the subject that makes it different from your generalized knowledge.
Hey Alphonso thanks for this video. It really help clarifying things like this. I have a question I been meaning to ask. More recently I tried doing live public studies but I been having a hard time because the person I draw stays still for only a moment. Do you have any tips or advice on getting the subject down or just techniques on public figure drawing? I've told i should just take a picture of sometimes but I figure that would be kinda creepy.
If it is a long-term pose, usually in the beginning the model will tend to move a bit but eventually they settle into a more fixed pose as they get a little tired and the body finds a comfortable position to rest in. This is when you really get into it. Also, this is why you don’t draw details first, start off with structure, the line of rhythm, or line of action and build from the inside out focusing on the major masses, because they generally don’t move that much
I want to learn how to draw buildings and record the results of my drawings. but how do you record the video? I use a tripod, but it's very difficult because when I draw, I'm always blocked with a tripod. how can the camera be focused on the paper we are drawing? thank you for replying to my comment 😊😊
If you wear contacts and are trying to draw, take them out! My eyesight is like -10.0 in both eyes since I read a lot as a kid, and wowwww did my drawings improve once i tried taking my glasses off. The shapes are much more obvious.
I never studied human anatomy and that is why I have a horrible time drawing people. Can you recommend a beginners anatomy book? Most of the books I have looked at belong in a medical school-lol
Hey Alphonso, I have an art channel and I just hit 100 subs . For Christmas i got your book “How to Draw in Pen and Ink “ I was think about doing a series on my channel . Would you mind if I did a learning series using the book ?
It's to late but maybe it's help for batter video. On the with background moving high contrast hand's... To much distribution almost unbearable to see. Please Tone down the background, or try any other idea.
Those are not contradictory at all. Drawing what you see and what you know are two entirely different objectives. If your objective is to render the object, then you draw what you see. If your object is to make a creative work of an object, then you draw what you know or what you want to convey.
The best art teacher on TH-cam!
Thanks so much
Indeed.
Actually the only one who seriously teaches me.
Others are interesting to watch, but they never really teach anything.
When someone asks I always say:
"There is someone called Alphonso Dunn on TH-cam, you should check him out, he is my art teacher too"
xD ♥
@@mauricejerome3392 I just did that very same thing today!
@@ybe7011 lol! That's great, we'll make him famous! xD
I think the most contradictory advice ive ever gotten was when a painter told me to take time with every drawing to make sure its the best thing I can do up to that point, while an animator told me to just scribble out as many drawings in as many different ways as possible while taking note of mistakes but not going back to fix them, just making sure you fix it in your next drawing.
I took the animators advice because it more strongly lined up with who I am and what I want to do, but I can still understand why the painters advice has some merit for what he was trying to accomplish.
That may be partly due to advice from 2 people from very different industries. One a painter has more free time and every work he creates must be his very best as he needs to sell it. Painters care more about perfection, and form. Animators on the other hand are trained very differently. They are trained to be able to draw a lot of sketches, thumbnails and focus more on concept and the process rather than the final product. Even in a art school, a fine art program is different from an animation program. The animator gave you the advice to just scribble out as many drawings because in his industry he need to put out tons and tons of ideas under a strict deadline. If they make a lot, they find something in each that is noteworthy and then they can put it together for their final concept which often they need to present. In other words an animator is trained to present ideas and concepts as fast as possible, where as a painter is trained to be more of a perfectionist and that everything he produces must be his best work.
Actually both pieces of advice can work together. Usually (for serious work) I do both. I start out with a bunch of loose, exploratory sketches. Nothing serious, kind of playful even. Just searching and feeling things out. Then, gradually I hone in on a single drawing that hopefully reflects what I was looking for and what I'm trying to convey. That last drawing is the first advice you mentioned and what I did first is the latter.
I'd largely ignore the first advice, you learn much more by working quickly, trying to get the essence of a drawing in one or two minutes. After that you can detail as much as you want.
@@Doppe1ganger I'd largely ignore the second. It's not good enough to take notes of your mistakes and fix them next time. Fix them now. Like playing the wrong notes in a piano piece, you're just practising mistakes by not correcting them there and then.
@@nomoremrniceguy368 That makes zero sense. You're practising to correct mistakes, because you're working at a much higher tempo and thus are prone to make more mistakes to fix. It's about experience and automation. What does a piano player do? Work quickly and a lot instead of trying to master a difficult piece from the start. When you have no experience and you work slow and detailed, than what you're really doing is trying to cover up the mistakes you make instead of learning from them and how to avoid them next time. It's super clear when you look at detailed realistic amateur art, looks decent at a very shallow first glance, but is actually shit and generic 99.9% of the time.
I'm relatively new to all this, but I find it fascinating and very helpful. My background has almost always been in science and engineering, although I used to mess about painting and drawing with my three children: colouring books and free-hand sketches of animals, people and simple scenes.
Now I'm 62, and a little over 4 years ago I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was one of the lucky ones and I have made an excellent recovery. During the hard months of chemotherapy that followed the operation to remove the tumour, I found I was over-stimulated by steroids (used to combat sickness and rejection of the chemo meds.), which meant I had to find something quiet to do at night while my wife was asleep! That's how I got into art, starting first with Zentangle.
After all my chemotherapy I then moved from the UK to Spain and suddenly found myself with lots of time on my hands, which eventually led me to start messing with watercolours. My first attempts were like children's paintings, they still are in many ways, but I found it incredibly therapeutic and it helped me pull myself out of the post-chemo depression and anxiety I was suffering for a few months. I managed to rediscover two things: Tai Chi practice and Art, which have now become a key part of my "new life" as a person looking forward each day and either expressing myself through stillness and meditation, movement and flow or painting and drawing.
As my watercolour painting went from initial interest to almost obsession (although it kind of fluctuates a lot), I found that my drawing skills were not up to supporting the painting. It was during this time I found your channel, which not only gives me clear and concise instructions, but also inspires me to explore and develop as if discovering a new toy for the first time. Not only that, you have a very calming voice and those super expressive hands that dance on the screen as you explain ideas and concepts. You are a gifted individual who deserves every success in what you do. It's clear to me that you are passionate and practical in your approach, which unleashes a freedom of expression that is truly mind-blowing (at least to me).
Your first book arrived yesterday and I've become engrossed in reading it and doing some of the exercises. The advice on sketchbooks, and using them to practise anything and everything, has been like putting a flame to a fire cracker for me. It's like removing blinkers and just letting the light come in, so that the light can shine out too.
I agree with this video. My art teacher always taught me that I should not just draw mindlessly and draw what I see. But at the same time, you can't really do that when the subject constantly moves. That's why I occasionally do drawings of the same subject but with different approaches each time. That way, it will improve what I know and also how I view that subject.
YOU ARE FABULOUS!! The way you share information makes it so easy to hear and absorb. Sometimes art classes can make a person feel like they aren't talented enough to create something solely from the instruction given, but you are so encouraging! You demonstrate briefly what you MEAN by what you say, which helps me to absorb it so much more easily! Thank you for being willing to share your gift on TH-cam for those of us who can't afford , or don't have time for brick and mortar based classes. You are truly appreciated!!
Thank you so much. Those were excellent points and you explained them well. As a beginner, I wanted to just draw what I saw and thought that was the only thing I would ever need to know. But I often can’t see something well or get confused at what I see or don’t have the time to look as carefully as I want to. In those cases, who wouldn’t want to know those anatomy facts so you could keep yourself from making obvious mistakes? That means learning anatomy, perspective, the way light reflects off objects, etc. That knowledge doesn’t make you a cheater who changes reality. It makes you more aware and less likely to makes mistakes.
Exactly! So well said
if i would show you my workbook now, and told you that 2 years ago i started with your videos, you would be proud! when people ask for recommendation, you are the first choice to recommend! thank you!
Great, please show us a few examples if you can. Alphonso has become my Zen Master of Art!
I’m glad you did this video. My latest thing actually has been altering reference photos to create a more interesting painting. I’ve found doing this is far more liberating than just copying the reference and it helps exercise my creativity
that's why i enjoy drawing and (art) it's a mixture of philosophy and practice
It sure is, it sure is
What you see is depending on how much you know, too.
👍
Юлия Кандыба Just brilliant! There is no contradiction really. You might put it in words of choosing one or the other, or making a good understandable compromise between the two as You Alphonso do in this video. It is a communicable attitude, good for teaching. But it is a teachers trick to make us pupils grasp the two aspects of the same thing. Seeing and knowing are aspects of the same process.
@@Johan-vk5yd Thank you. A person cannot see the whole process while he or she is not well-determined enough, not knowing the categories of him/herself.
This is like chicken and egg.
I've been studying from your channel since 2014. Just got your book in the mail yesterday and couldn't be more pleased. Your passion, talent, and clear instruction seemingly leap off the pages. I can see that I will be using this book as a reference for years and years. Thank you, sir, for sharing your insights with us!
You do such an amazing job of demonstrating principles! Love it when you draw the arm and show the strength of small, subtle information!
Thanks much 🙂
I usually draw what I see but watching your video has made me understand its ok to compromise things such as cast off shadows to look better to the eye. You're a really great teacher and you break it down in an understandable way. I really do appreciate that as I will be getting back into drawing and soon starting up my business again. Will be subscribing and looking into purchasing your books. Thanks again!
Alphonso, I LOVE your work! Your drawings as well as the writing in your book radiates with such a charming personality - Thank you so much for your tips and advice! I got your first book and I loved it dearly, really looking forward to get my hands on your second one as well!
thanks so much
I like your way if explaining things, you're the best teacher I've found.
Draw what you see with what you know. Most people don't realize that their eyes fool them, like a lot...! you think you see something but when you get close up or go around your subject that's a whole different story. Love both your books, great practice !
This is amazing advice! I have been doing realistic portraits in charcoal for a couple years now and I always feel like I have to draw the photo EXACTLY. I love the freedom you just gave me to slightly tweak the reference image to look better to me! Thank you!
🙂
I definitely agree that these statements can be used together, especially when drawing a moving subject. Drawing animals for example: you have draw what you see in the animal but also what you know about the animal because animals don't typically stay in one pose.
exactly!
Very good remark! Photography, even, of animals ia a great challenge! When I tried to make a photo portrait of my cat, I ended up virtually filming him, taking an abundance of single shots, each of them representing what You should see ( optically perceive) in that every single split second. Then I scrapped most of them as not giving the ”true” impression of him, and choosing a few, being good portraits of my animal friend. Hmm, thinking of it, this should apply to human portraits as well. (Writing things down seems to make thinking easier. Maybe those two are related in the same way as seeing and knowing?:-)I guess the answer is ”40”:-D
@@Johan-vk5yd That's so interesting!
Why animals better example is human
@@ColoredMud 😂😂
@8:50 Pow! Mind blown, just learned something. And such a change in the simple sine wave, just add two overlaps and it expands out from 2D to 3D instantly.
This is why I watch TH-cam.
🙂
I just had to grab both of your books the second I got the chance. They’re both amazing and add to the fundamentals I’ve been trying to learn. Your skill at rendering or drafting (I’m still learning the terms) is phenomenal and I wish you much success as an artist.
Thanks so much
Tell me more about the difference between the two books
As usual, a clear, useful explanation with great examples. Plus, I really like the style of drawing. I always get a lot out of Alphonso Dunn's videos.
thanks
Sometimes, I feel I need to know something first, before I can see it in front of me. It's like I overlooking things without knowledge. Maybe I'm too impatient to observe things. I'm not sure haha.
Thanks for the video! It was really informative and helpful!!
Yes you could be too impatient lol. That part of your drawing generally takes the most time
LOL I think all these years, I may have completely taken the advice, "draw what you SEE, & not what you KNOW" from a totally different viewpoint! 😆
I understood it as it was taught to me, (and how I've taught others over the many years) to be part of a basic lesson on how to break away from viewing the objects that you're drawing, with mental "baggage" attached. Or in a way that has been deeply engrained mentally since childhood.
"Knowledge" can sometimes leak out subconsciously, contaminating our drawings. "Dont draw what you KNOW!"
I guess I have just always been a doofus and taken it just for its literal meaning. Lol
For example, drawing hair: Although you KNOW that there are thousands of hairs on your head, you shouldn't try to draw each and every strand.
Instead you draw what you can SEE.
If you stop seeing it as "hair", (detatching from what you KNOW it is.) Often what you SEE are a lot of different shapes. With all sorts of shades, gradients, highlights etc with only a FEW strands of loose hairs showing here and there along the edges. What you SEE is very different from what you KNOW!
But I didn't read/understand that advice the same way as others might have, I guess. Lol I didn't see it as to not ever taking additional creative license to my drawing, or to never add on to what I can see, (or had seen) in front of me. But I understood it was more about breaking it down into simple objects/shapes that in the end, when put together, will create a much more realistic drawing.
Funny how differently all our brains work. We can take the same lesson to have different meanings!
Thank you so very much for taking the time to create these videos. They are very inspiring and educational! I enjoy watching them very much!
So glad to be able to catch up with what you are putting out! Great as always.
Thank you so much for all your work!!! I am so happy I found your channel. I’ve been looking for the information like this on drawing with ink and this is the best! Ordered your books and can’t wait until I get them. Also, just wanted to say that you have a gift of teaching. I started going through your tutorials from the beginning and just after few of them I felt like something switched in my head and my vision of what I draw changed. You have a true talent of being able to explain what is so hard to explain. Thank you so much and please don’t stop!
Thanks so much. Happy I can help your journey
Some of things I learned from here is that both contradictory actually applies at the same time. So first you have to draw from what you see to get a better understanding of the subject and draw from what you know by applying all the fundamentals/basic principles from your subconscious mind to make it visually appealing then go back again to drawing what you see to create a drawing that is more organic or close to what the subject really looks like in reality. For example, I want a portrait of my face. I have bigger eyebags so the artist can tweak the image with lesser eyebags to make it more appealing and healthy but still keeping the organic information of my face. I dont want to have a symmetrical eyebrows when my eyebrows arent really at level. It's about keeping key information of my face and tweaking that may lose its "unique" or "organic" quality so to speak XD
BTW Great videos♥️
Alphonso one of the best! Thanks for the videos. I hope I become decent one day. I had a 6 month lay off drawing and looking back at what I could do I feel so bad for quitting I fell so far behind.
I will buy one of your books soon although I'm not a big books guy.
No worries, I always draw for months, then stop. After a few months I come back to drawing, then after months I stop again, and so on...
I still make progress in the end.
So you also will improve again soon : )
Alphonso Dunn, you are awesome! I so much enjoy your videos!! I have learnt so much from you!
I mostly follow my own advice of learning what I can and to have fun with what I am doing and most importantly not to take things so seriously especially for me because I draw a lot of bad stuff right now but the important thing is I am learning and developing
That is nice, have fun :)
Merry Christmas!
Also cast shadows under the nose can be mistaken for a mustache.
Thank you for all of your assistance you provide your fans with. You have rendered far more help than you know. I couldn't have finished Inktober this year without knowing things that I learned from your books and videos.
Lol@confusing shadows for a mustache. I think that too lol
And thanks so much
@@alphonsodunn I had that happen to me on a picture of my great grandfather. I inherited most of my family photos. So, I drew a picture just like the original 80 year old photo. My older family members, said it looks great, but I never knew he had a mustache. I was like, do I tell them it's just a shadow, or just let them think he tried growing a 'stache once?
@@equesdeventusoccasus lol
Ive been practicing pure observational drawing as of late and im starting to feel burned out and stumped. But seeing this video, perhaps I should brush up on construction and learn to do both things as well. Sure they will compliment each other, yes?
Great vid btw!
Excellent idea for a series. This was very helpful
: )
That is a marvellous topic that might help many students! Well done!
🙂
Another good video!! Thank you. Yes, please, a video about the workbook. I bought your book, so I’m looking forward to see what is in the workbook! 👌😍
Most definitely
To understand what you see you have to learn how much you dont know by repititon and failure. Only through failure will you strengthen your weaknesses so that you can understand what you see. Only then can you draw what you know by seeing the mistakes and correcting them.
Totally not related to the video, but more about your books: I'm working my way through the workbook, BUT I decided to just make my own templates based on the same measurements in your books so I can then go back and do them over again using various types of pens (right now I'm going between my Copic Fineliners, Tombow calligraphy pens and a pilot pocket brush. But I want to play with dip pens after this round) Anyway, just had to share how important it is to do your exercises with various mediums and not just "one" because of how each type of pen requires different ways of holding them, plus how they provide different results.
Thanks for sharing that. Super cool ideas!
You're an amazing artist!
thanks much : )
Thank you again Alphonso.
This is so cool! can't wait for the rest of the series!!
This is a very helpful video..Thanks!
I just received your pen and ink drawing workbook Alphonso, (which is fantastic) -it would great to have the exercises extended via your videos.
hmm good idea
alphonso with the HEAT. you should make more watercolour videos brothamon!!!!!
Will do, will do
Your voice is soothing to me
Thanks for the advice, this actually helps me a lot, keep these videos coming!
🙂
Merry Christmas, Alphonso!
Thank you : ). Merry Christmas to you too and a wonderful new year when it comes my friend : )
@@alphonsodunn Thank you! I wish you a happy new year too : )
You're back, I love it!
🙂
I really appreciate all of your advice
Thanks
Thank you for the video! Im saving up to get one of your books:)
: )
More videos like this please this helped me a lot
: )
"Drawing what you see, not what you know" - What some mean by this is that some people look at a pencilcase, see that it's a pencilcase and then draws a pencilcase from a different angle or a different pencil case, instead of actually drawing what they see.
Hmmm
I don't think that's what people mean. Mostly people mean you shouldnt draw preconceived symbols of what you think you know something looks like, and actually draw what you are seeing as it is. To copy, that is. Vilppu says that in order to figure draw properly you need to draw what you understand of a person's pose, and NOT what you see or what it is. It's on the Vilppu drawing manual.
@@sebaba001 What I meant was the thing about not drawing symbols and drawing what you see instead.
Words can have different meanings though, and Alphonso's advice isn't wrong per se.
Thank you so much! this is so much helpful for me you're really amazing teacher ! I'm waiting for part 2 😆😊
I’m glad it helped
Thank you for the wonderful video. I'll love to see you continue with the urban sketching series...Maybe an outside video? :)
Definitely
I use staedtler pens and I was wondering if their a good choice, because I’ve able to get pretty good at art with them ( thanks to watching a lot of your videos ) but this kid at school who also likes art says I should not draw with them. What do you think?
Pls reply
What do you think? should I also practice drawing on a surface computer so as not to feel left behind in the twentieth century drawing on paper.
Great teacher
Thank you
I’m an artist who is best at abstract and Patterns which I’m really good at but I don’t feel like it’s “real art” so I want to branch out to realistic things like animals and people but I don’t really know where to start when it comes to learning basics, proportions, and anatomy. Any advice?
He has many great videos on proportions and anatomy. Following them really helped me, so I recommend you go through his videos and create a playlist for yourself and your topics of interest.
E PursuitOfNatural thanks
Indeed, Alphonso Dunn is the best help.
Thank you that was great and yes please i would love more videos like this👍
🙂
Pen and ink you often have to draw what you know, because contour is often not observable and hatch marks need to follow the contour.
In general I would say you have to draw what you see when you don't know anything about the subject, but a lot of subjects will be difficult to draw, particularly from photographs or from a distance where you can't learn about the subject by going to various perspectives.
Drawing what you see, when you already know lots about the subject, means don't be arrogant / learn new things / look for the personality in the subject that makes it different from your generalized knowledge.
interesting perspective
Greetings from Utah. Great video! Subbed. Thanks!
Thanks much
Hey Alphonso thanks for this video. It really help clarifying things like this. I have a question I been meaning to ask. More recently I tried doing live public studies but I been having a hard time because the person I draw stays still for only a moment. Do you have any tips or advice on getting the subject down or just techniques on public figure drawing? I've told i should just take a picture of sometimes but I figure that would be kinda creepy.
If it is a long-term pose, usually in the beginning the model will tend to move a bit but eventually they settle into a more fixed pose as they get a little tired and the body finds a comfortable position to rest in. This is when you really get into it. Also, this is why you don’t draw details first, start off with structure, the line of rhythm, or line of action and build from the inside out focusing on the major masses, because they generally don’t move that much
I want to learn how to draw buildings and record the results of my drawings. but how do you record the video? I use a tripod, but it's very difficult because when I draw, I'm always blocked with a tripod. how can the camera be focused on the paper we are drawing? thank you for replying to my comment 😊😊
perhaps you need to record at an angle or use a type of arm that extends from the tripod over your paper
Hey Alphonso, great video! I have a question. Why do you always draw in small squares?
small squares?
Alphonso Dunn I mean you don't draw on a4 or a5 size, but smaller
If you wear contacts and are trying to draw, take them out! My eyesight is like -10.0 in both eyes since I read a lot as a kid, and wowwww did my drawings improve once i tried taking my glasses off. The shapes are much more obvious.
hmmm
Havent watch the vid yet but I already liked the vid! Thanks for the content :)
🙂
Yess i been waiting for this kind of tips
🙂
I never studied human anatomy and that is why I have a horrible time drawing people. Can you recommend a beginners anatomy book? Most of the books I have looked at belong in a medical school-lol
Great video. I bought your book. Its great.
Thanks much
Am I the only who started sharpening my pencil like he does? XD
👀
I tried but I keep breaking it and takes so much time. Just using a mechanical pencil now.
I do! xD
I do.. it has helped me control my pressure.. i have two pencils sharpened like this, the other one broke cuz my classmate dropped it.. haha
I use a EF fountain pen. Doesn’t need sharpening.
Man published that book worldwide for the sake of humanity
: )
Thank you for this video
Very welcome
thank you
Very welcome
excellent!
thanks
Is it better to start learning drawing (from zero) digitally or traditionally ???
I already have a non-display digital tablet.
Traditionally, always traditionally.
@@alphonsodunn Thank you, sir ❤️
Merry Christmas to all
Happy Hanukkah!
Thank you, Michael! You too! : )
@@ybe7011 Enjoy it! : )
@@mauricejerome3392 thanks so much!
@@ybe7011 You're welcome : )
First you draw what you see ,then you draw what you know ,finally you see what you know ...Robert Beverly Hale
Alphonso what's the mz'e difference between your two book books if their is any?
First book focuses on the concepts, second book focuses on the practice. They supplement each other
U r awesome as always...
Thanks much : )
when the artist has used one stroke to say a hundred.This seems to be more connected to what you know.
But the seeing informs the knowing, remember that
Hey Alphonso,
I have an art channel and I just hit 100 subs . For Christmas i got your book “How to Draw in Pen and Ink “ I was think about doing a series on my channel . Would you mind if I did a learning series using the book ?
Thats exciting! I hope your channel grows! Of course, feel free to use it as an inspiration. Thanks so much for sharing it with your audience
Alphonso Dunn thank you and thank you for helping me more than you know . Drawing in pen has changed my draw life ! Thank you again
awesome
You see what you know, but you should try to know what you see.
I love the way you put that
:) TY
Very welcome
4:25 is that a photo or a fkin' drawing? 😯
I'll draw the rings on his pinky fingers.
haha
Hi
Hey, in your workbook exercises 1.17 trough 1.22 how can i check if i identified variations and strokes correctly?
The next video will address this exercise
Those are some grave-voiced hands
lol
#aftabart I am first.
anatomy is like 99% "what you know"
not necessarily, but knowing does help a lot a lot lol
Not 99%. What about perspective? Anatomy goes out the window if the perspective is extreme.
It's to late but maybe it's help for batter video. On the with background moving high contrast hand's... To much distribution almost unbearable to see. Please Tone down the background, or try any other idea.
Those are not contradictory at all. Drawing what you see and what you know are two entirely different objectives. If your objective is to render the object, then you draw what you see. If your object is to make a creative work of an object, then you draw what you know or what you want to convey.
Indeed and thats exactly what makes it contrary: when students are told to do both simultaneously.
No one will buy your portraits if you do not improve on nature