I remember as a kid watching cartoon artists draw characters perfectly from scratch. This was before digital art programs were common, and I never considered just how many thousands upon thousands of drawings they would've already done of the same character.
I tell everyone this when I can. Just look at the stress on Comic Artists faces when there asked if they can draw you something outside there wheelhouse. The anxiety on there face is palpaple.
@@Bluedotred Yeah I feel like thats a good signal tbh, because for ex we use a lot more the mannequin form which speeds up and makes us improve, help visualize etc, than a whole anatomical accurate drawing
Am I the only one who likes when you can still see the sketch better than just the finished drawing? I feel like it adds more character to your art idk, it sorta humanises it more
Totally agree, I love a bit of roughness. Depends on the type of drawing of course, some clean, weighty linework is great, too. Single-thickness lines look too sterile and will probably exaggerate any shakyness in the linework.
legit thought i was the only one. i absolutely hate it when people "clean" up their artwork and use just a thick singular line ughh. like the extra sketchy movements literally show me movements of the character and shapes itself as you said it has a looot more character
y'know, this dude is great at teaching, your voice is calm, relaxed, i see SO MANY, youtube guides on teaching drawing and the dude screams, slams things, speed the video up while talking over it, fills your head with so much stuff in a short amount of time, you're gentle at it, you keep a tone of voice while sketching and drawing at the normal pace, thank you
there's also thumbnailing, where you make a bunch of simple, small sketches then after learning that you make the main, big sketch. helps with composition
100%. So much of drawing is a process and waiting for the puzzle pieces to fall into place. Starting off nice and rough and working towards polishing it up is way more engaging and puts my mind into easy compared to trying to finish the drawing in one sitting. Great vid!!!
OMGoodness, thank you so much. I have watched thousands of tutorials on WC, graphite drawing and doodling and have never been told this, you're the best. Can't wait for book 3. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This makes me think of Bob Ross. In a documentary I watched, it mentioned that he painted an art piece a few times in order to figure out how he wanted the scenery to look for his viewers. He took time to develop his scenery and we saw his final result as he painted it for tv viewers. So sketching is good practice for for proportions. Some of your videos helped me develop my coloring skills too.
Thanks so much for adding this. I wish students understood that often times what we see on tv and social media doesnt really show everything and there is much more that goes into that we dont see
thankyou so much this is amazing. I often come to the realization that I need to fluidly sketch, but next morning I wake up and forget so I definitely needed this reminder
I wasted years not sketching. Trying to draw a perfect lineart image from the start and then giving up the second I made a mistake. It was only about last year I finally "gave up" and started to allow myself to do messy sketching. And it worked. As the video says, I was able to "loosen up" and create stuff I never even knew I had the skills for. Then just apply darker lines on top to finish it. Now that I'm transitioning into digital, I thought I'd need less sketching because of the layers. Instead what happens is I find I do even more sketching. 2, 3, sometimes even 5 different passes, each new layer refining the last. Because it tricks my mind that, as long as this is just another sketch layer, it doesn't need to be perfect. By the time I go to do the lineart, my "sketch" is basically the lineart I want. All I'm doing on the lineart step is using the G Pen instead of the pencil.
I feel like i'm experiencing the same problems you had with trying to draw everything in big lines from the start and then i mess up over and over on something and get stuck, do you know of any good guides to learn to sketch?
@@LappyAwoo I don't know if there's any kind of online tutorials to focus specifically on this. I only figured it out through tons of trial and error. And even then, I may be doing it wrong myself. I definitely take way longer (more layers/passes) than trained artists. Only tip I can give is kinda what I said above. It's a mental thing. Keep telling yourself it's just a sketch so it doesn't need to be perfect. And you don't need to get it right the first time. When it comes to getting stuck, I still experience that often. Just today I got stuck trying to learn the spacing of the eyes when drawing the head different angles. To that all I can say is look at references and videos of people drawing. Not tutorials, but timelapse videos of people drawing the thing you're trying to draw. I've learned way more from watching someone sketch and replicating what they do than I do watching tutorial videos. Since a lot of tutorial videos are focused on just a certain thing, like drawing just the eyes, and you will get lost if you don't know all the steps and guidelines needed before the eyes. But a video of someone doing a full sketch shows you every step.
Its a hard habit to break but it really helps to warm up and start with looser sketches first because it gives your brain time to talk to itself and figure out the final drawing
Well, a very art school way to approach your piece when studying composition is to start with a lot of sketches that are pretty much as abstract as possible. At first you draw a lot (let's say 30, the more the better) very small (roughly 5x10 cm) sketches with a particular theme. You try to figure out the spots and lines at first, then the tone and "characters" (what's that spot or line's supposed to be), then you move on to construction. As the sketches start to get more detailed you increase their size and detalization. You may start adding color somewhere there as well. First to A5, then to A4, then you move on and on until you get an actual sketch for your piece. And, when you're actually happy with that sketch -- you paint.
Starting a drawing from sketch or necessary and a must for me lol. I actually really like the process of sketching to finished line work before pen/ink and/or watercolor. It's very calming
I like watching your videos because apparently I'm doing many things right without knowing. I'm finally learning how to draw at 26 and I'm going at it with the same systematic, thought-out approach I have with other art forms and skills. Very interested in your books. Thanks for making these videos!
Thank you for this. I went to college for art. It wrung every ounce of joy in it from me. I should be better than I am and it was very defeating. I feel like everything I draw has to be marketable. This reminded me that I need to remember how to just draw for fun. Not everything needs to be impressive. Thank you.
I am able to draw a dice really good without sketching, but when it comes to something circular, it's become distorted... Therefore, sketching is really important! Is it possible, that you do a tutorial about Rocks and the structure behind it? I have big issues when it comes to draw the structure of the rock, even if i draw a dice before, where the rock should be in. I would hardly appreciate that!
@@alphonsodunn Ohh, i've watched it earlier, but didn't grasp the key points in it. I know now, that i have to keep the light in mind AND that Rocks like you've drawed in the Video, are mostly layered (stacked) which will give the structure of the rock. (middle part of the rock) My problem was, that the middle-part of the rock was a total mess, but with layering and deforming the normal block, i've created my first promising rock. I've also discovered the whole Rocks & Mountains Playlist! I think you make Art very accessable to everyone and for that i wish you the best of luck in your future :) Luv you
The little difference between "without sketching" and "with sketching" can make big difference in art quality and conception. Thanks for the valuable advice.
Thank you very much for this - as someone with ADHD I find it really easy to get so enthused about getting to the final drawing that I often either rush through or skip the sketch phase when doing anything that isn't practice exercises. It definirely doesn't help that a lot of the more famous artists have worked for so long they've internalised the sketch phase and don't need to put any guidelines down before they get stuck in - I have a bad comparison habit and it sometimes makes me believe that I'm not good because I sketch. Having someone remind me the importance of sketching is super helpful.
I’m glad youre able to be introspective on your practice. For some reason many students are not as willing to be that honest with themselves, so I commend you. And what you explained about the famous artists is exactly what happens in most of the cases. So don’t compare yourself to them and their process. Your process is your process and thats it. Be true to where you are. Keep going! 💪
Im on a website that does a lot of gesture drawings and one of the most common things I see beginners struggle with is actually sketching TOO much. A lot of their timed drawings end up as sketchy messes, doing a process we tend to call "line searching". I've seen a lot of success in telling these beginners to take their time with their lines (among other things), but this advice seems to directly contradict that. What process of sketching do you recommend to avoid the tangled mess of lines for your subject?
There are patterns of motion associated with types of line. The motion we are most likely to make as beginners is to reuse how we write letters, because that was trained at a young age. And that leads to beginners who draw with chicken-scratch marks from the wrist, the same way we would write "T" or "C". They can look at a shape, understand what line they want to make, then turn their gaze back to their own paper...and make a completely different motion, because that's what they've already got the muscle memory for. Drawing a longer, flowing line with precision is beyond them because they never developed coordination for it, unless they were extremely persistent in their early years. Slowing down is part of the answer, but the root of the issue is in "monkey see, monkey do" - it's athletic, like learning motions for sports or dance. When this is the problem, the more conceptual advice(which is most of what one encounters when looking for "how to draw" tutorials) isn't much help. What they need to overcome to get to a different kind of motion and make better sketches is to feel what their hand is actually doing and to consciously make a different motion, which is why blind contours are such a popular option as an introductory exercise. That will do the isolation necessary to start holding the pencil differently and moving it differently. As an adult beginner I did a lot of measuring and checking, construction with cubes and cylinders, tracing, and other things. I was getting small improvements in the quality of my draftsmanship, but I still struggled to do anything quickly and to get good hand-eye coordination without very carefully setting things up so that I was using my strongest possible angle of motion(rotating the paper, angled surface, etc.). Finally I got around to blind contours and it was like taking off on a rocket ship - two weeks of warming up with them and everything about my drawing was different. I went from not being able to use graphics tablets without a screen, to actually enjoying not having my hand in the way.
Hi Alphonso, You are the best Thank you so much you speak words of wisdom and truth. I'm so happy its as though you have opened new doors for me. I am so excited to start drawing again.🤗
I sketch daily, and I've done hundreds, getting up to thousands of gesture drawings and I've definitely improved consistently but it feels like the more I practice the early parts of my drawing, the more I study, the less confident I feel in putting together full projects. I'm a little bit envious of folks who can put together full compositions despite seeing very clearly that their grasp of concepts like construction and gesture are probably not as deep as mine, because they're obviously better at putting together something that looks finished! I wonder if I'm maybe falling into using my practice as an excuse to not use what I've learned to express myself, which is itself a skill.
That is possible but its worth trying to push yourself to a point of no return. Or even focusing your study on compositions that inspire you and use them as templates. Nothing is wrong with doing that as a spring board
Do some master studies of illustration work and practice just adding additional elements to the scene like and extra character ect... then add more next master studies eventually replacing the entire scene. Just a thought.
You know what............ I think this is exactly what I was missing from my drawing routine, lately I was feeling that there where something missing but I didn't quite knew what it was. I think I just ended up getting too used to just construct some basics and then skip the sketch process, I can't quite tell when I started that, but it became almost natural for me to skip that part. Thanks this might help me a lot
I started drawing a couple years ago right into drawing characters on paper without practicing any basics when I was still a kid(Just close to getting to the teenage stage), and I've been drawing a lot since then. But seeing how my art is now I really wanted to return to the basics and start from scratch but with how my habit is built(the classes I take at middle and high school related to designs really makes me have that mindset of drawing every line in one stroke that my sketch isn't even sketching anymore lmao) making me feel really lost to find a way to start.
As usual I really appreciate and respect your input. But sometimes I see experienced artists overdoing sketching. Before committing. And I found that sketching like that does not build my confidence because when drawing directly with ink I don't have that option. How much prefer to visualize first what I am going to draw then commit with a clean line. Just like Kim Jung Gi. But it will definitely be included it as a form of practice to loosen up just like you suggested. Thanks again.
What you consider “ overdoing” may be just enough for them . To learn to visualize and draw clean lines takes a long time and some talent too, even with drawing from observation, let alone drawing from imagination.
Hi Alphonso. I have already bought your books that I use them as reference for teaching young children in Greece. Your teaching method is great because it is well constructed and neat. It is the step by step kind of method that develops first some skills and then moves to more advanced techniques. It is unfortunate that your books are not translated in other languages otherwise I would have recommenced them to my students. What is the subject of the third book? Is it for advanced drawing or you are writing something on composition, art theory and other related subjects?
i struggle with sketching because i start drawing in details while the sketch is still unfinished. it really is a test of patience for me, im so hungry to see the final product. it's a test of patience just as you say
“And, you’re also practicing to be patient- which is very important in drawing.” my finger above the right side of the screen: Uhhh, yep, I’m very patient.
i genuinely need to do this more to help me relax, i always stress myself out and i think it's cause even in my sketch phase i'm not properly taking my time and am rushing through and going right to details
It's a shame, because sketching is so much fun, too! Just mess around and see how it turns out, and if it sucks? Well you only spent five minutes on it, just start over again! :) Also, use reference material. Much easier to draw something when you actually know what it looks like. You can start drawing things from memory later.
I always seem to have problems removing the sketches from "under" a finished drawing. Thus, the final drawing looks overworked and/or "dirty" because of the incompletely erased/removed underlayment. If I could remove all the marks of sketching cleanly and completely, I would be much more willing to include it as a step in my process.
Greetings from New Zealand. I came across your channel a couple days ago. In one of the videos you mentioned your books. I had a look at them, and they were exactly what I have been looking for, so i ordered them from Amazon this morning.. I have been wanting to take the leap from pencil to pen and ink for a while now. Cheers.
I believe some one starting should start. Not worry about how they start. If you get hooked on the details and worry about doing it right, you won't get time to put pencil to paper.
@@alphonsodunn I would like to say you are wrong but well. I am on my 48th day of learning to draw. My art is not good. Occasionally I do something that I am satisfied with but 9/10 are trash. And because of that each day is more difficult to motivate myself than the last. To make matters worse is I have ADHD and get bored of things easily. I have been uploading timelapses of my drawings to YT on another channel in the hopes that getting an audience will help me stick to it and since I am still doing it, it must be working.
I really needed this! When i have the time, I'm definitely going to start practicing sketching shapes... shapes were something else i didn't practice.. Speaking of which, should i practice 2D and 3D shapes? Or do Do i just practice 3D straight away?
Omg just found you. You are fantastic. I love pencil drawing, my favorite, and wow you really explain it so perfectly. I've been going back on your videos, just saw how you did a rose, so good, I love flowers the most. Always wanted to do faces, now with you teaching it, I think I can do it. So awesome, your the best💜
Was legit shocked when I realized that this video was about the importance of sketching and not... literally anything else like it's insane to me that people don't sketch
When I sit and draw in ink, freehand, on a "single pass"... It's NOT intent on creating art. Sometimes artistic value comes out of it, but that's not the point. The point is to leave the lines... forget the eraser... quit being precious... and learn to just accept what I did... It's an exercise... and the resulting drawing may be anywhere from hot garbage to pretty incredible... Half the time, I don't know for at least a day, having to put it aside and come back to examine it because I can see EVERY nit-picky little dinky issue, false motion, bad line, and shortcoming in the whole thing. I was there when they all happened, and fresh in mind, I've memorized them... I KNOW... and they SUCK, at least to me... SO I started the exercise habit, to quit sweating them... at least, to quit sweating them so much. Nothing's perfect, even in real life. Those artists who can "get it perfect on one try" can't really do it either. They benefit from Control-Z and just re-do the things until they get it right in one go. Ever wonder how YT-artists go into "full meltdown mode" out of the blue??? They've Control-Z'ed themselves into a corner and run into that one weakness they've got that they can't ever quite get perfect in one go, no matter how many tries they have... and their fans just wanted that one thing they struggle at drawing... No amount of clever editing can quite get "the perfect long-cut" if they can't do it crisp and clean and in one shot on their own... and they crumple. I can see my own work sucking like it does all by myself. I know when it's no good... AND it doesn't have to see the light of day. I DO have to make myself finish it, though... Follow through and then examine it in a day or 3, when I can stand to look at it again, and see where it actually works... where it doesn't... and why or how... THEN I can work toward those techniques I need to work on. The freehand ink, ALSO helps refine my "edge", in a way... It puts a pressure to pay better attention, and I study a little more attentively when I learn those little lessons. Details count, and while the first gestural scratches across the paper don't make the drawing, the better I CAN get them, the less work I have to do later to fix them... When I start a project actually FOR ART, however, I'm interested as much in the product I create as I am in the process of creating it. EVERYTHING counts. The prep' is as much a part of the final effects as the dedication to ink and the quality of my archival pens or the techniques I employ. It matters where and how much I bend or warp reality to affix my impression of it to share with my audience... AND I'm always after a DEEPLY visceral, powerful, and emotional reaction. Whether someone Loves it or Hates it, I want them to use the capital letter(s) to describe it. Then I feel, as an artist, like I've done my job. AND yes, it's tough whenever someone hates something I've done. Sure... BUT if they never get to hate it, then I didn't earn the risk that they might LOVE it, and that's just ripping everyone off from their enjoyment of art in the first place. ;o)
@@alphonsodunnprobably the latter. If I remember correctly it was one youtube short when I first started off drawing, then someone I asked for feedback with my sketching looking a bit too apparent
![ลองสั่งของจากแอพ temu ถูกจริงหรอ?? ( part : 1/2 ) [โกงไหมครับ ep.89 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RTcZSQTiDZw/mqdefault.jpg)
I remember as a kid watching cartoon artists draw characters perfectly from scratch. This was before digital art programs were common, and I never considered just how many thousands upon thousands of drawings they would've already done of the same character.
yup, to be able to internalize the proportions of the characters that well took a long time and lots of practice
I tell everyone this when I can. Just look at the stress on Comic Artists faces when there asked if they can draw you something outside there wheelhouse. The anxiety on there face is palpaple.
My first sketch is always better than any final drawing I try to make from it.
Same here! But there's nothing wrong with that.
@@Bluedotred Yeah I feel like thats a good signal tbh, because for ex we use a lot more the mannequin form which speeds up and makes us improve, help visualize etc, than a whole anatomical accurate drawing
I AGREEE
Draw much smaller and less detailed sketches and progress with them, don't just draw one pre-production one. That will improve things.
You'll get past that stage eventually.
Am I the only one who likes when you can still see the sketch better than just the finished drawing? I feel like it adds more character to your art idk, it sorta humanises it more
Totally agree, I love a bit of roughness. Depends on the type of drawing of course, some clean, weighty linework is great, too. Single-thickness lines look too sterile and will probably exaggerate any shakyness in the linework.
legit thought i was the only one. i absolutely hate it when people "clean" up their artwork and use just a thick singular line ughh. like the extra sketchy movements literally show me movements of the character and shapes itself as you said it has a looot more character
y'know, this dude is great at teaching, your voice is calm, relaxed, i see SO MANY, youtube guides on teaching drawing and the dude screams, slams things, speed the video up while talking over it, fills your head with so much stuff in a short amount of time, you're gentle at it, you keep a tone of voice while sketching and drawing at the normal pace, thank you
Your comment has summed it all up for me. This is the best channel of its kind
there's also thumbnailing, where you make a bunch of simple, small sketches then after learning that you make the main, big sketch. helps with composition
100%. So much of drawing is a process and waiting for the puzzle pieces to fall into place. Starting off nice and rough and working towards polishing it up is way more engaging and puts my mind into easy compared to trying to finish the drawing in one sitting. Great vid!!!
OMGoodness, thank you so much. I have watched thousands of tutorials on WC, graphite drawing and doodling and have never been told this, you're the best. Can't wait for book 3.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Youre most welcome! I working hard on it
This makes me think of Bob Ross. In a documentary I watched, it mentioned that he painted an art piece a few times in order to figure out how he wanted the scenery to look for his viewers. He took time to develop his scenery and we saw his final result as he painted it for tv viewers. So sketching is good practice for for proportions. Some of your videos helped me develop my coloring skills too.
Thanks so much for adding this. I wish students understood that often times what we see on tv and social media doesnt really show everything and there is much more that goes into that we dont see
thankyou so much this is amazing. I often come to the realization that I need to fluidly sketch, but next morning I wake up and forget so I definitely needed this reminder
I wasted years not sketching. Trying to draw a perfect lineart image from the start and then giving up the second I made a mistake. It was only about last year I finally "gave up" and started to allow myself to do messy sketching. And it worked. As the video says, I was able to "loosen up" and create stuff I never even knew I had the skills for. Then just apply darker lines on top to finish it. Now that I'm transitioning into digital, I thought I'd need less sketching because of the layers. Instead what happens is I find I do even more sketching. 2, 3, sometimes even 5 different passes, each new layer refining the last. Because it tricks my mind that, as long as this is just another sketch layer, it doesn't need to be perfect. By the time I go to do the lineart, my "sketch" is basically the lineart I want. All I'm doing on the lineart step is using the G Pen instead of the pencil.
I feel like i'm experiencing the same problems you had with trying to draw everything in big lines from the start and then i mess up over and over on something and get stuck, do you know of any good guides to learn to sketch?
@@LappyAwoo I don't know if there's any kind of online tutorials to focus specifically on this. I only figured it out through tons of trial and error. And even then, I may be doing it wrong myself. I definitely take way longer (more layers/passes) than trained artists. Only tip I can give is kinda what I said above. It's a mental thing. Keep telling yourself it's just a sketch so it doesn't need to be perfect. And you don't need to get it right the first time.
When it comes to getting stuck, I still experience that often. Just today I got stuck trying to learn the spacing of the eyes when drawing the head different angles. To that all I can say is look at references and videos of people drawing. Not tutorials, but timelapse videos of people drawing the thing you're trying to draw. I've learned way more from watching someone sketch and replicating what they do than I do watching tutorial videos. Since a lot of tutorial videos are focused on just a certain thing, like drawing just the eyes, and you will get lost if you don't know all the steps and guidelines needed before the eyes. But a video of someone doing a full sketch shows you every step.
Thank you for the advice, i started watching some timelapse videos from artists i follow and i feel like i have a better idea of what to do@@maxis2k
@@LappyAwoo Hope it helps. And good luck.
Its a hard habit to break but it really helps to warm up and start with looser sketches first because it gives your brain time to talk to itself and figure out the final drawing
Well, a very art school way to approach your piece when studying composition is to start with a lot of sketches that are pretty much as abstract as possible. At first you draw a lot (let's say 30, the more the better) very small (roughly 5x10 cm) sketches with a particular theme. You try to figure out the spots and lines at first, then the tone and "characters" (what's that spot or line's supposed to be), then you move on to construction. As the sketches start to get more detailed you increase their size and detalization. You may start adding color somewhere there as well. First to A5, then to A4, then you move on and on until you get an actual sketch for your piece. And, when you're actually happy with that sketch -- you paint.
Construction lines as a guide, with sketching as multiple minute corrections towards what one is trying to achieve.
“They seem to get it all right at first try”…. I needed to hear this today 🙏🙏
Starting a drawing from sketch or necessary and a must for me lol. I actually really like the process of sketching to finished line work before pen/ink and/or watercolor. It's very calming
“It’s all about time and patience”
School: We don’t have time nor the patience, draw a self portrait in an hour.
I like watching your videos because apparently I'm doing many things right without knowing. I'm finally learning how to draw at 26 and I'm going at it with the same systematic, thought-out approach I have with other art forms and skills. Very interested in your books. Thanks for making these videos!
Such a peaceful voice. Really helpful for those of us with difficulty learning. I think I could actually learn from you.
going from a sketch to a full drawing really does feel like sculpting
Thank you for this. I went to college for art. It wrung every ounce of joy in it from me. I should be better than I am and it was very defeating. I feel like everything I draw has to be marketable. This reminded me that I need to remember how to just draw for fun. Not everything needs to be impressive. Thank you.
Thank you. What an important reminder. ❤
Loootta videos about this coming up lately. So glad we're getting this now ad artists.
Can’t wait for the new book!
I am able to draw a dice really good without sketching, but when it comes to something circular, it's become distorted...
Therefore, sketching is really important!
Is it possible, that you do a tutorial about Rocks and the structure behind it?
I have big issues when it comes to draw the structure of the rock, even if i draw a dice before, where the rock should be in.
I would hardly appreciate that!
Me too, rocks just seem so difficult for me!
Heres one, let me know if it helps
Pen & Ink Drawing Tutorials | How to draw rocks, stones and boulders
th-cam.com/video/O7O7-EU4bgg/w-d-xo.html
@@alphonsodunn Ohh, i've watched it earlier, but didn't grasp the key points in it.
I know now, that i have to keep the light in mind AND that Rocks like you've drawed in the Video, are mostly layered (stacked) which will give the structure of the rock. (middle part of the rock)
My problem was, that the middle-part of the rock was a total mess, but with layering and deforming the normal block, i've created my first promising rock.
I've also discovered the whole Rocks & Mountains Playlist!
I think you make Art very accessable to everyone and for that i wish you the best of luck in your future :)
Luv you
The more i try to learn the more i see that just simply watching a skilled artist drawing is so... Unreal
Can't wait for the 3rd book so excited
🙂🙂🙂
This was actually very helpful.
The little difference between "without sketching" and "with sketching" can make big difference in art quality and conception. Thanks for the valuable advice.
Love this, finding your way to the drawing... exploring what it could be through sketching. SO TRUE!
Just got your books and I’m already excited to hear that there’s gonna be a third!
Thanks so much for supporting them
I have sketchbooks dedicated to not skipping this.
Best practice!!
When you sketch you get a slightly fuzzier line. When I sketch half of my space is shaded uniformly
Thank you very much for this - as someone with ADHD I find it really easy to get so enthused about getting to the final drawing that I often either rush through or skip the sketch phase when doing anything that isn't practice exercises. It definirely doesn't help that a lot of the more famous artists have worked for so long they've internalised the sketch phase and don't need to put any guidelines down before they get stuck in - I have a bad comparison habit and it sometimes makes me believe that I'm not good because I sketch. Having someone remind me the importance of sketching is super helpful.
I’m glad youre able to be introspective on your practice. For some reason many students are not as willing to be that honest with themselves, so I commend you.
And what you explained about the famous artists is exactly what happens in most of the cases. So don’t compare yourself to them and their process. Your process is your process and thats it. Be true to where you are. Keep going! 💪
This video inspired me to pick up a pencil and do some sketching. Thank you! Can't wait for the new book!!!
🙂🙏
🙂🙏
Im on a website that does a lot of gesture drawings and one of the most common things I see beginners struggle with is actually sketching TOO much. A lot of their timed drawings end up as sketchy messes, doing a process we tend to call "line searching". I've seen a lot of success in telling these beginners to take their time with their lines (among other things), but this advice seems to directly contradict that. What process of sketching do you recommend to avoid the tangled mess of lines for your subject?
There are patterns of motion associated with types of line. The motion we are most likely to make as beginners is to reuse how we write letters, because that was trained at a young age. And that leads to beginners who draw with chicken-scratch marks from the wrist, the same way we would write "T" or "C". They can look at a shape, understand what line they want to make, then turn their gaze back to their own paper...and make a completely different motion, because that's what they've already got the muscle memory for. Drawing a longer, flowing line with precision is beyond them because they never developed coordination for it, unless they were extremely persistent in their early years. Slowing down is part of the answer, but the root of the issue is in "monkey see, monkey do" - it's athletic, like learning motions for sports or dance. When this is the problem, the more conceptual advice(which is most of what one encounters when looking for "how to draw" tutorials) isn't much help.
What they need to overcome to get to a different kind of motion and make better sketches is to feel what their hand is actually doing and to consciously make a different motion, which is why blind contours are such a popular option as an introductory exercise. That will do the isolation necessary to start holding the pencil differently and moving it differently. As an adult beginner I did a lot of measuring and checking, construction with cubes and cylinders, tracing, and other things. I was getting small improvements in the quality of my draftsmanship, but I still struggled to do anything quickly and to get good hand-eye coordination without very carefully setting things up so that I was using my strongest possible angle of motion(rotating the paper, angled surface, etc.). Finally I got around to blind contours and it was like taking off on a rocket ship - two weeks of warming up with them and everything about my drawing was different. I went from not being able to use graphics tablets without a screen, to actually enjoying not having my hand in the way.
This is so true. A great lesson.
Thanks so much
Nice to see this important fact to be explained simply
I remember trying sketching for the first time and it was a wonderful discovery that gave me a spark compared to my other attempts
Hi Alphonso, You are the best Thank you so much you speak words of wisdom and truth. I'm so happy its as though you have opened new doors for me. I am so excited to start drawing again.🤗
Thank you. This was so helpful.
I sketch daily, and I've done hundreds, getting up to thousands of gesture drawings and I've definitely improved consistently but it feels like the more I practice the early parts of my drawing, the more I study, the less confident I feel in putting together full projects. I'm a little bit envious of folks who can put together full compositions despite seeing very clearly that their grasp of concepts like construction and gesture are probably not as deep as mine, because they're obviously better at putting together something that looks finished! I wonder if I'm maybe falling into using my practice as an excuse to not use what I've learned to express myself, which is itself a skill.
That is possible but its worth trying to push yourself to a point of no return. Or even focusing your study on compositions that inspire you and use them as templates. Nothing is wrong with doing that as a spring board
Do some master studies of illustration work and practice just adding additional elements to the scene like and extra character ect... then add more next master studies eventually replacing the entire scene. Just a thought.
You know what............ I think this is exactly what I was missing from my drawing routine, lately I was feeling that there where something missing but I didn't quite knew what it was. I think I just ended up getting too used to just construct some basics and then skip the sketch process, I can't quite tell when I started that, but it became almost natural for me to skip that part. Thanks this might help me a lot
such an amazing teacher thank you
Thank you for all of your tutorials I really appreciate it it's one of my favorite channels to learn how to draw
Thanks so much. Its my pleasure
Next video, hopeing to see your book launch
On the way, on the way
I started drawing a couple years ago right into drawing characters on paper without practicing any basics when I was still a kid(Just close to getting to the teenage stage), and I've been drawing a lot since then. But seeing how my art is now I really wanted to return to the basics and start from scratch but with how my habit is built(the classes I take at middle and high school related to designs really makes me have that mindset of drawing every line in one stroke that my sketch isn't even sketching anymore lmao) making me feel really lost to find a way to start.
So glad I came across this video! Really helpful!
As usual I really appreciate and respect your input. But sometimes I see experienced artists overdoing sketching. Before committing.
And I found that sketching like that does not build my confidence because when drawing directly with ink I don't have that option.
How much prefer to visualize first what I am going to draw then commit with a clean line.
Just like Kim Jung Gi.
But it will definitely be included it as a form of practice to loosen up just like you suggested.
Thanks again.
What you consider “ overdoing” may be just enough for them . To learn to visualize and draw clean lines takes a long time and some talent too, even with drawing from observation, let alone drawing from imagination.
Awesome! I really needed to hear this. Thank you SO MUCH!❤️😊
🙂🙏
Hi Alphonso. I have already bought your books that I use them as reference for teaching young children in Greece. Your teaching method is great because it is well constructed and neat. It is the step by step kind of method that develops first some skills and then moves to more advanced techniques. It is unfortunate that your books are not translated in other languages otherwise I would have recommenced them to my students.
What is the subject of the third book? Is it for advanced drawing or you are writing something on composition, art theory and other related subjects?
Thank you for this
Great advice. Thank you.
Excellent tutorials.
very much informative excellent 👌👌👌👌👌 explanation superb dimensions thankyou so much for nice 👍 sharing
Thank you for this. I needed that reminder! :-)
Very welcome 🙂
I never skip the sketching part unless if I only have a pen with me.
Super useful piece of advice as usual. Thank you so much.
i struggle with sketching because i start drawing in details while the sketch is still unfinished. it really is a test of patience for me, im so hungry to see the final product. it's a test of patience just as you say
You have slow yourself down. Sometimes ensuring you spend a specific amount of time before moving on helps
Sketching just feels so good, for me it's even more enjoyable than finishing drawings 😂
Lots of fun
“Practicing to be patient” ❤
Never-ending battle
“And, you’re also practicing to be patient- which is very important in drawing.”
my finger above the right side of the screen:
Uhhh, yep, I’m very patient.
Thank u for blessing us alphonso
My pleasure 🙂🙏
i genuinely need to do this more to help me relax, i always stress myself out and i think it's cause even in my sketch phase i'm not properly taking my time and am rushing through and going right to details
just what i needed to hear
It's a shame, because sketching is so much fun, too! Just mess around and see how it turns out, and if it sucks? Well you only spent five minutes on it, just start over again! :) Also, use reference material. Much easier to draw something when you actually know what it looks like. You can start drawing things from memory later.
GREAT VIDEO! 👍😊
Can a normal person even draw without sketching? 😅
thank you.
So true, thank you!
🙂
I always seem to have problems removing the sketches from "under" a finished drawing. Thus, the final drawing looks overworked and/or "dirty" because of the incompletely erased/removed underlayment. If I could remove all the marks of sketching cleanly and completely, I would be much more willing to include it as a step in my process.
Are you sketching lightly? What are you using to sketch?
Greetings from New Zealand. I came across your channel a couple days ago. In one of the videos you mentioned your books. I had a look at them, and they were exactly what I have been looking for, so i ordered them from Amazon this morning.. I have been wanting to take the leap from pencil to pen and ink for a while now. Cheers.
Ahh thanks so much! I hope you find them useful and informative 🙏
I believe some one starting should start. Not worry about how they start. If you get hooked on the details and worry about doing it right, you won't get time to put pencil to paper.
Yup just get started. Much easier said that done though, isnt it
@@alphonsodunn I would like to say you are wrong but well. I am on my 48th day of learning to draw. My art is not good. Occasionally I do something that I am satisfied with but 9/10 are trash. And because of that each day is more difficult to motivate myself than the last.
To make matters worse is I have ADHD and get bored of things easily.
I have been uploading timelapses of my drawings to YT on another channel in the hopes that getting an audience will help me stick to it and since I am still doing it, it must be working.
Thank you
Thank you
Great advice! Can't wait for your new book.
🙂🙏
I hope the book is a general drawing/drawing theory book. I've always loved your mindset and explanations about the drawing process.
It is🙂
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@@alphonsodunn
nice advice!
Lost your 2 books while moving house 😢 So bought 2 more😃 Can’t wait for the 3rd 🙏 Appreciate your hard work .
Oh wow! Thanks so much! 🙂🙏
I really needed this! When i have the time, I'm definitely going to start practicing sketching shapes... shapes were something else i didn't practice..
Speaking of which, should i practice 2D and 3D shapes? Or do Do i just practice 3D straight away?
I've decided to teach myself how to draw this year. How do I release the "death grip" I have on my pencil, and still have control of the pencil?
thank you
Omg just found you. You are fantastic. I love pencil drawing, my favorite, and wow you really explain it so perfectly. I've been going back on your videos, just saw how you did a rose, so good, I love flowers the most. Always wanted to do faces, now with you teaching it, I think I can do it. So awesome, your the best💜
Thanks much. Glad I can help🙂
Thanks
Was legit shocked when I realized that this video was about the importance of sketching and not... literally anything else like it's insane to me that people don't sketch
But i'm always told "Perfect confident lines" over and over and over again to the point of erasing everything when I don't get that line style.
To aspire to make “Perfect confident lines” is one thing, but to demand it is another
Ive just discovered youre channel and i will without a doubt be buying one of youre books
Me....I need to sketch!!!!
Great advice as usual, sir. Is there a release date for the 3rd book as of yet?
Thanks. Not yet
Cool. I am anxiously waiting
Thanks a lot Alphonso, I really needed to hear that...for some reason I forget how important it is to lightly sketch first xD
Take your time 🙂
Wah
tyyyyyyy
Comprei o primeiro livro em e-book pois não falo inglês e o kindle tem tradutor. Porfavor disponibilize o segundo livro para a versão digital.
Are you doing a month long drawing challenge this year I know them other inktober folks stole your idea. I stopped doing it when I heard about it
I put so much work into my sketch that I don’t have the energy for the lineart lol
When I sit and draw in ink, freehand, on a "single pass"... It's NOT intent on creating art. Sometimes artistic value comes out of it, but that's not the point. The point is to leave the lines... forget the eraser... quit being precious... and learn to just accept what I did...
It's an exercise... and the resulting drawing may be anywhere from hot garbage to pretty incredible... Half the time, I don't know for at least a day, having to put it aside and come back to examine it because I can see EVERY nit-picky little dinky issue, false motion, bad line, and shortcoming in the whole thing. I was there when they all happened, and fresh in mind, I've memorized them... I KNOW... and they SUCK, at least to me...
SO I started the exercise habit, to quit sweating them... at least, to quit sweating them so much. Nothing's perfect, even in real life. Those artists who can "get it perfect on one try" can't really do it either. They benefit from Control-Z and just re-do the things until they get it right in one go. Ever wonder how YT-artists go into "full meltdown mode" out of the blue??? They've Control-Z'ed themselves into a corner and run into that one weakness they've got that they can't ever quite get perfect in one go, no matter how many tries they have... and their fans just wanted that one thing they struggle at drawing... No amount of clever editing can quite get "the perfect long-cut" if they can't do it crisp and clean and in one shot on their own... and they crumple.
I can see my own work sucking like it does all by myself. I know when it's no good... AND it doesn't have to see the light of day. I DO have to make myself finish it, though... Follow through and then examine it in a day or 3, when I can stand to look at it again, and see where it actually works... where it doesn't... and why or how... THEN I can work toward those techniques I need to work on.
The freehand ink, ALSO helps refine my "edge", in a way... It puts a pressure to pay better attention, and I study a little more attentively when I learn those little lessons. Details count, and while the first gestural scratches across the paper don't make the drawing, the better I CAN get them, the less work I have to do later to fix them...
When I start a project actually FOR ART, however, I'm interested as much in the product I create as I am in the process of creating it. EVERYTHING counts. The prep' is as much a part of the final effects as the dedication to ink and the quality of my archival pens or the techniques I employ. It matters where and how much I bend or warp reality to affix my impression of it to share with my audience... AND I'm always after a DEEPLY visceral, powerful, and emotional reaction. Whether someone Loves it or Hates it, I want them to use the capital letter(s) to describe it. Then I feel, as an artist, like I've done my job.
AND yes, it's tough whenever someone hates something I've done. Sure... BUT if they never get to hate it, then I didn't earn the risk that they might LOVE it, and that's just ripping everyone off from their enjoyment of art in the first place. ;o)
I actually been told to stop sketching and draw more confident lines in the past lol. It always felt odd to me
Who told you this?? Unless they meant dont STAY sketching
@@alphonsodunnprobably the latter. If I remember correctly it was one youtube short when I first started off drawing, then someone I asked for feedback with my sketching looking a bit too apparent
fact is I don't know how to sketch
Me
legend comeback
Hey alphonso great video have you ever dine digital art and if so what are your opinions on it.