Rebooting my art learing journey - feedback appreciated
2yr
Geert-Jan
So i've been practicing drawing (almost) daily for the last 2 years or so. But I lack focus and structure. After listening to the draftmen podcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od1xbX2ESP8). I've decided to bring in more structure. The podcast mentions this Redit post (https://www.reddit.com/r/learnart/comments/dapk62/from_the_guy_who_made_the_most_comprehensive_list/) with a full curriculum. My challenge will be to follow this curriculum as close as possible.
I've created this topic mostly to keep myself accountable. But i will post created work regulary, and any feedback/ critique from you guys is greatly appreciated!
Some personal info:
-39 years old
-fulltime job outside art
-On average i have 1 hour each day to practise (a bit more in the weekends)
-Not a native English speaker, so please forgive me the grammar and spelling mistakes :)
The first unit is figure drawing. I've already followed Stan's figure drawing course before, so im revisiting the course. Here are some 2 minute and 30 second gesture drawings (drawn in Procreate). Please let me know what you think of them.
Good for you. I've been messing around with this stuff since the summer of 2002. But I keep having at it. You can never give up
Week 56: Since I'm a bit behind with Stan's fundamental course, I've decided to concentrate on that one the couple of weeks. Did the last assignment, drawing cylinders on vehicles, which was very hard to do! Drew the tanks from imagination.
Week 54: Some more drapery studies + I did an (unpaid) commission for a birth card. Drawn from imagination in procreate. I'm pretty happy with the inking, but I'm also struggling with adding highlights and shadows in a cartoony drawing.
it's absolutely lovely, but tbh i am not sure where the lightening is coming from (top-left?), I think children faces confuse me and the bird's tail
Week 53: Continued with drapery and clothing, sketching clothing from Pinterest references
Week 52: I had to get back into the game, so I did different exercises from different lessons: Loomis heads, some gesture drawings, cubes and line studies of drapery and clothing.
I have also started this past week with the same curriculum. Figure drawing is hard to grasp. I look forward to getting better each week. What term are you on? After a year or doing the curriculum you must be a little under halfway.
Due to personal circumstances, my art journey have been paused for the last few months. However I'm picking up again! Hope to post some new sketches this week.
I’m in a similar boat to you I want to reboot my art education. I am starting to be more consistent, thank you for the inspiration 🙂
Week 51: Started with the clothing and drapery unit. I did mostly quick studies from references from different sources.
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1yr
Nice job, @Geert-Jan!
Have you been using any book or a course as a study resource, or are you focusing just on the practice?
Week 50: This week I've focused on repeating some lessons from previous unit's and the fundamental course. For the fun side, i've tried to create some stylized portraits from reference photos.
I think you have a great sense of direction and movement of the gesture, but I think you can be a bit looser and see where the "rhythm" of the drawing takes you.
Nice one! I am really impressed that you have managed to practice daily for about two years. I started a similar journey to yours about two years ago but have not been able to keep the practice consistent.
I started with the figure drawing course but got stuck at the perspective part and therefore I was so happy that Proko added this fundamentals course.
I am following your journey now - very inspiring!
Thank you for your kind words! Comments like these help me motivate. I too struggle to draw daily, but i've set the bar really low for myself: I just have to draw one line at a minimum every day. That often leads to a full drawing session and sometimes a quick 5-10 minute gesture practice session or something. How do you like the fundamentals course so far?
week 49: I've not given any updates the last couple of weeks, because I was finishing up my commission work i've mentioned before. However I'm back in the game (I hope). So to start off again I will be repeating some exercises from various previous lessons just to repeat. I also have a project in mind to work on my own, but I will post about it later. For now some Loomis heads to start :)
Week 47 + 48: Doing the shape design lesson from the beginners course, drawing more loomis heads and did this popcorn horror movie character for fun :)
Week 46: relearning the loomis head method. I found myself struggling with this one. i'm following the method teached by Stan from the portrait drawing course. What do you guys think?
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1yr
I think it's looking pretty good, @Geert-Jan! In spite of the struggle you mention to be facing, I believe your drawings are coming out solid, and I notice a sense of growing confidence throughout the sequence of drawings - numbers 17 and 19, for example, look stronger to me than the earlier ones (except maybe for number 3, which I think also looks great even though it’s among the first ones).
Here’s just a couple of things I'd recommend remaining aware of as you keep going with this exercise: a) make sure the perspective is cohesive by having parallel lines incline towards one same vanishing point; and b) when drawing cross-contour lines, consider if the form on which they’re drawn is flat or rounded. I see a few of your drawings could use adjustments regarding those issues, but others don’t, which, to me, shows that you probably know all that somehow, and it could be just a matter of having it come across more consistently as you draw. No secret for that, just practice, awareness and time.
Sending you some quick draw-overs as a visual note. Hope it helps!
Week 45: continued with the rotating heads challenge by taking it a little step further from the rotating boxes: creating rotating Loomis heads. For fun i did some cartoon-like sketches of some people in the reddit gets drawn community.
Week 44: I missed an update last week, but that is because I'm doing a small commission right now that takes up almost all of my drawing time. However, I'm preparing right now for the rotating head challenge by practicing drawing a rotating box. It is very difficult. I've practiced by drawing from imagination and by looking at a 3d model of a box.
Hey my dude! We are attempting the same reddit curriculum from RadioRunner! I am three weeks in to the Figure Drawing Fundamentals course. It’s super inspiring to see someone so far along in the journey. Keep up the good work. Draw, draw, draw!
That is so awesome! How do you like the course? And how much time you spend daily or weekly?
Looking good! How is your DIY Art School plan going? Have you strayed from the Reddit one or are you customizing your own?
