Bundle discount Each additional course part in your cart adds 3% off all courses, up to 15% off.
Full course
You will be given unexpiring access to watch the videos online .
$250
In this course, you'll learn how to use the block in stage to create accurate and lifelike portrait drawings, focusing on values, structure, and technique.
I’m sure this is an excellent course as all of your online content I’ve seen is excellent. And I’m equally sure I would enjoy and benefit from this course, but not $250 worth. For an online course for drawing the head, this is frankly way overpriced when all of this content can be found for free online along with a couple of $20 books. A little more effort to gather together, but for the average person worth the savings. Your approach, while well presented, is not some breakthrough approach to drawing the head. It is standard stuff that has been known by tens of thousands of artists for hundreds of years. Just my opinion of course, but I think you would likely do much better at a lower price point with more purchases.
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1mo
Thanks for the feedback and for recognizing the quality of my content. I get your perspective on the course pricing. The Block In course is designed to give a comprehensive, structured learning experience that goes deeper than what you’d usually find for free or in books.
The price reflects the effort, expertise, and value it offers for people looking for a focused, immersive approach. I appreciate your input and will keep it in mind as I work on refining my courses.
I agree I took the course its good but really its about 3-4 hours of actual teaching and then 6 hours of watching him draw with silent refinement demos, maybe they're there to bulk up the course?
If the purpose is a block in course, it would have benefited from more demos of the block in instead of refinement the instructional sections are good but not 250$ worth 100$ would be more fair.
Hey, I'm not sure if that's the place, but I would really appreciate a feedback on this try at block in.
Hey I dont understand this? Whats with the block in method? How it is different from the regular one?
Great to work on block in , it is the foundation but too often skipped in lessons. I relate with Edward here, same issues, but Stephen is giving good advices.
my question is: what is suggested pencil for block in? Sometimes I read a hard one, for example 2h, sometimes a soft one for example 4b…. I m confused. Thanks!
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6mo
Either one can be used. I ask students to start with an H or HB for block in studies. If you intend to progress to a full value drawing then starting with a B or 2B is also ok.
Doing my first try. I used a 0.5 mechanical pencil, 4B. The drawing is about 6 x 6 inches in size. Thanks for comments and guidance.
I have the realistic portrait drawing course , and I like it , so naturally I have an eye on this course now.
Can you tell me what the block in course offers that is different from the realistic portrait drawing course?
thank you
-Michael
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2yr
SO much. The course you have is primarily a demo. The BIC is a super specific step by step work along lesson series designed to help you build individual skills that lead up to an optimal block in procedure.
I didn't see the downloads until just a few minutes ago. I followed the visual style and did some measuring. Although, to be honest I struggle with the measuring.
By struggling I mean I seem to take an inordinate amount of time to measure and when I think I have it, I measure again and come to realize that nope, my proportions are incorrect.
I'll try it again with the newly downloaded portraits provided. In the meantime, here is what I managed by doing the first 3 videos of the visual style. I know it is still not accurate, but would like to hear some feedback as to what I need to improve.
Yes I know I added features (like the mouth and the eyes) when that's not part of the first 3 videos.
Same issues here. Stephen is giving some interesting advice and also mind the parallax!
For feedback the first thing I noticed is that in your drawing, her face looks longer, thinner, and more masculine. I think a lot of what is causing the masculine look is the jaw is looking thick and square. In that point that is between the line coming from the chin and the one coming from the ear, where they meet, in the photo that line looks horizontal with the bottom of her lower lip, but in your drawing it’s noticeably lower. I think raising that would help feminize her look. Could be that the chin is a little too wide. Hard to say because this is just showing the stage were you have simplified short lines, and maybe when more detail is added, meaning curves, then the chin might look smaller. I also think the neck might be just a little wide. The forehead looks a little higher in yours. On the left side, our left, the line going by the ear looks more vertical than the photo or even the one that you put on her right. Making that line pushing up to the left a little more diagonally could also help in making her face look less narrow.
But you are doing well, keep at it. Don’t let yourself get too frustrated over struggling with measuring and proportion, it’s a difficult skill to get good at, but the more you work on it the better you will get at it. You are not supposed to be good at it right away. One thing to consider when you are measuring an image to your drawing using your pencil and thumb to mark distances, try to be mindful of keeping the way you are measuring consistent. If you are changing the angel and distance from you to the image you are measuring, it’s not going to match. And if your drawing is flat on the table, and you are measuring it, sometimes sitting straight sometimes leaning over the drawing, or just leaning less or more at times, it’s going to make your measuring inconsistent. I definitely have falling for all the above. I hope this helps
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2yr
Good start- I'll offer this to make it better. The shapes can be more simple. The eyes for instance have more information than they need. This stage is about placement so you can use the minimum amount of info required.
The Block In Course