drusk

Well I was hoping that someone else would take this one as they are really big questions and I still think of myself as a beginner. But here goes:

1) How to really observe like an artist? This is what Drawabox is all about when it comes to spatial reasoning. There are many other ways to see like an artist though. A quick google search of "How to see like an artist" will give you pages of results with good answers.

2) How to avoid symbol drawing Once you start reading the answers to the first question, you will find the answer to this one. Once you start observing like an artist, nothing will look like the symbols that you are trying to avoid.

3)Which "free" sites are good... I use this site as a guide: https://www.brendanmeachen.com/soloartist There are others but it will give you a place to start looking.

4) A better way to substitute motivation with to avoid procastination There are tons of videos on Youtube on this topic. But I do think this is a very personal question. I am a great procrastinator but I do it in my own special way. I'm sure you do to. Really think about why you are procrastinating and how you are procrastinating. Start small with small improvements and don't beat yourself up if you fail.

5) A good place to get art supplies I think there are lots of places to get art supplies. However, I would say you want supplies that are good enough to get the job done without getting in your way but don't buy anything really expensive. Beginners in any skill should not be hindered by cheap tools, but they also can't really appreciate high level tools.

6) An art community who will tear your art into small pieces Online can be pretty brutal and putting yourself out there can be scary. Sometimes people are casually cruel and that helps no one. On the other hand, you don't want to be in a space where there is no critique. I think you need to look for someplace, like Drawabox, where people will give constructive criticism. I would be careful of your expectations however. If you are here, then you are a beginner like many of us and quite frankly, we are not very good. The best thing you have ever drawn might still have many flaws. I think it is better for someone to just tell you what's wrong. Hopefully not in a cruel way. Just remember that even the greatest artists you have ever admired, once upon a time, perhaps when they were children, drew really crappy pictures. They practiced and got better.

7)How to identify which parts are important in a reference I think you are asking another question related to your first one. I think a reference is just a starting point. Compositionally, what is important is dependent on what you are trying to accomplish and what you are trying to focus on. Think of a street scene. Are the buildings important? The people? The size of the city? The motion of the cars? What is the lighting? Perspective? Those are all choices that you make with the reference as a guide but not as an instruction manual.

Hope this helps. I would love to hear what others have to say.

So sorry to hear about the funeral. My condolences to you and your family.

I have noticed the increase in submissions myself and you are probably right that people may still just be using the time to continue their lesson work. It does not appear from submissions that everybody is spending as much time on the prompts as perhaps they could. I am surprised to learn about the cost, but it makes sense. The detail on the prompts is impressive compared to other prompts I have seen online. Have you thought of user submitted prompts to use as a pool of resource? Maybe a little less work for you guys.

I said I enjoy doing them, but for anyone reading this let me explain specifically why I think the prompts are useful for me. One, I am applying everything that I have learned (not just from Drawabox, but all of the sources that I have used). This can be a real stretch and it always feels like I am tackling something that is just out of reach of my current skills. Two, really doing the 50% rule. I tend to work in spurts and only draw personal stuff when inspired. I can go days or weeks before the inspiration hits. The Promptathon forces me to put in the time. The prompts themselves are detailed enough that I find myself spending a few hours on each prompt. This is also a stretch. I hear of some artists spending days and weeks on a piece. I'm still working up to that level of commitment. Finally, I think drawing something that is not your idea is great practice. Working artists are often spending most of their time on somebody else's project. The prompts force you to draw outside your comfort zone in terms of subject. I have been inspired to try things I never would have done on my own. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I've learned something either way. So my recommendation is give the team a real break, really push yourself with the prompts, and see how much of what you are learning shows in the final projects.

Thanks. That looks helpful.

Thanks. It's funny that you mentioned the old DnD illustrations because I recently started feeling like my drawings remind me of those long off days.

Thanks for sharing. I think students on this site should be encouraged that someone who is a working artist still feels the need to work on fundamentals. It shows that fundamentals never go away. Also, it shows that you can have success without being "perfect" at the craft.

I believe it does exactly as intended: developing spatial reasoning. I don't know if it is the most affective way, and it may not be for everyone, but it has definitely been affective for me. I have begun to internalize how to think about representing three dimensional on a two dimensional surface. Now, when I am drawing, the lines on the page almost "feel" three dimensional. This is so fundamental that it can't be over emphasized. No matter what medium you use, understanding this illusion is fundamental.

What the program isn't is a method of learning how to draw pretty pictures. But after you have done Drawabox, drawing those pictures gets easier. So when you ask for before and after pictures, I don't know if I can provide those. I have used other programs to improve specific aspects of drawing, but Drawabox laid the foundation.

Also, it is free and online. Hope this helps.

Great video and a helpful exercise. I have a related question to the original poster. Just as beginning students have misconceptions about "talent", do you think we also have misconceptions about creativity? As I am progressing, I am getting the sneaking feeling that some of the artist that I have seen are technically very good but not necessarily super creative. Maybe this is a bigger question about what is creativity.

That photoshop trick sounds really handy. Value studies are really a really great way to learn and that sounds like a good way to develop an eye for it. Thanks.

I hear what you are saying but I would say art is full of "fundamentals". Even only up to lesson 2 of DAB is enough to understand other art concepts. Uncomfortable cautions against grinding on one area trying to achieve perfection before moving on. I would say the same applies to perspective as a whole. He encourages (nay, demands) that people draw for fun 50% of the time. Many people try drawing people during that 50%, even when DAB doesn't have lessons on figure drawing. Art skills are interconnected and doing one thing can often help another. While doing DAB, I have also been learning figure drawing. The cylinder challenge was incredibly helpful when trying to draw a manniquinized figure or foreshortening a limb. But I am not done with DAB yet. I have much more to learn. I also am not done with figure drawing (maybe never done learning that). Perspective is really helpful but I don't think mastery is necessary before moving on.

The short answer is no. But this is a good question though because it relates to an idea of "the proper order" of skill acquisition. That somehow you must master one area to move on to the next. Like any skill you try to acquire, learning a sport or new language, etc, you move from one area of the skill to the next. When learning a language, you don't tell yourself: "Cool, I have finally mastered verbs. Now I can do nouns". Perspective is just one skill on a list of skills that you will keep learning and relearning as you explore art. Think of the learning path like a spiral moving out. you practice skills like perspective, then figure drawing, then color theory, etc but eventually you will come back to perspective, but at a higher level. You spiral through the skills over and over again, constantly learning more or at a higher level of understanding. Is perspective helpful for figure drawing, yes. Is it required to understand perspective at a higher level, no. Hope this helps.