Is this mixing pivots?

11:53 PM, Wednesday July 15th 2020

I'm a little confused about mixing pivots. In this proko video specifically at the 19 and 26 second marks, is he drawing with a mixture of elbow and shoulder pivots, and using different proportions of each pivot at different times throughout the stroke? It seems like with these two strokes, the proportion of elbow and shoulder movement he uses changes throughout the motion i.e. he'll draw a curve using his elbow and then continue the line using his shoulder, but the the line still look smooth and fluid. The faq says not to mix pivots, but isn't that what's happening in this video?

1 users agree
12:50 AM, Thursday July 16th 2020

Drawing with the shoulder means that the main motion should be from your shoulder, you can move your elbow a bit, and you need to in some cases.

1 users agree
5:41 PM, Friday July 17th 2020

Hi,

I think it is normal that the elbow moves, it is actually essential to make a strait line. I think what should be avoided is putting the elbow down on the table. That will make you only able do to a big circle around the point of contact. If you think about it, in that situation, the movement of rotation comes partly from the shoulder, but it still should be avoided. As long as the elbow and shoulder are free, and that the wrist doesn't do much, everything is good. Don't lock up your elbow you will be really stiff (follow your intuition).

Have fun in your journey!

The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Like the Staedtlers, these also come in a set of multiple weights - the ones we use are F. One useful thing in these sets however (if you can't find the pens individually) is that some of the sets come with a brush pen (the B size). These can be helpful in filling out big black areas.

Still, I'd recommend buying these in person if you can, at a proper art supply store. They'll generally let you buy them individually, and also test them out beforehand to weed out any duds.

This website uses cookies. You can read more about what we do with them, read our privacy policy.