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Dynamic Sketching (Peter Han's course) after DrawABox

1:59 AM, Friday April 8th 2022

Some questions for those who have taken DS:

  • Is Dynamic Sketching a good course to jump into right after completing DaB?

  • What exactly does DS aim to teach students?

  • How can one get the most out of the course given what DaB teaches you?

  • Are there any specific pre-requisite skills / ideas necessary for DS that DaB doesn't cover adequately enough / at all?

  • Finally, where is the best place to purchase and take the course? I've seen a handful of places where it's offered (CGMA, NMA, etc.), but I'm not sure which is preferable for me.

Hopefully what I'm asking makes sense, ask me if you want me to clarify anything. Thanks :-)

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5:53 AM, Wednesday April 27th 2022
edited at 10:56 PM, May 1st 2022

I have never taken Dynamic Sketching but have read course descriptions and watched videos. In addition, I have compared Dynamic Sketching to Draw A Box with similar questions. I'll try to provide my insights with hopes of addressing some of your questions.

Is Dynamic Sketching a good course to jump into right after completing DaB?

I think there is a good chance that you would be able to jump right into Dynamic Sketching, if you completed Draw A Box (i.e. received critiques, addressed feedback, finished challenges, engaged in warm ups, etc). As Draw A Box was initially a reflection of Dynamic Sketching, Uncomfortable (aka Irshad Karim) explained that over the years, he altered the program to emphasize the creation of solid and believable drawings. Dynamic Sketching encompasses this concept and more.

Although Dynamic Sketching is identified as an intermediate course, I don't think programs consider whether students have previously completed Draw A Box in preparation. For example, New Masters Academy provides a Dynamic Sketching course which they label as intermediate. CGMA provides a Dynamic Sketching 1 and 2 in their program, as part of their Foundation track. Although there are no prerequisites for Dynamic Sketching 1 at CGMA, the Foundation track encourages you take other courses before Dynamic Sketching 1 (i.e. Absolute Beginners and Fundamentals of Perspective). Furthermore, at CGMA, Dynamic Sketching 1 and Perspective are required before taking Dynamic Sketching 2.

What exactly does DS aim to teach students?

Draw A box introduces you to concepts such as line making, line weight, perspective, basic shapes, thinking in 3D, texture, visual library, silhouettes, plants, insects, arachnids, animals, everyday objects and vehicles. It also describes mindsets which are helpful in staying the course on your art journey.

In contrast, Dyanamic Sketching takes the previously mentioned concepts learned in Draw A Box and pushes you to the point of ingraining them. These ingrained skills further support drawing with intent, thus closing the gap between what you visualized and what you actually drew. Uncomfortable also mentioned that Dynamic Sketching would also make your drawings "look cool" as well.

This video , does a great job of describing what Dynamic Sketching offers.

This video, discusses what Draw A Box offers.

Finally, where is the best place to purchase and take the course? I've seen a handful of places where it's offered (CGMA, NMA, etc.), but I'm not sure which is preferable for me.

Regardless of where you take Dynamic Sketching, I would encourage you to explore the content of each course (core content is same but may differ in how it is taught), evaluate costs (i.e. $$ vs $), identify your needs (i.e. scheduling, availability of feedback, self-paced, live, etc.), and personal goals (i.e. hobby, primary source of income, side gig, illustration, concept design, animation, etc.) to determine, which is preferable for you. Organizations that offer Dynamic Sketching usually provide a breakdown of what will be taught each week and some provide a syllabi.

Hopefully this was helpful and someone else can address the remaining questions or talk about their experiece with Dynamic Sketching. These questions encouraged me to consider my own artistic needs and wants.

Thanks.

edited at 10:56 PM, May 1st 2022
9:21 PM, Sunday July 17th 2022

I know this is super super late, but tysm for the comprehensive answer! I ultimately decided to take the course on NMA around ~1.5 months ago since they announced a live class version of it around that same time frame. However, I wound up dropping the live class (wasn't in a very healthy mindset), so now I'm just doing it at my own pace. So far, I haven't regretted starting it at all! Fundamentally it's DaB, but with a much greater emphasis on making things look "prettier". And also with like half of DaB's rules stripped away haha. As you explained, it really does help you expand upon what DaB teaches students, and helps students branch further into sketching. I think most people can semi-comfortably take the course having at least completed lessons 1-5 + 250 box challenge, I don't think I'd have the skills + experience to get the most out of DS if I hadn't made it that far. I can share some of my work if you're interested.

Glad that my questions helped you as well! Hope you're having a great day / night :D

1:37 AM, Monday July 18th 2022

Hey, thanks so much. Your response was helpful to me in better understanding Dyanamic Sketching!

8:03 AM, Tuesday August 2nd 2022

Hi, I would love to see some of your work from the Dynamic sketching course, as I'm thinking of starting it too after finishing drawabox.

Thank you ;)

7:51 PM, Monday November 14th 2022

Hello Mungo! I (again) forgot to check my notifications, so apologies if this is very late ^^'. I should mention that I took a pretty long hiatus from drawing (personal reasons), so the work that I'm going to show you isn't super new.

Anyway, here's my homework for the first 4 weeks of DS: https://imgur.com/a/tJFmzF3

(Note: I only did 1/2 of the # of pages required for week 4)

Hope it gives you a good idea of what the course is about :) .

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