Concerning the 50% Rule
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/sm71e2/concerning_the_50_rule/
2022-02-06 20:45
SidKay588
So, I finally decided to try following the 50% rule and I was having a bit of an issue with it. From the video I watched about it from the draw a box website, it was specified to use half of your time to learn and the other half to do something else or play around.
But the problem I'm facing is that I can't think of anything to draw at all except from the usual boxes and ellipses. Is there a way to get ideas on what to draw during this time? And am I still supposed to use a pen?
(I apologize if this question has been answered before)
larsbarnabee
2022-02-07 00:56
The 50% rule has no limit. I also have an issue with drawing for fun. Or what the heck to draw for that matter. Let me ask you this, what do you like? And what would you like to draw?
Or perhaps you should collect reference material. I also suggest the program PureRef for collecting your drawing reference in one place.
[deleted]
2022-02-07 02:14
You're likely learning to draw for a reason. Draw what you plan to draw once you're a master.
solarmist
2022-02-07 02:21
For me, I want to draw people/cartoons which I'm a long way from. So I use the 50% rule as a split between working on technical skills (this is the core of everything draw-a-box teaches) and working on creative skills (i.e. doing things without worrying about them being technically correct or well made, etc).
So I spend some of that 2nd 50% doing things like gesture drawing (Highly recommend the Proko figure drawing course for this) which is about as non-technical as you can get but still helps me move toward my goal.
I'd also put things like copying/tracing other people's art, following YouTube drawing tutorials on how to draw X, Kawaii Doodles, etc. all into that bucket too.
Thinking about it a bit more I'm reminded of things my guitar teacher used to tell me. I think I'd actually break it into three chunks. Execution (just doing the thing as a whole, no matter how bad the result is), technical skills (being able to draw an object in perspective, or with shading, etc), and creativity (how many different ways can I do this same thing).
To me the "for fun" part is usually referring to some combination of creativity/execution.
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 07:07
Uncomfortable specifically mentions doing tutorials, studies of other artists, and probably gesture drawing too (as that is a study too) as being part of the work 50%. You are still being told what to draw. The 50% is for exploring what YOU want to draw. Its harder than it sounds. Im struggling with it too
solarmist
2022-02-07 07:17
It's not that simple. No one learns creativity from nothing. It's not some magical thing that's just inside you. It's grown and cultivated.
Think about it this way. How do kids who become writers start off? They start of by doing things like taking their favorite stories and changing all the verbs to farted. Then once they read it and laugh they try again. After 50-100 of those attempts they end up with something not quite the original and not quite new, but it's interesting (to themselves or others) and that makes them feel good and keep going. That's the heart of my comment. That's a concrete example of what play looks like for a total novice.
You learn those things by copying most of what you see then changing something small. That's what I was trying to get across. Then once you're comfortable making small changes to things you like you start making bigger changes and more significant changes. eventually youll be be doing what you want.
And more specifically this is the process for exploring and understanding if the thing you think you want is actually what you enjoy and are good at.
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 07:31
I know. Im not disagreeing with you. But that very explicitly is not part of the 50% rule. He specifically mentions it, and theres a good reason for it. Youre not just drawing to draw youre drawing to get better. Even if its to hone your creativity, its still exercise and not play.
Ive been drawing for a year and a half, and Ive neglected the 50% rule the whole time, but Ive done everything youve mentioned. Point me to a drawing someone else made, I can recreate it pretty damn well. But when presented with a blank canvas and tell me to draw something from my brain I am at a loss. If what I should be doing isnt shown/told to me I am too scared and too unconfident to do it. So I am back to DaB and this time not neglecting the 50% rule. It is there for a reason and it is outlined as it is for a reason.
solarmist
2022-02-07 14:49
What I'm describing IS a form of play when you break down what playing means as a set of actions.
Play can take the form of improvisation or pretense, interactive, performance, mimicry, games, ...
Play is often interpreted as frivolous; yet the player can be intently focused on their objective, particularly when play is structured and goal-oriented, as in a game. Accordingly, play can range from relaxed, free-spirited and spontaneous through frivolous to planned or even compulsive.[2] Play is not just a pastime activity; it has the potential to serve as an important tool in numerous aspects of daily life for adolescents, adults, and cognitively advanced non-human species (such as primates).
The only thing that makes something play VS not play is intention. Are you doing it for fun/self-interest or because you need to be productive/accomplish something.
Its not about reproducing others' stuff. Its about taking small risks/changes to things you are familiar with, then getting larger and larger as you get more comfortable with it. Like playing with an action figure.
A drawing-specific progression might look like this.
Start with an image you already know and like, then change what theyre holding, a piece of clothing, hairstyle, etc.
Next, change the arms or legs significantly or combine them with another image you like to alter both so they fit together better.
Eventually, draw the character yourself in a different pose. Keep doing this until you can do any pose you can think of.
Next, do this with another character or an object. Then start putting them together in different ways.
Now at this point, you can attack a blank page and draw a couple of characters doing a variety of things together.
The Blank page problem is half solved at this point. The rest is just operating the previous steps for style changes, Adding backgrounds, medium changes, etc. Eventually, you're creating original creations starting from a blank page.
You can see this kind of progression with many webcomics. Questionable content is a great example that has had an obvious progression in the art over the years.
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 14:53
Dude, I dont know what to tell you. Youre arguing against a wall. I dont disagree with you but thats not what we are talking about. Youre just wrong about the 50% rule, watch this video, he goes into specifics and specifically disproves what you said about it. https://youtu.be/n2Px_OAuXlI
EDIT: and what youre describing isnt a form of play by the definition you provided because tutorials, reproducing artists, and gesture drawings are all done with the intention of getting better. You have to learn to draw WITHOUT that intention to get better.
solarmist
2022-02-07 15:23
I just rewatched the video and no it doesn't disagree with what I've been saying. I'm merely giving examples of possible ways you can play with art.
All I've been doing is breaking down what the word play looks like as an activity. Just because you have intention behind doing something doesn't make it not play.
Play as a concept is a huge blank page in and of itself; looking at it from an evolutionary poiumt of view it's a way to learn by simulating real life activities. So the range of things that make up play can be as large as life itself. One that as you yourself mentioned is hard and intimidating. So I'm trying to give specific examples of what play time might look like when your just starting out. They are not a prescription or something to do each time, that should be dictated by whim, they are merely examples.
Let's flips this then. To you, what are examples of how you play with your art?
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 15:29
I am done arguing with you, youre being purposefully obtuse. At 4:03 he literally outlines that tutorials, studies, and exercises are part of the work 50%. Referencing another artists work is a study and gesture drawing is an exercise and YouTube tutorials explain themselves. Goodbye
solarmist
2022-02-07 15:39
All I'm hearing is no, no, no that's not allowed. That's not helpful it just makes people think they're stupid and can't figure out what to DO.
I'm not being obtuse. I am trying to be useful. If you don't like my examples then share some of yours.
I'm specifically not saying to do a study. I'm saying I like things like ducktails, amphibia, or blank anime so when playing I would have the most fun making those characters do new things instead of trying to wrack my brain to make up a set of character from scratch that I have no attachment to.
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 15:47
It is literally not allowed though lmao, its the whole point of the rule.
No, you said copy/tracing other artists artwork to learn from them. That is a study.
Its totally fine to draw characters you like for the 50% rule. Just dont copy a drawing. Draw them in a position you made up, in a style you made up, in a scenario you made up. As long as youre not exactly reproducing official art you are fine.
Other things you can do is look for drawing prompts and try those. Or just draw whatever comes out of your head that you think hey that would be cool to draw. The best thing to do is draw whatever you plan on drawing when youre really good even if you dont think youre ready for it. You can even use reference as long as you use multiple references and combine them in your own unique way.
The entire point is exploring YOUR art and no one elses. Youre not learning to draw just so you could draw something someone already has, right? You have things that you like and that you want to create and you plan on drawing when youre the greatest artist ever. Draw that stuff, even if it wont be good yet.
Uncomfortable
2022-02-07 15:37
I believe General_McQuack is referring to the suggestion of the following:
-
Gesture drawing
-
Master studies (redrawing something someone else has)
-
Following tutorials (how-to-draw-X etc)
These are all exercises and activities that would fall under the first 50%, along with any other courses one might be doing. By your own wording, you're doing these because they continue to push you in the direction of your goal.
Perhaps the video wasn't as clear as I'd hoped to make it, but the purpose of the 50% rule is to push students beyond their fear of failure and of "wasting" their time by forcing them to spend their time on things that appear to have no direct value towards developing their skills. There is value, of course, but only in terms of ensuring students get used to venturing outside of their comfort zone.
The things you listed still very much have all of the guardrails and safety equipment up, and do not expose students to the kind of "risk" of ending up with bad end results or "wasting" their time in the spirit of the 50% rule.
solarmist
2022-02-07 15:55
Sure, I can see that, but that's not what I'm trying to get across.
As a novice giving lists of things to NOT do is helpful, but still leaves a huge question mark on what should I do then? If you don't give positive examples it makes it MORE daunting not less daunting.
And so what I was trying to do is show how you can take things you've done as exercises and the like and turn those things into forms of play.
One of the easier ways to do that is by turning the useful into the absurd.
Like okay I've been doing the drawing organic shapes tutorials. Now what if I drew Scrooge McDuck with sea cucumber arms!
And there are various ways to accomplish that. One would be to draw it all yourself, another would be to print a picture of him with his arms cut off and just do that bit yourself.
Uncomfortable
2022-02-07 17:23
I see. The it seems that the whole discussion you were having with General_McQuack was largely the two of you talking past each other. Given the context of OP's question, which was about the nature of the rule specifically, and what it states. There is of course room to discuss whether the rule itself is appropriate in all of its elements, but with the lack of clarity, it seemed as though you were trying to argue that I myself was saying things differently than I was.
As far as my stance on the matter, we do provide a variety of detailed but open-ended prompts on our discord server (as explained here in the notes that accompany this video, although it did not make it into the video itself), for those who are still struggling to come up with something to draw.
I think your idea of Scrooge McDuck with cucumber arms is an example of a solid idea, but I wouldn't go so far as to recommend one print off a picture of him and replace the arms, as this leans in quite heavily to students' desire to avoid a drawing that comes out badly. Having references open for the character, for pickles, and for whatever else and then piecing them together (regardless of how it turns out) would allow the student to better push their boundaries of comfort, staying more in the spirit of the 50% rule and what its purpose is in the grand scheme of the course.
Minerva_vic
2022-02-07 03:02
This basically a guide map, i keep recommending this because it easy to follow
Ricen_
2022-02-07 06:30
Nice video. Thanks.
The only issue is that everything that video says falls firmly in the work category. So it doesn't count for the fun side of the 50% rule. Which is what OP asked for help with.
thatsleepofdeath
2022-02-07 03:21
You can draw 1 or 2 Pokemon for fun and see if you can complete drawing any region
sarsjams
2022-02-07 05:19
Go draw a dragon and then send me a pic
SidKay588
2022-02-07 15:38
I'm not so sure about that but I'll do my best.
It may also take a while before I do it since I'm gonna start my school examinations soon
Edit: I've done it
JukeDukeMM
2022-02-07 06:07
You're doing the course cause you want to improve right? So you have ideas but you just think you're not good enough to do them. Well do those and don't care if it goes badly.
DorkHarshly
2022-02-07 06:34
When I am struggling for ideas I just go and do some of the daily challenges e.g. /r/sketchdaily/
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 07:16
I wish sketch daily had more specific prompts. The ones I see are so vague theyre not of much help. I like the ones in the DaB discord, do you know of any more like that?
DorkHarshly
2022-02-07 10:08
I know theres bunch of those on twitter /Instagram but i am not using any.
quenterror
2022-02-07 07:07
the realm of possibilities are endless when it comes to art but I can try and explain what methods i found successful when I didn't know "what to draw" and still use to this day.
Everybody thinks differently and sees beauty in different things so me saying "you should draw _____" isn't going to as beneficial as you figuring out what you want to draw on your own. So instead of me telling you what specific thing you should draw, im going to give you the resources/methods that I found the most beneficial when I was trying to figure out "what i should draw".
Not knowing what to draw can be demoralizing, especially in the beginning.The good news is the ability to come up with creative concepts is a skill that will progress over time and you will get extremely good at it. You'll have ideas flooding your head before you know it.
These are the methods that gave me the best results :
first make a list of drawing ideas in your phones notes. jot down ideas/notes/concepts you like. ANYTHING you think that there is a slight possibility that you might consider drawing it... write it down. you don't have to draw everything you write down but this way you'll at least have a never ending list that you can always look back on when you cant think of anything. The things you write down will also build off of eachother and lead to even more ideas
you can jot down ideas from any aspect of your life if it interest you at all. If you watching tv or a movie and somethings pops in your head write it down, if your day dreaming or about to fall asleep and think about some creature , if you see an artist while scrolling through reddit or instagram and you like the style they are going for, some cool design on someones t shirt, etc. can be anything. if it interests you, make a note and let those notes stew in your phone.
another thing that helped was looking at inktober prompts from previous years. 31 different drawing prompts from every year. usually the prompts are unique and will give you some ideas. even if youre hesitant on a prompt, i say give it a shot. drawing a plethora of things you wouldnt typically draw will only make brainstorming things to draw easier.
it doesnt even need to be inktober, theres tons of drawing prompts people participate in all year round, you can find tons of them online.
watching sketchbook tours on YouTube is also a great tool that helped me. If you see the things other artist decided to draw, youll get better at deciding what to draw as well.
hell you can even use reddit. there's tons of art related subreddits you can utilize in an effort to get better at coming up w ideas. you can participate in drawing requests like r/redditgetsdrawn or r/icandrawthat. you can look for inspiration in other peoples before/after journeys on things like r/artprogresspics. you can checkout r/artcrit and see what advice artists give to other artists and incorporate into your own art. There's also things like r/imsorryjohn and other niche subs that people post all kinds of wierd but inspiring art. Lastly, r/sketchdaily . one prompt each day.
hopefully something in there helped steer you in the right direction.
General_McQuack
2022-02-07 07:12
Im struggling with it too. I joined the discord to make use of the drawing prompts channel over there, thats been going okay. Today I thought what if I drew a house without reference and I did. It wasnt amazing but it was something! Think of what you like to see in art, and try drawing THAT, even if you dont think you are good enough. I am partly telling myself because I also need to do that lol.
Also no, you dont need to use a pen.
saumanahaii
2022-02-07 08:52
I've been focusing on street scenes and buildings... Though that's probably being too generous. Ellipses and boxes work great for buildings and columns. Couple that with a bit of perspective workout and it's good enough. I've also started blocking out boxes and planes for construction of things like cars, thanks to a bit too much Youtube wandering. Creating a box and then intersecting it with your planes and then marking out pieces to sketch circles in, measuring with that duplication trick, etc seems to be good practice that's definitely improved the cleanliness of my lines. I didn't realize how much wobble was in them until I started cutting my boxes up.
Background-Drag1323
2022-02-07 12:15
If it's ok to ask, what's a 50% rule?
Nalvii
2022-02-07 12:22
Spending at least half of art time for having fun, experimentation, trying painting, watercolor, pencils, even sculpting! Also getting your creative ideas out without worrying about the result. Doing constant exercises isn't going to be a good time for a lot of people. Stretch your wings.
The other half is the "work" half and that's reading lessons, doing exercises, making art to the very best of your ability applying your learning, and learning from other classes, courses, books, whatever.
This advice is given for following the lessons at drawabox.com, but it's good to spend time on having fun with art no matter what you're learning from.
Background-Drag1323
2022-02-07 12:46
Thanks for explaining! Wow, I have been learning dancing for a while. And today I was thinking I need a slot of time for just flowing with music without any concern of doing things correctly. Always worrying about rules/instruction blocks way for the creativity to flow! Now 50% rule sounds perfect! I have to apply this to my drawing practice too!
HeatherDrawsAnimals
2022-02-07 13:07
Here is a great blog post by illustrator Rebecca Green on how to think up what to draw, and how to get in touch with what you like (and it results in an idea jar that you can pull from when you have free time to just draw) https://www.myblankpaper.com/blog/2020/7/23/checking-the-compass
Editing to add another great writeup from fantasy illustrator Miranda Meeks on how she finds her creative voice and stays true to what she wants to draw even when work is competing: https://wowxwow.com/guest-blog/miranda-meeks-gb
[deleted]
2022-02-07 14:53
I rarely have this issue. But I'm struggling with getting my technical skill up. So maybe we are all on a that sort of spectrum?
The times i do struggle thinking about what to draw (like Inktober), i do 30 min. warm ups and usually end up using one of the practice images as drawing inspiration.
30 day drawing challenge might help. I see images i like and keep them in a file, and then if i can't think of what to draw for Inktober, i scan through those images till i find something.
https://line-of-action.com/ (class mode is my favorite)
Make a multi sub Reddit with images and stuff you like. Add p and make it a slide show.
https://www.redditp.com/user/sammlerworks/m/fashiondrawingpractice/
I get lots of ideas from doing these and either save the image, do some sketches to keep the idea in my sketchbook for later, or spend the time flushing it out as far as my interest takes me.
I also read comics several times a week. Lots of designs, perspectives, lighting ideas. I also photos of tv while I'm watching when a scene looks great.
Learning to draw boxes. Draw some orcs during in crates. Learning to draw hands? Draw a hand picking up the cubes you can now draw. Incorporating what you learn as you go.
Good luck op.
Edit: Thanks for asking. I'm taking notes from the other responses.
Edit 2: The more technical skill you learn, the more often you will see those skills used in different ways by different artists. That usually inspires me to copy what they did, but changing things some as not to get bored.
Example: I learned how to hang people on the horizon line to keep them in perspective. I see someone using that skill but for birds standing on the beach with done great lighting.
So i copy the layout and lighting, but draw in penguins charging forward with similar lightning.
It's like you don't learn to draw hands from drawing full figures. You learn to draw hands by drawing haha then incorporating back into your work.
So when drawing for fun but to learn, copy from others, so you can focus on the part you are planning with to learn. I cooked the kettle and lighting, changed the character and practiced hanging them on the horizon line.
That way i could finish on Etsy i learned and out it to practice without to many other distractions.
(So i used the Expanse to make an image similar to The Usual Suspects movie poster or like cowboy bebop poster. I changed the character, and focused on lightning the clothing since that is what I'm reading now.)
SidKay588
2022-02-07 15:57
Thank you so much everyone for the tips and the recommendations. I will consider try out all of them next time I draw. But sadly, I don't think I'll be drawing soon because I have to prepare for my school's exams.
Again, thank you all very much for the advice.
Key-End-7096
2022-02-09 04:56
Draw something that interests you even if it's outside your ability. I'm drawing boxy gundam robots for fun when I am not doing the 50/50 rule, the shapes and perspective fit in with the assignments.
SidKay588
2022-02-07 15:50
To be honest, I've always been interested in drawing draw figures/characters
larsbarnabee
2022-02-07 22:41
Then you should mix gesture drawing with drawabox. Prokos videos on YouTube for gesture are really good. Kenzo on YouTube is also good.
Let your gesture drawing be the fun. Also collect reference that you like to practice gesture and overall figure drawing from.