I have been a working artist 40 years now. I went to Santa fe to search someone to teach me to paint, before that, I had a background in glass art. So in Santa fe I found 3 people to teach me; 1 a mixed media abstract expressionist, and 2, both of them muralists and decorative painters, and working with all 3, I stumbled upon a way to paint utilizing the accident, by seeing on their floors what I wanted to paint like, after a few years of learning their technics, I figured out how to create deliberately the accident, in my process of painting and painted in that manner for 20 years. Now learning to except the accidents in my art, I want to return to the way I drew at the beginning of my art career, which was realism, now I am looking for people to teach me to draw in color pencil, and in the last few months I have been practising and creating genuine mistakes and now I am searching for that deliberate "perfectionism". 1. Proportions 2. Form 3. Value 4. Lighting 5. Depth 6. Edges - Different 7. Texture 8. Colour theory Thank you I really enjoy your videos..!
I'm a photorealist who works with graphite, and I wanted to do 10 portraits to create an initial body of work to start my business. I ruined 2 drawings, so I only ended up with 8 sellable drawings. I made 2 particular mistakes with the 2 drawings that I ruined. For the first one, I used charcoal powder. I needed a black background so I didn't want the shine of graphite, and my mistake was not testing out the charcoal powder first. I learned as I went along. The method I used to remove the residual dust from the page was wrong and it ended up getting embedded into the paper. So now, there's a slight pattern of charcoal dust all throughout the drawing. You have to go close or zoom in to see it, but it's not sellable. The 2nd drawing I ruined was going perfectly up until the last second of the process. I'd been working on it for 64 hours, and the last day, I just wanted to rush to get it done even though I should've taken a couple extra days to finish it. I got tired while I was drawing, and I badly ruined one of the eye lids. I damaged the paper, so I couldn't fix it. As a result of these 2 mistakes, I've made critical changes to my overall system, and these mistakes helped me design the perfect methods for drawing which I use now. Rather than charcoal, I use a carbon pencil for black tones; it's less messy than charcoal, but it's still as dark as charcoal. Secondly, I set a timer for each drawing session. I put 2 hours on the clock because I notice that 2 hours is my threshold where my performance is at its best. Whenever I go passed 2 hours, I start to lose focus and I start making stupid mistakes. Surprisingly, I'm actually able to draw more than I was previously. You see, before I implemented the 2-hour time limit to my drawing sessions, I'd draw for 4, 5, sometimes 7 hours at a time! But of course, I'd go 2 or 3 days without drawing, and I'd have to work up the motivation to go through that daunting task again. Now, I'm able to draw 7 days a week, I never skip a day unless I'm sick or otherwise unable to draw. I can draw everyday because I'm only committing for 2 hours. For a drawing session, 2 hours is nothing. I know exactly what I'm doing in those 2 hours and my work is so much more efficient. Great video, Kirsty, you're very skilled and intelligent.
@@MandisaM-o2k Sorry, I'll write a short version for you! Basically, I screwed up 2 drawings, one with charcoal dust, and one by damaging the paper while I was getting careless. So now I use carbon pencil instead of charcoal, and I set a timer for myself to stop after 2 hours, that's when I start to get tired and make stupid mistakes. This was still long but I hope it's easy enough to read! 🙏
Hey kirsty I have been stuck in hospital for quite a while now and I had nothing to do but as soon as I watched your drawing videos it just kept me occupied now, thank u for all the encouragement and advice as well ❤
This is so true 3:42 Just when I thought I had my supplies and design skills figured out, I'd do a completely failed drawing or painting. So puzzling and discouraging, but you have to consider outside factors contributing to the failed art. The important thing is to keep creating art and not let one or two failed attempts define the totality of your skill level.
For my first 16 photorealistic graphite portraits, 8 of them were failures. I had a 50% success rate in my first 2 years of photorealism. Now, I'm on year 4 and I haven't ruined a drawing since.
Kristy, excellent video and thank you for sharing your journey. I truly appreciate your time. This video is an eye opening and definitely worth to look back and compare my progress. I totally agree with getting to know the fundamentals for a better outcome. Each day we learn something new. I wish you the best and much more. Blessings and take care. ❤❤❤
Hi Kirsty… I’m Dharani an acrylic artist….I have always wanted to start a RU-vid channel… but I wasn’t sure if it will work…you were my inspiration for starting this channel….I now do RU-vid works after my college hours….thanks a ton 🎉keep inspiring so many people…
Hullo Kirsty, I am hopeful that you are discovering a way forward with your Art career! I have enjoyed watching your videos for quite some time and believe that you are a tremendously talented person and I am hopeful that you are discovering a way to make your art life co-exist with your family life! Wonderful video and great points for getting better results for everyone who watches and has a desire to learn! Thank you.
That graph bit rings so true when i think about it. I had taken a break from making art and now I'm thinking of going back in and refresh my fundamentals once more Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this subject. :D
After taking a break from art, you actually come back better. That's what I've noticed with myself. I took 4 years off and when I came back, that's when I decided to make a career out of it!
When I was in middle school someone gave me 12 boxes of printer paper. Each box had a minimum of 2000 sheets. I drew on the fronts and backs of every sheet. It took me just a couple of weeks to draw on all the paper. I drew from sun up to sun down. Only stoping to sleep and go to school. My drawing level increased to a high school level. I even was able to do some realistic 3D sketches of people at a diner. Truth those took me at least a whole day to get the dimension right. Practice with learning new skills using old skills and time is why I got better. Realism is still the hardest for me to do. I'm close to realistic eyes. And skin tones.
Ooh, those look so good Bonita! 😊 I used to have a couple of sad strawberry plants in my back garden that didn't do well but I i got optimistic and planted 4 new ones this year. Nithing njcer that a strawberry tart. Yum. 😊
Great video! I loved the graph of our progress in drawing or painting. It takes a lot of pressure off if you can realize that sometimes the result of trying things will not be what you hoped for or expected. Another reason to learn the fundamentals is that they can guide you in knowing what step to take next no matter what media you are using. I remember when I started drawing and painting, sometimes I would just get stuck and have to ask a teacher. But if you know your fundamentals, you can usually understand the problem and generate a solution.
Thanks so much for this video. I always get stuck on little details of my drawings that I am not happy with, but its true that they are usually much easier to fix then they first seem😄
I did a digital painting course during lockdown and it made me want to try real painting. There is so much that translates, and at least you can see your brush and how loaded it is with paint in the real world. I’m very much a beginner but now also enjoying coloured pencils. I’ve learnt a lot from this channel, thank you!
The one thing I’ve found with traditional media is that you can get incredible detail and it is sometimes annoying on digital when you hit the pixel limit!!
You are definitely inspiring ❤😊 your art work is lovely, talent with multiple mixed media and i love that 😊 thankyou for your encouragement 🎉😊 keep your art bliss going 🙏🌿🩷
As we improve we get better at fixing things when it goes wrong. In fact, I found that as I improve I start to question more the possibility of things going wrong and how I'd fix them if the mistakes arrive. Getting better gives you the added foresight that can be so beneficial if you don't ignore it.
100% true with the perfection part,,,, the way I got around it was swapping my pencil for a ballpoint pen after all the years and probably 000s£ spent on copic markers ect my best and fave art tool now it a simple 20p bic biro! 😍 even getting a free pen from the bookies works so well and when I need to see some colour or have a lil change up I use a diff colour bic ❤
the second point goes even deeper: The quality of the end result and your skill to perform the drawing. The more I learn the more I want to be better at doing: Use less references, use less sketching steps, let the paint work more for me instead of forcing every color shad manually, be better at imagining 3d scenery. Barely anyone might notice this in the finished drawing, until they actually see me drawing. But the thing is: It makes me feel awesome. To be able to perform feely on the paper, it is like abandoning your training wheels. Though both ways of doing might have the same result.
i made the same mistake multiple times, an easy fix is to cover that area with something using another reference photo like a watch or tattoo something like that
Hi Kirsty, I'm an artist from Brazil and I learn so much with your videos. Do you use any material do finalize your drawing to the pigments don't get out of the paper? f you could make a video showing how you store your drawings it will be great :D
4:18 shows crayola pencils, says "i was scared to try new things". yeah i was scared of crayola pencils too. they're not so bad once you get used to them.
Yeah, just the other day I left this comment in a video about the need of some artists to change mediums to not lose motivation due to monotony. Since there's a lot of artists that have the mentality "Jack of all trades, master of none" "I don't have the skills yet, but I've noticed that skilled artists can change mediums and be good at them even if it's their first time trying them because they just have to change the technique a bit, but all the observational skills, how to use values, proportions, how to approach the subject and reference etc are skills that are used across all mediums, so changing mediums still lets you practice and improve those skills which are the essence of making art."
Sometimes I'll dig out old work and go over it, as if I'm teaching my younger self how to improve. Obviously, this isn't really an option for all the work I did on cheap printer paper XD
I want to start color drawings the thing is I have no clue on how and where to start ….I feel very frustrated and discouraged. I feel like I’m no longer improving. Any advice? Any course to recommend???
And I still say that the most useful work to do is to continually study the works (in this case, drawings) of the true masters, since one cannot find better teachers than the actual masters. Otherwise, I really believe that one risks being very much sidetracked into dead-end avenues, and developing mostly useless skills such as "photorealistic" rendition, and many other such wastes.
Your artwork is amazing Kristy. By any chance was your grand mother's name Christine and lived in Bucks. One of your aunt's moved to Australia and is involved with NLP??? I just heard on the video that your are married. Perhaps Christine etc is his Grandmother and Denny is his Aunt.
Hi Kristy I not sure but I think you tried to get me to make contact with you but when I tapped into your message it disappeared. If you want to make contact do you have an email address??
She mentioned an email list awhile ago and I subscribed but I haven't gotten any emails since like June is she not doing them anymore? Plz help I don't want to miss out
I put the pencil down around 10 years ago because I was trying to do human faces, and I wasnt terrible, but the more I kept trying the more I made mistakes, and the same picture reference I used in one drawing 7 months earlier was better then the one I did 7 months later, same picture. And I got angry because I got worse, trying too hard. I put the pencil down, and only recently picked it back up in oct 2023, I've sold 8 drawings since then. I've never sold any before in all my years. I decide im not going to push myself that hard and get upset so I can keep the pencil in my hand.
in your videos I see all your drawings, are they copies or the original drawings with fixation? I hardly dare to touch my drawings because it gives off a lot. I also suffer from the substance that is released with drawing, how do you do that? sorry but my native language is Dutch, this has been translated
Drawing is practice. Pick a foto and try to copy it. See what you did right, what you did wrong and try again. If it helps you search a tutorial and pay attention to what they do and why. If you can, search for someone that puts the reference photo too because that helps immensely. There's no magic tutorial or formula to drawing things, it's a skill you have to improve on and it doesn't happen overnight either.
Yeah, my proportions are usually horrible, haven't had any art education, don't have the patience to do something like YT courses and all of that, i just, do. It sucks, but i do ok i guess. But portraits, pffff, nuhuh.
Try moving your eye back from subject to your rendition a lot more often and note the relationships of say the nose hole to all else around it and as well a quick check to other major landmarks. Pupil eyebrow start mouth corner etc. mainly a lot more back and forth eye checking as in a much more active engagement. This lady is great so I’d certainly watch her stuff. Also positive self talk will change your ability for the better even if you’re faking it. I always say art could be more fun and I struggle too because actually it’s quite a bit of work,focus and concentration! Eventually many aspects become automatic like with anything you do repeatedly. I love her chart of ups and downs during the progress because it’s very true! One of my handful of actual finished work worth displaying ( at home!) is from my first months of learning! I’d like to have more fun myself. I might be uninspired unmotivated and afraid of work!
