I have watched tons of videos to learn how to draw. for a whole DECADE. Your video is the FIRST to explain that thumbnailing and sketch draft are two different things, and that poses should be handled during thumbnails. I've always struggled starting a drawing because even when thumbnailing i was focusing on both composition AND form to make a good "thumbnail" So many art videos i've watched have shown me the processes but never explained where my mental focus should be. Seriously dude, thank you SO MUCH for going into the level of detail you do for things most artists consider 'too basic" to explain.
I agree. After learning to draw for a yearish now, I found it interesting now watching this video that I arrived at this exact same process, but I never understood why I did. The addition of mental focus really helped me see why the process was one that works for me, and also further helped me solidify each of those steps in my whole process. For example, while I do use the same first 4 steps, I don't finish posing in the thumbnail, and ran into the exact problem he mentions, where I'm trying to fix things after a refined sketch. This video was super helpful and I think that even for people who don't like the process exactly, it's really nice to see how an artist goes from idea to painting.
I guess my issue is that I'm impatient and I don't give myself a break and soon then I get frustrated and feel like giving up. (I soon realized I needed a break and just be patient. I also use to rush my art because of impatience)
@@starei what makes me accept my art is that I watch artists art progress. We should be more appreciative with what we draw and learn from it instead of getting frustrated. Thas what I learned and I kind of embrace my current skill.
Good video! to any artist out there who have a more painterly workflow or might not specifically illustrate with lineart I might suggest these changes- 1-3 are the same 4. Value- light/ambient light/shadow/reflective light/sss _ Depth Depending on workflow, you might find it easier to do each value step on a separate layer. One for base value, one for light, ambeint light ect. Keeping in mind the initial values of each object- how light effects them and how/ where to compress values to draw away attention/ widen values to create contrast and depth. All the wonderful lighting tricks go here too, bounce light, ambient light ect. I suggest that, if you're painting a background or environment that is not key to the character, you are probably not compressing the values enough to keep the attention on the Focus. Use C+L for layers to compress them and adjust them to be opposite the Focus (lighter if the Focus is darker/reversed) Side note is brushwork. It's important too, but can be added with value. keep your brushwork strongest in areas of medium value and use it to blend areas and soft edges 5. Hue- Vibrancy/warmth/cool/ environmental color from ambient light_ Mood/Theme Hue is where you go back to what the original intention of the image was. Painting something cold and lonely? Cool tones w/ low saturation. Important to note is that the lower the saturation a color has, the more room you have to play with hue. for example, take a brush, set color dynamics to Max for hue and paint in 50% value grey with 10% saturation, any color. All of a sudden, that grey becomes "alive" with color. Play with setting it per stroke as well. this can add dynamics to a dead or potentially boring area in an image and is very common with Northern European artists (Piotr Jablonski, Sergey Kolesov, Igor Sid, ect) and can add a certain amount of natural chaos if used intelligently Side note- some artists put 4+5 together by painting on with Value and Hue at the same time. It saves time overall. This is the Trad way of doing it but has a steep learning curve. if you separate and use color layers, it is a lot easier to control the outcome or make adjustments. each way has its own value and is up to the user to practice. 7 is the same too. A side note to noise, sharpen and chromatic aberration. These are all personal steps and workflow tricks- feel free to use them or discard them, but I find if I don't organize each step I end up wasting my time going back and forth from 4 to 7 for much longer than I need to
Great tips, but for step 7 if you want that painterly look and have a delineation of your edges don't use the sharpen filter without caution. Using this filter can damage your edges especially if you have soft or lost edges. Use this carefully and if you must use it then apply a mask to apply it only where you need it to make hard edges.Variety of edges is fundamental to any painting whether it's analog or digital. Completely agree about noise for that analog look. It's also great for that paper look that you see in old school comics printed on newsprint. Chromatic Aberration is more of a style choice and a current trend. Using it makes your painting look more digital and less painterly. So, use at your own discretion. If you use Photoshop, there are other filters that can give your painting more of an analog or vintage look. Explore color grading too. Experiment and have fun.
@@asimian8500 Agree with you 100% about Shapen filters, It didn't even occur to me because I use the sharpen tool most of the time to increase contrast, then blend it potentially. I don't think a full image filter is the best way to go most of the time- sure there are exceptions, but what I find most useful is either the appropriate tool (sharpen/blur) or masking things (for example, adding Noise would be- New layer+ 50% grey fill+ add multichannel noise+ set layer to multiply+ mask layer+ paint mask fully black and then paint the noise back in with a soft, low opacity brush. Same works with Chromatic Aberration) This gives you way more control than just an Opacity slider, and lets you vary focus I really think chromatic Aberration get a bad wrap. It really is useful 80% of the time, but at no more then an offset of a couple of pixels. When you offset things over 3 pixels, it becomes way too obvious and distracting. Done right, It adds a layer of depth and interest in a painting, and can be another way to increase depth and focus by having the Focus be not- CA'ed and the environment/ things around them slowly become more CA as they move into the periphrials of the painting It's how they showed distance in Miles Morales world in Spiderverse and is a tool, but just like rimlighting, abusing it leads to boring images IMO Thanks for sharing! Its nice to chat to someone about things like this
The refined sketch phase is so huge. At the very very beginning I didn't even sketch, I thought, every stroke had to be perfect from the start. Well I quickly realized just how bad that was. At some point I started sketching but just the bare necessity and then traced it into lineart. Having done only that not only hindered my creativity but also made me realize just how bad the lineart after that would look. Now I am in the sktech the hell out of it, everything phase, Start messy, but add in every detail you want. Doing that I am just so much more statisfied with my lineart.
Bro you're actually a real one, this is the kind of video I've always wanted to see, and you're the only one who's laid out your entire creative process like this. Whenever i ask people for this sort of advice, they just tell me to figure it out. You a real homie, epic chad, I can't express how awesome it is to see this come up ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤love u
Well, it might be because people might not be able to tell it like this. My drawing process is almost like how he does but if anyone were to ask me, I probably wouldnt be able to explain to others. I learned this way from watching artists that streamed. They dont explain but just watching lets you learn a lot.
@@FVMCRAFT that works, but its really slow, especially if like me, you don't know anything about the process as a whole, then you are stuck playing unconnectable dots. While a brute-force method of "draw until good" can and does work, it's not great when I try to ask any artist friend I have about drawing, the convo usually goes "How do I get better at drawing?" "Keep practicing!" "Is there any methods or principles I should be thinking about?" "Not really, just keep drawing" It's true that its probably because they learned that way, and dont really think about the process of drawing, but a brute-forced method only works if I either start out with some confidence or understanding out the gate, like how I learned Blender, or if I find the process itseklf to be very, very fun, like a game. But neither of these apply to drawing for me, so a brute-force method can't work (at least until I already have a decent foothold)
@@Dedprotectr I do keep sending my art process to my artist friend, and he always replies to me with great feedbacks. Like make a sketch, send to your friend and ask if he/she can see any mistakes. Well, this doesnt teach the process tho. Its absolutely slow with the way I learned just like you said, I've been watching art streams for 2 or 3 years now and I started to get good around 6 months ago. This video is absolutely great for people that havent learned the process yet, as I said many people wont be able to write their process like he does. Wish I could see this video years ago.
I can't remember where I learned it but apparently the manga process from Japan emphasizes the "three pass rule." Three passes encapsulates the rough sketch, a refined sketch over the top, then finally inking on top. It changed my view on drawing because I was obsessed with getting everything right on the first pass. Japanese manga RU-vidrs very quickly dispelled that myth for me and said "drawing is a process of constantly correcting; nobody can do it perfect the first try. You are not a machine."
Post Effects- Focus- Depth Post effects are the blurring and minimal additions to composition that draw the eye. This gives a better sense of depth to the overall image, and is really useful when you don't know what your peice is missing. It canseriously be minor post effects that make or break.
one of my favourite artists to watch is Porforever, their speedpaints show this full process so well, especially the thumbnailing stage. the way they block out various scenes so beautifully in such a small area and choose the best is really inspiring.
This is a video I will go back to for years to come, I’ve been drawing for 5+ years (give or take) and I wish I had this advice earlier because it helps clear up so much stuff-especially the first step involving thumbnails, because I unknowingly always started with step two, thinking thats how it should be done. Words cannot express how thankful I am for this video, people like you help me continue the grind to improve.
I don't usually click on these kinds of videos, let alone comment on them,. Heck, I don't know what intrigued me about yours, but I'm just SO glad I did. I've been drawing for over 5 years, and I make a living off of my art, and I've never seen the process being broken down so systematically like this, especially in newer tutorials. There are breakdowns and tutorials that are similar, but they usually scratch the surface or explain 1-2 of these processes - even then, so briefly. You did a fantastic job teaching us about the basics, and helped me understand not just the HOW but the WHY. And it's actually made so much sense to why my drawings could look better. Thank you so much! I'll be applying these lessons here on out.
These steps are absolutely flawless! I think this would be great for artists who want to go all out on a piece. In my process instead of doing lineart, I just do a slightly cleaner sketch since lineart takes too much time and is also very physically taxing..but other than that I use these steps! One thing I do advise for beginner artists is that thick brushes are recommended for thumbnail sketches in order to quickly and effectively establish an idea. Once you reach the sketching phase thin brushes are more appropriate because it makes it easier to catch mistakes early on and you'll be less likely to cut corners. One more thing, it is completely fine to redo everything and try again on a new blank canvas! Sometimes when I'm in my rendering phase and I still end up not liking it..I usually just start over on a new canvas and try something else. However, if you catch yourself starting over too much it's better to just take a break and come back to said piece later..whether its just sketching in a sketchbook or going outside or gathering inspo (that way you're not constantly frustrated and discouraged).
Perfect advice!! I agree with every word you said, this is great for a artist who wants to go all out on a specific drawing, me personally I usually have a messy style and don’t do lineart
Something I would add on to this is doing thumbnails for the color so you make sure it has the contrast you want and so you don't have to worry about the colors later
oh my gosh, thumbnailing is probably the best art tip I've ever heard man. This improved my poses and made them so much more dynamitic. I wish more people told me about this!!
Thumbnailing is probably the most useful thing though I never heard anyone mention about it before, it’s really important to give yourself a basic idea on what you gonna draw, it’s pain to draw straight from imagination cause most of the time it would look weird
You're a great teacher! I love your live demonstation as well as repetition of key topics, it's really memorable. Something I'd like to add is to define the general values of colors you're using. It's second nature to artists with a good sense of color, but good values help enhance the focal point and depth of the picture. Personally, I witnessed great improvement in my art once I started painting in grayscale, THEN applied colors later. Additionally, It's also helpful know what to check for in a stage and when you can move on to another stage. Actions like fipping the canvas or checking colors in grayscale are good examples of checking methods. I think that is another thing worth mentioning.
This actually worked for me anyway. I'm not a trad artist, but I like to draw an image and then touch it up in digital art because it makes my art look more authentic (it's also more difficult to draw something original without seeing where your pen is on your pad because there's no screen) The thumbnail is still digital, and then I make a very very rough version of how the character looks on a small drawing pad, then I make my sketch draft on a bigger A4 piece of paper, then I scan the art on a printer (DON'T USE A PHONE APP LIKE ADOBE SCAN IT DISTORTS THE IMAGE) and make my refined sketch on clip, then it's just the same as the video.
You forgot about my art process: I sketch and sketch and sktech each piece but never get to color even though the sketch took 3 months sometimes to settle on. Yup.
I've heard this advice in bits and pieces before. I guess it's about time I actually listen to it and put it to practice, especially with an easy and concise reference of the process to use.
Hey just wanted to say that ive been following you for ovee three years now. I've made great progress and I just wanted to say thanks for all your hard work to teach us
Nice vid, its nice to have these steps laid out in clear ways almost like a reminder, even if you've been drawing for a while. Another step I might add depending on the piece is what I call the "conceptual phase", which I would place before thumbnailing sometimes. With this step, you're essentially developing the story further, so this can take the form of writing down word associations, detailed descriptions of a character or scene, backstory, whatever inspires you. It could also be having a main idea or feeling you want to impart to the viewer in mind. You should still explore these ideas through sketching of course, but having written notes and a decent idea of the story/tone can be really helpful with tying the steps to a central idea. A great book I would also recommend to anyone interested in learning more about process is "Imaginative Realism" by James Gurney.
I have been on this journey to learn art, fully self learn from various advices from ppl and internet, I have changed from drawing from just imagination, to drawing dynamic static poses, sketching using 3D shapes to highlight direction for each part, I was good at details and shadow but all of them seemed so unnatural after I complete the art. After following the guide of "Draw Like a Sir" I was really struggling at the 1st step of posing, gesture and matching the perspective with the background, it was very mortifying. Many people recommended me to use a pre-drawn smaller version for references that I draw accurately from my imagination. There was a problem it was not that I couldn't enact my imagination correctly, it was rather that my imagination was flawed as it lacked vital points and only focused on eye catching parts. My thumbnail and sketch art served the same purpose as I tried to maintain proportion in sketches, I realized my thumbnails served no purpose so I stopped doing it as a whole. Your idea of composition and gesture using just broad colour and planning ahead to see some basic mistake is soooo good. Like in your case, you drew a thumbnail of the scythe guy, what happens in most of my case is that I focus on the upper body and scythe, I build their form and structure and then monumentally fk up the lower parts direction and gesture, and it takes a lot of time to fix each and every block and joint in line art. From now I will draw the thumbnail for the purpose of solely composition and gesture so I don't have to worry about the overall pose. Before that I had to rely on taking pictures of my pose 😂😂or references from other artist but it felt to me like I was outlining but with extra steps. Now I can truly create it from scratch. Thank you.
I may watch this a few times. I like how you break things down to a simpler understanding so that beginners(like me) aren't overwhelmed. Also you talk to your viewers in a friendly manner ^^ Some channels have a "see, look how easy this is!" Feel to their videos and that can really frustrate a beginner because they just can't fathom that level yet.
Goat dropped another banger. But seriously, I've recently been dealing with stuff coming out not exactly how I wanted, I've been breaking through but I didn't exactly know WHY or HOW I've been doing that, so this video really helped me on how and also ensure I keep doing so. Thanks
great video shining some light on how a lack of direction and process can hamper a drawing from looking coherent and clear. personally i don't really like spending too much time on my work because i don't really stay as much on my pc anymore as i get tired and do something else (eat, go outside and walk, all other activities) so planning would feel like taking too much time, but i think a change on mindset could help me make better drawings once more. i'd like making good drawings anyway, so why not lol
Step 1. Thumbnail : Menggambar dummy pose || fokus ke Ide dan komposisi 2. Sketch draft : Membuat sketsa pose (lengkungan badan, bentuk tangan dan kaki secara dasar) || fokus membentuk 2. 2. Form : Membetuk pose dan sketsa dasar bentuk pakaian (tidak perlu sangat detail) || fokus membentuk 3. Refined sketch : Menggambar detail pakaian (termasuk aksesoris), rambut, pose, wajah, dan mata. || fokus ke detail dan keterbacaan 4. Lineart : lineart nya dikembangkan seperti ketebalan dan opacity nya .saran opacity diturunkan di bulu mata, ujungnya saja, dan lineart rambut harus tipis 5. Coloring : Warna tidak boleh sama (jika bentuknya menutupi) agar jelas, bagian mata disarankan saturated color || fokus arti warna, fokus objek, dan kejelasan 6. shading lighting : bagian rambut yg atas warnanya lebih cerah (bebas sih, intinya harus beda dengan bagian rambut menuju leher) 7. post effects
This is not lesson you could usually get for free, incredible video and thank you so much. Also somehow i laughed more than usual when watching this tutorial.
This made me realize my sketch is a thumbnail and i book it when doing lineart and this explains why it looks weird in some parts I'll def do more planning now great tut ty!
well , the video is good but the "Don't look good" itself is a wide and hard topic especially for new artist . The "hey , it looks weird but idk where" can be caused by many factors and even veteran artists sometime face it too , but veterans can solve it easily because they've facing many situations before and have a better "artist" sense which have been build up with years and experience. Just keep learning and practice and you can keep the "Don't look good" at bay or can solve it easily.
Thank you for this super useful video! As a beginner artist, I find it art to figure out the steps to go from an idea in my head to an actual illustration, but this video made it far more clear and added structure to the process, planning and stuff. Incredibly useful video, thank you so much!
I think it’s important to know that a tutorial like this is not for beginner artists. If you’re a beginner watching this, you’re probably going to get lost at the first or second step because even as far as the sketch requires an understanding of the fundamentals in order to progress and focus on further details. If you’re currently working on mastering anatomy, perspective, and fundamentals like that, work on your skill level, and come back to this tutorial when you’re ready. Good luck everyone!
I definitely want to try this method. I've been doing coloring before any lineart this whole time, and your style is closer to my goal when Im drawing anyways. We shall see how this goes. Also I really like the multiple sketching steps idea. That would make it a lot easier. Although, Im not sure how to draw a nose. Usually do that entirely with color and no lines.
IDK about ya'll, but this is too much for me. I'm really impressed how good you at this, and at the same time I'm really really surprised how complicated an artist can be at their process of drawing things (as long as it's useful for you, it's not a bad thing).
I just usually do a quick sketch, a more detailed sketch, then colours and shading. Then if I want them to have dark outlines, I'll do lineart after everything. Usually my stuff looks better with the second sketch than my lineart.
12:46 "As you can see.. This character doesnt have a face- She pretty much looks like a doll but it feels human and expressive" *I see what u did there :)*
This video is perfect, thanks to this i'm managing to draw an illustration i always wanted to do but never got the steps right. Thank you, totally subbed
Thank you for this! I’m like at a intermediate level. When doing art I’m not what I’m feeling, or how to realize my mistakes. I’m not sure what I what to draw. I’m kinda stuck in a loop of “I want to draw *starts a canvas* I’m not sure what to draw…” I go on Pinterest but I’m not sure how that effects the feel. It feels like I’m just copying poses and my creativity is just gone.
Thank you so much ! This video is really informative and helped me see the things I was missing and why I struggle / take a long time to get a drawing right, thank you !
Thank you!!! Video made me realize I was skipping step one and getting lucky if things worked out consistently! Also tried to rush to line art to soon and usually would have regrets forcing me to start over!
Brilliantly put together video! Its shocking how relevant this is for me! Plus i love ohisashiburi too. I assume shes one of your inspirations considering how well youve nailed her eye and general rendering/shading! Really glad i came across this video today! Watch your back cos im gonna catch up to you!! 🤭
My list: 1:36 1. planning (y’all should know why it’s Important even if you just plan for 5 secs) 2. Sketching/scaling 3. Line art (most of the time) 4. Base colours 5. Textures (if there’s texture present) 6. Shadows & highlights 7. Refining 8. Post effects 😁
Yeah, I'm not seeing what you mean by unplanned when it comes to that pose. A bit stiff in the hips and low in dynamics, sure; that can be resolved in this case by re-framing into a more upward angle, having some foreshortening, changing the twist of the torso, that kind of thing. But I don't get what you mean by "unplanned." And I've seen plenty of artists lasso-select entire limbs during that sketch stage and shift, rotate, and scale them into a better position. As for it feeling unnatural, of course it is, it is a distinctly unnatural pose. But that's like telling me a makeup looks unnatural; well of course it does, because it is. Actually, watching later into the video, your argument is based on not just skipping the thumbnail, but skipping all the way to the final lineart before judging your pose, but you frame it as an issue with skipping just the thumbnail. IDK, that seems disingenuous to me.
I've been putting off watching this video but im glad i finally did. This is helpful for both beginners and pros. Btw if you read this is there a way for a viewer to send you one of their OCs for you to redraw? Maybe payed or for a video. I would love to see how you would do my charecter.
thanks for this, I've been struggling a lot because of this but didn't know what it was. I realized it when you said it looks like you winged it, or that it appears forced. I would usually only do a single sketch draft, which makes the lineart harder that it needs to.
Can I recommend that if you reference your own videos, that you put them in your description, or as a pinned comment from yourself so that they are easier to find? Especially because it looks like you recover some concepts as you have progressed more yourself, it becomes a little difficult to search and be confident I'm finding the right video (for instance how you mentioned you have a video for shading where you talk about form).
The first thing I notice is always eyes and hair. That shading section was amazing. Shading is soo hard for me and that cutting off of the chest was like amazing. It literally was a circle 😂
I've been doing organics and such on Minecraft, this video helped a lot to breakdown the processes, though Id like to borrow the concepts n shape the names for organic builders out there. For instance we don't do much lineart and post effects, so my idea is just to change some of the names in a message n credit this awesome video. You'll do the teaching lol
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