I have a question for you: When a person is learning to draw (or in my case, learning to draw *better* ) how true to life, or true to the reference photo should the person get? I am a perfectionist, so as I am trying to learn to draw what I see, I tend to try to draw every single detail that I see in my reference photo, exactly as it appears. Should I be doing that? Due to my inexperience with that kind of drawing, it makes it a very long and tedious process. I'll give an example: Right now, I'm drawing a simple autumn leaf from a reference photo. It took me two hours to get the shape of the leaf to be an exact match to the reference photo. (I used tracing paper to make sure it was an exact match.) Before now, I have always been the type of person who draws mostly from imagination, and used reference photos to fill in where needed. I would picture a tree in my mind, draw it, then use reference photos to give me an idea of where the shadows should be, or how the foliage clumps together. The leaf I am currently drawing has serrated edges. Should I be drawing each and every serration, exactly as it appears in the photo? Or should I do my best to draw *a* the serrated edge, without drawing each serration exactly as it is placed in the photo? On some of your videos where you use a reference photo, I've noticed that you don't stick to the photo 100%. Like that gorgeous, gnarled tree you did in line and wash... I know that you have a lot of experience drawing, and that that allows you some freedom; you've drawn enough trees in your life to understand how it *should* look. But when is it okay to say, 'The shape of this leaf is correct, and I know this has a serrated edge, so I'm going to add a serrated edge on my own, without sticking to the reference photo 100%.' I should probably also tell you that I have no intention of being a hyper-realist when it comes to my art. My goal is illustration, similar to Ida Rentoul Outhwaite and Beatrix Potter, with Edward Gorey thrown in to darken things up a bit. I understand that I need to learn to draw what I see, and that that is how the masters of illustration were able to do what they did (especially Beatrix Potter.) Do I need to do that? Copy what I see down to the tiniest detail? I sure hope that what I'm asking makes sense! Thanks for reading this long-winded explanation of what should be a simple question!
re: details and drawing what you see. - This depends entirely on what your drawing purpose is. You should definitely NOT be focusing on details if you are trying to practice and increase your ability to see and draw proportions, form and value. Details don't help with that. In general many artists go way too fast to the details thinking that makes their drawing better. They can be fun to add and draw but should be reserved for finished work and only if you have a good base construction. Think cake vs icing or the foundation and framing of a house vs decor. Good, accurate proportions, form and value make a drawing or painting superior. That should be the focus in drawing improvement. Details are just icing on the cake, maybe even the icing decoration on top of the icing. As to when is it ok to go to details? Thats an artistic decision. Decision making is just one of the many elements that make art, art and make you an artist. If it were a simple formula then everyone would be good at it. Time, practice and experience make those decisions better. re: Illustration and hyper realism - again, that depends on your goals as you draw and paint. If you wanted to develop a style similar to Outhwaite, Potter or Gorey then yes study their style and even copy it if you want (usually referred to as master studies) but not necessarily every extreme detail or to the exclusion of basic drawing skills. It cannot be repeated enough, good representational art is based first on sound drawing principles like proportion, form and value. THEN a style is developed through your artistic decisions and that just takes time and experience. What details you leave OUT are much more important than what you leave in! Again it's an artistic decision. If you study Outhwaite for example you begin to see and understand that she actually left a lot of details out (same goes for Potter and Gorey). That should intrigue you as an artist. How do you get to that level and learn what to leave out? This is art and developing a masterful artistic style. It's first and foremost a command of basic drawing principles + mastery of your preferred mediums + interesting and accomplished stylistic decisions. Attained in that order. Focus on one at a time, would be my advice. Details should be last and focus on what to leaving out more than what you should put in. Again, if it were easy to define, everyone could do it. re: faithfuness to reference - This is just another one of those experience things. In general you should strive to "understand" your reference rather than copy it. Copy it exactly to begin, definitely, but try to understand how a leaf curls and how light hits it well enough that you can eventually begin to be more inventive with leaf forms of your own making (rather than purely copying) based on those reference characteristics. Otherwise you just become a slave to the reference. Something few accomplished illustrators do. Reference should really be more of a guide to help you solve visual problems. Hope that helps. Good questions! - Steve
Enjoying the experience of drawing and painting will relax you and then you will put however much detail you want into each piece as your mind relaxes into the joy of drawing and painting in your own style. Don’t get bogged down with being perfect relax and do it 🤗
@@mindofwatercolor Very good advice. Especially with the amount of useful information on RU-vid now, many are beguiled by the astonishing ultrarealistic works, without having explored drawing history and old masterworks, which by comparison can look unfinished or crude. It is not true, that one can draw anything from life, and once skills are developed, faces are just like trees or hubcaps. A hundred thousand years of evolution have fine-tuned our sensitivity to faces, where minute shifts in a rendering may change the expression, or leave an uncomfortable sense that it is off somehow, even if we still recognize the person (which caricatures play on). Yet we can fake leaves, with practice, without painstakingly focusing on one specific leaf. I'd say if one can draw a convincing likeness, perhaps they can draw practically anything else. Deficient drawing skills hobble artist's creative abilities because if one can't reproduce a decent likeness from a direct source, one will never come close to doing it from memory or imagination. Sargent portraits are sublime, for what just a few charcoal strokes perfectly suggest convincingly, so we barely notice every area he leaves unfinished, or sketched without detail. Hyperrealism feels creepy and artificial, in many ways, perhaps because our eyes don't work that way - we can only focus sharply in a small area at one time, and we'd have to be using a magnifying glass a foot from a person to see each pore and eyelash, at which point the extreme foreshortened perspective would put the ear out of focus and shrink it to a little flap.
@@mindofwatercolor Thank you for answering Megan. I am learning how to draw and I too wonder how precise I ought to be. You give an excellent answer here.
I guess im asking the wrong place but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account? I somehow forgot the account password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me.
I MUST say something: Just when i wanted to give up,with my watercolor Art, i was so sad,an then i discoverd your Channel,with this Style, AND that you are Christian too, then i became soo encouraged,and now it is such a Joy and Fun, im so glad and thankful!!! Be blessed,you and your family❤😊👍🍀🇨🇭🤗
So glad you're back, and you seem so upbeat and joyful, so you must have overcome your difficulties, if not, retiring to your studio and chatting with Reese and your viewers brings peace. Don't be a stranger!!😇
Thanks. Not difficulties really, just busy, out of the ordinary challenges that are distracting and effecting my schedule. They’re not over either but we’re dealing with it.
Another GORGEOUS spontaneous painting! I love these! Whatever the cares of your heart are right now, I hope all the love from your viewers does indeed cheer your soul.
Don’t know how long ago you painted this but i am so glad i found this video. I’m amazed and in love with this type of watercolor painting. It’s exactly what i need as a beginner at watercolor painting. I have found many amazing artist but this looks like something i can truly enjoy without stress. Thank you for sharing your artwork with us.
"I got a lot of spontaneous scraps"...I liked that remark, it's comforting! I think this one came out beautiful, a very effective use of a limited palette.
Hi Steve, I've been following you since 14', right after you got started posting on YT; I love your work and being a brother in Christ Jesus is an inspiration. I've grown to be a pretty talented color pencil artist during this time and would like to pass on a little bit of knowledge to you and your patrons. I noticed in this video you taking about the white colored pencils, both the Prismacolor and the Faber Castell, how they are not very opaque. In the event that you or any of your followers would like to have a very opaque white pencil, I have experimented a lot on the subject and have found that Derwent's Chinese White from the Derwent Drawing Pencil 24 set collection is by far and away the best white pencil there is. One can order it individually at either Dick Blick or Jerry's Artarama. The 24 set is a great set mainly because they are all very lightfast as opposed to other colored pencils. The colored are muted and meant mainly for animal and muted landscape work, which in my humble opinion would work great for the type of work that you do. I'm not trying to crowd your space, I just want to help. God Bless You In All That You Do! Amen and Amen!
I've been following almost as long ... and got my love of hot pressed and Silver Black Velvets from Steve!!! They are the cat's meow! BTW, I've heard others talk about the Derwent Chinese White, I think it's Lisa Clough at Lachri, but have never tried it myself. Thanks for also commenting on that. I battle with white acrylics -- hate most of them and if you have any tips on that, I am sooo open. Blessings to you as well!
@@AnimalArtbyTerraCotta Hi TerraCotta, yes Lisa Clough has confirmed what I found out on my own by purchasing the full set of Derwent Drawing on Ebay, back when Ebay truly had bargains, before I even knew about Lisa. One other product that I did discover through Lisa is the, "Brush and Pencil" Titanium White powder and the Touch-Up Texture mixed together creates the most outstanding white that one can paint on any surface and it will cover up even huge mistakes. I've used it repeatedly on both colored pencil and ink pieces that I created. I just reordered from Dick Blick too. As for acrylic white I use Golden Fluid in most cases but sometimes I find that white Daler Rowney FW acrylic ink works best. It just depends on your substrate. I love and adore working on Ampersand Claybord, yea its expensive but it is by far and away the best substrate one can use. Use a fine sanding block on it before applying colored pencil or ink and many times it only takes one layer to cover. It's Awesome! NOTE: it works best with wax based pencils like Caran Dache Pablos or Prismacolor Premiers not so much with Faber Castell's Polychromos. The problem with Prismacolors is the lightfast ratings on so many of the colors are NOT lightfast enough for me. I want my art to last at least a hundred years and Prismacolor does not meet that criteria. I hope this helps. God Bless and happy drawing!
Wayne Osborne Wow, Wayne, you’re a fount of knowledge. As I live and work in Korea, I’m a bit limited on some specialty items like that Ampersand everyone keeps talking about. A limited number of Golden products are here and I know one place that sells Daler-Romney. Pricey in the states and double-dang pricey here, but I really dislike the whites I’m using so much, I’ll pay. Just followed your avatar hoping you hosted your own site. Sadly, nope, but we have almost identical interest, including the Daniel Prophecy but minus oil painting. Anyway, thanks for sharing! If you ever start a YT, I’ll be hopping, popping over! Blessings!
@@AnimalArtbyTerraCotta sorry I am very limited in my social media exploits. They tried multiply times to scam me on FB and I closed ALL accounts associated with FB and Google. The world is a VERY Evil place and I try to maintain and low profile. God Bless
Gutted you forgot to record the 1st one but I think I got the gyst. I love watching you paint. I may have the guts to have a go myself one day. Thankyou for your videos.
Ive always been so intimidated by watercolor but I have recently decided I can do it if i learn more and keep trying. I just found your channel and am loving it. thank you
I enjoyed watching you stir things up a bit with watercolor pencils! Fall-ish colors. Enjoyed! Thank you for another spontaneous watercolor! I know it's been rough, hang in there!
Oh My! what fun! I sat there with a big grin on my face, just magic. I have been practicing with watercolour pencils but this is a whole new technique. I can't wait to start. Your list of materials is a great help too. A lovely way to spend a wet and windy day in England.
I love how it goes from white paper to a few spritzes of water, a few blobs of paint, to a nice composition. I can see the composition taking form at 4:53. I love how on the right the golden color peaks through from behind, looking like the sun. If you left it at 4:53 and never added lines it would make a super pretty abstract painting 😍 I have an entire set of watercolor pencils (Albrecht Durer) that I haven’t used much. Need to use them more!
Spotted the Princess bride t shirt...I love that movie! As usual love your work and the lessons they teach us all, thank you so much for sharing so generously. I will go on learning forever, looking forward to it.
Hello Steve ~ a lovely composition textures and colors ! Sincerely hope things are getting better and you can both enjoy a comfortable weekend, Nice to see you back ! ...... Jennie
Working in graphic design for the past 20 years, I have been finding it so difficult to make the switch over from a controlled environment to loosening up when I paint. I love this video, thank you! I'm going to try something like this today.
I wish I could give that picture and process 10 thumbs up! Gorgeous, imaginative, amazing, magic... love the colours... I am so glad I found your channel!!
Good morning..so nice to see and hear you again. I really enjoy your style of presentation so easy to absorb what you teach. your choices of topic alway appeal to my liking and or ability. Look forward to your next one. I don't mind waiting when the end result is so enjoyable and informative. Happy Thanksgiving from Canada ...soon....
LUV your work! Does anyone else think the bottom half of the painting looks a bit like the reflection of the landscape in water? Steve.you are amazing. Thank for sharing.
I loved the colors in this painting, Steve. I do so enjoy your abstract landscapes. I have not had a lot of success, but I love trying. Thanks, as always!
You have the best tshirt collection! Great to see you again, this gives me good ideas for my fall painting here in peak foliage season in the northeast. Thank you! Be well.
This is stunning! Thank you for the spontaneous painting tips. I don't like feeling like I'm wasting paper when I try to do one that doesn't turn out the way I wanted, but it's the only way to make progress. I try to use my cheap paper for this and to test ideas, but the results are very different.
Absolutely love this technique ....When you do them! This piece and the golden one you showed are incredible to me. I don’t love landscapes, in general , but you take them to another level that I adore! I can only aspire to gain a fraction of your skill! Can’t thank you enough for sharing.
Such a beautiful and lively painting 😯 this technique is incredible. Whenever I try to paint or draw something spontaneous, I end up subconciously making patterns on the page and then realising how boring it is 😆 I've gotten better at letting go though, so that's something
Steve, I just love your spontaneous paintings. Time to take out my Polychromos pencils, which are perfect for this exercise, and try another one! Thank you so much.
Hey neighbor! Welcome back! It’s great to see you in my subscription stream again. I know you re doing a great job with the family- hang in there! Thanks for the lovely demo! 💯👍🏻😺
Okay, now.....I'm in total love with this style and the technique.!!! I can see not only the idea of creating an actual stylized painting but a potential for freeform and abstract art! Thank you for so freely sharing your "Mind"!
“Looking for edges that present themselves as natural shapes.” I do a lot of “abstract doodling” with watercolor and ink and that’s exactly what I often do, but I never defined it quite that well. I’m pretty strong at seeing patterns and shapes and then repeat what I like...or go with what the shape is...like a face or flower as I see it. I think most artist’s are probably good at this. I sometimes call my doodling “morphing” as it often starts with whatever I feel like drawing and then it gets refined & tweeted into something else. Thanks for all your great instruction!
Hi Steve!👋 So good so see your face again! Thanks for another amazing video, watching you is such an inspiration. I love your work and you have such a gift for teaching. I hope things are going well for you and God bless. I also love the bible quotes at the end of each of your vids. Amen❤
Hi, I really love your work and tuition videos. I have learnt so much ! Watercolours are a difficult medium to master but you have given me the tools and techniques to try and master watercolours myself. Thank you.
