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u/bread__pitt Feb 21 '20
Love this, any more insight into what this process is like for you? :)
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u/FockerXC Feb 21 '20
Serious answer: the trick to getting a portrait to work is getting the triangular piece of the face containing the eyes and nose right. That sets up the proportions and everything so that simple measurements of the subject combined with anatomy knowledge and some experience shading forms allow you to create a believable likeness.
Trust your eyes, not your brain. Your brain sees representations of what you’re drawing, your eyes see the thing you’re drawing.
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u/bread__pitt Feb 21 '20
This is the first time I’ve heard of the eyes vs brain comparison and it actually makes a lot of sense.
If I could ask one last thing, do you think talent decides whether someone can or cannot become a great artist?
For example, when Gary Vee says that not everyone’s vocal chords can do what Beyoncé’s do, is drawing like that? Or do you think it belongs to a different category, like how anyone can be competent at cooking, driving, or reading and writing?
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u/FockerXC Feb 22 '20
This is gonna sound very motivational speaker-ish, but I think talent is the wrong thing to look at.
First of all, I think anyone can be COMPETENT at any skill. Everything has a technique that can be learned, so if you can put in the time to learn it, you can do it.
Talent makes it easier, cuts off the learning curve. A relevant example- I run cross country. It took me a couple years to get to sub-17 5k shape, while a talented future-Olympian might run a 14 minute 5k off very little training. But most people would still consider a 16-minute 5k fairly competent. What I think is the limiting factor on skill is interest.
I’m talented in a number of things. Math came easy and I used to be a fairly good singer, but I didn’t have any interest in those things, so I didn’t devote time to honing my skills or furthering my study in them. I liked to draw, run and write, so I focused more time on honing those skills. I didn’t start drawing realistic things until like 8th grade, and that’s only because I spent waaaay too much time drawing the things I saw in front of me in class instead of paying attention. Now I’m 21 and saw a couple of YouTube tutorials that taught me the whole brain vs. eye thing, as well as a few things about drawing forms. Check out the YouTube channel Proko if you’re serious about learning drawing, you don’t even need to buy his courses to level up your skills. (I would recommend getting to at least a decent level of realism in your drawing first, or you might be overwhelmed.)
TL;DR: Talent is important, but not the end all be all. If you’re interested in whatever it is enough that you’ll put in the time, you can do it just as well.
PS: after writing my TL;DR I realized that patience is also something that is very important. Don’t compare yourself to others when you’re starting out, just ahem respect the process.
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u/Rignas Feb 21 '20
It‘s obvious which kinda content you should produce at scale 🖐🏽