Where to focus first?

[jeff_knecht]

Looking for advice based on this sketch (8×10, oil on panel).  Specifically, I am wondering where to focus my energies for the next phase of my learning journey.  I see so many things that I would want to improve: drawing, color, basic paint-handling, yada yada yada…  I realize this is just a sketch, but I feel like there is an almost cartoonish quality here that really want to move beyond.

I can realistically only do one course at a time, and I keep bouncing around instead of staying focused on one thing.  So, my fellow students (and potential instructors?!), I am hoping that you will see things more clearly than I can.  What do you recommend I focus on next?  Do you have a specific course that you think would have the biggest impact?

 

 

 

[Jack]

Hey there Jeff – I suffer from the same problem of too many enticing subjects but only so much time to learn them! It’s the NMA curse.

There are a few things I really like about your sketch. The first is hard to put into words other than to say it clearly conveys an idea. Perhaps it’s the downward gaze or the abstract rubbish strewn across the bench – but clearly there’s a message you want to convey, which I think is often totally absent from sketches or practice pieces (for me at least!). I also like the warmer colours to show the turn of the hand.

Firstly, clarify exactly what your goal is around which to centre your practice – then simplify it into chunks that you can tackle one at a time. If your goal is to be able to depict the clothed figure in an environment, then I’d suggest starting with the nude figure, then include some drapery, then the clothed figure, and then add elements of an environment.  Similarly, I’d ensure reasonably competency in mediums; first in graphite, then charcoal, grisaille, a limited palette, and then full colour. Essentially, going from simple to more complex in both subject matter and medium. If you can’t draw it, chances are you’ll struggle to paint it with a full palette.

That’s not to say you need to be a master figure drawer before trying colour or attempting clothing, but rather that you want to build on a solid understanding of the fundamentals. You want to practice at the edge of your ability in order to push yourself, but not so far beyond that every practice is overwhelming. Only you can say where that line is.

There are plenty of great courses on NMA for this trajectory – the most specific perhaps being Villpu’s recent drawing the clothed figure or Todorvich’s Long Pose Figure Drawing. Naturally, everyone can benefit to continue to work on the figure, for which there are many courses.

Good luck, keep us updated with progress pictures. Consider the 100 day challenge, it’s demanding but worth it!

 

[Hanan Youssef]

I think, if your interested in figure painting, you should get to grips with hos to draw the basic figure. Sheldon borensteins course is nice and short, and is perfect to get to grips with it, and is a great base for the more complicated classes, like Steve and Glenn. So do that first…because draftsmanship should come before painting, generally. I think your jumping ahead of yourself with the painting!

For figure draftsmenship it should go: sheldon, Steve constructive figure drawing…around half that course, then glenn gesture figure, then anatomy

The website is designed so that you kinda use a lot of the courses. But be smart about it 😉

 

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Hanan Youssef.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Hanan Youssef.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Hanan Youssef.

[Carlos Perez]

Hey Jeff , i personally like your painting, learning  more about drawing Fundamentals  than  painting  is more important as well as  easier and cheaper, although of coure in your personal work tbe technique is on you

Making  an inventory .with  already done exercises, reviewing  skills, will provide that next step

still life, portraiture, perspective,  figure drawing,  art history, composition,
what are the weakest points? What are the strongests?

if they  feel already “good enough” ,   moving  to
Drapery, anatomy , color theory, dinamic gesture, Landscapes , animal antomy

Bill perkins boot camp on composition has been one of my favorites as well as steve huston’s figure drawing ::)

[Will Setchell]

I’d echo everyone else and say it’s worth focusing on drawing first for a while – 90% of painting is just drawing after all.

 

I know what you mean about jumping between courses (I’m doing that myself) but the main one I’ve been sticking with is the Russian Academic Drawing. I put all my other projects aside to focus on that for a bit, just watching the odd lecture on other topics to take notes. Recently, however, I got a bit tired of it and really wanted to paint but also practice portrait drawing. Solution – paint a portrait.

 

Bearing in mind it was just something I was doing for fun, I was really surprised at the result. I’ve often felt portraits were too cartoony or a poor likeness in the past, but having done nothing but very accurately draw geometric shapes and casts for months on end, I found I was getting far better results than I’ve ever had from just working on the painting techniques alone.

 

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