[TUTORIAL] Why Your Drawings Don’t Look Good

Actually my drawings are perfect and flawless

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)

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.

19:08 "And don't say boobs" got me, anyways, good video! Love your stuff, your art really inspires me and I want to say thank you.

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

"Everyone hates lineart" 😅 Meanwhile here i am, with lineart being my favourite step of the whole process :D

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.

i always thought i made my refined sketches too detailed, but then i realised from this that it's probably better to do that, huge confidence boost.

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

POV : youre using paper eraser and pencil

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.

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.

those sketches are almost as good as my final products bro wtf

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. <3

2:16 thumbnails 8:24 sketch draft 13:13 refined sketch 17:08 lineart 17:51 base color 20:34 shading / lighting 24:24 post effects

Oh lord he finally remembered his youtube password

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 YouTubers 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."

i felt this struggle in my soul. your process helps me a lot. Huge fan of your work and appreciate you making videos for us to learn from

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.

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