I hope you guys enjoy this video. Drawing this way of course is a lot more challenging, but it is actually very helpful in some ways for learning observational realism art, especially for beginners, because it removes one of the main stumpling blocks that trips people up: what they think something looks like.
yes, what you think something looks like screws you over in trying to draw accurately and realistically. The mind holds simplistic/cartoonish ideas of what constitutes everything such as an nose or an eye, and when the beginners draw something, even when staring right at the things they are trying to draw, prioritize this simplistic idea rather than what is actually infront of them. For example when they draw a nose they start to draw what they think the shape of the nose is in outline, but where do they see this dark outline? What you are actually seeing is different patches of varying shades, interwined in such a way that forms the illusion of a nose. Those varying shapes and shades that you are actually seeing is what you ought to put down on paper if you want to make it realistic.
Upside down (or sideways), what you see is often much stranger than what you think you know so the mind is forced to let go of what it thinks something looks like and focus more on drawing what it sees. This is a fundamental understanding that is required before one can incorporate their own style into the drawing.
Just a random story but the other day i was in my friend's class, I saw someone view one of your works. I thought it was kind of cool when she was watching it that it was drawn by someone on TL.
Amazing Great music choice. I got immense aesthetical pleasure while watching your vid.
Are there any plans of people you're drawing or it's just a random inspiration? Was wondering if you could do Jessica Biel since she's my favorite. Checked your page, I don't have 250$ for that. I would better pay it for my future wifes portrait.
Pretty amazing as usual, super good tip for drawing too, like you said, I knew when I drew that it was definitely super easy to get too caught up on what I thought I was supposed to be drawing whenever I drew realistic things.
On March 28 2012 07:35 Tiwo wrote: I just wish that song (and other songs) of Denys Rybkin was on spotify, it's so good. And the only one that i could find was $40 for just 1 song
Ohh, and good drawing ofc as always!
his songs are not available as singles (just for listening) as far as I know, the $20 - $40 prices are probably from stock sites, those are licencing prices to use his music commercially.
How does drawing the picture upside down change the process? I remember reading that for aspiring artists that suck right now, it is a meaningful experience to draw it upside down to try to clear any left brain influence on the process.
But in your case, it didn't seem to affect the result at all.
On March 28 2012 12:52 Emperor_Earth wrote: How does drawing the picture upside down change the process? I remember reading that for aspiring artists that suck right now, it is a meaningful experience to draw it upside down to try to clear any left brain influence on the process.
But in your case, it didn't seem to affect the result at all.
Draw something, and then try drawing it again upside down. You'll see how it changes the process. (Also, as Glider said in the video description, it forces you to draw what's there, not draw what you think should be there.)
On March 28 2012 12:52 Emperor_Earth wrote: How does drawing the picture upside down change the process? I remember reading that for aspiring artists that suck right now, it is a meaningful experience to draw it upside down to try to clear any left brain influence on the process.
But in your case, it didn't seem to affect the result at all.
It reminds me in a weird way of how DRG beat random masters leaguers with chopsticks, even with a "disadvantage" Glider is still really good.
Do you use a photo or still life when you draw? Back when I was into art, I memorized distinct features in their face and try to draw their faces in a different angle and then look back at a photo of them. I've moved onto painting realistic portraits of people, because the way I held my pencils while drawing had made my fingers sore. I use to work with law enforcement on suspect sketches for a few months, but found that I lacked the ability to draw what the descriptions of people gave me.
I also notice that most of your drawing videos have caucasian people on them only.
it always amazes me how, at times your drawings look well... not good while you are incomplete. I sit here almost every time going, well this isnt his best, i cant see this turning out amazing based off what it looks like now (like half way through). Then all of the sudden, you do a bunch of things i cant comprehend and the image looks absolutly incredable. 5/5 Looks amazing, and you did it upside down, good show.
Glider: I've seen your posts frontpaged on TL for quite some time now, but this is the first time I actually took the time to watch one of your videos. After watching it, I promptly took the time to go through your channel and watch many more of them. I'm incredibly impressed, and I can't wait to see more.
I officially name this the Glider Effect™ now: When you gasp at the awesome drawing and then you look at the timestamp and there's still 2 minutes to go.
that's a very neat observation from you - our mind's perception is very powerful...i'm sure a lot here have seen the shadow optical illusion (two tiles that look like different colors but are the same color)....you can literally put it right in front of you on a screen and be fooled because your brain fills in the shading from a perceived shadow....
I just have to say that you are amazingly gifted, and the way you are inspiring other people to embrace their inner artist is very moving to me as a musician. Thanks!
I showed this and the Steve Jobs to my Mom and each time she went "meh" at start and then all of a sudden she goes "WAIT DON'T GO DARK YET!!!" lol. Maybe consider leaving it for a minute so the viewer can really enjoy the result?
On April 12 2012 07:18 Darpa wrote: Glider do you do portraits by commission? like off a picture or something? I think it would make a great gift for a loved one.
sometimes, info is on my site. pmed.
On April 13 2012 05:40 3FFA wrote: I showed this and the Steve Jobs to my Mom and each time she went "meh" at start and then all of a sudden she goes "WAIT DON'T GO DARK YET!!!" lol. Maybe consider leaving it for a minute so the viewer can really enjoy the result?
Somehow I thought artist just see stuff the way they see it, I thought it meant talent. But now seeing you explicitly say that you gotta fight drawing stuff the way you THINK it looks, rather than the way it looks gives me an impulse to try to give drawing a shot, and just try to get it better.
On April 23 2012 23:43 niteReloaded wrote: Somehow I thought artist just see stuff the way they see it, I thought it meant talent. But now seeing you explicitly say that you gotta fight drawing stuff the way you THINK it looks, rather than the way it looks gives me an impulse to try to give drawing a shot, and just try to get it better.
Thats not what I meant AT ALL when I said "Thinks", the way you used it, it means a creative/imaginative unique expression of the artist. I never said to fight against that, just like I wouldn't tell Starcraft players to fight against using varied strategies tailored to counter their opponent. But what if you are teaching a new player who doesn't know how to make a unit move? and he thinks that selecting a unit and press "S" means to make it move and attack. In this case you would tell him to fight against what he thinks if his desired outcome is to make a unit move. If he doesn't have the necessary understanding to control his units, how can he use varied strategies and builds?
As said in the OP, this is helpful for learning observational realism art for beginners. The point is to achieve certain fundamental understanding before one can get creative. No where did I say you should draw only what you see forever, but for a beginners this upside down process can help them understand the true nature of shape and form and how it comes together to make a realistic image. (thats why this is also a popular method used in art classes) All the best concept artists and designer artists understood this perfectly. How can you bring forth an image in your mind, or your unique view of something on paper, if you don't understand how to realistically construct something that is right in front of you. How can you tweak the form/shape/lighting of something if you don't know how it is constructed in the first place.