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Why Are My Portrait Drawings Flat?

by Matthew | Jun 21, 2017 | The Blog, Video Critiques | 2 comments

Recently Maria, a member of Drawing Tutorials Online, posted up a portrait drawing for feedback. Her main question, why is the drawing flat?

First off I want to thank you Maria for presenting this awesome teaching opportunity. There are many reasons why a portrait drawing can look flat. Let’s touch on four of them.

There is no background tone. With no tone in the background you have no foreground and background. Thus your portrait drawing is just sitting on white paper. Plus a tone or gradation placed in the background can provide you with an opportunity to soften the hair’s edge. Soft hair equals depth.
There are no gradations within the skin tone. When you have no shading from the light side to the dark side of the face your portrait drawings will look flat. There is most likely always a light hitting the model. If there is a light source there is definitely a gradation from side to side or top to bottom. Including gradations with create much more three dimension in your portrait drawings.
There are too many outlines. Line is awesome. However line alone can be flat in some cases. Drawing with a consistent outline will almost always create a flat outlined look. Combining tone with line promotes much more dimension.
There is no modeling with tone. Yes you can model with line. However modeling with line and tone is much better for creating dimension. What exactly are you modeling? You are modeling how light hits the form of the face. Understanding how surface planes work is super important. Understanding how to implement the modeling factors is vital as well.

I want to thank you so much for watching this video critique. If you are looking for a critique on your work just like this one consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online.

Our critique gallery is a kind nurturing place for you to learn and grow fast.

Thanks again for watching. Questions or comments, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below.

Do You Draw With Too Much Detail?

by Matthew | Jun 3, 2017 | The Blog, Video Critiques | 2 comments

Have you ever looked at your drawings and something seemed not quite right? The drawing was beautiful but a touch flat. I know I certainly have. Both my paintings and drawings had a flat look at one time.

After many years of trial and error I finally learned why my paintings and drawings looked flat. I was putting much too much detail everywhere. I was putting detail in the light, I was also rendering detail in the shadows. I was putting details in the background as well as the foreground.

If you are detail orientated like me you most likely love to render. You love to put details all over your images. You might want to consider using less detail to create more depth and atmosphere.

For example keep your shadows shapes fairly simple. Add details and texture in the light instead. Another tip, don’t put too many details in the background of your images. Think more shapes in the background, less texture. Render most of the texture and detail in the foreground.

These are simple tips for you to consider in order to create a well balanced drawing or painting. Letting go of detail in these two specific areas, the shadows and background will enable you to create an image that has depth and atmosphere.

If you have questions about this topic leave them in the comments section below.

Are you looking for feedback on your artwork? If you are check out what we have to offer in our membership area.

Thanks for watching!

How To Draw A Portrait With Minimal Shadow Shapes

by Matthew | Apr 3, 2017 | The Blog, Video Critiques

Have you ever tried to draw a portrait where the person in the photo reference had no contrasting shadow shapes? In other words the lighting within the photo was very flat.

When there aren’t many shadow shapes to draw it’s much more difficult to capture a likeness. In this video critique I help out Marjan, a member of Drawing Tutorials Online, with trying to capture a likeness. As you can see in the video below the young girl does not have many shadow shapes to cling onto.

In my latest Begin Here Step By Step course I teach a lesson called “Seeing Shadow Shapes”. Just about every member loved this lesson because shading in shadow shapes makes the process of portrait drawing much easier.

So keep in mind that it’s best to light your subject using form light in order for there to be some recognizable shadow shapes.

Now if you already have photo reference displaying flat light then you want to focus your efforts on drawing the shape of the hair first. Why you may ask, because the shape of the hair acts as a frame for the face. You want to take your time with measuring and drawing the angles of the face where the edge of the face touches the hair.

You also want to look for non contrasting shadow shapes. Practice shading in light non contrasting shadow shapes. Shadows shapes don’t always have to be super dark. You just have to practice being able to recognize subtle values shifts on the face of the person you are drawing.

I hope this video critique helps you with your portrait drawings.

Thank you for watching! If you want more drawing tips on a weekly basis click here.

Natalie’s Sketchbook Part Two

by Matthew | Mar 25, 2017 | Sketchbook Videos, The Blog | 5 comments

Natalie is a student currently enrolled in my Foundation Animation drawing class at the School Of Visual Arts in Manhattan New York. We’ve got one month left in the Spring semester. I will miss Natalie and her incredible drawings, however she is onto bigger and better things. Natalie is pursuing a career as a Character Designer and Visual Developer.

Natalie’s character design is super authentic. Her characters combine elegant beauty with a touch of grit. I truly love how Natalie works to balance out each sketchbook page through cut out pieces of origami paper.

Her incredible line quality adjacent to pattern and vibrant color really work together. As a teacher looking through Natalie’s sketchbook is very inspiring.

I hope you find some inspiration as well from browsing through her two sketchbooks. She is of a group of students that is just playing at such a higher level.

Check out Natalie’s Instagram.

Nefer’s Sketchbook – Delicate & Detailed Line

by Matthew | Feb 18, 2017 | Sketchbook Videos, The Blog | 1 comment

Nefer is a student currently enrolled in my Foundation Drawing Class for Animators. Every Friday I teach at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan New York. This year’s class is something special to say the least.

Nefer is one of the many gifted students who has agreed to share her sketchbook with us. Of course I get to review it each week in class. But sharing it with the World on Youtube is another story.

Nefer’s goal is to become a key frame animator. She also wants to publish her own comic book. I think those are two totally attainable goals for her. Nefer’s character design is pretty interesting to look at. Her line work is super detailed and very delicate. I am very much a big fan of Nefer’s work.

It’s super important to set goals for yourself. Even if they seem so very far away. With constant practice and review Nefer should reach her goals after graduation. Of course she has a lot of work ahead of her. Remember it’s super important to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

I really appreciated being involved in a small part of Nefer’s journey through art college. Nefer is a super nice person with a ton of raw talent. I’m so glad to have her as a student in this year’s class.

Check out Nefer’s instagram. Thanks again Nefer for sharing your art. Looking forward to the next sketchbook.

How To Get Better At Drawing Portraits

by Matthew | Feb 16, 2017 | The Blog

I have been filming Video Critiques every Monday, religiously since 2009. It’s truly what has kept me connected to our close knit member base. In an ever polarized internet where people feel very isolated something very different is happening at members.drawing-tutorials-online.com. People are not only connecting but they are learning how to improve their art on a consistent basis.

The video critique below is a typical example of the service I provide to our members every Monday. Each week members who choose to participate, upload their artwork to our member Critique Gallery. Getting a weekly critique from Drawing Tutorials Online can really help you jump up your skill level in a very short period of time.

The knowledge provided in these video critiques is the same type of knowledge taught at major art colleges for thousands of dollars. I know, I teach at one of the biggest art colleges in the United States, the School Of Visual Arts. SVA is an awesome school. I graduated from SVA in 1990 and have been teaching there since 1997.

The issue today with big art schools is the cost. Too many students are leaving art colleges strapped with major debt. This debt can be paralyzing to many young artists.

The good news is that there is a revolution going on with online learning. You really don’t have to be strapped with thousands of dollars in student loans anymore. Websites like members.drawing- tutorials-online.com provide a quality online education affordable to anyone willing to pay, at least for our service, .66 cents a day. Not only will our site teach you sound technical skills it will also provide you with sage career advice.

If you are looking to follow you passion learning more about the craft of drawing. Definitely consider signing up for month to our membership site. At .66 cents a day you won’t have any five year loans to worry about paying back.

Thank you so much for watching the video critique above.

Learn how to draw a portrait in several easy to follow steps.

1. Start drawing your portrait loose with gesture lines.

2. Measure some landmarks left to right, top to bottom.

3. Draw an edge of the face using the “Angles” technique.

4. Shade in one big shadow shape. A shape that looks easy to draw.

5. Start to separate the shape of hair and shape of face.

6. Use outside open negative space to set the head, neck and shoulders.

7. Compartmentalize the features of the face. Use measuring to see where all of the features are placed.

Of course I explain everything in much more detail throughout the video. However thank you so much for reading the blog post and watching this critique.

I look forward to seeing you in the members area soon!

Get started learning today!