Sean signed up to the One Month Coaching roughly three weeks ago. He was gracious enough to allow me to share part of his coaching critique with you.
Sean’s goal for the month is to improve his digital portrait paintings. He has improved immensely over the last three weeks. Would you ever consider hiring a coach? It is another expense no doubt.
I have hired coaches in the past, let’s just say I had a good experience. I hired a business coach, we met weekly. It was great to have someone on my side helping me achieve my goals.
There were things that he could see from the outside looking in that I would have never seen if I kept plodding along.
What I liked was being held accountable. It was certainly a challenge to fit the work in for the weekly deadline, but it was worth it.
I have also hired software coaches as well as a fitness coach. I felt empowered with their help. The problem is when the coaching is over. Sometimes we find ourselves going sideways instead of forwards.
That is why I have added an additional option to my coaching services.
Yes, I have the one month option which is great, not too short, not too long. I also offer the two-month coaching. Admittedly this is certainly for type-A personalities who are on a mission.
I have now added a bi-weekly subscription-based option for $87 a month.
What that includes is a forty-five-minute personalized critique followed up with a forty-five-minute phone call, every other week.
This new bi-weekly coaching option works great as a follow up to one or two month options.
Considering the time and effort put into the critique and call the price is well worth it. This monthly option will keep you heading towards your goals like never before.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in let me know. I would be happy to answer your questions.
To have a professional artist who has been teaching for twenty-two years at the School Of Visual Arts study and analyze your work to see how you can improve for $87. per month is totally worth it.
Not to mention having either years worth of experience working as a freelance illustrator for some of the biggest publishing companies in the world, including National Geographic Explorer, Bantam DoubleDay Dell, as well as Scholastic just to name a few.
Jan recently posted up this portrait drawing for a critique. It was from my Shea Portrait course. Jan is looking to get a likeness when drawing a portrait.
Being able to get a likeness is difficult. Sometimes a student will need to use many diverse techniques. Some techniques click with certain students while others do not. You will need to experiment with multiple techniques until you find the one that works for you.
In this video, I share with Jan the Four Boxes Technique. It’s pretty simple. First, you should draw the exact size of your photo reference frame. So if your reference is 8 x 10 inches, draw an 8 x 10-inch boarder on your piece of paper.
You will need to split the frame vertically down the middle, then across the middle. This will leave you with four boxes. You then draw what is in each box. Nothing earth -shattering here.
this is just a drawing technique that will help you look at drawing a portrait differently. Again, this is just an exercise. This four boxes technique just give you a different perspective on drawing correct proportions.
Thanks so much, Jan for sharing your artwork in DTO’s member critique gallery.
If you are looking to get your artwork critique definitely check out Drawing Tutorials Online. I offer member critiques every Monday. If you are looking for a more in-depth approach to having your artwork critique read more about my one to one coaching.
Do you feel as though you are moving forwards or backwards with your drawings? It’s very easy for you to turn a few degrees off course when you are working alone in your studio. Not getting feedback on a weekly or bi-weekly basis could really be hurting your forward progress.
I see this a lot as owner and founder of Drawing Tutorials Online. I’ve been critiquing work on DTO since 2008. When you film weekly video critiques for roughly eight years you start to see glaring trends. The members who sign up watch the tutorials and pursue feedback through our Group Coaching Gallery constantly improve.
The members who sign up and just watch the tutorials usually get a little overwhelmed. They then proceed to loose their focus not knowing what to work on next. That is when they bounce around from online video to online video looking for that secret technique.
There is no secret drawing technique. It’s called study, apply what you learned, then get feedback to see if you are doing it right. Rinse and repeat on a consistent basis. That’s the secret sauce.
You see watching tutorials is great. Signing up for online courses is awesome, I’m in the midst of a course right now. You just have to combine the course with feedback. Call it what you want, feedback, coaching, or getting a critique it’s all the same.
If you consistently ask for feedback from a qualified instructor you will improve one hundred times faster. You won’t loose your focus, you won’t get frustrated either. Destructive negative self talk dooms so many aspiring artists. You might think your work sucks, but perhaps with one tweak it could be so much better.
I really want to encourage you to look for feedback. Whether it be from Drawing Tutorials Online or a local instructor in your home town. If you are really serious about improving your craft it’s a must for you.
Of course we would be happy to help you. We offer Group Coaching via a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. If you are a bit shy with sharing your work we also offer One Time Coaching. It’s very private and very effective.
I hope you enjoy the example critique below taken from this weeks Group Coaching Gallery.
Diane has been a member for a few months now. Her figure drawings keep getting better and better. Mainly because of her consistent hard work and a little feedback. A little goes a long way.
– Hi, Matt!
Just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful coaching you gave me last week. As the self help gurus say, you gave MUCH more than expected! Thank you! I am now a bit more structured and clear about what I need to do, including making the time to practice art. I also have four people to help hold me accountable for the hours I work on art each week. Yes, just a start, but a great one!
Again, thank you for pointing me in the right direction. It is much appreciated!
Kelly Hatfield (and husband, Rob, too!)
