Ask Tutors Questions

Questions from Andy

I like what I see on the Drawing Academy website and would like to enroll. However, I have few questions:

– What your Diploma is about?
– How Drawing Academy compares to an art college?
– What art materials do I need?
– Will academy tutors critique my artworks?

Thanks,
Andy

Question from Daniel, Drawing Academy student

Hi, could you give me some advice how to set up my work-space properly?

Right now I feel very limited because my room is quite small and I draw on my computer table with my computer screen in front and it feels quite uncomfortable. I don’t have a drawing board yet either, however I will get one.

And because of this, drawing from life becomes hard for me as I don’t have space to set things up properly. I have to look at pictures on my screen if I want to draw something. Is it OK to take pictures of things I want to draw and upload them to my computer, or do I simply have to get a bigger room? I assume I need a bit of distance between me and the object I want to draw right? And that is not possible for me right now….

Question from Vlad Baloc

I am currently practicing for a entrance exam at a design school.

The exam consists of the following:
-three 15-minute sketches of a human model (on 3 different A3 papers)
-three 15-minute sketches of objects, four 20-minutes sketches of objects and 1 insect from memory
-two 1-hour color drawings of a given idea (Last year it was rock and jazz music)
-Two days later comes a 6-hour project sketch and a interview with a map presentation a day after that.
The exam is in September and I feel that my art is not improving fast enough to pass.

My question is, do you think your course can help me with this exam? I ask since I am unsure of exactly where to commit my time. My art tutor is only telling me that I have to draw eight hours a day, and at this point it is impossible for me. I do my best to draw six hours a day…

Question from Janice S. Axt

I would like to sign up for your lessons; I will be 77 years old when I do so! I have for the past 4 years tried to master the tapered stroke with “5 pencils” through 2 broken arms at different times and have not progressed!

I desperately want to succeed in drawing. I turned back to it as the basics for successively painting and I have many examples in my library of the great masters, but how in the world can the way you are talking about teaching, teach in 3 months? What you describe sounds like an art atelier, and can I produce that in my apartment? Do I require casts, an easel of a certain size, silverpoint tools, in addition to the cost of the lessons? Even at 77, two years older than the student you mentioned, I still want to accomplish what I dreamed of doing at age 8! …

Question from Carl

There is a question, but first the comment. I look forward to my Drawing magazine when it comes. The Spring 2015 issue features the winners of the Shades of Gray contest. The winners were almost exclusively photorealists.

I really don’t understand this exercise and the message that is being sent. On one hand, the magazine includes an article on “Beauty Through Leonardo’s Eyes” and two examples of “Head of a Young Woman.” Looking at these drawings you can awe at the use of line, hatching and appreciation the artist has for his subject. As Vladimir said in a recent post, you instantly recognize the artist. You can imagine him drawing the subject and the appreciation of beauty through his eyes….

Question from Justin

I want to enroll in the Drawing Academy course. Can you provide a suggested shopping list?

I know the first three lessons mention which supplies to get, but a list and possibly places to order online would be fantastic…

Questions from Janice

• Are the lesson assignments different than the content of the lesson? If so, is there a sample of the assignments given with each lesson?
• If the assignment is the actual content of the lesson, is there reference material that can be referred to complete the assignment?
• Is there an example of the type of critique provided when submitting lessons to you?

Question from Helen Can you get a professional career in art if you take the Drawing Academy course? Will people hire you if they knew you learned online and not in an art institution? Are… Is it possible to learn art online?

Question from Alex

Is it true that copying from a photo to the very exact small details is not considered art.

Please correct me if I am wrong in understanding this, as I have been so accustomed (since childhood) to the idea that art is drawing something to its exact likeness. Now that I am older, I honestly find copying to the exact details I see to be too tedious and boring…

Question from Ray, Drawing Academy graduate My main interest is portrait and figurative work, and in a portrait, I normally draw then paint a three-quarter or seven-eighths size head. I’m currently using pencil measurement, but… How to ‘scale up’ with pencil measurement