Ask Tutors Questions

Question from RJ

I am happy to find your site – I wish I had found it sooner.

What is the greatest benefit to learning to draw as you teach?

If I choose a course, is there a danger of becoming dependent on a specific technique or approach? How can I ensure my independence and uniqueness as an artist?

To give an example, there’s an art course that promises to teach students how to copy highly realistic portraits from photos. If I learn to draw that way, won’t I get stuck with that technique?

How do I know I’m looking at an art course that will teach me how to think, work, and experiment like an artist for myself, rather than just imitating someone else?…

Questions from Sarah Poole

I want to join the Drawing Academy, to brush up on my art skills, before I accept a job at an international school. Next fall, I will be teaching art to children ages six to high school age.
I have a BFA from 20 years ago. I fall into the category of having been to art school, but never was taught how to draw. However, accepting this new job, I must learn to do so. I feel I want to, and that I should, thus I plan to dive into your course with a new teacher’s eye. I hope to add to my incomplete art training. I can’t wait!

I have a question. Can your lessons be adapted for younger children? Do you think the basic lessons would be too technical? I want to pass this great foundational knowledge to my students.

Cheers!

Sarah Poole

Question from Remy

Hello,

I am curious about these courses. The video, which mentions that drawing from photos is not the best way to learn, is fascinating. But at the same time, I do not understand how your courses offer a solid training that is not based on drawing from two-dimensional examples?

I have an extremely busy life, yet I am dedicated to learning how to draw. I only have time to draw very late at night, when everyone is sleeping. It is very difficult to access some of the things I actually want to learn how to draw (like people and faces)…

Question from Daniel Michalovics, Drawing Academy student

Hi,

My name is Daniel. I live in Germany and I am glad that I have finally arrived at the Drawing Academy. I am currently working on Assignment 3 – Drawing in Perspective.

At this point, I must mention that when enrolling in the Drawing Academy, I did not know that there was a proposed list of assignments. However, I find this extremely helpful. The assignments seem to be in an order that is very easy to follow. I really appreciate this curriculum because in the past, I tried to make my own assignment list which was nowhere near as logical and target-oriented as the one found here. This one really encourages me to work hard on my drawing skills.

Here is my actual question. I tried to draw an imaginary set of pyramids with squares at their bottoms in a one-point perspective. How do I know how long I need to draw the edge of a square that is facing towards the vanishing point?

It must have some specific length so that the bottom plane is seen as a square with equal side lengths. From the rules of perspective, I know that this line must be shorter than the horizontal line at the front. However, when drawing from imagination, I can only guess its real length. Is there some kind of trick I can apply here?

I have seen a few internet videos that teach how to draw a perfect cube in a two-point perspective. However, the methods they show are rather complex. I prefer not to use them every time I try to draw a simple square. I also do not like the fact that these methods only cover a two-point perspective. If there is no simple method, how can I learn to estimate the length correctly? …

Questions from Xuan, Drawing Academy student

Hello Vladimir, Thank you for the excellent video lessons. I very much enjoy them. You mention that the ellipse (representing a circle in perspective) is distorted, with its front portion larger than the back portion, so that it becomes an oval with only one axis of symmetry. I think, a circle always appears as an ellipse from a linear perspective. While it is true that the closer half of the circle is larger in perspective, the resulting shape that we see is still a perfect ellipse. However, the horizontal line that bisects the circle does not intersect the ellipse at its widest point…

Questions from Saninny, Drawing Academy student

I recently obtained access to life model sessions and although I am currently not far in the Drawing Academy, I decided to proceed forward and take advantage of the opportunity to draw life figures.

I would like your opinion on how to improve my gesture drawings so that I can depict a long pose more effectively.

I realize individuals differ on how they believe a gesture drawing should be accomplished (for example, some believe in the usage of scribbly free movements, spare lines that capture main direction only, et cetera), but I welcome your suggestions and advice…

Hi,

My name is Daniel and I’m from Germany. I’ve been trying to learn to draw for a few years now. What inspired me to this is that I’ve been quite a fan of Japanese Manga. So I’ve bought a book on “How to draw Manga” which unfortunately was of almost no use to me. It had a lot of images and explanations on specialized topics but it didn’t really improve my drawings.

I realized that what I was truly looking for is something that can teach me the basics, the fundamentals of drawing. Something that will give me the skill to draw whatever I see or imagine.

So I’ve read some books which were widely recommended for teaching exactly that. I can’t say that they were bad, in fact I’ve learned some things that improved my drawing skill a bit. Anyway I’m still not at a level that I can draw confidently the things I see or imagine.

So when I stumbled over this website on YouTube it caught my interest instantly. After watching the free video previews I realized that Drawing Academy was exactly what I’ve been looking for all the time. That’s why now I’m quite sure that I’m going to enroll in the Drawing Academy as soon as I finish my busy work at university.

I have the following questions:

Can I learn to draw the human figure without having access to a life model?

I can only access tutor questions by the link provided in the e-Mail Newsletter. I can’t find them anywhere on the website.

Question from Daniel Trpka

Hi Vladimir,

What do you think about a sight-size drawing method?

Many artists say that sight-size is not good for imagination and memory drawing.

French artists from 18-19 century (Bouguereau, Gerome, Cabanel…) had excellent imaginary paintings…

Many thanks to all subscribers who are asking various things about art and how to learn drawing.

Today, I will answer several short queries.

If you have any questions, please submit them here »

Question from Skotchy

Do I really have to know how to draw humans if it’s my goal to know how to draw animals and made-up creatures?

I ask that because many drawing lessons are about drawing humans…