Ask Tutors Questions

Question from Aura, Drawing Academy student

Hi,

I’m planning to attend a figure-drawing class locally. Do you have any advice on how to get the most out of it, how to maximize my learning? I’m going to study anatomy – again. I have studied it twice but never put it to practice and forgot most of it. I was thinking of tackling human body parts separately, studying the anatomy of the hand and/or arm, for instance, by reading on it and doing drawings of the bones and muscles, and then concentrating on drawing just that for maybe a couple of lessons. (There are about 30 lessons total.) Is that a good idea? What would you recommend? Should I concentrate on proportion first?

Question from Jasem

I’m a young, eager male, seeking knowledge of art to become a good artist, I’m a perfectionist. So I have a motto in my life – Do it right or don’t do it.

Here’s my question:
“How to make a drawing epic and appealing?“

Question from David “I can’t seem to be able to draw accurately from memory or life. I can copy a picture, though. Is it a mental block, or have I taught myself the wrong way… How to draw accurately from memory or life

Question from Yasmin, Drawing Academy student

Dear Natalie and Vladimir,

Every time I see a drawing or painting made by Leonardo, I’m in awe of how he managed to achieve such smooth transitions in skin tone. I was wondering if you could shed some light on how he did that and what technique he used.

In this drawing (image attached) for example, I don’t see any traces of cross hatching. My guess is he used charcoal on top of sanguine and then did lots of blending, but for me, these mediums always produce much harsher marks, and the transition between light and dark can never be so smooth. What was his secret?

Question from Elmar, Drawing Academy student

Hello. I was pretty convinced that I would definitely receive some high-quality educational materials in the Drawing Academy. And I wasn’t mistaken! However, as I continue to advance with the lessons, I can’t help but notice that some of your videos lack photographs of the objects that a learner is supposed to draw. Can you please clarify how to study in the Drawing Academy course?

Question from Sam

Can an aspiring animator or concept artist start a career from scratch with this course or is it just for realistic artists?

Also, can a student change to digital after completing the course, provided his career requires it?

Question from Alexa

The concept of drawing what you see, which is quite common nowadays, is then completely wrong?

Question from David

Hello!

I’m interested in improving my figure and portrait drawing. My long-term goal is to be able to work as a street artist… for this I lack the speed and experience working with live models. Would I be able to learn these skills in the Anatomy Master Class or would it be more beneficial for me to go through the entire Drawing Academy course?

As I already have prior experience with sketching, albeit mostly working from photographs, I’m not sure I need to purchase the entire 3-month drawing course. Is it possible to just purchase month 2 and 3 or is it only available as a 3-month package?

Question from Sabrena

What tools do I need to get started?

What do you do when you get frustrated because something you are working on is not coming out right?

Question from Muruli

Can you let me know what would be the ideal paper size for making both long drawings and practicing fast sketches? Also, what is the best drawing paper size for still-life drawings and portraits? I am asking because most of the time my drawings end up either too small or congested.

Also, can you suggest what would be the ideal size of a sketchbook?