As artists, I think a lot of us get caught in the trap of ‘the next book’ or ‘the next course’ will be the one to improve my art to the level that I want it to. I have many books as well as many courses that teach on the subjects I felt and still feel I struggle in. The one thing that I have learned from an old art mentor as well as working on my own comic is this…
YOU NEED TO PRACTICE WHAT YOU LEARNED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN ORDER TO GET BETTER AT IT!
This means instead of completing a book or a course or a detailed YouTube video and then moving on to the next thing because you still feel like you didn’t ‘learn enough’ to get your art to where you want it, or that ‘this next book/course/video will instantly improve my art’, you actually need to practice what you have learned. And I don’t mean just do one or two ‘practice drawings or paintings’ and then throw in the towel when you don’t see any improvement. I mean take what you learned and do 25, 50 or even 100 drawings if not more using the technique that you learned to:
1.)Get used to the technique to where it becomes second nature.
2.) See what works for you and what doesn’t work for you and your art with what you have learned.
This allows you to start to see where you are struggling with and where you need to improve without hopping from course to course, book to book, or video to video looking for the magic pill that will turn you into the unstoppable force of an artist you may be looking to become.
So why am I mentioning all this? Well because I used to think the same way for a very long time. “This book will get me to the art I want.” but I never actually read through the whole thing. Or “This course will allow me to learn to draw this particular subject.” yet I never finish the course or I follow along with the videos but never practice outside of that. I have even had thoughts of while working on the ‘assignments’ or practicing what I was taught in a book/course that as soon as I start to struggle with an assignment or theory being laid out I feel like I failed because it (for whatever reason) should be easy for me now after learning it.
What I have decided to do going forward is to put a complete halt on buying anymore courses/books or even watching YouTube videos for possibly the next 3+ years, and take that time to actually go through the books and courses I have and actually take the time to not only read/watch the information being taught but to also take the necessary time to apply and fully understand the material being taught. I know that with all the learning material I have, I have years upon years of learning available to me. I have a multitude of books. I have unfinished classes as well as classes I haven’t even started on Udemy. I also have classes on my Gumroad that I have purchased as well as classes from Aaron Blaise on creatureartteacher.com.
I’m sure I have 4+ years of art school lining my shelves and files that will get me to the level of art I want to be at. And with that information I know that I don’t need to buy the next big thing when it comes to drawing. I don’t need any subscriptions to any art website. I don’t need to buy the next ‘big’ class to improve a particular subject. I want to go through what I have and get every last drop of information I can get from the resources I have and apply that to my art to see how much that can make a difference over time.
If you are interested in ALL the learning resources I have, just so you know what I mean when I said I’m sure I have 4+ years of art school at my fingers, I have listed almost everything below. (The Way the books are listed, is how I plan to work through them.)
BOOKS:
- Freehand Figure Drawing for Illustrators – By David H Ross
- Imaginative Realism – By James Gurney
- Artists’ Master Series: Composition & Narrative – By 3D Total
- An Atlas of Animal Anatomy for Artist – By W. Ellenberger, H. Dittrich and H. Baum (Reference and Study)
- Fundamentals of Creature Design – By 3D Total
- Framed Drawing Techniques – By Marcos Mateu-Mestre
- Framed Ink 2 – By Marcos Mateu-Mestre
- The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics – By Carl Potts
- How to Render – By Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling
- Framed Ink – By Marcos Meteu-Mestre
- Framed Perspective Vol. 1 – By Marcos Meteu-Mestre
- Drawing the Head an Hands – Andrew Loomis
- Framed Perspective Vol. 2 – By Marcos Meteu-Mestre
- Figure Drawing: Design and Invention – By Michael Hampton
- How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way – By Stan Lee and John Buscema
- Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth – By Andrew Loomis
- How to Draw – By Scott Robertson and Thomas Bertling
- How to Draw Animals – By Jack Hamm
- Color and Light – By James Gurney
- Drawing & Painting Fantasy Landscapes & Cityscapes – By Rob Alexander
- Anatomy for Artists: Drawing Form & Pose – By 3D Total (Tom Fox Draws)
- Pen & Ink Drawing: A Simple Guide – By Alphonso Dunn
- Rendering in Pen and Ink – By Arthur L. Guptill
- The Animator’s Survival Kit – By Richard Williams (YES I WANT TO LEARN ANIMATION)
- Drawing Scenery: Landscapes and Seascapes – By Jack Hamm
- How to Draw Manga Furries – By Tuttle (I want to learn to draw Anthropomorphic characters)
- Rapid Viz – By Kurt Hanks and Larry Belliston
The books following are just books I plan to use for reference or to learn from if I need a break from a book I may be currently working on:
- Morpho Books – Anatomy for Artists, Hands and Feet, Muscled Bodies, Fat and Skin Folds, Simplified Forms, and Clothing Folds and Creases (By Michel Lauricella)
- Taco Art Books (V0l. 1 & 2)
- Draw Cute Chibis ( By Phobe Im)
COURSES: (These Include Udemy, Gumroad, etc. There is no order in which I will be going through these. This is just the list of what I have. Some of these courses I have completed.)
- Figure Drawing with Riven Phoenix (Course also known as “The Structure of Man Drawing Course”)
- Photo-realistic Digital Painting from Beginner to Advance
- How to Draw and Sketch for Absolute Beginners 2 Perspective
- Complete Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art
- Character Design for Beginners
- Character Art School: The complete Character Drawing Course
- Creature Design for Beginners
- Digital Painting for for Absolute Beginners
- How to Improve you Creature Design Drawings
- Pixel Workshop: RPG Style Graphics
- Digitally Painting and Drawing Eyes
- How to Improve Your Figure Drawing
- Light and Shading for Complete Beginners
- Fantasy Anatomy with David Finch
- How to Draw Textures
- Foundation Patreon: Clothing and Drapery
- Foundation Patreon: Drawing Animals in Perspective
- Foundation Patreon: Architectural Design Part 3
- Foundation Patreon: Architectural Design Part 2
- Foundation Patreon: Architectural Design Part 1
- Tips and Tricks
- Foundation Patreon: Exploring Architectural Thumnails
- Foundation Patreon: Interior Layout Design
- Form Lighting
- Foundation Patreon: Drawing Techniques Part 1 – Utilizing Reference
- Foundation Patreon: Set Design Part 2 – Interior Line Drawing
- How to Draw Comic Style Eyes
- Foundation Patreon: Animal Anatomy – Construction & Basic Anatomy
- Foundation Patreon: Set Design Part 1 – Research & Prop Exploration
- Foundation Patreon: Prop Design
- Foundation Patreon: 3/4 Interior Line Drawing
- Foundation Patreon: Creating Level Varations
- How to Draw Backgrounds with Character
- Figure Drawing Foundations – Proportions
- Foundation Patreon: Ideation Part 2
- How to Draw Things you Can’t Imagine
- Foundation Patreon: Ideation – Part 1
- Fundamentals of Architecture Design: The Complete Series
- Foundation Patreon: Dynamic Sketching Architechture
- Foundation Patreon: Intro to Color Part 2
- Foundation Patreon: Character Creation Part 3
- Foundation Patreon: Character Creation Part 1
- Foundation Patreon: Designing with a Theme
- Foundation Patreon: Basics of Environments
- Foundation Patreon: Sketching for Environments – Layout & Line Drawing
- Foundation Patreon: Sketching for Environment – Environment Foundation
- Foundation Patreon: Silhouette Design
- Tips for Approaching Studies
- Approachable Anatomy 1
- Creating with Procreate
- Get Started with Procreate Dreams
- Acting for Animation
- Advanced Animation: Separating Performance from Mechanics
- Character Design Course
- Creature Design with Aaron Blaise
- Drawing Clear Expressions
- Dynamic Lighting & The Figure
- Fundamentals of Animation
- How to Draw Animals: The Big Cats
- How to Draw Bears
- How to Draw Birds of Prey
- How to Draw Horses
- How to Draw Wolves, Coyotes & Foxes
- How to Paint Light
- Live Procreate Dreams Workshop
- Pen & Ink Drawing
- Visual Development & Production Design
- Noah’s Art Camp 1
The next list are books dealing with learning about writing and dealing with comics. None have to actually deal with the drawing of comics as in step by steps.
- Understanding Comics – By Scott McCloud
- Reinventing Comics – By Scott McCloud
- Comics and Sequential Art – By Will Eisner
- Making Comics – Scott McCloud
- The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing Comics – By Comfort Love and Adam Withers
EXTRA:
- Fantasy Mapmaking
- The Only World Building Workbook You’ll Ever Need
- The Only Character Workbook You’ll Ever Need
- The Grammar of Architecture
- The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide
I also have magazines and books that deal with animals, insects and other specialized topics that I enjoy and just want to learn more about. Great for reference and being able to apply to your art. (The picture below does not contain my whole collection.)