Hi! It’s been a bit since I have updated here. However, I have been very active on the YouTube channel. It seems a slightly better format to display progress and talk through things.

I do have some ideas that I have thought about for the site that will continue making it relevant and at some point I hope to get to implementing those. But for now … I have been practicing.

Speaking of which … I finished the first round of Proko Figure Drawing Fundamentals course. I say the first round as it has started to set in that there is no magic bullet.

Okay I knew that before … but sometimes even though you know something you don’t KNOW something until you have experienced it. There is going to be a lot of practice to get good at this. … Don’t worry … I think I’m up for it.

So let’s jump into the review of the course. Below I will have a transcript of the video. But you should probably just listen to it.

Thanks.

What’s up everyone. Today I am doing my review of the Proko Figure Drawing Fundamentals Course. It took me about 6 months to complete the entire course as a beginner.

In this video I will cover the pros and cons and whether I would recommend it to others.

In the background will be some of my recent practice sheets and at the end my final figure drawings from the end of this course.

So, first things first. Would I recommend this course to others? Yes.

If you are wanting to learn the fundamentals of figure drawing this is a great course and it currently costs $109 dollars on the Proko site.

Let’s look at some of the Pros and Cons.

First the Cons:

1. About 50% of this course is available for free on YouTube. Now … I also see this as a pro … but if you are paying for this course, it is something that you should be aware of before you buy.
2. If you are an absolute beginner, you may struggle a bit in the beginning. But it will get better as you progress through the course and gain a better understanding of the concepts. Proko has plans of creating a course for absolute beginners, but it has not come out as yet.
3. I did feel that some lessons needed a bit more explaining. For example, there was not much on shading, other than the free video on YouTube and the explanation in the final figure drawing demonstration. There were also no assignments for this concept while some other topics had a ton of information including a lot of demonstrations and assignments.

With the cons behind us, let’s look at the Pros and why I still recommend this course:

1. The number one reason I recommend this course is for the Reviewers and critiques you receive. I cannot overemphasize this … especially for beginners. I have developed a great relationship with some of the reviewers, and they are a large reason why I didn’t give up. They are knowledgeable, encouraging and very helpful in filling in the any missing pieces in your understanding of the concepts covered.
2. The examples and demonstrations. The examples and demonstrations are key to understanding the concepts. Most of these are only available to the premium or paid members. You will learn the most from these if you attempt the demonstrations after watching.
3. Assignments. The course is divided into 8 major sections each with it’s own assignments. You must do the assignments. This is the most important portion of the course and where improvement actually takes place. Once complete the assignments are then turned in for critique. The reviewer will let you know if you have understood the concept enough to move on to the next section.
4. Peace of mind that you are learning from a respected professional in the art industry. So, you don’t have to worry if you are learning the correct information.

Some things to keep in mind.

It is a course … no course has everything that you need. You should not expect to be a professional at the end of this course. After all, it is figure drawing fundamentals. Something else to keep in mind is that about 50% of all of Proko’s courses, not only this one, are available on for free. If you cannot afford buying this course or other courses by Proko … you can still sign up to the proko site for free and see the full course outline and watch many of the videos. You can also then reach out to the Proko community for free reviews.

I hope you found this information useful and I’ll see you next time.

Yip it’s true. Why? … Well, it seemed like a great medium to use to share my learnings and progress. It is also an opportunity to reach additional persons who may benefit from my journey. But there are somethings that can be done with a website that YouTube will not work for. I’m excited to see how it turns out.

So like all good YouTubers say … click below, watch and of course subscribe. Ha!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWInq7M4CbytaqiDM9JYa1w

As you can see from the thumbnail I already have another subscriber. I was the first subscriber … shhh … don’t tell anyone.

There is also content already out there that shares some of my content that is not yet posted on this site. From now on there will be a post on the site that matches or introduces the video. I’ll try to post a video every 2 weeks. Some will be just progress videos. Some will contain learnings and tips I have for others. Others will be review videos. As you know I am currently taking the Proko Figure Drawing Fundamentals course. When I am complete I will be doing a review of what I thought worked and what didn’t. So stay tuned. I already have a few thoughts but will finish the course before I say anything.

So what has been up?

Practice.

I have really been enjoying the practice recently. Sometimes, I think it’s a bit scary how much I am wanting to practice now. A huge change from what you may have seen in some of my earliest posts.

So instead of having a PDF of all the drawing pages, I am just going to link the YouTube channel where you can see what I have been up to.

Click and Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWInq7M4CbytaqiDM9JYa1w

Back again with another update. This practice session has continued to go well. Excited with the progress being made even though I am still making a lot of mistakes. But! I can see progress.

This experience of keeping track of my progress has been a great journey. Again a should out is necessary to Jesper who gave my first review over at Proko. He really gave me what I needed to get my head back on track.

It seems like the most important things are consistency in practice and making sure that you are not jumping from one thing to the next. Stick with the assignment and practice that. You may not see progress for a while but then something will click and you will start making progress.

Also it seems important to go slower when learning. Michael from the FORCE Drawing Method pointed this out in a recent video I watched. He said he thinks this is the secret sauce. You have to slow down so you can take time to learn what is going on. I have found this to be true. When you watch the professionals they just glide over the page, making it seem like you should do the same. But nope … you are no expert … well at least I am not an expert. I’m just starting and slowing down has helped me tremendously.

I got back another review for my Robo Bean drawings and the reviews were very good. Yes, there were still things to improve. But I think this is the hallmark of great teachers/reviewers. They have to also keep you motivated.

Anyway, Either way enough yapping.

Here are all the practice sheets from the last post, including some Robo Beans.

We are continuing to make progress. Between the last post and this, I have completed the landmarks section of the Proko Figure Drawing class.

It is interesting. For the past few lesson groups, I have always been surprised at the visible progress that I see by the time I reach the end. Will that continue? Time will tell. However, it is something that I have always believed. … Here I must quickly insert that I have been putting in the time and doing regular practice. Most weeks I hit at least 30 mins of practice almost every day of the week. If I miss two days in a week that would be extraordinary.

The ability to put in this amount of practice is likely related to the current Covid-19 pandemic. This makes it easier to not have to dodge extra events. However, I think there is still a push that has to be made … as truthfully … somedays I don’t feel like drawing. Not that often. But somedays. Let’s see how long my consistency can hold out.

Anyway, enough rambling. This is one of the few times that I have my critique back before I make the post. And it turned out very well. Not much to fix on this run as this lesson is largely about lining up different landmarks on the body. Not so much about the drawing themselves.

Now, I must say that before any art experts jump in and point out all the things that are wrong with the drawings. Remember, this is my first drawing class. The critiques are done taking into consideration where you are coming from and … in some sense … I guess you also want to keep people motivated to continue on.

As per normal, I usually turn in the drawings that I think turned out the best. If you want to look through all my practice since the last post you can find it in the pdf below.

I’m on to the Robo Bean!

This week I began the structure lessons. Basically, learning how to make things look more 3D. Who would have known that I would be drawing squares and circles in a figure drawing class (cubes, spheres, and ellipses), and drawing animals.

But it works.

I learned so much in this lesson. What I am normally doing is watching the lesson and then supplementing them with other videos on the same subject. Then … practice, practice, and practice.

In addition to the animal work that had to do, I really enjoyed learning the boxes and spheres. … I almost backspaced that last phrase, “I really enjoyed.”

So let’s get honest.

In the past I wrote about my emotional roller coaster ride in my drawing practice. Since the advice from my Proko reviewer I have not had those huge lows. There has been some frustration every now and again … but overall, it has been a positive experience. The result … a lot of boxes and spheres … and I kind of like them!

But enough blabbing on. I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks will be as I move on to the next lesson. Until then … below are my practice sheets since the last post. I guess at some point I will be back to drawing figures. 🙂

So, I did it! I finally built up the courage to post some of my gesture work for a critique in the Proko Figure Drawing class.

And … It was great!

Obviously, this was not the entire critique post. There was quite a bit more. Quite a bit more information under the “Areas for Improvement.” There was so much good information there. Again, thanks to Jesper for this critique.

This gave me not only the confidence to continue on but I think I also overcame a fear of the critique. I have heard that this is a necessary part of growth in ability and now I see why. You can hear things on videos but when it is applied to your own drawings there is something that clicks.

Since, then I have followed the advice and moved on to The Bean for these last two weeks.

The Bean Drawings

This sole focus on the bean was good for me. I learnt a lot. I think I have a good grasp of what is happening with the bean. However, I still know that there is still room for improvement as there are some things that I still feel I don’t have quite right. Like getting the lines exactly where they need to be. But that will come with time.

I must say that for this two weeks I had no down moments. Even thought it was not always smooth sailing. Jesper, mentioned a few things in the critique and I think it worked. I actually enjoyed these last two weeks more than any of the weeks prior. It was nice!

I will be posting my last page of beans to the site for another critique. Wish me luck!

Below is the .pdf with all my practice papers, all full of beans!

Since the last post there has been quite a bit of drawing practice. Even this post will not get us all the way back up to current. But here is what we are.

Looking Ahead in Proko

Recently, I found myself moving on a bit in the Proko Figure Drawing course. Having never done any art training, if found that every time I move ahead, I am learning things that are helpful for the earlier lessons. And so I have looked ahead a bit. As a result you will see some drawings from the Mannequinization lesson included in the drawing practice pdf. I was actually pleasantly of how they turned out. Even though, I think the majority of the really good ones were from first watching his example and then trying to recreate it.

Take a Chill Pill and Draw

Since my struggles with my ego from the last post. I’ve just committed to drawing (hopefully it sticks). Just sitting backing and drawing. Not overly worried about getting better faster. If actually started enjoying it a bit more. The biggest breakthrough was coming to grips with how crazy it is to think that in one month I should be putting down lines that are as beautiful as artists that have been doing this for over a decade!

That is just unrealistic.

I’ve been listening to a few YouTube artists as well and it’s been good. One that’s been keeping it real for my lately is Love Life Drawing. I like his channel. Down to earth and encouraging.

You will also see the random (non-figure drawing) pop up in my practice from time to time. Well, sometimes … you just draw for fun. 🙂

Here’s this batch of practice sheets.