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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.