2 Beginners INSTANTLY Improve? How to draw what you see

We're doing an experiment this week. I asked two drawing beginners - my wife Lucy and my friend Dan - to draw a face. They were nervous because they, like many of us, find portraits particularly difficult to draw. Their lines were tentative and shading was light.

Then I asked them to go through an exercise in abstracting the light and shadows on the face. Their drawings changed dramatically. See the results in the video!

The reason behind this is that people often draw figures and faces worse than they could draw other things because we are too attached to the human form. When you can learn to detach a little bit - stop thinking about the face and instead think about the shapes of the tones, your ability to draw what you see improves.

I found this experiment to be really fascinating and I'd love to hear what you think. I was shocked to see how different the portraits were, even though it was the same person drawing the same photo during the same drawing session.

As we always say, there's no shortcuts in drawing. This is an exercise that will help you develop the ability to draw what you see and overcome the anxiety of drawing a human being, so it's a good way to practice, but it's still all about practice.

Try our foreshortening series:

Thank you to Croquis Cafe for the reference photo.

Music by Osaka Rain by ALBIS, Distant Lands by Hanu Dixit, Country Gentleman by Endless Love, Slow Times Over Here by Midnight North

[quid]

I thought the first thing you said was "I _lost_ my wife and my friend Dan"
I was shook XD

[Lucyyy]

i actually started to draw faces by turning the image i was drawing upside down! i learnt it's so much easier to draw random shapes rather than trying to make something look like a face

[kattissmall]

You're a generous person. You want people to actually learn rather than show off your own skills. I think you should include examples from people of various skill levels in your videos, beginner, medium and then expert. That way everyone can learn something. If your video is about basic skills you should always let beginners do the exercises. If you have vidoes for more advanced techniques there is no point including newbies.

[chapelpluto]

That's a really good idea. Using people who dont generally draw. I've watched a lot of tutorials and it can be a little discouraging to see the teacher produce expert work. It's a real confidence booster to see another novice do well with your technique. Thanks.

[darrylwhitefeather]

The idea of showing people without tons of experience is brilliant! Love this tutorial!

[Waynimations]

What a good idea for a video. I’d like to see more inexperienced artists try to draw

[ShenaniganCat]

Examples of novice artists (bad examples) - this is what literally now needs to be viewed by all newbies. I see comments all over the place from poor beginners with questions that won't help them - what equipment/brushes do you use, how long do you study, or comments like "I can never do that." All this is the result of beautiful, bright tutorials on Patreon and here on YouTube, because of which newbies are demotivated too quickly after the sparkle of motivation. I already wrote this somewhere, but thank you very much for this approach, for normalizing bad, hairy, and angular sketches, for presenting this material as steps to improve, and not as failures. Thank you!

[rfteep]

I have tried this technique (a similar version) with my team as a fun exercise in our business meeting.

I used a black&white photo of Abraham Lincoln and turned it upside-down, projected on a big screen. And then asked the team to just draw the black patches, then the dark grey patches, then the light grey patches and lastly the whitish patches.
All done in 5 minutes and the results were amazing!!!

I think the trick to “forget” the face is to turn it upside-down.

[madisynmiller]

This is cool! Anyone can draw, I don’t believe it’s necessarily a “talent.” I’m an artist and when I started going to college, I was dismayed to find out that I had to take a drawing class (how boring, I thought). I thought I was good enough already. But in that class I learned to not draw “eyes, ” but to draw the shape, to not draw a “mouth, ” but to draw the lines, and to not draw a “nose, ” but to draw the shadows surrounding it. It helped immensely.

I went into the class not being able to draw realistically, and I left the class being able to draw portraits of anyone, anywhere, anytime!

My style is basically “dark surrealism” and the class even helped me to hone in on my style and make my unrealistic drawings look more realistic and more calculated. I think it’s important to learn how to draw before you can start being truly creative for sure ☺️

Also to aspiring artists a word of advice: fuck “proportions!” You cannot learn proportions out of a book. Remember that everybody, all faces, bodies, etc. have different measurements. Learn to draw what you see, not what you know!

[katet]

What, how?! this really works, I always struggle with trying to draw a face, thank you.

[wileycom]

To A True Educator!
The Heart of an Artist. This is one of those times that sneak up on you and shower you with as much delight as it does surprise. A few months ago I decided to prepare (insulate) myself during the chilly Massachusetts months ahead by returning to my self-taught drawing practice. Foraging through YouTube the other evening I had the good fortune to come upon your channel. I have binged for hours now on the feast of information and inspiration you provide! I am a jazz musician/singer and, for me, Tone is everything. May I say that the warm inviting inclusive sound of your voice has provided a wonderful feeling of what might be possible if I only apply the same Love I have for the study of Music, to Painting. Your patience instantly reminded me of a teacher I studied with in grad school whose guidance significantly changed my artistic life. It also prepared me for a lifetime of teaching as well. All I can say is Thank you for all that you do and for possessing one of those loving creative hearts that embraces everything and everybody. For me, this is striking creative gold! I look forward to spending the months ahead learning and laughing my way to becoming a student of Drawing!

[fudgecake]

Never heard about this technique before. It's really interesting, and it helps prioritise the idea of value. While not the best for drawing as a whole (focusing on small details instead of the overall image), it's a good thing to think about to stop being overwhelmed.

[Yaratoma]

I actually think I understand Picasso a bit better now. Thanks 😃

[Jaszleemin]

Finally, a real video not done by professionals or anyone who has a background in drawing. Thank you very much!

[nirestrunk]

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE this method of instruction using people who are also learning! It's... Revolutionary! Love it!

[tiffanip]

This is freaking insane. I’m about to try this because I can never DRAW faces. This Is such a smart technique

[testruelove]

To simplify it everything is lines, shapes and figures ! That's how I look at a subject !

[Ieatmychildren]

I've tried to draw someone for 2 hours trying my best, and it looked exacly like miss you painted at first. Now it look so diffrent. Thanks!

[twoHRdrive]

I love the honest tutorial method. Using people who are beginners like me is so much better than trying to replicate what an expert does...

[bunni]

Definitely going to try do this with my figure drawings . Thank you so much, I love your videos so much, I'm a 14 yr old dude and normally would play videos but recently I found ur videos and they've helped me improve my drawings so so much that I'm considering it as a career :)

also I really like the idea to see examples of someone who is not as experienced, it gives it more of a truthful perspective