Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
com
LIFE
DRAWING
SUCCESS
Avoid the 1 big
mistake that led to all
my other mistakes
INTRO
My name is Kenzo, and I love to do life
drawing. My mum Mayko is a profes-
sional artist who also loves life drawing.
We started Love Life Drawing to help peo-
ple through the struggles described in this
guide.
This guide is based on our own experi-
ences as well as the many beginners we
chat to through Love Life Drawing and at
life drawing classes in London. Your expe-
riences may differ, but I think most people
will identify with many (if not most!) of
these things.
That word in the title - ‘mistake’ - is a dan-
gerous one. It’s the sort of language that
makes life drawing intimidating and it’s
the sort of language I used when beat-
ing myself up as a beginner - ‘why do I
make so many mistakes!’ And the truth is
I still beat myself up this way, and so does
Mayko, even when her drawings look
beautiful, like the one on the left. She ac-
tually told me not to put this drawing on
Instagram because it has too many ‘mis-
takes’.
2 life life 3
What are life drawing mistakes?
There isn’t a correct way to draw. There isn’t some abso-
lute list of correct and incorrect techniques carved into
stone somewhere by the art gods.
4 life life 5
B UMPY
PRO G R ES S
The quality of your drawings won’t
go up in a nice straight line, where
GOOD, UGLY LEARNING each drawing is a little better than
the last.
I’ve been practising landscape sketches with watercolour when I take my dog Maggie Those are not a failed practice ses-
to the park. It’s totally new to me and I’m not good at it. I told myself, if I can fit in sions, they’re part of the process. If
three 30 minute sketches a week, one day maybe next year I’ll be happy with one of you are practising consistently and
them. I told myself I’ll need to do a few hundred that I don’t like before I get one I do deliberately working on specific skills,
like. But then each time I see the actual sketch, I still get annoyed with myself that you will eventually arrive at break-
I’m not ‘good’ right now! I have to remind myself of the same things we’ve laid out throughs. They’ll be exciting and well
in this guide - that the problem isn’t the bad sketch, the problem is that I’m getting earned.
annoyed by the bad sketch.
Further mistakes happen when you value the current beauty of your drawing over
the learning you got from the drawing. We’ll look at some of those below. These
again are often mindset mistakes rather than technical mistakes. But the worst part
is that mindset mistakes lead to further technical problems.
6 life life 7
T H E L E AR NI NG CYCLE THE DEMORAL ISATION CYC L E
so i better practise
more... my skill level
my skill level isn’t isn’t shooting
shooting up... up...
8 life life 9
M Y D E M O RALI SATI ON STORY
WE ALL HAVE ONE...
I GOT TRAPPED IN THE DEMORALISATION CYCLE FOR ABOUT 12 YEARS OLD WORRIED ADULT IMPATIENT
15 YEARS HAVING A LOT OF FUN FULL OF SELF DOUBT WANT TO BE GOOD NOW!
When I was a kid I thought I was mak- a few times a year for most of my 20s. I remember thinking my cre- Having not drawn much for a Once I accepted that I would
ing good progress with drawing. I loved ation, XTRAORDINARY X- long time, I’d go to life draw- always have a deep desire
drawing and drew everyday. My mum When I hit about 30, life was going well
MEN, was as good as anything ing, quickly convince myself I to draw, I started to practise
Mayko encouraged me. My brother in terms of career and family. But still
you could buy in the shops, didn’t have ‘talent’, and give up regularly, but beat myself for
Gez (now an art director at a big games here was this incredible itch to draw.
and only going to get better. until next time. not being amazing at it.
studio) was also drawing constantly. My mum has been amazing at figure
I mostly made comic books and new drawing for as long as I can remember,
superheroes that I thought would make so I asked her to come along with me
good members of the X-Men. It was a to some figure drawing classes.
lot of work, but I loved it.
After each class, we’d walk to the tube
Then we got a new art teacher at station together, and she’d give me a LOVE THE UGLY DUC KLIN G S
school, and she told me my drawings few simple tips. She also told me that
were no good. She said that I needed she wondered why I didn’t draw as
to study real art, pointing me to high much anymore, because she used to
brow contemporary galleries. Those love my old drawings. Here was a sup-
paintings always looked awful to me. portive art teacher with simple but use-
I remember she used to draw on top ful tips - my own mum! It turned out to
of my drawings with a crayon to show be just what I needed and I started to
me what ‘real art’ was like. So I got it gain a little bit of my confidence back.
into my head that I didn’t understand
Learning is not a smooth upward path
art and that it wasn’t for me. I stopped
though. Some weeks I’d feel like I was
drawing completely.
back at square one. But, I was going
But as the years went on and I became every week, and even if I couldn’t see
an adult, I unconsciously floated back improvement week to week, I could see
to drawing all the time. At university, I big changes from the previous year. I
filled every margin in every book with realised that if I can accept some ‘bad
doodles. My notes were 30% words drawings’, I’ll be able to make progress.
and 70% imaginary figure drawings. I started to think ‘these drawings are
not beautiful, but they are good learn-
I would realise that I simply had to ing’. It hasn’t been a fast transition, and STARTING TO LEARN OPTIMISTIC HAVING FUN AGAIN
draw, and would go to a figure drawing I often find myself annoyed with ‘bad
SLOWING DOWN THAT’S ... NOT BAD EXCITED TO TRY MORE
class. But the drawings wouldn’t look drawings’. But the more I shift to the
great, which makes sense since I’d not learning mindset, the more I want to
been doing any proper practice. I’d re- practise, the more I try new things, and As lessons about drawing This drawing was a turning And finally, it became clear
member that I was ‘no good’ at art, and more rapid my progress becomes. slowly started to sink in, I point for me. I saw the power that mistakes are part of a
I’d stop again. I’d go through this cycle realised this was no sprint, it of practice. For the first time powerful cycle of learning and
wasn’t even a marathon. This since my homemade comics, I that this journey is only going
was going to be a journey. thought ‘that’s ... not bad’. to get better.
10 life life 11
T H E L E A R NI NG ZONE THE COMFORT ZON E
12 life life 13
COMFORT ZONE MISTAKES
These come from those earlier mindset mistakes. We’ll describe them
here, but remember the mindset problems need fixing before these do.
When I was in my negative, ‘I can’t first challenge that I was already failing into a cautious approach. We
draw well and that’s a problem’ mode, at? I hated the charcoal. It was messy If the pose has dynamic big love graphite pencils, but not the Not really a comfort zone thing,
I would use an A4 pad and a pencil. I and the lines were heavy and gloomy. I curves and wild angles, beginners effect they can have on a begin- but I wanted to squeeze this in
wondered why my lines always looked really wanted to get back to a graphite get nervous & straighten every- ner’s mindset. somewhere. Beginners often
furry or hairy, instead of smooth and pencil in a nice little A4 sketchbook, thing out. draw hands & feet way too small!
clean like good artists. I decided that where I had some control.
I was simply a messy person. At the
same time, I was very worried about Next up, Mayko said I should use large
doing a drawing that looked really bad. sweeping arm movements to draw, and
I wanted to reduce the ‘badness’ as I should just ‘go for it’. I tried it, and the
much as I could. That was my goal - not
do a drawing that’s too awful. So my
drawing was wrong in many ways. But
I saw something in the drawing I hadn’t
LEARNING IS UNCOMFORTA B L E
best chance was by using an approach before. It was all horribly wrong, but
where I felt more control. In other there was something nice in the line
words, making small, controlled marks quality. I thought ‘maybe charcoal isn’t
like I was writing. so bad’.
The very first thing my mum said to me And that was the tipping point. I’d seen
after our first class together was ‘draw a little progress. I realised that moving LEARNING ZONE ACTIVITIES
outside my comfort zone means ini-
bigger’. That was the only advice. And
tial discomfort, but is the only path to The learning zone is a scary place at first. But staying in this zone is how
in fact, it was the main thing she em-
eventual progress. I also realised that: you get to truly beautiful drawings in the future.
phasised for a few months. I was resis-
tant. I wasn’t comfortable with drawing a) my mum knew what she was talking
bigger. Eventually, I gave in and tried it. WHOLE ARM CHARCOAL, PEN RISKY LINES
about
It was awkward. I couldn’t really figure BIG SWEEPING LINES PASTEL ETC GO FOR IT DRAWING
out the sense of scale. My proportions b) that progress means taking baby
became worse. I was still doing the steps and Drawing bigger and making Charcoal creates expressive Lines that could go very wrong
tentative little marks, but trying to get sweeping arm movements is marks and will teach you so - loose and uncontrolled - also
them to cover more of the paper. c) you need to have faith in the learning
unfamiliar and takes time to learn. much. Pen requires commit- stand the best chance of being
process.
I complained about all of this, and Do it and persevere! ted lines and acceptance of risk. beautiful.
wanted to go back to drawing small. This experience is basically the main We are not saying one material
She said ‘now use a stick of willow reason we started Love Life Drawing - EXAGGERATING is better than another, but they BIGGER HANDS
charcoal instead of a graphite pencil’. to help people in a similar position to each teach you something dif-
ADDING WILDNESS AND FEET
I thought she was mad. How could the one I was in. ferent. When you overcome the
adding another challenge help with the challenges each one presents,
Since you’re likely to reduce the you become a better artist. So if Draw hands and feet bigger than
movement and straighten angles, you’re stuck on something famil- you feel you should. Come back
fight this by exaggerating them. iar, break out into the learning a few days later and see - was it
Make the drawing extra dynamic. zone with a new material. too big? Or just right?
14 life life 15
Further mistakes, described here, are
born when you make those earlier
mindset mistakes. Fixing these starts
with shifting to the learning mindset.
04 05 06
QUICK TO DETAILS VALUING EVERY DRAWING MORE
Often when starting out, we CONTRAST THAN OBSERVING
think that a drawing can be Our eyes are drawn to con- The information you need is
made to look good, or at least trast. That’s something you in the figure. But as we have
look more ‘right’, if it’s got lots can use to your advantage in seen, your brain thinks it
of details. We get caught up in a drawing. Guide the viewer’s knows better and uses precon-
unimportant little bits of infor- eyes using contrast. ceptions more than observing
mation before we have the big the reality. It tries to control
shapes in place. But the problem is that when the outcome of the drawing
observing the figure, your more than being fascinated by
The truth is that a figure draw- eyes will go to every contrast
ing can look good with just a the figure itself.
in tone, and then you’ll fill the
few lines, if the big important
01 02 03
drawing with all of them. So you might spend more time
shapes are captured. Adding pouring over the drawing than
details is more about your style For example, you might strong- observing the figure. With
- it’s not necessary for captur- ly draw the tones between time, you’ll learn to build your
ing the pose or making things every rib, because your eyes understanding of the pose
look natural. are drawn to those changes starting from important land-
in value. But these variations marks, and draw from there.
GOING TUTORIAL BELIEVING PRE- VALUING It’s hard to resist the urge to don’t explain the big important
add details early, because it
AND BOOK CRAZY CONCEPTIONS PROPORTIONS OVER all seems important and like it
shapes of the figure, they are That’s why we love the blind
just little undulations. Empha- drawing exercise - you cannot
Sometimes after a learning I’m not sure where our pre- EVERYTHING ELSE would help explain things to sising them creates a skeleton try to control the drawing by
drawing that looks bad, my conceived ideas of how figures the viewer’s eyes. look. staring at it and tinkering with
When starting to draw, a major
brain tries to stop me from and faces should be drawn aim is often to not draw some- details the whole time.
drawing more. It wants to pro- come from. They might be thing that looks ‘wrong’ - a
tect me from this “failure”. drilled into us when we are term often used for a figure
young. An eye is a circle inside that’s out of proportion. If you are doing any of these don’t
But I still want to learn to an oval. Arms and legs are long beat yourself up. All of this is part of
draw, so it offers a compromise lines, heads always go above When a figure drawing is in the learning process, and being kind to
- watch tons of tutorial videos shoulders and so on. proportion, but has lost all its yourself helps make that process more
and read books on drawing. movement and everything that fun and more successful.
Those ideas are wildly wrong makes it interesting, it is not
This way, I can tell myself I’m and somehow override the in-
learning while not actually thought of as ‘wrong’ for some
formation our wonderful eyes reason. If it retains all that en-
having to practise, which is the are telling us. That’s because
only way to truly learn. ergy, but the head is too big or
our minds want to avoid a ‘silly something, it’s ‘wrong’.
I’m not saying don’t watch looking’ drawing, and it thinks
tutorials (especially ours, of it knows how to make sure the Proportions are important
course), but I am saying that drawing looks like a person. to some drawing styles, and
the learning happens in the personally I do want my pro-
It’s great if you can start to portions to be right. But don’t
practice. You can enhance unravel those preconceptions,
practice by basing it on tutori- forget to give yourself credit
and replace them with some for the other things in the
als, but do way more practice better ideas, start to trust your
than tutorial watching! drawing that are working, or to
eyes and get your brain to do strive for other things than just
something useful. proportionate figures.
16 life life 17
IN-DEPTH LESSONS
18 life