# Amature Artist seeking a tutor



## deathshadow1991 (Apr 20, 2011)

hello all, as some of you may know, i have been dabbling in drawing now for over a year and i feel that my i am not learning proper techniques on how to draw well and this has really depressed me. i was hoping someone out there would be willing to be a tutor for me to help teach me where the ropes are that i missed and help me fix what i have screwed up in the past.

you can see most of what i have drawn to date on my FA page here

i hope to get response to this because im loosing moral in myself but i do not want to give up


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## Deo (Apr 20, 2011)

Don't give up. Learn to draw by learning how to observe. Set up a still life and draw it realistically, an hour everyday from different angles (or different still lifes). Draw from observation, and draw realistically. After you learn that you can tease out a style of cartoony that you may like. 
No I will not tutor you, but only give you this good advice.


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## deathshadow1991 (Apr 20, 2011)

well after a art professor at my college told me that i should just give up drawing because i sucked i kinda didn't want to draw real life anymore in fear that it wouldnt be "real" enough


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## Fay V (Apr 20, 2011)

deathshadow1991 said:


> well after a art professor at my college told me that i should just give up drawing because i sucked i kinda didn't want to draw real life anymore in fear that it wouldnt be "real" enough


 that professor is terrible


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## Zydala (Apr 20, 2011)

deathshadow1991 said:


> well after a art professor at my college told me that i should just give up drawing because i sucked i kinda didn't want to draw real life anymore in fear that it wouldnt be "real" enough


 
what professor tells people to quit?

The only way that you'll ever be bad at drawing is if you stop drawing and experimenting, end of story.

Don't be scared of drawing things from life. The only way that artists learn what things look like is by drawing them! So keep going at it :]

There aren't really any "techniques" per se when it comes to drawing - there's rules, and ways to "see" what you should be drawing, but even then everyone kind of takes them and just draws their own way!

Keep drawing, keep experimenting, and don't hold yourself to just one subject/pose/anything like that. You might not get things right on the first try, or the second or third, but you just gotta keep going. Don't give in!

Read this for some motivation: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=135551


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## Taralack (Apr 20, 2011)

deathshadow1991 said:


> well after a art professor at my college told me that i should just give up drawing because i sucked i kinda didn't want to draw real life anymore in fear that it wouldnt be "real" enough


 
Exactly what art did you show your professor? If you showed them your furry art then I have to say that was a stupid decision.


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## Deo (Apr 20, 2011)

Fay V said:


> that professor is terrible


 That professor is normal. 
My first art professor told me my life was a failure, my existence a was a mar on humanity, and that looking at my art made his eyes vomit. They do this to weed people out and push you to get better. Motivation through tough love and trial by fire. If you want it enough they know you'll suffer the long hours of staring at random shit and drawing, redrawing, redrawing, and redrawing it. Art is not something you go into without a passion and without great sacrifice. Art professors know this and beat it into you. And, my first angry art professor who despised me has become my favorite professor.

Books can be helpful, but the only true way to learn how to draw is to draw from life and learn how to perceive and transfer what you see accurately.
http://alexhays.com/loomis/
http://www.drawright.com/
I also recommend a copy of Gray's _Anatomy of the Human Body_


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## Zydala (Apr 20, 2011)

Deo said:


> That professor is normal.
> My first art professor told me my life was a failure, my existence a was a mar on humanity, and that looking at my art made his eyes vomit. They do this to weed people out and push you to get better. Motivation through tough love and trial by fire. If you want it enough they know you'll suffer the long hours of staring at random shit and drawing, redrawing, redrawing, and redrawing it. Art is not something you go into without a passion and without great sacrifice. Art professors know this and beat it into you. And, my first angry art professor who despised me has become my favorite professor.


 
I know what you mean by all this, but I have to say I feel like that tactic only goes so far. You can be discouraging people who otherwise would have great talent but are just more receptive to other means of criticism and motivation. At some point or another you have to be telling someone what they're doing right.

I've had two amazing professors who have been the most helpful with my art, AND the most encouraging simultaneously. I've learned more from them than any other teachers (including the more aggressive ones at my school), and they've also been the people that have helped me realize that art is something I want to do for life. If not for them I would have discouraged myself personally, but they showed me what the difference is between being overly critical and being rightly receptive to bettering your craft.

TL;DR - motivation is different for everyone, ymmv, etc.


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## deathshadow1991 (Apr 20, 2011)

to answer a few questions, no i did not show this professor my furry artwork, it was the class assignments of drawing still life, for some reason or another i just had alot of trouble with it.

usually i take well to negative motivation, it makes me think of how much downing myself is stupid but i was going through a shit load of life sucking at that particular moment and couldn't deal with that so maybe i should get back into it now that some things have slowed down for me


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## Olivitree (Apr 20, 2011)

Heya, Never give up! If it is what you want to do, you do it! I'm hoping to be a games artist later on when I get through university, but I've been heading toward that struggling through my families disapproval of my life choices, so much so I'm actually going to be doing a science in university just to shut them up and HOPE I can get into the career through a good portfolio, but I'll never stop doing my art regardless of how much they complain, you shouldn't stop doing it either just because someone tells you that you shouldn't, you do what you want to with your life, it's your life after all.

It's about doing what you enjoy in the end whether your good at it or not is irrelevant, if you enjoy it enough, you'll get better at it as you go even if your awesome at it already!

I'm still learning myself but I would be willing to give you pointers if you like, I live stream occasionally too so I can help you through that as well or use programs like Iscribble.
 Feel free to drop me a message if you want, I'd be happy to help out. :3


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## Aden (Apr 20, 2011)

Do not draw porn until you are reasonably comfortable in your abilities. Too many views and asspats (which are meant to keep you drawing porn) will set you on the wrong track.


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## Deo (Apr 20, 2011)

I am so glad that my university is one of the top rated for design, and THE top rated undergrad program in my design major. Fuck yeah Iowa.

BUT the only reason it is so good is because of how competitive it is and how harsh the professors are. If not for the weeding of the weak our Design college would be watered down by those undeserving or not motivated enough to compete for success and those people would tarnish our college's name.

Another example is that our first 'formal' lesson in drawing was "You all suck". Professor Beakler stood up, looked at all of us, and told us to throw out any pretense we may of had of us being half way mediocre artists and to realize that we suck and are completely horrible. In his words "You all suck so much. You need to learn that first and some humility before you learn to draw. Because I damn well know that half of you are sitting here pretending you know how to draw. You don't. Forget everything you ever thought you knew. *I* am going to teach you how to draw because you suck and you don't know shit-anything."


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## Monster. (Apr 20, 2011)

Deo said:


> BUT the only reason it is so good is because of how competitive it is and how harsh the professors are. If not for the weeding of the weak our Design college would be watered down by those undeserving or not motivated enough to compete for success and those people would tarnish our college's name.


Same here. My college is pretty much shit all around except for the Drawing instructors. They are _harsh_. If you can't keep up with the class, they flat-out give you an F. They're nice about it, but they do say in the beginning of semesters, "You _will_ want to kill me for most of this semester. If you fail, that's your own fault. LET THE HATE FLOW THROUGH YOU." No joke, my teacher said that when I was in Animation.

@ the OP: Instead of look for a tutor, why not just sketch up some stuff and go to the Tutorials and Critiques area and get some feedback on each piece? Then you can get three or four people to critique you and give you some tips and advice to help your art improve along the path you want.


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## Fay V (Apr 20, 2011)

Deo said:


> I am so glad that my university is one of the top rated for design, and THE top rated undergrad program in my design major. Fuck yeah Iowa.
> 
> BUT the only reason it is so good is because of how competitive it is and how harsh the professors are. If not for the weeding of the weak our Design college would be watered down by those undeserving or not motivated enough to compete for success and those people would tarnish our college's name.
> 
> Another example is that our first 'formal' lesson in drawing was "You all suck". Professor Beakler stood up, looked at all of us, and told us to throw out any pretense we may of had of us being half way mediocre artists and to realize that we suck and are completely horrible. In his words "You all suck so much. You need to learn that first and some humility before you learn to draw. Because I damn well know that half of you are sitting here pretending you know how to draw. You don't. Forget everything you ever thought you knew. *I* am going to teach you how to draw because you suck and you don't know shit-anything."


 I agree that harshness is good and it does weed out the good from the bad, but outright telling someone to stop doing art is pretty awful. You can tell someone they aren't skilled enough to keep up with a program and such, but telling someone to outright stop is counter intuitive. with more practice and tutelage suited to them they could garner some skill.


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## Deo (Apr 20, 2011)

Gaz said:


> Same here. My college is pretty much shit all around except for the Drawing instructors. They are _harsh_. If you can't keep up with the class, they flat-out give you an F.


 Haha the F's. Oh man. My professor looked at us and said "NONE of you will get an A in this class. None of you deserve an A and I won't be handing them out. I also don't give C's or D's. IF you turn in C work in life, YOU FAIL. The same applies to my class."
So it was a B or an F.



Fay V said:


> I agree that harshness is good and it does weed out  the good from the bad, but outright telling someone to stop doing art  is pretty awful. You can tell someone they aren't skilled enough to keep  up with a program and such, but telling someone to outright stop is  counter intuitive. with more practice and tutelage suited to them they  could garner some skill.


 Practice is a burden on the  shoulders of the student. Tutelage is also something a professor doesn't  have time for. You are your own tutor. You learn by observing things and drawing them. If you don't 'tutor' yourself enough in doing that it's your own damn fault.

Our College of Design building  is open 24 hours a day for people to draw, think, design, craft, paint,  and build. It also means that our professors EXPECT us to be there every single night. It's the reason I only get about 4 hours of sleep a night is because I'm over there working my ass off. A single project often takes a hundred or more hours to complete (and I'm fast at my projects, for some people they need to work harder/longer to get the same results so maybe 200 hours). But it's the time you invest that makes you better. Sure I never get a good nights sleep and I'm damn tired. But I'm competing within the best undergrad program in the nation with like-minded and also dedicated people. Hell, Johns Hopkins only has TWO slots a year for their masters program in my field of study (and for the last three years both slots have been filled with people from my college). So you see time and dedication pay off.

If someone doesn't use their time to improve and doesn't work  harder when told to quit then they don't deserve a spot in the college  that would otherwise go to someone dedicated enough to spend the hours  alone practicing. And that is really all there is to it. Tutelage be  damned, if you sit and draw and draw and draw and draw and draw for  hours a day I guarantee you'll improve. OP didn't do this though, and  instead quit. I hate to say it, but good riddance. This area of study  is far too flooded with people who don't take it seriously and want to  draw _pretty pictures _and not work for the rest of their lives. Well art  is not about that bullshit and I am happy that they flop and leave  before shitting the college up and the program rankings for the rest of  us.


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## Monster. (Apr 20, 2011)

Deo said:


> Haha the F's. Oh man. My professor looked at us and said "NONE of you will get an A in this class. None of you deserve an A and I won't be handing them out. I also don't give C's or D's. IF you turn in C work in life, YOU FAIL. The same applies to my class."
> So it was a B or an F.


I want your professor. :| My perspective teacher told us, "If you don't think you can get at least a B- in this class, get out right now. I'm not about to waste my time on you if you're just going to take up the space of someone who actually wants to be here."

No one left, but quite literally, no one slept much that semester because they were afraid to get anything lower than a B.


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## Jw (Apr 20, 2011)

To add to what others have said, it's a matter of practice. Your professor called you on drawing more realistically. THOUGH his methods may suck in the long run, like Deo said, it's a motivational ploy or a really crappy professor. All the more reason to prove him wrong. I was told by a high school teacher that I should give up artwork since it really never seemed to be a "strong point in your list of skills". Sadly I listened to him until ANOTHER teacher convinced me he was wrong and that I could improve. (though I never made anything higher than a B+ with her grading)

Since then I've done A LOT of work to get better. There is a shelf full of filled sketchbooks for me right now in my room. Most of the drawings are terrible. 10% were good for that time period.  All in all though, I've gotten _thousands_ of drawings in those books of all different kinds of things.

Words of advice:
#1 practice never hurts. It's the only way to guarantee improvement
#2 All of your drawing will not be good. But some definitely will be. Analyze why they're successful and the others are not to guide yourself.
#3 the best tutor in the world cannot help a lack of motivation on the learner's part. You need to be in it and want to improve.
#4 accepting critique not as an insult but rather a compliment is a hard skill to learn, but it will make you learn so much.
#5 Building a good, sold foundation will make EVERYTHING easier. try practicing shading, shape, form, line and color from real life practices and then reattempt the other things you really want to draw. Improvement can be surprising.
#5 it's okay to curse at, yell at, attack or otherwise relieve anger on inanimate objects. But try channeling these emotions into your work. Big angry drawings are fun.


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## Fay V (Apr 20, 2011)

Deo said:


> Practice is a burden on the  shoulders of the student. Tutelage is also something a professor doesn't  have time for. You are your own tutor. You learn by observing things and drawing them. If you don't 'tutor' yourself enough in doing that it's your own damn fault.
> 
> Our College of Design building  is open 24 hours a day for people to draw, think, design, craft, paint,  and build. It also means that our professors EXPECT us to be there every single night. It's the reason I only get about 4 hours of sleep a night is because I'm over there working my ass off. A single project often takes a hundred or more hours to complete (and I'm fast at my projects, for some people they need to work harder/longer to get the same results so maybe 200 hours). But it's the time you invest that makes you better. Sure I never get a good nights sleep and I'm damn tired. But I'm competing within the best undergrad program in the nation with like-minded and also dedicated people. Hell, Johns Hopkins only has TWO slots a year for their masters program in my field of study (and for the last three years both slots have been filled with people from my college). So you see time and dedication pay off.
> 
> If someone doesn't use their time to improve and doesn't work  harder when told to quit then they don't deserve a spot in the college  that would otherwise go to someone dedicated enough to spend the hours  alone practicing. And that is really all there is to it. Tutelage be  damned, if you sit and draw and draw and draw and draw and draw for  hours a day I guarantee you'll improve. OP didn't do this though, and  instead quit. GI hate to say it, but good riddance. This area of study  is far too flooded with people who don't take it seriously and want to  draw pretty pictures and not work for the rest of their lives. Well art  is not about that bullshit and I am happy that they flop and leave  before shitting the college up and the program rankings for the rest of  us.


 Like I said. I agree with the "get the fuck out" mentality, but "you suck, just stop" not so much. OP is doing the right thing here in a naive way. searching for help to improve. OP still have to learn more about realistic, but baby steps I suppose.


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## Deo (Apr 20, 2011)

Gaz said:


> I want your professor. :| My perspective teacher told us, "If you don't think you can get at least a B- in this class, get out right now. I'm not about to waste my time on you if you're just going to take up the space of someone who actually wants to be here."
> 
> No one left, but quite literally, no one slept much that semester because they were afraid to get anything lower than a B.


 I liked my professor. But half the class was forced to drop and of those that did not drop in time 15% failed. So 65% of the class effectively failed, and 35% of us got B's.


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## Zydala (Apr 20, 2011)

Fay V said:


> Like I said. I agree with the "get the fuck out" mentality, but "you suck, just stop" not so much. OP is doing the right thing here in a naive way. searching for help to improve. OP still have to learn more about realistic, but baby steps I suppose.


 
Yeah, I think that, at least in foundations, you have to be a tad more forgiving so people can actually see if it's a passion for them in the first place. Really it's not like the whole process has to be hugs and kisses. My art program literally just doesn't let you into your focused courses if you don't pass a portfolio review after your first year in it, and in the illustration courses they maybe hand out 2-3 As _a year_ on individual projects.

I think what bothers me - NOT about the 'get your ass in gear' philosophy, but the 'you should stop right now' philosophy - is that it's implying to those still beginning that there's some sort of talent that comes with art, when there isn't really at all. You either practice and draw like crazy and improve or you don't. Telling someone in their early stages of learning that "oh man you can't grasp this just quit" kind of makes them feel like there's some secret that they have no means of obtaining. That's my opinion anyway.


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## Heimdal (Apr 20, 2011)

I had a very tactful professor for a drawing class. His advice was always positive. (As opposed to trying to demotivate people and seeing who sticks around... that's a game, not a teaching strategy.) But when critique time came, he held nothing back. He saw EVERYTHING, and his critiques were brutal as all fuck. It was tense and aggravating, until you thicken up and realize how awesome he is at what he does. He also had the tough 'fine arts' task of teaching us that "_content is meaning beyond the overt subject matter._"

To OP: Everyone's advice is pretty good here. Keep drawing. Have thicker skin for criticism. I will add: study and surround yourself with as much different kinds of art as you can.

Improving at art isn't that hard. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. It just takes a bit of time.


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## Fay V (Apr 20, 2011)

What Zydala said. When I did work on art when I was younger I was told to quit when I asked for critique, a few times actually, and for a while I did. Now I really regret it. I know I won't make it into an art program. I am well aware I couldn't hold up to those standards, but quitting art was the worst thing i ever did.


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## deathshadow1991 (Apr 20, 2011)

i understand what you are all saying and i already know i was weak at the time from life issues and the stress of the rest of my college courses. Ill admit that my professor's comments where the things that finally sent me to a therapist to get the official mental help i had needed for years. the problem was i wasn't ready for all of it at once, i didn't have time to spend 100 hours on a drawing when i had to work on honors speeches and solve calculus problems. i will also admit that my passion in art is to bring to life the beautiful and disturbing things that live in my mind, an outlet if you will.

i know i suck, that is the same phrase that goes through my mind every time i step out of bed. the phrase that has been shouted at me by friends and family alike. before you think im going on a pity trip, i'm not, i am going to finish out the last 3 weeks of this semester the best i can and then show that i am not just some flip flop weakling. 

So what i am saying is thank you to all of you for reminding me of the passion i used to have to prove everyone else wrong.

topic closed


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