Review: Vitruvian Studio Portrait Drawing Online Course
Review: Vitruvian Studio Portrait Drawing Online Class
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"Successful portraits are the production of a sound method. Good results come up from good decisions. Good decisions come up in part from knowing what to practice, what to look for, and in what sequence."
We're continuing our series on Vitruvian Studios's drawing courses with another ane of their bully learning resources: Portrait Cartoon – The Consummate Online Course.
If y'all're interested in portrait drawing or realism at all, this is a grade you'll want to check out.
Check Out Vitruvian Portrait Drawing
Course Groundwork
This grade is a direct continuation of the first i and is based on all the fundamentals taught in it.
As such, it's difficult to come upward with new things to say about it. All of the basics and background information are the aforementioned.
It'southward taught by the same guy: David Jamieson.
His qualifications are still the same. Concluding I checked, the New York Academy of Art has not rescinded his MFA, he'south still formerly a professor, and Prince Charles has non sold his art.
The form itself is taught in the aforementioned methodical manner as the last ane. It's even so exhaustively detailed, with goose egg cut out. The product values are yet proficient.
If y'all liked the last one y'all'll like this one… possibly non more, only exactly as much.
But is the concluding one required?
This course is $150 compared to Drawing Basics'due south $200, and volition cover everything yous need to complete a portrait—which is what many of us will have wanted to do the whole fourth dimension.
And so if you know the fundamentals and you're brusque on money you tin can probably skip to this ane.
…if you know your fundamentals.
Not all of the states know them besides as we call up we exercise.
Every bit Jamieson said in the first form, most drawing frustration is caused past attempting something mode more advanced than you're ready for.
And if you jump alee too shortly you lot might but waste your money proving him right.
I'd suggest doing the Drawing Basics course first if you tin can beget them both.
If you can't, spend every bit much time as possible brushing up on the fundamentals before you try to tackle this one. If you lot've never heard of a value nautical chart and can't draw the basic forms in perspective so stick to something easier like Drawabox until yous can master those basics.
The showtime few modules are basically an overview of the parts of the last course that y'all'd demand to you get started drawing portraits, just it'southward incomplete and won't teach you most of the things covered in the later on modules.
Presentation
I didn't plan to go through every video here but I ended upwardly doing it anyhow because information technology's fairly curt.
It'southward nowhere most the behemoth that Drawing Basics is. This class is clocking in at half the length—31 modules instead of 62, and x hours of video instead of 22.
That makes sense, in keeping with Jamieson's (like most good artists') philosophy that mastering the fundamentals is the key to all other cartoon.
Equally I mentioned, the production is as solid equally in the rest of Vitruvian'south content:
The video quality is the same.
Videos are hosted on Vimeo and available at upward to 720p. The drawing is well-lit and clear in every shot.
The audio quality is the same—great but not perfect. They've thankfully finished construction but now someone keeps entering and exiting the room.
The pacing is the aforementioned: slow and deliberate, which means that you lot tin either depict forth with it or watch it at 2x if yous merely desire the information.
But even if nothing'due south changed, I've been taking a bunch of Udemy courses on digital painting since the first review. Which has given me a new appreciation for Vitruvian's production values.
There are none of the ums, ahhs, errs, oopses, and beginner mistakes to exist found in cheaper tutorials.
The audio wasn't recorded on a gaming headset.
Jamieson never draws something, then tells you "at present depict that" with no explanation.
Likewise, there are none of the ill-advised goofs (sorry Proko) or clickbait you'd run across in like videos on Youtube.
Jamieson is aware that there'south no "one drawing tip that will make you lot a ameliorate artist."
Throughout the course he stresses that patience and devotion to craftsmanship over a menses of years. This the just affair that will become yous there, and I honey that almost these lessons.
Content Overview
Practically everything in the drawing fundamentals course is expanded upon here. The but new topics being the introduction of beefcake and the quirks of the human face(which are very important topics).
This 1, though, is structured differently than the terminal.
Where Drawing Basics ran through a diverseness of smaller exercises, this one takes us through the process of i cartoon from first to cease.
We also go to come across Jamieson's astounding mastery of his craft in a mode that wasn't visible when he was only drawing circles and squares.
…Excuse me, spheres and cubes.
That mastery shines through in how he writes nearly drawing equally much as in how he actually draws, as well.
This is some of the most thorough art instruction I've seen on the internet. Every aspect is covered in sometimes overwhelming item. Some of the manufactures contain enough data to crave multiple readings.
Since this is one continuous lesson instead of a serial of a bunch of little ones, a module-past-module breakdown won't exist necessary.
Instead I'll provide my impressions of the total class.
The first noticeable divergence is the introduction of diagrams that eddy down the content of each course. They're available as downloadable PDF's which I recommend you practise download.
As mentioned before, information technology begins with an overview of some of the principles covered in Cartoon Fundamentals. This includes stuff similar the super helpful method of drawing curves by drawing them around athwart construction lines, like a manual version of Photoshop's pen tool.
Nosotros get a lot of the same advice on materials which can be useful if you lot oasis't actually taken the Cartoon Basics course. Simply with more than supplies and more nuances here, specifically in how they'll be used.
The kneaded eraser sees a lot more activity than last time as at that place's a greater overall focus on precision.
I have to commend him for the unpopular merely spot on communication to view your reference on a figurer or tablet.
I could hear purists screaming before I typed the menstruum on that sentence, but at that place's a very good reason and he makes an excellent case for it: most consumer-grade color printers aren't very loftier quality.
So yous'll get better color and value fidelity from fifty-fifty a low-end monitor than from most nonprofessional prints.
(Side note: he doesn't say this, but make sure you draw from every bit high-resolution a source image as possible.)
In that location were a few techniques introduced in the last course that get much more than important hither.
Sighting. In that location's a very long and detailed article on this one that spans two modules.
If you lot're wondering, he does not use the sight-size method.
Instead he teaches you how to sight proportions yourself via observing angles and comparing the size and placement of features relative to other facial features and elements of the model: "All sighting techniques are about making comparisons," in his words.
He also expands on the concept of triangulation using information technology to a much more than advanced level to create accurate proportion triangles between facial features.
Block-ins are covered in much more detail than in the showtime course. We go establishing the center centrality of the head and how it'due south the foundation for placing the remainder of the features.
From there we motility on to structure of the caput so as to proceeds an understanding of the whole construction instead of but copying the surface details.
This is followed by a rough but very constructive guide to proportions, and a far more than thorough one on laying out the face.
From there nosotros get into rendering individual features… now summarizing this beat out-past-crush would exist pointless since it makes up the bulk of the course and it's mostly a procedure of learning the muscles and bone structure of each part of the face up, and so going on to describe their forms and shade them.
And I'thousand sure you've gotten the gist of the course by now.
The anatomy is on point though.
If y'all've ever wanted to learn the Latin for all of those obscure parts of the face, as well as how they piece of work underneath the skin, all of that is laid out here.
Overall I've come to capeesh Jamieson's no-nonsense way.
At that place are no faux-motivational clichés hither. But at the aforementioned time, he's not needlessly hard or mean the mode some realist teachers can be with the misguided belief that artificial pressure will aid their students ameliorate.
He just gets to the point and tells you how to draw the thing well.
But the mindset advice he does give is some of the well-nigh useful out in that location, with a focus on learning craftsmanship.
Every bit in the concluding course, he's a fountain of great quotes about drawing.
Some of my favorites:
"I call back of drawings as … virtual sculptures. Equally if while I'k drawing, what I'one thousand really doing is … reaching into the infinite behind the newspaper … and modeling a footling clay sculpture that exists in that infinite."
"Don't overestimate what materials volition do for y'all. … Imagine that you're a runner … Yous become to a track meet [and] encounter somebody run the hundred meters faster than you've ever seen in person before … So imagine that the first question you enquire is, "Oh my God, what kind of shoes are those?"
"A successful drawing needn't be 100% 'accurate.' Every bit we'll discuss going forward, it's more than important to find certain full general relationships when trying to capture a believable likeness."
"Drawing well requires that we establish something on the page, and so set almost refining information technology, improving it and making it meliorate. That's what drawing is, fundamentally." (Emphasis his.)
Final Wrap-Upward
I wish I had more than genuine criticism. The form may not aid for anyone non interested in portraits, but I really couldn't find whatsoever large flaws.
As I've said about the last course, this one contains techniques that yous'd otherwise accept to acquire piecemeal from a lot of sources and study under a master, or attend to an atelier to become the info.
Even most art schools don't teach them.
I can honestly say these two courses lonely take been more helpful than any single grade I've taken or life drawing session I've attended.
If y'all want to acquire portrait drawing and accept $150 to spend I'd say this is the best online class to driblet information technology on.
And for $100 more you lot can purchase the Portrait Drawing Critique Extension, which at 4 points throughout the class volition allow you submit your drawings for him to critique on video, which he'll then transport back to you.
That shouldn't exist necessary but it can be useful if y'all really want an artist'south eye on things while working from the comfort of your home.
However the course itself is well worth the toll if you can walk away from it feeling far more confident in your portrait skills.
Check Out This Course
Author: C.S. Jones
C.Southward. Jones is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer, illustrator, and occasional lensman. He spends his spare time listening to Spotify and waiting for trains. Anytime, he'll terminate that graphic novel. In the meantime, his work is best seen at thecsjones.com or @thecsjones on Instagram.
Source: https://conceptartempire.com/vitruvian-portrait-course-review/
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