25 Days to Better Drawings – Day One – Mindset and Materials

25 Days to Better Drawings: Mindset and Materials

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Lesson Description

An introduction to "25 Days to Better Drawings" and a look at the materials that will be used throughout the course.

Lesson Materials

None.

Lesson Resources

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Reference Image

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Course Curriculum

Lesson 1: Materials and Mindset (10:07)Lesson 2: Drawing with Lines (25:29)Lesson 3: Drawing Ellipses (18:26)Lesson 4: Drawing with Shapes (15:56)Lesson 5: Line Quality (13:10)Lesson 6: Cross Contour Lines (11:32)Lesson 7: Shading with Line (38:49)Lesson 8: Value (10:52)Lesson 9: Light and Shadow (11:58)Lesson 10: Drawing Basic Forms (17:25)Lesson 11: Drawing with Forms (21:12)Lesson 12: Texture Study #1 (28:54)Lesson 13: Texture Study #2 (49:20)Lesson 14: Texture Study #3 (17:31)Lesson 15: The Illusion of Space (16:33)Lesson 16: One Point Perspective (46:39)Lesson 17: Two Point Perspective (48:35)Lesson 18: Three Point Perspective (54:30) Lesson 19: Sighting, Measuring, and Mapping (10:02)Lesson 20: Positive and Negative Space (8:13)Lesson 21: The Grid Technique (11:07)Lesson 22: Basic Facial Proportions (41:52)Lesson 23: Figure Drawing (1:03:53)Lesson 24: Drawing in Reverse (16:29)Lesson 25: Conclusion / Final Exercise (3:56)

Comments

25 Days to Better Drawings – Day One – Mindset and Materials — 71 Comments

  2. Day one was a disaster. I tried and tried to use photo reference with no success. Folds would not work for me and the cap was impossible even when I tried to just look for basic shape.

  4. I tried the reference picture. I am in general quite unsatusfied with what I am drawing. The basic shapes worked out well but the highlights and shadows were super difficult. At least my drawing is recognizable as tube. Hope to get better and see results after 25 days

  7. Thanks for providing an awesome reference photo. It was more challenging than I expected. I set a timer for just over an hour so that I can see if my ability and speed increase by the end of the course. I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist. I think I rework sections more than necessary. The half of the tube I finished looks somewhat crinkled. 🙂
    Thanks for all the courses. I have learned so much.

    • Brandy, I know how you feel about being a perfectionist. I keep telling myself to simply get better than I did yesterday, not aim for perfection. That usually helps me move forward.

    • I was unable to see the photo reference.Can you please send it again ? I am enjoying the systematic course.Thank u & I am confident I will improve in the coming days bcos I sm passionate about drawing & colours give me a high.Thank u…

      Got it .

  8. I found this a very challenging drawing to do, and I couldn’t complete it in the hour. I am struggling with the tonal values and proportions. Trying to figure out the shading and then the placement of the lettering! Wow, very overwhelming. But I am here to learn so I will press on!

  11. I’m a little shocked. When I first saw the image, I felt impatient with all the detail. How in the world will I get that onto the page! But then once I got started and settled down, I really enjoyed gazing at the image and linking up my hand with my eyes. It was very calming. And what do you know, but the final result is recognizable — much better than I thought I could do! Don’t get me wrong, it’s primitive, but my expectations were pretty low. 🙂

  12. Just finished Day 1. Drew from a photo I took at the Taos Pueblo last October. I’m left handed so the graphite smears. What can I put under my hand that won’t affect the graphite? May try a kleenex.

    • I usually use a sheet of layout paper. It’s not so much a cases of handed ness though, as simply a consequence of resting your hand on the paper – right handlers often have the same issue.

  13. Hello. This is a very small town. No art supply stores here. Where ONLINE can i purchase the Gray and Black page sketchbooks please, inexpensively? thanks

  14. Well that was a humbling experience! I can draw, but I’m rusty and I do have difficulty with seeing values, let alone drawing them accurately. It’s made me think I need to go and review some basics before I try improving, but we’ll see how I get on tomorrow.

  15. Hi Matt,
    I thoropughly enjoyed the course.
    What should I do next ?
    I want to continue with pencil drawing for now..maybe ink..but not yet colour

  17. day 1 was not horrible like I thought it would be but not all that great either. I put it aside because I am a perfectionist and it was holding me back from just doing my best so I can compare when done. I have a lot to learn but that’s what I’m here for

  20. Okay, for a “small slightly complex object” – I chose your photo reference, the scrunched paint tube. The overall shape was fun, but the shading – frustratingly challenging! How do you get shiny white out of graphite??

    • Hi Gretchen,

      No pressure here. This is just to establish a starting point. 🙂 The light highlights on the paint tube should be created by allowing white of the paper to show through in areas. Is this what you are asking?

  22. I also did the drawing of the Tube (Photo reference). That was really challenging. I left out the writing, as that would have eben really distracting. But I really liked. Can‘t wait to move on and look back in 25 days.

  23. good learning experience overall, spotting the values for folds and shadows. I struggled a bit with angles and letter size for the print on the tube. So the tube looks ok but the print on it is unfinished for me after an hour.

  25. Hi, I’ve been attempting to learn how to draw for 2 years. I still can barely manage a stick figure. I get SO down on myself and fear that this desire to draw has revealed a major learning disability. I seem incapable of drawing anything no matter what online courses I take. There is something missing for me – my brain doesn’t get something about drawing.

    I’m here giving this drawing thing one last shot. I’m hoping with Matt’s consistent instruction (what a wonderful creation!!) I’ll maybe be able to get some of the information into my brain. (I don’t hold out much hope, tho).

    I attempted the tube of paint – I just don’t “see”. Many here wrote they set a timer to limit them to an hour. I couldn’t think of what else to do after 10 minutes, hahaha.

  27. I learned a lot about what I was doing wrong as I went along. I gave little or no thought as to how I was going to accomplish this,in regard to drawing,size,shading, etc. Looking at the end I recognized how I should have planned ahead.

  29. Day 1 was a challenge for me because of the time limit. Are all lessons timed? Sorry to present this unfinished and hurried example. I did not realize I could send copies and correspond with you. Catching on slowly but surely.

  31. Day 1 I really enjoyed it. What I enjoyed the most was how we can save our art as we move on but are not allowed to look at it as we improve so that when we finish we can go back to it and see how we have improved as we move on.

  33. Day 1 I hope no-one sees my paint tube. Pretty frustrating to see how much training and practice I am going to need. Trying to hang on to what you said at the beginning of the video. I can do this…eventually.

  34. The only thing I don’t have on the materials list is the white charcoal pencil. Can I use a white pastel pencil instead, or even white chalk pastels? I have both lurking in my massive unused art supply pile (which I’m hoping won’t remain unused once I’ve watched all your courses!)

  35. Pat Pilipuf. I just finished lesson 1. I think this going to help me draw better. I see you have booklets available but I dont know how to open them

  36. I just finished lesson 1. I think this going to help me draw better. I see you have booklets available but I dont know how to open them. I am working on an IPad

  37. I just couldn’t limit myself to an hour on the first exercise. I guess its my perfectionism coming out, but it was closer to 3 hours once I finished playing with the lettering and logo on the tube. I’m not unhappy with the result, but am looking forward to learning techniques that might cut my time down while improving the quality.
    Should I be trying harder to limit the time to get the most out of this course? I don’t mind taking a long time as drawing is so relaxing.

  38. When I saw that tube I knew I was in trouble. But, I kept a positive attitude in between the frustrations and did the best I could. It actually looks like a tube.

    • Hi Jemima,

      Don’t worry, you’re not supposed to yet. This first drawing is just a starting point. You’ll use it to measure your progress once you go through the entire course.

  40. My first thought was “oh for pete’s sake Matt have you lost your mind… I sucked at this challenge the first time you posted it..and now you posted it again.” but I worked at it.. and still suck at it. But im giving t his series a chance so im sure ill do better in a month or so. getting ready to start lesson two.. oh boy cant wait.

  41. I tried to draw the tube, man was that hard. The only thing that resembled the tube was the cap. I spent an hour on it and then stopped. It was frustrating, but fun. I can’t wait to look at the drawing at the end of the course and what I will be able to do. On to lesson two.

  42. My drawing looked really bad but it was a good experience and I can’t wait to see how great it will look at the end end of the lessons 🙂

  43. I tell no lie, this took me an hour and 25 minutes, and it is still not finished! I do go into a world of my own when I am drawing or painting; I only stopped and looked at the clock because my dog wanted her dinner. I have been drawing for some years, but never had formal training. Eating my dinner, and having more time to really study it, I took a really good look at the sample picture provided, I had expected something more simple than this for a first drawing. A couple of boxes, or something. After further study I can see all the triangles in this piece; so it would mean there is a lot of dimensional drawing involved. This is what I need to learn! If I can really make a good job of copying this photograph provided by the end of this course I shall be really happy. Thanks.

  45. Okay, so the outline of the tube is done, the shadow edges are drawn in, and it is time to draw in the letters. Ugh! I keep telling myself I don’t have to be a calligrapher, but these letters are daunting, and I feel stumped. I will take a break, try to look at it upside down as just shapes and not letters. If/when I manage to get in the shapes of the letters and logo I can start on shading.

  46. Looks like I’m in the class of 2020. I did two things wrong, the tail of the tube was like the crooked tail on a bird, it was askew. Also, I should have shaded the tube first then drew the images then erased for the white highlights instead of trying to draw the white shading because that did not work out for me. I have lots to learn.

  48. I chose to go simpler and leave text off the tube. However, I was surprised how easy it was to draw the general shape of the paint tube by identifying shapes across the face of the photo. I am restarting my artistic efforts with colored pencils. Since I want everything to be original, I am investing time to learn how to draw. I’m so excited to have found Matt and The Virtual Instructor. I look forward growing my “talent” :). Thanks.

  50. I am done but not finished. The Corona Virus has kept me confused but art always helps…will mostly. My tube of paint took 1 1/2 hours after I got my printer connected. I tried some of the words on the tube, but it did not turned out very well. I feel I am getting better at detail and shading. I am 78 years old and have been trying to think art for 30 years. What I have missed is drawing. So I am not discouraged ….I will continue to see the colors, the sky, the ocean, mountains and trees till I am done on this earth. Thanks for being here for all of us.

  51. Ok, not bad as a drawing, but I do not know how to make the tube crushed up, with light and shades the famous value I did it about 70% the other 30 % with the effect of squeezed tube i try to simulate but it is not at all perfect. See you tomorrow thanks Matt you’re great

  52. Enjoyed the challenge of completing in 1 hour, helped me not to over work things and keep moving through drawing the image . Looking forward to the 25 day journey

Lesson Discussion