Skill Pillars - what you need to get good at art
Summary
TLDRIn this video, the creator outlines a 10,000-hour journey to enhance foundational art skills, or 'skill pillars,' essential for all artists. These include composition, value, color, form and perspective, and technical ability with tools. The focus is on mastering broad, versatile skills for efficient learning, drawing parallels to the Pareto Principle for maximum impact. The creator also emphasizes the interrelation of these skills and the importance of understanding them for artistic development.
Takeaways
- šØ **Skill Pillars**: The video discusses the concept of 'skill pillars', which are fundamental skills necessary for drawing and painting.
- š **Simplification**: The creator advocates for simplifying the learning process by focusing on a few key areas to study.
- š **Grouping**: It's suggested to group related skills together to make learning more efficient and interconnected.
- š **Efficiency**: The approach emphasizes finding skills that offer the best return on investment in terms of effort and time.
- šļøāāļø **Broad Skills**: The video stresses the importance of mastering broad skills that apply to all artists, regardless of their specific field.
- š **Composition**: The first skill pillar is composition, which includes techniques like the rule of thirds and using light and shadow to guide the eye.
- š **Value**: Value is the second pillar and is crucial for creating realistic and solid forms in art, as it's how we perceive the world visually.
- š **Colour**: Colour is the third pillar and involves understanding not just colours themselves but also colour harmonies and their psychological effects.
- š **Form & Perspective**: The fourth pillar focuses on creating believable 3D forms and understanding anatomy, which is essential for depth and realism.
- š ļø **Technical Ability with Tools**: The final pillar is about mastering the tools of the trade, whether it's traditional media or digital tools.
- š **Pareto Principle**: The video references the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to suggest focusing on the core 20% of skills that lead to 80% of proficiency.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video?
-The main focus of the video is to discuss the fundamental skills, or 'skill pillars', required for drawing and painting, with the aim of enhancing these skills over a 10,000-hour time frame.
What are the three concepts the speaker wants the audience to consider before watching the video?
-The three concepts are Simplification, Grouping, and Efficiency. Simplification refers to studying as few things as possible, Grouping is about combining these few things into related items, and Efficiency is about finding the best return for the least effort.
Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of understanding value in art?
-Understanding value is crucial because it's how we perceive the world and how our brain interprets visual information. It allows artists to create realistic and solid representations in space.
What is the significance of the Pareto Principle in the context of this video?
-The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, is mentioned to emphasize focusing on the core 20% of skills that will lead to 80% of the desired outcomes in drawing and painting, aiming for efficient learning.
What are the five skill pillars identified in the video?
-The five skill pillars are Composition, Value, Colour, Form & Perspective, and Technical Ability with Tools.
How does the speaker suggest approaching the skill of Colour?
-The speaker suggests mastering values first before delving into colour, as understanding value is fundamental to appreciating colour. Colour includes colour harmonies, light, and cultural awareness.
What resources does the speaker recommend for studying Composition?
-The speaker recommends 'Framed Ink' by Marcos Mateu-Mestre and landscape books by Mitchell Albala for studying Composition.
How does the speaker relate the skill of Form & Perspective to other skill pillars?
-The speaker relates Form & Perspective to other skill pillars by stating that it overlaps with value and is always being worked on regardless of which pillar is being drilled.
What does the speaker suggest for mastering Technical Ability with Tools?
-The speaker suggests freely experimenting and finding good combinations of paper and mark-making tools, as well as mastering the use of different art software.
Why is it important to establish a baseline in the speaker's 10,000-hour learning experiment?
-Establishing a baseline is important to measure progress and validate the effectiveness of the learning method over the 10,000-hour period.
What does the speaker mean by 'drilling' in the context of learning these skill pillars?
-āDrillingā refers to the focused and deliberate practice of each skill pillar to internalize and master the concepts discussed in the video.
Outlines
šØ Developing Artistic Skills Efficiently
The speaker begins by expressing gratitude to subscribers and emphasizing the goal of enhancing foundational skills, or 'skill pillars,' for drawing and painting over a 10,000-hour period. The pillars are essential for all artists regardless of their specific field. Simplification, grouping, and efficiency are highlighted as key concepts for learning. The speaker clarifies that while there are skills unique to different art professions, the focus should be on broad, universally applicable skills. The Pareto Principle is introduced, suggesting that mastering a small percentage of core skills can lead to significant improvement. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of starting with fundamental skills before moving on to more specific ones.
š The Five Pillars of Artistic Skills
The speaker outlines five key skill pillars: Composition, Value, Colour, Form & Perspective, and Technical Ability with Tools. Each pillar is essential for different aspects of art, such as creating appealing arrangements, understanding light and dark, capturing realistic color, achieving 3D effects, and mastering various art tools. The speaker provides examples of how these skills apply across different art forms and suggests resources for learning each pillar. The importance of focusing on one pillar at a time while still developing all of them is emphasized, akin to training different muscle groups simultaneously.
š ļø Mastering Tools and Techniques
The final pillar discussed is Technical Ability with Tools, which encompasses the mastery of various art tools and materials. The speaker acknowledges that while some tools may be specific to certain artists, the ability to use any tool effectively is crucial. The speaker suggests that experimentation is the best way to improve with tools, and mentions a few resources for learning about specific tools like gouache. The speaker reiterates the importance of simplicity in understanding and practicing these skills, and hints at sharing a method for attacking these skill pillars in future videos. The session ends with a teaser for the next video, which will discuss setting goals and establishing a baseline for improvement.
Mindmap
Keywords
š”Skill Pillars
š”Simplification
š”Grouping
š”Efficiency
š”Pareto Principle
š”Composition
š”Value
š”Colour
š”Form & Perspective
š”Technical Ability with Tools
Highlights
Introduction to the concept of 'skill pillars' essential for drawing and painting.
Emphasis on the importance of simplification in learning art skills.
Explanation of grouping as a method to simplify and efficiently learn art skills.
Discussion on the efficiency of learning, aiming for the best return with the least effort.
Comparison of art skills to athletic abilities, highlighting the transferability of certain skills.
The necessity of understanding color fundamentals regardless of the medium used.
Differentiating between skills needed for traditional art and design.
The concept of focusing on common skills required by all artists.
Introduction of the Pareto Principle in the context of learning art.
The idea of mastering a core 20% of skills for 80% of outcomes in art.
Identification of the five skill pillars: Composition, Value, Color, Form & Perspective, and Technical Ability with Tools.
Description of the Composition pillar, including the rule of thirds and emotional viewpoint.
Explanation of the Value pillar and its importance in creating realistic and solid forms in art.
Discussion on the Color pillar, including color harmonies and psychological effects.
Details on the Form & Perspective pillar, focusing on creating believable 3D representations.
Emphasis on the Technical Ability with Tools pillar, including mastery of various art tools and media.
The importance of interrelated skills and the benefits of training multiple skills simultaneously.
The author's approach to establishing a baseline for skill improvement.
Anticipation of sharing personal work examples and discussing goal setting in future content.
Transcripts
Time for another video And a quick shout and bigĀ thank you out to those who have subscribed so far.Ā Ā
Itās great to have you here following along, andĀ nice to see other people who are passionate aboutĀ Ā
developing themselves efficiently to get betterĀ at drawing and painting. If youāre new here,Ā Ā
thatās what I am trying to do, across a 10,000Ā hour time frame, and today we are going to talkĀ Ā
about the skills we need to enhance withinĀ the 10k. I call these skills āpillarsā.
So what are skill pillars? These are theĀ fundamental skills required to be good atĀ Ā
drawing and painting. Note I say drawing andĀ painting, and not āto be an artistā or to ābeĀ Ā
a designer, or illustratorā, as much likeĀ in sport, there are certain skills in artĀ Ā
that help out some professions much more thanĀ others, and we arenāt so concerned with those.
Before you watch this video, I just wantĀ to preload your minds with some conceptsĀ Ā
that should help you understand myĀ approach to drawing and painting
The first is SIMPLIFICATION, I wantĀ as few things to study as possible.
The second is GROUPING, I want toĀ combine these few things we haveĀ Ā
to study into as small and compact a group ofĀ related items as possible, making it even simpler.
The third is EFFICIENCY, meaning I want toĀ find which things will give us the best return,Ā Ā
for the least effort. That ought to get usĀ to where we want to be as fast as possible.
As mentioned in my previous video,Ā Ā
the high level mastery of throwing a baseballĀ hard and fast only applies to those who playĀ Ā
baseball, but flexibility and hand eyeĀ coordination are needed for every sport.
In the same sense, you donāt need toĀ understand the ins and outs of oilĀ Ā
paint if you only ever wantĀ to work with watercolours,Ā Ā
but you will need to understand how colourĀ works, regardless of what you paint with.
Thatās what Iām talking about here, theĀ BROADEST skills that ALL artists need,Ā Ā
trimmed down to their simplest form.
The complexity of learning to draw andĀ paint is one of those annoying stumblingĀ Ā
blocks that you might experience asĀ a beginner. There is a lot to learn,Ā Ā
and the skills needed actually seem to depend onĀ what specific field of art you want to end up in.
For example, traditional artists likeĀ Monet or Richard Schmidt can captureĀ Ā
what is in front of them with anĀ astonishing degree of accuracy,Ā Ā
yet add their own flair to it. This seems likeĀ something we need to be able to do but WAIT!
If you want to be a ādesignerā, like ScottĀ Robertson or Syd Mead, then you can maybeĀ Ā
actually ignore being able to accurately captureĀ the thing in front of you, because you will haveĀ Ā
to be able to draw things that do not even existĀ yet! From your head! From your imagination.Ā
This is totally different to what those artistsĀ were just doingā¦ So which do we practise?
Whenever you find yourself in a situationĀ like this, you want to find the things thatĀ Ā
they ALL HAVE IN COMMON. What do they ALLĀ practice? Thatās what you want to focus on.
Now clearly, there are people who are really goodĀ at specific things, like those baseball players.Ā
You will need to be very good at just drawingĀ cars to become a car designer, but Iām goingĀ Ā
to ignore this fact FOR NOW, like ignoring theĀ baseball players, and focus on the much broaderĀ Ā
and useful skills, because the more specificĀ skills depend on the more general, simpler ones.
Those are the ones we want. LongĀ distance runners and sprinters,Ā Ā
BOTH learned to walk very well first!
Grouping.
Remember, we are keeping things simple, we wantĀ as few as possible, and we want to group them.
If we were trying to getĀ in shape, and build muscle,Ā Ā
we donāt care about the difference betweenĀ push ups, shoulder presses and squats. WeĀ Ā
can just call that āpushingā in general.Ā A simplified group of related tangible,Ā Ā
practicable movements that we can performĀ diligently, as we see ourselves get stronger.
The cool thing about grouping our simpleĀ skills is that they become interrelated.Ā Ā
That means when we train one, we actuallyĀ train others, much like muscle groups.
Sure, we pick one to emphasise, but in reality,Ā youāre training multiple skills up at once,Ā Ā
and I believe this is absolutely key to developingĀ at the fastest, most efficient pace possible.
When I came up with this training method, I triedĀ to consider something called the Pareto Principle,Ā Ā
or 80/20 rule. This is a principle coinedĀ by Italian polymath Vilfredo Pareto,Ā Ā
who noticed that 80% of peas he grew in hisĀ garden came from just 20% of his pea plants,Ā Ā
and this approximate ratio is seen all over theĀ place, both in nature, and in human activity.
For example, roughly 20% of words in a languageĀ can be used to say 80% of sentences you use inĀ Ā
everyday conversation. Master the most commonĀ 20% of Spanish words and grammar, and you willĀ Ā
be able to say 80% of things you want to say inĀ Spanish. It's been applied to gourmet cooking,Ā Ā
Brazilian jiu jitsu, even ballroomĀ dancing - and the results are pretty nuts.
Tim Ferriss uses the Pareto Principle inĀ learning new skills, where he states thatĀ Ā
you want to āfigure out and get good at theĀ core 20% of stuff that will allow you to doĀ Ā
80% of the activityā. We don't want to trainĀ fluffy marginally related painty drawy things.Ā Ā
We want the core, laser focused activities thatĀ will lead to fast and direct improvement. If weĀ Ā
learn the 20% of skill that makes us good atĀ drawing and painting, we should be able toĀ Ā
draw and paint 80% of things we want, evenĀ from our imaginations, with no reference!
We will get to that key 20% whenĀ we return to the pareto principleĀ Ā
another time to see how we can applyĀ it to our skill pillars, but for now,Ā Ā
i've tried to bear that in mind and frameĀ the skill pillars within that context.
The simplest, most efficientĀ grouping - our skill pillarsĀ
Iāve settled on the following 5 skillĀ pillars for the purposes of our studies.
Remember, when we work any drill,Ā we will work more than one pillar,Ā Ā
sometimes all of them, but we willĀ usually pick ONE to emphasise.
Letās start with the simplest:
Composition
It includes stuff like the rule of thirds, howĀ to convey emotion with our viewpoint, how to useĀ Ā
light and shadow shapes to guide the eye across aĀ canvas, and where to place a character in a scene.
Every drawer or painter must knowĀ at least a little about composition,Ā Ā
because they will be working within a space,Ā be it a canvas, a screen, or a post-it note,Ā Ā
and so they will have to understand how toĀ position the subject to make it appealing.
Storyboard artists use this pillar to convey aĀ specific emotion. A designer might choose to useĀ Ā
a 30-60 perspective grid instead of an 80-10 oneĀ to portray a sports car, because it provides theĀ Ā
best viewpoint to understand the design from.Ā A landscape artist will see the vista beforeĀ Ā
them as a collection of shapes and values, andĀ arrange those on the canvas in such a way as toĀ Ā
guide the eye through it. So this is somethingĀ that clearly we all need to be proficient in.
I have a few resources I like that I will be usingĀ for drilling this pillar, including Framed Ink byĀ Ā
Marcos Mateu- Mestre. I also like the landscapeĀ books by Mitchell Albala, which show how to thinkĀ Ā
about capturing a scene in front of you, so IĀ will be using these as a curriculum of sorts.
Next up, Value It allows us to make thingsĀ Ā
seem realistic and solid in space, and enablesĀ us to understand what light is and how it works,Ā Ā
which is vital, because that isĀ how we see the world around us.
I will say that again. Listen carefully! ValueĀ is essential because it is how we see the world,Ā Ā
and how our brain interprets informationĀ visually. Despite us being able to drawĀ Ā
objects with outlines, in reality, no outlinesĀ exist, just changes in light and dark, changesĀ Ā
in value. Even colours are all represented asĀ values, which becomes apparent if you desaturateĀ Ā
a photo to view it in black and white. By understanding value, a painter canĀ Ā
describe form, which we will cover in a bit,Ā and make an object seem real. UnderstandingĀ Ā
this gives us a great deal of control inĀ how our viewers understand our subjects.Ā
A portrait artist can push someĀ parts of the subject back into space,Ā Ā
and emphasise others by pushing or pulling theĀ values. A skilled pencil artist can use graphiteĀ Ā
to make light and dark shapes, in 2d, thatĀ pop forms out at us in 3d. They can trick ourĀ Ā
brains into thinking this imageĀ is jumping out of the page!
My favourite book on the subject of values,Ā is How To Render by Scott Robertson,Ā Ā
so I will be working from that to drill this,Ā and to try and internalise what it teaches,Ā Ā
but the Mitchell Albala landscapeĀ books also have some really good stuff.
Letās take this up a notch:
Colour
Getting a little harder now. ThisĀ includes the infinite amount ofĀ Ā
colours we could deploy in a painting,Ā but also things like colour harmonies,Ā Ā
more on light, as well as things likeĀ human psychology and cultural awareness.
This is the thing that most beginnersĀ screw up on, myself included,Ā Ā
and itās because we have to understandĀ value before we can really appreciateĀ Ā
what colour actually is. This is somethingĀ I really want to work on during the 10k,Ā Ā
but before I jump into it, I want to spend aĀ lot of time just getting good at values first.
Colours can be as simple as branding choices,Ā Ā
and as complex as manipulating humanĀ emotion and psychology. CinematographersĀ Ā
and colour key artists, for example,Ā use it to make us feel a certain way.
Itās also very subjective. If we get 3 landscapeĀ painters to all paint the same scene, their colourĀ Ā
choices will be varied, and this is becauseĀ different people see colours very differently,Ā Ā
and what they choose to emphasiseĀ when using colour in their work.Ā
The colour harmonies and schemes you may haveĀ seen before, are systems that we can use asĀ Ā
shortcuts to make our work appealing andĀ pleasing to the human brain, and representĀ Ā
an easier to manage method of learning how toĀ manipulate colour, so we will be drilling those.
The best resource I have found for learningĀ this is Colour and Light by James Gurney,Ā Ā
but I also have a book with the same nameĀ published by 3D Total which is very good.
Okayā¦ the big one,
Form & Perspective
This actually overlaps with valueĀ technically once we start painting,Ā Ā
but we are thinking simply, and so reallyĀ we are talking about whether we can makeĀ Ā
something look believable andĀ 3D, using lines. Thatās it.
Technically, it also includes the study ofĀ anatomy, and developing a visual library.Ā Ā
We might also want to include thingsĀ like rhythm, gesture, etc. But remember,Ā Ā
those are more specific. Think simplyĀ - make it believable, make it 3D.
This pillar is the ability for aĀ sketch artist to make a scene feelĀ Ā
deep and three dimensional with no value,Ā and no colour. When Kim Jung Gi draws aĀ Ā
cool picture with a ballpoint pen, thisĀ pillar is like 90% of how he does it.
Remember our grouping? How everythingĀ is interrelated? Well no matter if youĀ Ā
are working your composition, value, or colour,Ā Ā
youāre ALWAYS working form. ItāsĀ super important. But thatās okay,Ā Ā
because every drill we do, we will be workingĀ this pillar, so we WILL get very very good at it.
The best book I have found on form is How ToĀ Draw by Scott Robertson, so I will be workingĀ Ā
from that, and I have a few others like FramedĀ Perspective by Mateu- Mestre, and there areĀ Ā
some classics by people like Francis Ching, butĀ honestly, most books on this subject just sayĀ Ā
the same information in slightly differentĀ ways. I have some other books on learningĀ Ā
things like anatomy that will fall under thisĀ pillar, but donāt worry about those for now.
Still with me so far? We have one more pillar,Ā and this one is slightly separate from the others,Ā Ā
but once again, WE WILL ALWAYS BE WORKINGĀ IT no matter what we choose to drill.
Technical Ability with Tools
The final pillar is another very broad pillar,Ā and contradicting slightly what I said before,Ā Ā
some of what is inside this pillar mightĀ NOT be relevant to you. It includes allĀ Ā
the possible ways we could make art - all theĀ tools. If you are an oil painter, then I wantĀ Ā
you to think of this pillar as allĀ of your oil paint, brushes, canvas,Ā Ā
or maybe art boards. You might want to try yourĀ hand at oil, water colour, digital painting,Ā Ā
and also be good at marker rendering like sydĀ mead, then this pillar represents those tools.
But the fact is, whatever tools you use, you willĀ need to get good at drawing with that brush pen,Ā Ā
or painting with that gouache set,Ā and every time you change the surface,Ā Ā
or the brand of paint, or the brush, or evenĀ the environment you paint in, you will have newĀ Ā
variables to contend with and to learn from. This mastery of this, we will treat asĀ Ā
separate to mastery of any of the otherĀ pillars. Getting good with your tools.
I donāt have many books on this, although thereĀ are some rated very highly like the Oil PaintersĀ Ā
Bible by Marilyn Scott. I feel the best wayĀ to get better is to just freely experiment,Ā Ā
but I have read Rediscovering GouacheĀ by Blau, and would recommend it,Ā Ā
and the Scott Robertson books emphasise the needĀ to find good combos of paper and mark making tool,Ā Ā
and make some suggestions that we will tryĀ out. You could also include competent useĀ Ā
of any softwares in here, like knowing how toĀ make Photoshop or Procreate do the things youĀ Ā
want it to do, the shortcuts, how to makeĀ brushes, how to use adjustment layers, etc.
And thatās about it. Remember the most importantĀ thing is that you think as simply as possible.Ā Ā
Forget anatomy and perspective, just callĀ it āformā. Forget about the zorn paletteĀ Ā
and triadic colour schemes, justĀ think ācolourā, at least for now.
To recapā¦ We have just thought about,Ā Ā
in very simple terms, what painting andĀ drawing actually are, regardless of ifĀ Ā
you are a comic book artist or a car designer. In order for us to progress as fast as possible,Ā Ā
within 10,000 hours, we need toĀ master those 5 pillars in combination.
We will do that through 2 thingsĀ - understanding, and drilling.
I'll share my method for attackingĀ this soon, but before that,Ā Ā
in order for this experiment to work andĀ be valid, we need to establish a baselineā¦
So join me next time, where IāllĀ share some previous work examples,Ā Ā
and discuss a little more about goal setting.
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