LEARNING ART FROM THE GOD OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Summary

The video script details a personal journey of an artist who has been drawing for four years and has recently taken art more seriously. The artist shares their experience learning from Mugen's class on the online learning platform, Colossal, focusing on the fundamentals of anatomy and illustration. The script outlines the importance of understanding space, perspective, shapes in the human body, and light and shadow in creating compelling illustrations. It emphasizes the need for a clear vision and calculated steps in the drawing process, rather than relying on luck. The artist also discusses the commercial aspect of art, the significance of targeting a specific demographic, and the benefits of consistency in style. The script concludes with the artist applying their newfound knowledge to create an original illustration, highlighting the importance of planning, composition, character design, and the layering system for efficient editing.

Takeaways

• 🎨 **Art Journey**: The speaker has been drawing for almost four years and has started taking art more seriously by learning the fundamentals of anatomy without relying on books or art classes due to financial constraints.
• 📚 **Learning Resources**: YouTube has been the primary source for improving art skills, but professional art lessons could have accelerated the learning process.
• 🌟 **Closer Platform**: Closer is an online learning platform that provides industry insights and classes led by top experts in the creative field, aiming to empower learners.
• 👤 **Mugen's Influence**: Mugen, an artist with over a million followers on Twitter, is known for his 100-day drawing challenge and his unique blend of anime style and realistic fundamentals.
• 🤔 **Thoughtful Drawing**: Mugen's method involves careful planning and consideration before drawing, using a checklist to plan the illustration's purpose, theme, subject, materials, textures, and lighting.
• 📈 **Analytical Approach**: The speaker realized that Mugen's drawing process is analytical and calculated, with clear steps for every part of the drawing, ensuring each artwork is on the right path.
• 🏗️ **Fundamentals of Art**: The script emphasizes the importance of understanding space, perspective, shapes in the human body, and light and shadow as the building blocks of illustrations.
• 📐 **Perspective Techniques**: Linear perspective is a common technique that uses vanishing points and converging lines to create depth and distance in compositions.
• 🧍 **Human Anatomy in Art**: Accurate drawing of the human body involves mastering proportions, mechanization (using geometric shapes to simplify the body), and details, including understanding landmarks and bone structures.
• 💡 **Light and Shadow**: Light behaves in predictable ways, bouncing and reflecting off surfaces, and understanding these behaviors is crucial for adding realism to artwork.
• 📈 **Commercial Art Strategy**: For building a brand and gaining followers, it's important to create art that appeals to a specific demographic and to be consistent in style or subject matter.
• 📋 **Planning and Organization**: Planning the illustration before starting, organizing layers, and being patient throughout the process are key to successful and efficient art creation.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The video focuses on the creator's experience learning from Mugen's class on Colossal, an online learning platform, and applying the knowledge gained to create an original illustration.

What is the significance of learning the fundamentals of art?

Learning the fundamentals of art is crucial as it provides a solid foundation for effective communication of ideas through art. It's compared to grammar in a language, without which communication can be unclear.

How does the creator describe Mugen's approach to drawing?

The creator describes Mugen's approach as analytical and calculated. Mugen plans every step of the process before drawing, including the purpose of the illustration, theme, subject, materials, textures, and lighting.

What are the four main lessons the creator divided the lecture into?

The four main lessons are: 1) Drawing for Others, 2) Space and Perspective, 3) Shapes in the Human Body, and 4) Light and Shadow.

Why is commercial art important for an artist's career?

Commercial art is important for building a brand, gaining followers, and increasing visibility. It involves creating artwork that appeals to a specific demographic and capitalizing on popular trends.

How does the creator suggest improving one's skill in drawing?

The creator suggests improving one's skill by practicing fundamentals, such as space, perspective, shapes, and form. They also recommend being consistent in style or subject matter and learning from professionals through platforms like Colossal.

What is the concept of 'landmarks' in the context of drawing the human body?

Landmarks refer to the key parts of the body that hold it together, such as joints. They are important for understanding the structure of the body and how it moves, which aids in accurately drawing the human form.

How does the creator plan to apply the knowledge from the class to their own illustration?

The creator plans to apply the knowledge by first setting up a master plan, organizing layers for easy editing, and then proceeding with the composition, character pose and proportions, line art, base colors, textures, and finally, shadows and rendering.

What is the role of perspective in art?

Perspective is essential in art as it helps create the illusion of depth and distance. It is a fundamental concept that allows artists to accurately visualize and draw objects in three-dimensional space.

How does the creator summarize the importance of light and shadow in art?

The creator emphasizes that light and shadow are critical for adding realism and depth to artwork. Understanding how light interacts with different materials and surfaces is key to creating more convincing and engaging illustrations.

What advice does the creator give for those who are not naturally talented artists?

The creator advises that hard work can compensate for a lack of natural talent. They also suggest not to compete with prodigies but to use comparison as a motivation for self-improvement, and to be patient and consistent in practice.

What is the significance of the 100 Day 100 Drawing Challenge that Mugen completed?

The 100 Day 100 Drawing Challenge signifies Mugen's dedication, discipline, and skill as an artist. It demonstrates the ability to produce high-quality illustrations consistently and showcases a diverse portfolio of work.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Art Learning Journey and Closer Platform Introduction

The speaker discusses their personal journey in learning art, emphasizing the importance of taking art seriously and learning anatomy. They mention their reliance on YouTube for self-improvement and the impact of professional guidance through Closer, an online learning platform. Closer is presented as a resource that offers industry insights and classes led by top experts, aiming to empower learners. The speaker highlights the sponsorship of Closer in the video and introduces Mugen, a well-known artist with a significant online following, known for completing the 100-day drawing challenge. The summary also touches on the speaker's realization of the importance of planning and analytical thinking in the drawing process.

05:01

📈 Building an Art Brand and Fundamentals of Drawing

The speaker delves into the strategies for building an art brand, emphasizing the need for consistency and targeting a specific demographic. They discuss the use of fan art to gain attention and the importance of having a solid foundation in art fundamentals. Fundamentals are compared to grammar in language, and the necessity of understanding them for effective communication through art is stressed. The fundamentals include space, perspective, shapes, and forms, light, and shadow. The speaker explains the concept of linear perspective using vanishing points and perspective lines to create depth. They also mention the importance of practicing different types of perspective to improve spatial understanding.

10:03

🤸‍♀️ Mastering Anatomy and Human Proportions

The speaker provides an overview of the key aspects of human anatomy necessary for accurate drawing, including proportions, mechanization, and details. They discuss the use of ratios for consistent measurements and the division of the human body into simple shapes for better understanding and accuracy. The concept of landmarks is introduced as a way to remember and connect the important parts of the body. The lecture also covers the importance of understanding bone structure and how it influences movement and appearance. The speaker briefly touches on Mugen's in-depth lecture on light and shadow, emphasizing the need to understand how light interacts with different materials for a more realistic portrayal in art.

15:04

🖌️ Illustration Creation and Application of Learned Concepts

The speaker describes the process of creating an illustration by applying the learned concepts. They start with planning the illustration, organizing layers for easy editing, and creating a composition using a 3D model as a reference. The character's pose and proportions are then determined, followed by the creation of line art. The speaker admits to struggling with line art but manages to create a base layer for the character. They proceed to add base colors, textures, and shadows, considering a basic light source for rendering. The final illustration is presented, and the speaker acknowledges that they did not fully utilize Mugen's layering system and plans to be more consistent and patient in future work. The video concludes with thanks to Closer for sponsoring and an invitation for viewers to learn more through the provided courses.

Keywords

💡Mugen

Mugen is an artist with over a million followers on Twitter and is known for completing the 100 Day 100 Drawing Challenge twice with high-quality illustrations. In the video, the artist serves as a source of inspiration and a guide for the creator's learning process. Mugen's approach to art emphasizes planning, patience, and careful calculations, which is central to the video's theme of learning and applying art fundamentals.

💡Colossal

Colossal is mentioned as the sponsor of the video and is an online learning platform that offers classes led by top experts in the creative field. It provides exclusive access to diverse classes in illustration, media design, and more, aiming to empower learners. The platform is integral to the video as it is the source of the art lessons that the creator is applying in their illustration.

💡Fundamentals

Fundamentals in art refer to the basic principles and techniques that form the foundation of creating visual art. In the video, the creator emphasizes the importance of understanding art fundamentals before attempting to build an audience or brand through art. The fundamentals discussed include space, perspective, shapes in the human body, and light and shadow, which are all crucial for creating realistic and compelling illustrations.

💡Space and Perspective

Space and perspective are key elements in creating the illusion of depth and three-dimensionality in two-dimensional art. The video explains that space is the plane where objects exist, and perspective helps navigate through that space. Techniques such as one-point, two-point, and three-point perspective are discussed, with the creator using these concepts to visualize and draw objects accurately in their illustration.

💡Shapes in the Human Body

This concept involves using basic geometric shapes to simplify and understand the structure of the human body. In the video, the creator discusses the importance of starting with simple shapes like a cube or a cylinder to establish proportions and structure before adding details. This approach helps in accurately drawing the human form from various angles.

💡Light and Shadow

Light and shadow are essential in giving artwork a sense of depth, form, and realism. The video touches on the basic principles of how light falls on an object and casts shadows, and how understanding these principles can enhance the quality of an illustration. The creator notes that light interacts differently with various materials and surfaces, affecting the final appearance of the artwork.

💡Anatomy

Anatomy in the context of art refers to the study and depiction of the human body's structure. The video emphasizes the importance of mastering proportions, mechanization (the breakdown of the body into simplified shapes), and details when drawing the human body. Understanding anatomy allows artists to accurately and convincingly portray the human form in their work.

💡Commercial Art

Commercial art is a genre that focuses on creating artwork for selling or for gaining an audience, often with an emphasis on appealing to popular tastes. In the video, the creator discusses the importance of commercial art in building a brand and gaining followers. It involves creating content that resonates with a specific demographic or capitalizes on mainstream interests.

💡Consistency

Consistency in art refers to maintaining a regular schedule or style that audiences can expect and follow. The video mentions that consistency is a significant factor in gaining engagement from an audience. It suggests that artists should find a niche or style they can consistently produce to build a loyal following.

💡Fan Art

Fan art is artwork created by fans that is based on existing characters, stories, or media. The video discusses how drawing fan art can be an easier way to gain attention because the characters are already familiar to the audience. It also allows artists to practice their skills without the pressure of creating original characters from scratch.

💡Illustration

An illustration is a type of artwork that decorates, explains, or accompanies a story, concept, or text. In the video, the creator is focused on creating their own illustration as a way to apply the lessons learned from Colossal's classes. The process of creating an illustration is broken down into planning, composition, character design, line art, coloring, and rendering, which are all showcased in the video.

Highlights

The video demonstrates the application of skills learned from Mugen's class by creating an illustration.

The speaker has been drawing for almost four years and has recently started taking art more seriously by learning anatomy fundamentals.

YouTube is mentioned as the primary source for self-improvement in art skills due to financial constraints.

Closer is introduced as an online learning platform offering industry insights and classes led by top experts in the creative field.

Mugen, an artist with over a million followers on Twitter, is highlighted for his 100-day drawing challenge and unique art style.

Mugen's drawing method involves a thorough planning process before the actual drawing begins.

The importance of patience and careful calculations in the drawing process is emphasized, rather than relying on luck.

The video outlines a structured approach to drawing, dividing the lecture into four main lessons: drawing for others, space and perspective, shapes in the human body, and light and shadow.

Commercial art and building a brand for one's art are discussed, with a focus on targeting a specific demographic.

Consistency in art style and subject matter is highlighted as a key factor in gaining audience engagement.

Fundamentals of art, such as space, perspective, shapes, and forms, are deemed essential for effective communication through art.

Linear perspective and its components, including the horizon line, vanishing point, and perspective lines, are explained.

The concept of using shapes to simplify complex objects and visualize space is introduced as a foundational drawing technique.

Anatomy lessons focus on proportions, mechanization, and details, with an emphasis on understanding the human body's structure.

Landmarks, or key parts of the body that hold it together, are identified as crucial for accurate human body drawing.

Light and shadow are explored in depth, with an explanation of how light interacts with objects and surfaces.

The final illustration combines all learned elements, showcasing the planning, composition, character design, line art, coloring, and rendering process.

The video concludes with a recommendation to check out Closer's courses for a more in-depth understanding of the topics covered.

Transcripts

in this video I'll be showing what I've

learned in mugen's class from koloso and

try to apply everything I've learned by

making my own illustration at the end of

the video

okay I've been drawing for almost four

years but recently I started taking art

more seriously and I've been learning

the fundamentals in anatomy since last

year and I didn't really rely on any

books or art classes to learn because

I'm broke so I knew I had to work harder

than everyone else if I want to get good

I mainly relied on YouTube to improve my

art skills and it's safe to say that I

did learn a lot but it could have been a

lot better if I had professional art

lessons that could have guided me to

improve my skills faster this is where

closer comes in and also the sponsor of

this video

so what is close up closer is an online

learning platform that offers industry

insights to classes led by top experts

in the creative field with the mission

to empower Learners closer provides

exclusive access to diverse classes in

illustration media design creative and

more led by passionate mentors these

experts share the invaluable wisdom

techniques and Real World experience to

help students Excel unlucky created

potential and refine your skills with

colossal

this is mugen you're probably already

familiar with this artist I mean he has

over a million followers on Twitter but

if you didn't know he pulled out the 100

day 100 drawing challenge not once but

twice with perfect illustrations one

after another

if you ask me what my ideal art style is

this is probably the first artist that

comes to mind having a perfect balance

of anime style and realistic

fundamentals his art illustrates

satisfying characters that embody

precise lighting perspective and Anatomy

with his skills and experience his art

is very flexible and unique you can find

an artwork that feels the same each

illustration feels different from

another even though they all basically

have the same Anatomy blueprint

so how does she do it luckily closer

reached out and offered a collaboration

so I get the opportunity to find out

what kind of processes you have so

here's my first impressions

mugen's method of drawing was very

different from mine to the point that I

asked myself have I been drawing wrong

this whole time

from Mugen he doesn't just draw he also

thinks for me I'm very dumb so I just

draw

and you guys remember that one scene

from Star Wars that goes

that scene kind of stuck with me when I

started drawing later on and I developed

the mindset of training my drawing

skills until it became a natural

instinct that single moment has shifted

my perception of doing something

kind of cringe but it works

but after seeing how Mugen draws I guess

it's not just about drawing for Mugen he

plants every step of the process

before he draws he thinks of everything

first he has like this checklist where

he plans the purpose of the illustration

like what's going to be the theme or the

subject what are the things that gonna

be included the materials textures

lighting and other stuff it's literally

rocket science

I've also noticed that moving isn't

really special or anything

don't get me wrong he's highly skilled

and talented but I was kind of expecting

some sort of technique that makes it

easier to draw instead I discovered that

it was all about patience and careful

calculations

he said that we shouldn't rely on luck

we must have a clear vision of what

we're gonna do we also have to be

capable to do that or have the joint

skills necessary to pull it off

his way of drawing is more analytical

and calculated even when drawing simple

stuff like a box or something more

complex like perspective there are

always steps on how to draw properly

that's when I realize he doesn't rely on

chances he has calculated steps that

ensures that every artwork is on the

right path

anyway we should really get started by

the way this is not a summary of the

whole course so I might miss some

important details I also didn't finish

the whole course because there's just so

much that you can learn so I decided to

cover most of the drawing parts that

might help you in creating your own

illustrations

now I'll also be making my own concept

based on my understanding of the lecture

to make it more interesting and not just

copy paste so some stuff might be

inaccurate so I do apologize

okay the class consists of many lessons

and sections but I've divided entire

lecture into four lessons we have the

first lesson drawing for others where we

set up our drawings for Success plan

stuff before the actual drawing the rest

of the lesson would be all about the

fundamentals you have lesson 2 space and

perspective lesson three shapes in the

human body and lastly we have light and

Shadow for Lesson Four

these are the necessary components that

make up the illustrations knowing what

to draw and how to draw is basically the

whole purpose of this video let's start

with lesson one

the beginning of the lecture Logan

explains a commercial art which is all

about selling her artwork and getting

some audience for your illustrations

this is important if you want to build a

brand for your art and gain lots of

followers or basically internet clout

and the key is showing what others like

of course you can satisfy everyone so

choose a certain demographic like anime

TV shows movies and other mainstream

stuff most successful artists capitalize

on this idea so most of you guys are

probably aware of this strategy already

this wasn't mentioned in the lecture but

consistency is also a great factor in

getting engagements people are drawn to

consistency whether it's an art style or

the thing you can mostly draw and known

for a snake anime for example you can

never run out of Inspirations to draw

from with new anime being released every

season and new episodes every day it has

a very large community so it's probably

going to be around for a while

if you follow me on my socials you would

know that I abuse the hell out of the

strategy but I'm very inconsistent I

prefer improving my art first because I

really suck at drawing

anyway drawing fan arts is much more

easier than doing original characters

fan arts gain more attraction because

people are already familiar with the

character and you don't have to worry

about the character reference because

there are tons of them on the Internet

of course you can always make originals

but it takes a lot of work designing and

writing interesting characters but I

know some of you guys can pull it off

easily

now obviously this would all be

ineffective in the first place if you

don't have the proper skill to visualize

your ideas

which leads us to the next lesson which

is fundamentals

I know you heard this one before but

this is really important to know before

you initiate your internet Cloud

strategy

if art is a language then fundamentals

would be the grammar programmer means

poor communication so you need to have a

solid grass of fundamentals or at least

decent enough to communicate properly

and draw things that people would

understand easily

no matter how much idea you have if you

don't understand basic fundamentals

those ideas would stay in your head

forever here's a quick explanation of

the fundamentals that we will be

studying first we have space the plane

of existence where stuff can exist

and then we have shapes and form which

is the stuff that can exist or our

subject

now we have light and since we have

light we also have Darkness

light defines how things can be

perceived

really important element in art well all

of these are

so the first key fundamental would be

space

is the most basic and essential

fundamental in the world without space

nothing can exist

and perspective would help us navigate

through space

Logan said perspective is an illusion

it's a natural phenomenon and it's not

an artificial concept an accurate

outcome exists

now since space is empty we're going to

be using a cube to visualize and

illustrate space

there are different types of perspective

in art but the most common is linear

perspective linear perspective relies on

the concept of a vanishing point which

is a point on the horizon line where

parallel lines approach to converge this

technique mimics how parallel lines in

the real world appear to converge as

they receive the distance like using

converging lines and Vanishing points

you can create the impression of depth

and distance in your compositions

there are three main components of a

linear perspective we have the horizon

line This represents a viewer's eye

level and serves as a reference point

for a placement of objects and the

convergence of lines next one we have is

the vanishing point these are points on

the rising line where parallel lines

approach converge artists typically use

one two or three Vanishing points

depending on the complexity of the

composition

lastly we have the perspective lines

also known as The Vanishing lines these

are diagonal lines that recede from the

viewer towards the vanishing point they

help Define the spatial relationships

and proportions of objects in the

composition

here are examples of how you use

perspective

this is one by perspective this is two

point perspective now this is

three-point perspective

you might notice that the more points

you have the more the cube gets

distorted

if you want to get good at drawing you

must have a good sense of space and

perspective is the best way to learn it

don't worry you don't have to master

every perspective point you just have to

be familiar with it to the point where

you can visualize objects accurately in

perspective you can improve this by

doing things in perspective like a cube

or something more complex like Anatomy

start with one point in practice until

you can draw in three point perspective

three-point perspective is going to be

the middle ground and it's going to be

the most useful in illustrations the

more you join perspective the more you

can improve your sense of space

this takes a lot of studying and

practice so take your time and also

perspective requires a lot of patience

moving thought this differently in

lecture by the way he involves our

Iceberg which is kind of confusing to me

but this is basically the idea of

perspective

you can also break down some real life

photos and figure out their perspective

points this will help you get used to

drawing real life environment and get

familiar on how they are supposed to

look like

moving on to lesson three shapes in the

human body

shapes can be used in various ways you

can use it to visualize space draw

imaginary cubes around your object you

can also use it to simplify complex

objects so you don't get overwhelmed

with informations in drawing you always

start with a basic shape and then add

the details as you go and as we know

that's basically the general way of

drawing well except for prodigies that

understand space better than everyone

else

they can skip the shapes part and just

draw flawlessly without any guidelines

but if you're like me that's not a

prodigy we'll stick to using shapes also

Mugen said we shouldn't compete with

those prodigies comparison is a thief of

joy as they say but I think it's good as

long as it motivates you to get better

at them

now let's move on to Anatomy

so movement made a long lecture about

anatomy and it took hours so I'm just

going to share My overall impression so

in essence there are things that you

need to master to accurately draw the

human body

we have proportions human mechanization

and details

so first up is proportions let's start

with the measurement using flat shapes

to get a consistent measurement we're

going to use ratios keep in mind that

the male and female portions are

different for now we're going to be

focusing on the female version

it's not really necessary to measure

them every time we draw just make sure

that they're decently close to this

ratio

next is human magnetization human body

can be divided into four parts the head

rib cage and then the hands and feet

this is the concept of drawing the human

body using simple shapes drawing with

geometrical shape is important not only

it simplifies the process but it also

makes it more accurate

We Draw Something try to think of it as

basic shapes this can help you

understand the structure and allow you

to draw them in different angles

join with geometric shapes helps you

with proportions and make your drawings

less flat and awkward of course we're

not just setting up blocks of shapes

it's also important to set up a

reference which leads us to the next

lesson details

will engrave an overview for the whole

body and demonstrated how he illustrates

them but it's going to take a while if I

explain all of it luckily Mugen has a

concept called landmarks these are the

parts of the body that holds it together

like your joints this will help you

remember all the important parts that

connects the body you have to be

familiar with the structure of the bones

you don't have to memorize the name like

a doctor you just have to know where

they are and how they work because they

really influence how the body moves and

how they naturally look so what are the

landmarks for the upper part we have the

color bones which is connected to the

rib cage using an egg shape to simplify

the bone structure the color bone is

also connected to the shoulder bones

that is connected to the elbows and

wrists

going to the lower part we have the hip

joint area knees legs and other joint

parts

now for the last lesson which is light

and Shadow

mugen's light lesson was the most

complicated and complex and is supposed

to be light in color consisting of

theories actual math and science stuff

well I'm really bad at those subject so

we'll just improvise and explain how

basic light works

so here's an example as we know light

works like this here we have an object

that is being exposed to light

this is what it should look like the

light hits the object and should cast a

shadow

even though this is technically how

light works it doesn't have a sense of

realism and it looks plain and boring

which is why it is important that we

actually know how light works

you see light doesn't just shine on

something and then disappear light

bounces and it reflects but it doesn't

just bounces forever it can be absorbed

so taking that into consideration will

have a painting like this light reacts

to different materials and it doesn't

exactly look like this every time

it varies depending on the surface color

and texture which Mugen explained in the

lecture so this is just the basic idea

of how light works moving goes on to

Great Lengths explaining theories about

light and how to use it effectively for

your artworks so I highly recommend

checking them out for yourselves

and that's it for the fundamentals now

we're going to create an illustration

and apply all the stuff that we learned

alright first thing that we need to do

is plan out the illustration so here I

made my own master plan which helps me

paint the picture in my head

yeah I don't have any ideas

but uh

let's see how this goes okay well my

planning phase isn't exactly fleshed out

like muggins I think this is good enough

for my small brain

said to organize and separate the layers

so that you can edit them easily if you

made a mistake it is also one of the

reasons why he works so fast everything

is organized and labeled but I was

rushing this video so I didn't have any

time to try that layering system

okay so let's start with the composition

I got the 3D model online and got this

rough sketch and looks very good but I

decided to redraw it to a more simple

perspective in post so it would feel

more original

next is showing the character and

figuring out the pose and proportions

after having a decent sketch we're going

to move on with the line art

surprisingly mugen's line art isn't

super clean and perfect but it took me a

while because I was struggling to make

decent line art then I created a base

layer for the character separating it

from the background

I created clip and mouse from that layer

to add the base colors then I added some

random brush Strokes over the top to add

some random textures

moving on with the Shadows I decided to

go with the basic light source and from

there it's all about the rendering

details and filters after a number of

hours we finally have this

like I said before I speed ran the

lectures so I probably missed a lot and

I also didn't properly use mugen's

layering system

I'll definitely try to be more

consistent and patient with my workflow

but this drawing was not that bad I was

expecting a lot worse

and that's it thanks again to Colosso

for sponsoring this video go check out

their amazing courses Link in the

description

hope you learned something and I'll see

you in the next one peace