After a few years of pen and ink work I started exploring aquarelle colours. Then for my last birthday I got an oil painting starter set from my mother.
It’s not easy to start a new creative activity from scratch and it’s totally normal to search for help on the web. Therefore, I decided to put together my collection of drawing tutorials in one blog post. Everybody needs inspiration and advice when exploring a new medium or technique. You can learn best from those who have their focus exactly on the specific topic you want to practice while watching the tutorials. Therefore, I have a go-to-channel for every medium and special technique. Today, I want to share my collection with you with a special focus on figure drawing and portraits. The most important thing is that you find a channel which suits your preferred way of practicing best. If you are interested in which materials I use, check out my blog post about materials.
Alphonso Dunn is the perfect go-to for beginners. He helped me motivating myself to draw everyday and practice different aspects of ink drawing. On Youtube he offers different videos concerning practicing ink art: from basic shading techniques to anatomy and nature motifs. Additionally, there is a section where he combines ink art with an aquarelle finish. For those who love to have something in their hands, he also published a book accompanied by a workbook. Both are very helpful for starting with pen and ink art, especially when you don‘t know where to start like I did.
Stan Prokopenko offers tutorials in the categories anatomy, figure and portrait drawing on Youtube. He explains very well and points out on what you need to take care of. It’s also perfect for experimenting with charcoal pencils. On his website he also sells course packages with extended video material for explanations and practice assignments, but that was not the right learning model for me. However, there is also the possibility to buy a package with photos of a preferred model in all kinds of poses. This is very helpful if you want to practice figure drawing for yourself or need poses for your art projects. There is really for every idea the right pose in this package and it is very affordable. 631 photos cost about 16 dollars. I‘ve never regretted buying it.
Love Life Drawing is also a Youtube channel for figure and portrait drawing. Additionally, they offer videos concerning finding time to practice and how to overcome self-doubt. All their videos have a very good structure to learn the process of drawing from the very beginning with step-by-step videos. On their website there are also free tutorials available for specific topics.
Chommang shows you not only how you feel free during drawing, but also how to draw freely without pre-sketch. He further emphasises techniques how to overcome pressure while drawing. Moreover, he explains all kinds of drawing motifs step-by-step, for example figures and portraits with different expressions. Additionally, he offers courses on an online platform, especially for beginners.
Angel Ganev is famous for his digital portraits with this special glow effect. I can really recommend his channel if you want to learn how to draw portraits digitally. In his Youtube tutorials he shows step-by-step how to create portraits with a unique glow finish. In my latest drawings I used his technique to give my hand-drawn ink drawings a digital glow finish.
Jazza is an Australian animator and artist who offers tutorials in a very funny way. He shows his viewers the world of paintings, drawings and animation. There are also speedpainting sessions on his channel. Further, he often posts challenges which are very funny to watch.
Today I want to introduce you to my favourite materials. From the sketch to the finished drawing I will show you which one of my pens I choose and why. At the end, there will be a short part about digital drawing and the pros and cons about Procreate and the Apple Pencil 2.
Paper
For figure drawing I prefer having a hard cover A4 sketchbook with big spirals. For white drawings I use high-quality acid-free paper, mostly the smooth heavyweight paper of Daler-Rowner (220 gsm). It is durable and has a very professional look in case you want to sell your originals at some point later in your life. My favourite one is grey toned paper because of the possibility to have special white highlights. I use The Grey Book of Hahnemühle (120gsm) in light grey.
Sketch
For my sketches I use the Pentel GraphGear 1000 which is the silver pencil on the picture. I tried a few others before, but none of those were that durable and comfortably sitting in the hand. I prefer the 0.5mm lead size, but the pencil is available in lots of other sizes. The Pentel pencil is made out of brushed steel which lets it appear valuably. A great advantage is that the metal lead sleeve retracts completely to protect lead and sleeve, you only have to press down the pocket clip.
Ink Work
For inking I use pens from Pigma Micron by Sakura. I prefer the 005 size for details and lighter shading. When it comes to darker shading and outlines I use the 01 size. Micron pens have a very smooth ink flow and even the thinnest ones have very durable nibs when you aren’t stippling that often. Pigma Micron has accompanied me on my art journey ever since the first day.
White Highlights on grey paper
For the highlights in my grey artworks I use the Gelly Roll White pens of Sakura. In the 1980s Sakura was the first brand producing a gel-based ink and invented the gel pen. The Gelly Roll pens have a brilliant white and a very smooth ink flow like all Sakura pens. I normally prefer the 08 medium size for most of my drawings. I can strongly recommend trying out toned paper combined with those white Gelly Roll pens. You can see it in more detail in the picture shown when you click it.
Why Procreate?
With Procreate you can do everything you can do with Photoshop. The first fundamental difference is the price. Procreate costs only $9.99 (10.99€) and you own it a lifetime. You can download additional brushes from creators on the internet, often for free. With Procreate it is easy to color your drawings or give them a special digital finish.
Why Apple Pencil 2?
At first I was not convinced that it is worth the price of 124€ (current online price). After one year of use I totally am. The pencil has a very good pressure sensitivity and the angle is also recognised. Although, the iPad is covered with a paper like screen protector, the tip of the pencil is still perfectly fine after one year.
How to get the best out of the digital drawing experience on iPad Pro
I can really recommend using a special glove for tablet drawing to make sliding easier by reducing friction. As mentioned before, I use a paper like screen protector on the iPad Pro. This was one of the best decisions, because it feels far more like actual drawing with it.
I hope that some insights can be useful for you!
Thanks for reading and greetings from Vienna!
Max
