Eat the Art Skills

Drawing skills are something I talk a lot about in my videos; no surprise there, I kinda started my whole channel around that sorta topic. And while I’ve figured out a lot of the motivations around art and how to keep yourself going, one thing I’ve actually kind of struggled with giving advice on is the overall big picture of learning to draw. The syllabus, the atlas, the treasure map, so to speak. Where are you going, and how do you get there?

If you’re already practicing something specific within art, you can usually identify something to try next, because you’ll have an idea of parts you feel weak on. Or if you’re just getting started, I’ve got recommendations for that in terms of courses and what to try. Oh, right! Hey! My name’s Kanjon and you’re watching my art series called Kanjon’s Clips. You’ll find a ton of info on getting started with art, staying motivated through the struggle, and way more all over my channel. I’ve got a bunch of silly shorts if you’re here for that too. Hope you find this useful and that you’ll subscribe for some more!

Anyway, it’s hard to get a complete picture on where you’re going. Do you need it? Eh, not really, but I think it’s a useful thing to have because if you can kind of see what’s next, you’re gonna feel a little less confused and you’ll have a better idea of why you’re practicing what you’re practicing.

One way to think of this is like a map. You might have fundamentals over here, value studies over there, gesture drills up there. But that kind of implies that you go on a journey to one area and complete that area and move on to the next. It’s not an unreasonable way to think. If you go to an art school, you’re gonna learn in this manner linearly because at some point they have to break down a curriculum into an order of what they’re going to teach you and when.

The problem with this is that there are certain skills that you constantly want to be practicing even far into your progress as an artist. Some skills and practices evolve into more advanced versions, where you’ll still get a complete practice session in the end, but others you do want to carry with you. So I think a map or an atlas is sort of the wrong analogy because we’re not traveling around through art and taking a tour at little pieces here and there. This is why I’ve not really made or shared a complete plan of this myself: I was picturing it as a map but things never really felt right.

Another way you could think of this is like a workout plan. If you’re just starting working out, you’re going to start with some gentler exercises and some easy ones to understand. Stretch out, jumping jacks, maybe some pushups. As you progress you might be adding in some focused strength training to work on muscles you want to focus on. But you’re still going to be doing some pushups and jumping jacks here and there, they don’t just go away. It’s definitely similar with drawing. This kinda works!

One analogy that sticks well in my head isn’t nearly as healthy as a workout: building art skill is like a buffet. It’s generally the same stuff at a buffet day to day, and you’re certainly not going to eat it all at once. You’ll probably start at the buffet with things you’re familiar with, but maybe try a little bit of something that looks interesting.

And you might go back up for seconds of some of the same stuff, maybe a couple new things again. Then on another day, maybe you bring a friend along and they show you something else at the table that they like, and you realize you like that too. Over time your favorite foods change as your taste does. Maybe you try some mac & peas. But you’re still gonna go back for some crispy fries. That’s the idea. There are art skills to practice over and over, either because they’re familiar and useful or you just like them, and there are some that you’ll try here and there. Some skills help keep you progressing, some are for fun, some you might try and decide they’re not for you.

All right, fine, so what’s in this buffet? Here’s a quick list so far, but… I’m actually curious what kinds of things you practice on the regular. Write some of these down that you find yourself practicing or want to try more of, and see if you can think of any others to add to your buffet. This analogy probably works well for other creative skills too, so by all means share some thoughts in a comment. Yet, I don’t want to leave this thought unfinished. I don’t want to say what the structure of learning to draw looks like without actually telling you what’s in it. Even though this is going to vary person to person, there’s a lot we can all share here.

So. Late last year (I promise this thought is connected) I mentioned I was working on a side project. That was going to be a business providing art-focused tools to create, learn, manage your work and online presence. Long story short, I’ve parked that idea because that becoming successful would mean my job becomes managing a business, and I’m much more of a creator at heart. I want to make things, not manage people and finances. But I’ve decided to take a little bit of those ideas and even re-use the business name for what’s next.

I’d like to make an art website that is a go-to resource for learning to draw. Put up some course recommendations, art app tips, motivational resources. I’ve already had some of this on my own website, kanjon.art, but I want to make a place specifically about this and less about me. Today I’d like to announce the project “Bristle”, and it lives at bristle.art. Now there’s nothing there yet! I want to keep folks involved from the start here. Thought a lot about a good place to collaborate, and, well. This brings me to another tangent: I was considering opening up a little art community for a while, and I suppose now’s the time. Some of you have been asking me about this for literal years, and now, yes, I finally have a Discord server. I’m adding in a section there to talk about Bristle and collaborate with folks who are interested. You’re welcome to join there if you’d like updates, though I’ll share some updates in videos on occasion too.

The idea with Bristle is it’ll have things like this “art buffet”, curated recommendations for courses, some common artist tips (think draw with your shoulder, flip the canvas, that sorta thing), supply and art app suggestions, and even maybe some tools for reference boards and publishing your art at some point. But we’re starting small; one thing at a time. Hopefully in not too much time I can make another video showing what we’ve made with all of this! Anyway, I know this isn’t exactly a resolution to the topic I brought up from the start, and I hope you can appreciate that it’s a hard one to solve. I’m excited to do a lot more with Bristle. Thanks for watching; feel free to share your ideas in the comments or just chat about how things are going with your own art. Chase that passion and I’ll see you back here soon!

Liked this video? If you’re curious to see where this goes, consider subscribing! Check out some of the videos on my channel homepage if you’ve ever thought about learning to draw but don’t quite know what to do to start. It’s tough, but anyone can learn!

Once again, it’s a new month, and May’s refreshed drawing calendar is up! Go check it out for drawing ideas for each day of the month.