drawing – The Art of Nathan Parkinson

Fundamentals of Art

If you’ve spent much time in the art world, you’ve probably heard of “the fundamentals” and how important they are. Over the years I have studied how making art actually works and how to accurately define the many components. “Why is this useful?” By breaking a skill into its individual parts, you can practice each one more intentionally. Trying to learn everything at once or with a vague focus can make it harder to recognize your progress. For someone trying to master their craft, having a solid comprehension of the tools available is important.

The result of my efforts is the Fundamentals of Art document that I am now offering for free download on my Subscribe page. You can get your copy now.

Tim Mcburnie’s Strategy For Learning To Draw

Nathan / 07/29/2023 / Art, Art Advice, Other Artists

Learning to draw is an endless journey. I’m always looking to improve my approach and mindset regarding how to learn and produce most efficiently. Tim Mcburnie’s advice on the subject resonated with me. I love the quality of his art.

What I took away

Your need for the art fundamentals depends on what art you want to make. Many current pros just drew a lot without focusing on fundamentals.
Follow an applied fundamentals approach: decide what art you want to make and spend most of your time making it while building your foundational knowledge and skills to support that.
Apply foundational concepts ASAP! Doing endless studies and exercises just helps you get good at exercises. What’s most important is to understand how to integrate/apply the knowledge gained from an exercise or study into your workflow, how you can actually use it to help make art.
Exercises are largely an academic approach; once you understand the techniques/ideas, you can skip doing exercises and apply them directly to your work.

Did I mention I love the quality of his art? 😉

Please do check out his website and YouTube channel.

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