How Do You Approach Learning?

[Nathan]

I wasn’t sure where to post this question, so I posted it here (feel free to move it Mods)

I was talking to another artist friend of mine and we were talking about what we do when going through art tutorials and how we absorb what is being taught.

For example, with NMA, I usually listened to the whole video series and then do the homework. I would quickly realize where I fell short, watched a specific instruction again and redraw. However, my mate tends to draw what he sees as he watches a series of videos.

So out of curiosity, how do you guys learn something new? How do you approach many of the lessons on NMA?

 

[NuriaGomis Berenguer]

I draw along with the instructor

[Gordan Knezic]

I draw along with the instructor. After each lesson I review all the work and redraw again everything on my own.  Then I move to the next lesson and repeat.

[Norman]

I draw along – in demos with reference,  if I am even more motivated, I stop the video before, try to find my own solution and then draw along to see how the instructor did it.

I guess it is a good idea to review the work afterwards and redraw to practice what you have learned.

[ManuelFernandez]

You should do both, watch as you draw. Watch and take notes. And Draw after watching a video. That way you can reinforce what you have learned as you go through the series.

[Emily Benoit]

I always sit down before an art lesson and draw whatever it is I’m learning, for example now I’m doing head studies, so I can pinpoint some trouble areas and what I hope to gain from each lesson. Then I draw during the lesson, making notes of important tips or why a line is where it is or how to build up to the final thing. Then I draw what I learned a few times and decide if I truly understood what was being taught, if not, I go back and figure out which point of the course I might have missed or not understood or decide if maybe it’s a more fundamental reason I didn’t get the outcome I wanted (whether it’s the shapes, values, ect). 

I find pinpointing my problem areas before and after really help me progress a lot quicker so I’m not focusing more on something I’m already decent at. 

[Tanner McFadyen]

I draw along with the instructor and do the assignment if it’s different than what I just did with the instructor, or if I think I’d benefit from the extra practice on something I just did with the instructor. For example, I drew quite a few thumbnails alongside the instructor in the Introduction to Drawing course, but I didn’t do the assignment, because it was just to draw even more thumbnails, and by then I was exhausted and got the picture LOL. Most of the time though I do the assignment. I take a lot of notes during the video too. I try to be just as thorough in learning as the instructor is in teaching

[Joshua Jacobo]

The most practice the better. It’s about pacing yourself but you can’t do too many thumbnails or head drawings or gestures. As long as you are focused and giving it your full effort and concentration you’ll benefit.

I do think taking notes and drawing the diagrams along with the instructor is a great idea in addition to doing assignments and practicing it on your own as well.

[André Girão Tauffer]

Well, I for one like to pay close attention to each gesture and color mixed by the instructor while listening to everything attentively. Then I would draw something related to that after the lessons, or do the assignments. If I do it together with the instructor I’ll end up losing attention somewhere, so I prefer to do those separately. Nice to see different approaches though

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