Today, we wanted to highlight a video that was released back in 2016, but the advice in it is timeless.
There are a buttular ton of drawing tutorials online, but with a low signal-to-noise ratio:Β In other words, it can be hard to tell whoβs giving good advice from whoβs trying to force their own style onto you, or even leading you away from where you want to go with your art.
So, in this video, Chiu lays out the basics of how to learn and practice effectively: in a way that will apply across all styles (no, not just classical realism!) and toward all goals.Β This might seem like an impossible topic to cover in ten minutesβwhich it isβbut he does as good a job as anyone can.Β Youβll learn how to analyze why the techniques youβre taught work, how if you can play draw it slowly, you can draw it quickly, how to visualize your lines before you draw them, why you should always do warmups, and the true meaning of the cliche, βPractice, practice, practice.βΒ A must-watch for anyone frustrated not just with their current skill level, but their learning process itself.
Whoβs Bobby Chiu?
A concept artist whoβs been doing almost nothing else his entire life.
He was born in Taiwan, but is truly from Toronto, where he still lives.Β And an interesting bit of trivia about that:Β He started the Toronto Subway Sketch Group, whoβd meet at Union Station every Sunday, ride a train from one end to the other, and draw everyone they saw.Β By 2005, it had chapters all over the worldβnot just Canada and the US, but in the UK, France, Turkey, India, Australia, and South Africa, among othersβall bearing his name.Β Β The original is still around.Β Or was until the pandemic, but weβre sure itβll be back.
In his professional life, heβs worked on Men in Black 3 (the best of the series, donβt @ me), Tim Burtonβs Alice in Wonderland, and plenty of game projects.Β The studio he founded, Imaginism, has been hired by a whoβs who of big names like Disney, Dreamworks, Blizzard, Riot Games, et al.
These days, heβs also a successful ArtTuber.Β (If you by chance sawΒ my MerMay profile of Pernille Γrum, he didΒ the interview with her I featured.)Β Β He teaches digital painting at Schoolism.Β And back when cons were real, he often did drawing demos with us at the Wacom booths.
And why should you listen to him?
He was a prodigy, getting a job designing toys for Disney, Warner Brothers, and Star Wars at seventeen.Β Heβs won an Emmy. Β Β Heβs published six art books.Β And by the way, the doodles in the video donβt come anywhere near expressing what heβs capable of:
From his Artstation
Iβd say anyone who can draw like this is worth ten minutes of your time.
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Bobby Chiuβs Twitter is, shockingly,Β @BobbyChiu.Β His InstagramβsΒ @DigitalBobert.Β His full gallery can be seen viaΒ Imaginism Studios.Β Image from Imaginism.
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About the Author
CS Jones is a (5-minutes-outside-of) Philadelphia-based writer and illustrator. Heβll be spontaneously rearranging his weekend to check out a couple of these tracks. Heβll be making a linktree for his other Wacom articles, but in the meantime, you can check out a hopelessly outdated selection of them atΒ thecsjones.com, or see his drawings at @thecsjones onΒ InstagramΒ orΒ Twitter.
