My Mind

My Mind
This is my mind

Friday, March 30, 2012

Ode to DTO with a side order of PTO

Returning to the theme of drawing or not, I wish to speak of a site that offers lesson upon lesson in the art of drawing for a very small fee. Some may say, "That's a lot of money!", but they have not explored that site and the plethora of lessons available.
I'm speaking of DRAWING TUTORIALS ON LINE. It is the brainchild of Matt Archambault, an artist who launched his site to share his knowledge of drawing. And the knowledge he imparts is worthy of the price and more. I cannot recommend his site too highly.
I was overwhelmed at the amount of information available. It is somewhat daunting to return to the practice of drawing after so many years. My abilities, be what they are, were picked up here and there providing me with a mountain of bad habits. I figure the long interval I have forced upon my self is a good thing because here is the place to begin again, at the beginning.
DRAWING TURIALS ON LINE provides amateur and professional, alike, with basic lessons building on to whatever heights one wishes to attain.
Matt provides tutorials via camera. His drawing lesson is accompanied by his voice giving an untold wealth of information about what is happening before one's eyes. His comments include nuggets that drop from his unconscious to fill in blanks in your own understanding of the process. I've had several moments during his presentations when a small light goes on. It's a mini-revelation for me that snaps into place giving an AHA! moment followed by "Why didn't I think of that? It seems so clear now."
The site contains a gallery of members' drawings. Each week Matt provides a critique of the student's uploaded work. "No, I don't think I want to display my poor attempts on this open forum. I would be embarrassed to upload my sad drawings." These were my concerns, and, yet, I have with trepidation done so. The nervousness was silly because Matt looks at the drawings, finds the best aspects and gives a positive critique. This does not mean he heaps praise where it does not belong. He is fair and honest providing the student with a moment in the sun explaining what has been done right and how it can be improved. I found his comments to be helpful and encouraging. These critiques are always upbeat. And did I mention encouraging? Because that is how he leaves each student, with encouragement and a nudge to keep working at it. Work being a key word here.
It is work. A daily time spent with the sketch pad is emphasized often, even if it is just ten minutes. A drawing a day would be fine at a minimum, he often prompts. He suggests fifty peanuts without lifting the pencil from the page. This is one of the most important items in his bag of tools. Peanuts. Start off with peanuts to build a sense of form and rhythm resulting in an organic understanding of vision converted to line, shape and shade. Matt's basic building block is the peanut shape. From the tiny peanuts grow the mighty oaks and portraits and vistas filling page after page in the sketchbooks that should be ever present.
Matt's DTO has recently branched out to include another site, PAINTING TUTORIALS ON LINE. It is new. It has all the brilliance of DTO with the addition of color. And more, naturally. Painting is so much more than drawing with color. Matt will tell you that. It is a wonderful site to be explored for all budding artists. Another treasure trove of information is provided by a very caring and generous man. The price of the experience is small for the amount of knowledge Matt provides. I cannot praise him nor his sites enough.
Go. Look. Try. Anyone who loves to slip a pencil point across a blank white page will find wonder and enjoyment there. It is worth the trip.  Give it a try and click here:

No comments:

Post a Comment