Some of you may notice that the figure drawing lessons that used to be here have since been removed. I apologize, but I will not be rewriting them in the forseeable future.
Drawabox's goal was at the beginning somewhat unclear, which led me to try and fill in as much as I could in regards to what is considered a part of the "fundamentals". Since then, the purpose of these lessons has become much clearer to me. My goal is to teach students how to both convey the solidity and weight of the forms they draw, and to better understand how those forms relate to one another in 3D space as a part of more complex constructions.
This is something in which I have considerable confidence, and so I will restrict what I teach here to subjects I feel I can teach well, rather than spreading myself thin.
This means the numbering is going to jump from 7 to 14 for the time being. I apologize for any confusion that may arise from this. Things will be reorganized in the future, when I have a better idea of where I'd like to go with later lessons.
Well, about me, really. Most of you know me as /u/Uncomfortable on Reddit, some know me as Irshad Karim. I created the /r/ArtFundamentals community on Reddit in August 2014. I had recently returned to Canada after a 6 month stint studying at the Concept Design Academy in Pasadena, California, and I felt that I wanted to share what I had learned. So, I carved out my corner on reddit and started posting lessons based on what I was taught. I included homework suggestions, and critiqued what was submitted.
It's definitely much bigger than that, now. All of the lessons have been rewritten and restructured, video demos have been created to fill in some holes, and the audience has increase dramatically. Every day we get 1000-1500 visitors, and more than 50 homework submissions are sent to me each week.
So, back to me. Who am I, and what do I do? In the past I've worked as a game programmer (which I still enjoy doing in my spare time), though I am currently working as a concept artist at a small studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I studied briefly in Los Angeles after deciding to change my career (where I learned all of these great lessons I now impart to you folks). Honestly, I'd love to go back and learn some more - my time there launched my portfolio miles ahead, but there's still a lot more ground to cover.
A lot of people have commented that it is ridiculously early for someone like me to be teaching - and that is absolutely true. I'm still a student myself, and I always encourage those of you who wish to pursue art at a professional level to seek out professional instruction. That said, I do believe that Drawabox is helping people. While I may only have just a little bit to offer, I think it's worth sharing.
Over the last several months, a lot of you have asked me if there's any way you could donate, or give some token of appreciation for the work that I do here. Because of this, I've set up a Patreon, where you can do just that. Contributing at any level will give you access to the extra demo videos available in some of the lessons. The videos that explain important concepts, however, will be freely available for everyone on my YouTube channel.
It's been my pleasure to help the lot of you on your journey, and I cannot express the joy I feel whenever someone tells me that I've inspired them to take up the pen. I hope that I'll be able to continue this venture for the forseeable future.
I should also mention, that while Patreon is the ideal method of contribution, some people have contacted me asking if they can donate via Paypal. I completely understand that some people would really like to help out, but a recurring contribution simply isn't feasible. If that's the case, you are welcome to send a donation via PayPal to [email protected]. Those of you who wish to donate through this method will receive an email containing links to all of the videos that Patreon supporters receive.
If you did contribute but aren't on the list, check your Patreon messages. I check with every one of my supporters first before posting their names, in case there are any privacy concerns.
Generally speaking, I don't really stray far from Photoshop unless I'm forced to, but this is a major exception. I can't stand using Photoshop for any kind of clean, crisp line art - it's probably one of the reasons I've pretty much stuck to digital painting. When it came time to learn how to deal with line art (to make comics for drawabox), Clip Studio Paint was a life saver. I definitely recommend it for any kind of comic work.
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