THIS is What You Should Draw

[@Vespercold]

Something I'd add, and maybe you could vouch for me with this: these stages are transient. I have been practicing painting for quite some time and have found that, occasionally, I need to switch my mindset to that of a beginner, or intermediate. After an unfortunate Hiatus, I found that even though I was working at (what I would generously call) a professional level, I needed to start back doing master studies or painting simple things before getting work again. Just because you feel like you are a pro, or an intermediate, or a beginner, you are not locked out of any study or type of practice. And its sometimes beneficial to revert to something more simple, or dive into something more complex. Or at least this is what i've found from my experience thank you for sharing the video!

[@fowlerillus]

That is such an important point that I wish I had made - these categories are not at all absolutes and there is so much overlap. All blurry gray lines. Thanks for making that point and you're absolutely right - I do all of these types of drawings to this day and each one is useful an enriching at any step in the journey. Thanks! Awesome point

[@meganbentleyart]

I agree..I'm at that stage. I studied fine art for 3 years and did commissions for about 5 years. But, I'm now going back to the fundamentals and focusing on building my knowledge again as well as freeing my creativity. I got so stuck on "rendering nicely" for years that I kept neglecting the foundational skills. At first, it felt like I was taking steps back or reverting/ losing momentum. But it's important to be kind and understanding with yourself and remember that being an artist means learning for the rest of your life.

[@jeromycaballero91]

Learning how to use the tools you have is a huge part of getting past that beginner stage. It's so inspiring watching you draw with your obvious mastery of Photoshop. Knowing how to use it really expands your capacity from the idea stage onward. Thanks for sharing this.

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! So glad you found this helpful

[@MrMisuma]

My son and I give each other 3-6 two second doodles and then the other has to make a character out of them. I’ve made some of my best creatures that way 😊

[@fowlerillus]

Oh man I love that! I draw with my son too and we will definitely try this. Thank you!

[@ZarBluestar]

I’ll be honest. I was a total beginner when I first found a zoom Q&A by you. It all went entirely over my head at the time It wasn’t until recently I finally felt enough confidence to come back These videos are vibes I needed. Definitely projecting the same energy I give when talking about areas of my own personal expertise. Totally gives the feel of someone who actually wants to give advice instead of just selling you a course

[@fowlerillus]

I can't tell you how much that means to me. Sincerely, thank you for taking the time to write this. I can't imagine a more exact description of what I hope to put out with these and it's really validating to hear that. Thanks. I'm so incredibly glad that these have been helpful

[@Hauerization]

Really inspiring to see how you move from black siluette, to greyscale and into color. Defenetly gonna try it out, thanks for sharing. 👍

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Glad you liked it :)

[@NickTerryArt]

LOVE these glimpses into your personal art past, Hardy! I've got a handful of Star Wars books I wrote and illustrated as a kid, a mere 5 - 6 pages long each, as writing was absolutely just an excuse to give myself as many lightsaber fights to draw as possible lol

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks Nick. That is awesome :) I have been skipping to the lightsaber fights in Acolyte 🤢 so you weren’t wrong 😂

[@KRoaming97]

This opened up my eyes entirely. Listening to your experience and how to "level up" my concept art and gain confidence spoke to me. I'm in college already and I practice my gestures and proportions separately from class, but both are for a bachelor's degree in fine arts for game design, as a concept artist. I'm definitely going to rewatch your video when I have extra time, to know what professionals need from an artist, and how I can achieve it. I hope to see you on your Discord DPS, there's so much I want to learn.

[@fowlerillus]

That's great to hear - I'm so glad this was helpful. Please feel free to reach out on Discord any time and good luck with your studies!

[@NoogaJack]

This is a very interesting technique. An really simple way to establish volume . Glad you came up in my suggestions. Subscribed !

[@fowlerillus]

Awesome! Thank you! I'm so glad this was helpful

[@vampireantihero]

It was really inspiring to see some of your old work and to walk through where you started versus where you are now. Awesome stuff, Hardy!

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Glad you liked this :)

[@VIIARK]

The level of attention to detail is IMPRESSIVE!!!

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I included some photo textures of graffiti on walls in Pisa :)

[@cheynneedmonston1974]

Amazing advice, as always. Thanks man.

[@fowlerillus]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks

[@SavMortem]

Thanks, man! Always appreciate your insight and it's always a joy to watch you work!

[@fowlerillus]

I appreciate that!

[@MrAlziepen]

The part about showcasing a targeted, industry focused portfolio is real. Coming from an industrial design background I can say that having included both types of projects in my portfolio and applying to jobs in either the entertainment or ID industry is met with only confusion. In spite of a very select few designers who can get away with it, for example Syd Mead, Daniel Simon, I'm discovering the hard way that no, you can't just be kinda good at two disciplines, no one cares. You have to be fantastic at whatever you're going to be paid to do.

[@fowlerillus]

Right on. Great perspectives here from a clearly experienced voice

[@Tasty_mcDoggo]

such line accuracy with zero smoothing is crazy

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! I hate to disillusion you but I think I used smoothing quite a bit in this one :)

[@Tasty_mcDoggo]

@@fowlerillus OH NO HOW AM I GOING TO LIVE WITH THIS.

[@nh8444]

This was fantastic. Thank you.

[@fowlerillus]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lunarfifthstudios]

Thanks for the inspiration and motivation! 👍❤

[@fowlerillus]

My pleasure :) Glad this is helpful

[@sarundayo]

You're the "Bob Ross" of Digital Art ❤

[@Superjaimedc]

Excelente!!!. Felicitaciones y gracias por compartir.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks!

[@fransonic2009]

As always, Great video and great painting from one of my art heroes/mentor! :) Congrats hardy!

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it

[@dougieladd]

Inspiring stuff, as usual Hardy. This one reminds me of Pascal Blanche's work.... awesome.

[@fowlerillus]

100% ! Great eye - I love what he does with way over the top colors and that's exactly what I was trying to do here.

[@hatsunesakai8259]

You re videos are great ❤ I pretty much just came out of uni and am working as a tattoo artist. Lately ive been feeling lost or something is off as an artist, i dont enjoy my artworks anymore. They are all half finsihed but i cant get myself to work on them due to this nagging negative feeling. its my second video of your library finally im starting to feel a little light at the end of the tunnel appear. Your advice is great, highly recommend

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you so much. I know that feeling well and I think all artists wrestle with that sometimes. I hope the clouds lift for you soon and I'm really glad that these videos have been helpful

[@MathStuani]

Another amazing video, your courses on Udemy literally changed my life and mindset/comprehension of art, digital art and It's tools, It is so satisfying to watch your process, so creative and masterfully done, even already knowing about the fundamentals and topics I would buy those courses just to see your approach. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us, I'm stuck on a beginner to intermediate level of art, I'm also studying by my self, and It can be harsh sometimes to organize studies and projects, like, I still have to polish my fundamentals but ain't fully confident about starting a portfolio and even remembering why I'm still studying art in the first place and knowing what to do next/staying motivated can be a difficult task and your videos are really helping me through these times, so thanks again for your work and for sharing It with us 😊

[@fowlerillus]

This is just so awesome to hear. Thank you so much. I’m really glad this has been helpful

[@Willlustrates]

Another awesome video, Hardy, thank you! Really looking forward to being a part of Concept Art Academy in a few short weeks!

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! Looking forward to it! Can’t wait to get things started

[@adhamfawzi8677]

Awesome as always!

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@OdysseyHome-Gaming]

I really like the explorer sci-fi style you do. Reminds me of a game called Lost Planet 2 which had different biomes other than the frozen planet of 1 and 3. Would love to see these pieces in a world building project

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! I'll have to check out Lost Planet 2 - I love a good lost in space story. It would be cool to expand this into something bigger some day. Cheers!

[@Stormj-ot4yz]

Thanks for the video, and for inspiring me!You used to draw medical illustrations, now I'm doing it too, I'm drawing medical illustrations, I hope to reach your level

[@fowlerillus]

That's so cool! I really loved my time as a medical illustrator and I hope you enjoy that path

[@mursaleensaleem1806]

loved the video, some questions tho, you selected your sketch and it turned black and white how did you do that and why and how did you use that sphere shape? when i do it it makes it individual layer but your spheres were on the same layer

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! That black and white part at the beginning is called the mask view. You can enter that by using quick mask view (Q) and then hitting the ~ key. It's a nice way to very clearly visualize the selections that you have active and I was just checking to make sure that I had the silhouette blocked in solidly before filling in the layer. As for the sphere tool - I used that so that I would have some perfect geometry for those spheres on his back and not just my own hand-drawn circle sketch that was not doubt slightly lopsided. As for your layer question - make sure that your shape tool is set to pixels at the top of the menu and not path or shape. That will make it behave as it did in the video.

[@mursaleensaleem1806]

@@fowlerillus thanks that helped a lot

[@KEKEBONO]

Thank you for this video.

[@fowlerillus]

Glad it was helpful!

[@_skyeline]

Awesome stuff Hardy! I also talked about similar things in one of my own videos, the doing is where you really learn, you can learn, but if you don't apply, theory doesn't mean anything

[@fowlerillus]

I'll check it out! Thanks for letting me know and I'm glad you enjoyed this.

[@Mohit-pz4tc]

Didn't expect to catch a stray first 3 minutes in the video, yet here I am 🙃

[@fowlerillus]

Haha, I'm glad you stuck around!

[@CyberValeth]

I'm in the odd mix of beginner to casual to skill builder. All over the place in I know the theories, and can do some of it. It's just really the time and work to put in if I can just overcome that anxiety.

[@fowlerillus]

So glad you said this because it's important to note that you can be several or all of these categories at once. We can and should do all of these forms of drawing regardless of what bucket we would put ourselves in. Time and life obligations are definitely the biggest obstacle - wishing you and your art the best.

[@davidtikwa423]

i have such a hard time blending and softly making those soft gradients is there any tips there? i tried to reduce the flow and opacity of the brush but its jsut not feeling right is tehre a set of brushes you use for them? cause its really demotivating to not be able to just make simple gradients with the brushes in a sense

[@Blake28267]

the goat 🙇🙏🙏💯

[@fowlerillus]

Thank you!

[@reddevilsunited_2060]

Your voice and your way of speaking is like some good quality whisky 😂❤

[@fowlerillus]

My voice can also cause drowsiness and impair one’s ability to operate machinery :)

[@Kirsik-jz7ji]

what canvas size did you use? settings?

[@fowlerillus]

I usually work at or around 10x14 inches at 300 dpi. RGB

[@Kirsik-jz7ji]

@fowlerillus tysm, I'm taking this moment to say that I'm very inspired by what you do, it's truly incredible

[@jayta906]

do i detect a little bit of pascale blanche inspo ?:) great work hardy - love the graphic read of this! (and the color choices!)

[@fowlerillus]

Absolutely! You got me :) The art phase that I didn't mention in the video is the one when you're in your 40s and start ripping off everyone :)

[@Fixingtodraw]

“If you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong.” -Groucho Marx

[@fowlerillus]

I love it :)

[@Not_Even_Wrong]

This!

[@joaquindelacruz5868]

Can we get this artwork as a print? :D

[@fowlerillus]

Hey Joaquin! I’ll have to add it to my artstation prints. Glad you like it :)

[@lotriks5613]

Can you please answer the question? I don't want to offend you in any way, I'm just interested to know a professional's opinion. Why do artists make videos for aspiring artists or amateurs? Is it purely a commercial move to gain views? Or do you just act as a ‘volunteer’, if I may say so? Just from a practical point of view, what is the rationale for a professional to do this? I mean to attract new people and spend energy to motivate someone.

[@fowlerillus]

Totally fair question that I'm happy to answer. First of all, there is the sincere hope that I can help other artists but you're definitely right - growing the channel is the goal for my business as an art teacher. So with that - it comes down to what topics artists would find interesting which is where most of my video topics come from. It is also fun for me - I get to paint and discuss whatever I want which is nice for an artist used to following instructions :) KZbin is not really very profitable (even with quite a few subscribers now, it makes very little revenue) but my hope is to connect with artists who want to learn and giving advice like this is all about earning trust. Cheers!

[@lotriks5613]

@@fowlerillus Thank you so much for your hard work❤

[@Mr.McWatson]

It looks like you painted a Harkonnen or Atreides soldier, or something that would fit in the Dune universe :D Why do you have three cyan layers? I can't remember what you do with the other two.

[@fowlerillus]

I definitely see that! That wasn't the conscious intent but I totally see it. I think the multiple cyan layers were overlays and I kept copying them because they made the effect more intense each time. Just sort of trying what works and going with it :)

[@monkeyzeetube]

nice video. it's like listening to Keanu Reeves and Owen Wilson.

[@fowlerillus]

Haha - half wow and half whoa

[@jaredmckinlay3847]

Hi there. Im 35 and just started learning how to draw a couple months ago. I really want to transition from mechanic to illustrator one day. But im honestly on the fence about sinking a ton of time into this. Is there any kind of age discrimination in hiring for this industry? Kind of at the age where decisions are critical.

[@fowlerillus]

Hey - great question. The short answer is no and certainly not for a 35 year old. In my experience, artists who have a long cultural memory can actually bring a lot of value to a project (the larger your visual library of cool stuff is, the more concept art value you can potentially offer). I understand your hesitancy though - it is certainly a mountain to climb and if you are just getting started, it will likely be a matter of years before you have the confidence and experience to start competing for jobs. However, as a 42 year old who has never been busier, I can guarantee that you are not at all past your window on this. I hope that's helpful and good luck!

[@keithhart6392]

Is this sped up at all? 20 mins to fully render a painting seems crazy fast ..... I always learn something useful from your stuff......you just might jabe convinced me to at least do the 7 day free trail

[@fowlerillus]

This is definitely sped up - about 2 or 3x normal speed, I believe so I am definitely not this fast. Cool, I hope you enjoy the trial but reach out if you have any questions.

[@VictorTemitope-p6u]

Hello Instructor Are you available for a brief discussion regarding your course on Udemy.

[@fowlerillus]

Sure! Please email us at [e-mail] and I can answer any questions you might have

[@sabojezles]

Your art could look great on a Comic-book.

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks! That would be cool

[@ljthesage]

I have a question and I don’t know if anyone can help me out. So I did a digital drawing for someone and they said it looks like ai now I didn’t know if i should take that as a compliment or an insult but my question is… In a world getting filled with ai art what’s the point of realistic digital renderings when someone would just easily think it’s ai?

[@fowlerillus]

Hey great question and I wonder these things too - such a rabbit hole. I don’t really have a satisfactory answer but my suspicion is that AI will eventually rival most human interaction so if we are asking what the point is about AI art, then I eventually get to - what is the point of being human if AI can be smarter and faster. I think that the creative process and the connection with a human artist and their viewer has meaning beyond just the image. I think that is at the core of why I am less apocalyptic than I was when AI initially blew up. Time will tell though and we are all in this together. Let’s make cool stuff in the meantime :) wishing you well my artist friend

[@ZTRCTGuy]

The fun has been out of art for me for some time. I've been ''studying'' and ''doing'' art for a few years but I'm never gonna be drawing enough to reach my goals and I don't even want to become a pro. I created (and drawn) about 260 digital canvasses (yes I numbered them all) which is kind of pathetic for over three years. I might also just be horribly untalented maybe.

[@fowlerillus]

Sorry to hear it has felt like such a grind with no payoff. I'd be happy to check out your work and offer feedback if you'd like

[@ZTRCTGuy]

@@fowlerillus That is a great offer. But I don't really have a portfolio and I'm a bit of a furry artist (if my pf pic wasn't obvious) and most of my art i'd rather not show to people who aren't... into that. I do have more presentable art but I'm not sure that's gonna be enough.

[@U.O.S]

so you tell us the med level artist doesn't have the chance Hires, and the client looking for just pro artist

[@tonydejesus2134]

Weird - I see this guy talk and only hear Bill Clinton.

[@fowlerillus]

Hahaha. I’ve never heard that before but I can hear it now

[@fgklfglhf]

Won't AI just take my job/do it better than me anyway though?

[@fowlerillus]

Not sure, but I don’t think so. For what it’s worth, we are a few years in since AI swept in and I’m still seeing art careers starring regularly. Hoping for the best

[@1moblin2]

Death Stranding

[@fowlerillus]

I totally see it!

[@Shogunarts]

Carryminati ?

[@fowlerillus]

Not sure if I get the reference?

[@lakasilum]

is it weird that i think you look like someone who listens to blink-182?

[@fowlerillus]

Haha. I love blink 182

[@fowlerillus]

My wife almost died laughing when I showed her this comment 😂

[@sr.dorneles9677]

[@fowlerillus]

Thanks :)