Improve Your Designs with Shape Breakdowns

Unlock even more content in the premium course - proko.com/colman
In this lesson you’ll learn how you can break down the shapes of a subject from a macro to a micro level to improve and strengthen your shape design skills. You’ll see David Colman demonstrate this with three different references and you’ll see how you can exaggerate the reference without losing the integrity of the subject you’re designing.
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#shapedesign #drawinganimals #digitalsketching
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ABOUT PROKO:
Instructional How to Draw videos for artists. My drawing lessons are approachable enough for beginners and detailed enough for advanced artists. My philosophy is to teach timeless concepts in an entertaining way. I believe that when you are having fun, you learn better. I take pride in producing high-quality videos that you will enjoy watching and re-watching.
CREDITS:
Artist | Instructor - David Colman ( / davidsdoodles )
Producer - Stan Prokopenko (www.stanprokope...), Sean Ramsey (www.peoplewhodr...)
Production Assistance - Ash Lo Russo, Sierra Tillman, Sean Ramsey
Editing - Ash Lo Russo (www.artstation..., Sierra Tillman ( / sierra_jewel_ ) Sean Ramsey
Publishing - Alex Otis, John Birchall
Music Used with Permission Intro - The Freak Fandango Orchestra
Additional music by Epidemic Sound

[@ProkoTV]

Continue learning more about designing creatures in the premium course - proko.com/colman

[@tvfarofa1312]

I am very grateful to Proko for the lessons. More than 3 years ago I met the channel and today I can already draw at a reasonable level. I made my first animation and I will continue to learn and improve.

[@gyrow1684]

Way to go!

[@ZainZebun]

I needed this. I felt like I was drawing with "hair" like it was very messy gesture. This is a more refined method

[@jbkhan1135]

This seems like such a cool course, will definitely look into this one after drawing basics is done

[@abmartdrawing5366]

Thank you very much Proko, the lesson is very useful for me

[@Drawcol-du2me]

Good leason for whoever interest with realistic art, amazing🎉

[@khsngle]

The bat looks cool as hell

[@A.yackub]

Great job

[@bruh-pj3ck]

Can I ask, when using the loomis method, how do you know if you should cut off the other side?

[@drawwithclawsarturoa.6772]

Hey primo you know who is worth to look for ? Vladimir volegov!! Is amazing the way he paint and he always start with good shapes and forms.

[@Shannaya17]

I desperately want to know the golden framed painting with the leopard!

[@이젠조금씩지쳐가네]

Do you read my mind? XD This topic pops up when i need it the most! Thank you

[@MK-lh3xd]

Thank the youtube algorithm:) It is scary sometimes.

[@mr.yanagi]

Please make video about how you draw clothes and clothe folds

[@GabreMause]

Is he using clip studio paint? And if the answer is "yes", what pencil is he using for the sketch

[@Artricks5748]

Big fan sir

[@JO-iv7tl]

I have learned to feel what a figures shape is rather than just look at it.

[@helloworld638]

can you recommend a lesson how to draw character perspectives , what are do's an don't's and I made character side perspective but they are far different from each other , could you please answer it , or anyone can answer it

[@ProkoTV]

This lesson isn't exclusively about drawing characters in perspective but is more broad than that and helps you to break a character down. This helps you to be able to draw in perspective broadly kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIXCXnefdt-MeMU

[@FranzoiDrawings]

I loved your art! Incredible! Congratulations! I love to draw and post my videos on YT, but it's really, really hard to get a good number of views... so this disappoints me. But, I will keep trying.

[@tamjeedvlogs7353]

Wow Good job

[@rinjimaru]

what brush he using?

[@samankucher5117]

very cool :)

[@raulcual9510]

Do you guys teach how to make comics to?

[@gorequillnachovidal]

I hate every ape I see, from chimpan A to chimpanzeeeeeee

[@Quinnaka]

(Me recognizes joke) Me: starts going bannaaz.

[@BenDanYt]

No, you’ll never make a monkey out of me!

[@AYUSH-pq9ld]

Oi

[@curly-q7764]

​@@BenDanYtoh my God! I was wrong. It was Earth all along!

[@PagaKnight]

No you’ll never make a monkey!

[@Pigsama]

That's how Monster Hunter artists works, I guess.

[@royaebrahim2449]

❤

[@kgdkgdktdkt]

what's that brush he's using? Feels interesting to work with it

[@JazGalaxy]

You may know much more about brushes than I do, but I feel like I always see people looking for the “magic bullet“ brush, and it’s really much more about the artist technique with the stylus that makes it look like the brush is wonderful. But maybe the brush really is great, I don’t know.

[@parsuramgope9938]

Where is proko??

[@seize2179]

didn't know bradley cooper was teaching design

[@akmaraps]

😍

[@CoinBox-k9g]

Until one knows what the shape is and what it mean, it will become one whit the image.

[@sakerberg4512]

:D

[@EverythingsBeenDone]

Stop telling us to hit the bell 😡

[@Farrowart]

Chill dude. It’s not that deep

[@RedGallardo]

Did it help anyone yet? Or is it another method that requires actual S-level mastery to perform to show off as if it was the method? Like these children books "drawing animals line by line". I hate it how I need everything at once for it all to work. I draw a circle and I can't draw the head. Why? I do know the elements of the head, I know the shape, I know proportions, I know construction. So I need to know them even better? I spend 40 billion years practicing heads. Can I do that now? No, I need perspective. I practice 80 billion years the perspective, I still fail. I need lighting. I practice lighting, I fail. I need hatching. I practice hatching and fail. I need tricks like building 3D feeling via shadows depth, line thickness, subtle details, carefully playing with 0.001% values up and down... I need a planet of knowledge in my head to draw a head. Why in the goddamn hell would I need a circle after I know all that? And without all that the circle is useless. See the problem? Breaking down doesn't help unless you know exactly what you're drawing. And if you know exactly what you're drawing you don't need breaking down. If I can't draw a shape without heavy construction it means I don't understand it well. And if I don't understand it well I can never draw it right. And understanding means having it all in your head so why get the paper messy with unnecessary lines that exist in your head? Knowing the basics doesn't mean understanding, I assure you, I know everything that's necessary to draw like a master. If that was enough I'd be a deity of drawing by now. Something else is missing and this something doesn't care about circles and simple shapes. I'm tired of this negative space experience no one can teach and given to random artists. If you're lucky you get 99% of what defines you as a master for free, day 0. If not, your cap is 1% quality. Forever. No matter the amount of memorized info about the POS drawing of things you've drawn a million times! Can't express how sick I am of this secret invisible component. I literally draw 16 hours a day, for 20 damn years, I deserve more than what I have! And if it doesn't depend on me, if it's luck, a talent or something, it's pure BS. Then why learn. Talented people don't have to. How would they if they start working on big projects at the age of like 20? How do Disney animators do that? They are kids when they are assigned to grand AAA projects. It doesn't add up! Nothing does! None of it makes sense! Damn it!

[@davidjohn6253]

You’re problem is directness and goal setting. You need to learn how to break down and target skills in a super specific manner while meticulously working on achieving each and everyone of them progressively… this is the stuff that is not often talked about, probably because it takes too much effort to discuss and teach it for most people. You have to be very involved in your process and this will guarantee you success in your journey. Hope that helped.❤

[@ProkoTV]

You're right! It's not just about knowing the basics or understanding the principles of drawing, it's about how all these elements come together, intuition, creativity, and personal style - things that can't be taught, only developed over time.. And that can be overwhelming, especially when you've been dedicating so much time and energy to it. Even the best artists struggle and create pieces they aren't happy with. It's a process of constant learning, which means that there's always room for growth and improvement, no matter how skilled you are. One piece of advice I can give you is to shift your focus a little. Instead of focusing solely on the end product, try to enjoy the process of creating. It might seem like a small change, but it can make a big difference in how you approach your work and how you feel about it. I think the biggest progress comes when you are truly passionate about what you're learning, and not just doing it to go through the motions. It's true there are natural abilities that people have that helps them in various ways. But you don't have to have natural abilities to be in the top 90% of artists. You do need natural abilities to be in the 99.9% though. If after 20 years of drawing 16 hours a day, you feel your work is still "bad", then there's something else holding you back. Without seeing your work, it's hard to give specific advice. But I'd recommend making sure you're not reinforcing bad habits. Take a deep breath, step back for a moment, and remind yourself why you fell in love with art in the first place. You've got this. Let's keep moving forward. Seek feedback... Sometimes, we're too close to our own work to see its strengths and weaknesses objectively. Ask for constructive feedback from other artists, mentors, or even art communities online. I like the completely free Proko community ;) Study your favorite artists... Try to understand their techniques and approaches. What are they doing differently? Can you replicate their work? Why not?? Identify your weaknesses and work on improving them. But also, identify what you're good at and build on those. Sometimes in our culture we thing that becoming great is about learning more more more. But constantly adding more things to juggle can distract us from truly master things before adding more. Remember to enjoy the process of drawing. For me it's a form of meditation. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. This is how we learn and grow as artists.

[@RedGallardo]

@@davidjohn6253 I've been breaking things down for years. Practicing every detail like gradient drawing, thus hatching. Hatching at angles. CSIs. Circles. Large circles and ellipses like for drawing head and small circles size of letters. Filled so many sheets with them. Drew small gestures, an actual thumbnail size. Drew freely, letting my hand move at any direction without thinking or doubting. If there's anything I still haven't tried I guess it's outside my life span because I practice more than I actually work. That's ridiculous. Whole life of practice. "When will my life begin?" (c) Rapunzel Yes, I also tried drawing what I needed regardless of my skill, just getting things done as if I could never improve and had to work with what I had. I even tried that once... Been like 2 years.

[@RedGallardo]

@@ProkoTV Thanks, Stan. I never stop trying... It's not like I want that much. At least stop making mistakes at basics. To have a chance to actually understand what's wrong and what to work on, aside from "everything's just askew". So many times I changed something, so many things I tried throughout the journey... It's like an elephant is standing on my hand. The elephant that's holding our planet.

[@이젠조금씩지쳐가네]

Work smart, not hard. The amount of hours you spend on drawing doesn't matter if you aren't concious about decisions you make while drawing. Let's say you want to learn how to break down shapes to make your drawings look diverse. The first thing you'd be looking for is character design, because that's there the basics start. You learn how to exaggerate forms, how to portray quailities of character through them. Next you can move on to animation, storyboarding, anything that is useful in the process of finding how to work with shapes. Sometimes its not the art fundamentals you're looking for, it could be something from other workfield, like design If you are having trouble spotting forms, i'd advice browsing work of your favourite artists. What makes their art stand out? How do they play with forms? Doesn't even have to be your favourite artist, it could be someone whose work you don't like but this person does something you aren't capable of. If you're having trouble with it, tracing and analyzing can help a bit. Because aside from training your arm, you've got to train your eye too. I don't even think cources are obligatory to this. It's more about understanding what you want to achieve in your drawing, what do you want your result to look like and what you're lacking

[@-ring-a-ding-my-dingaling]

Why would you take a course on drawing from someone with draftsmanship THIS bad?