Silhouette Drawing Methods

[@carolineburgen]

This! Is! A! Lifesaver! Everyone just says do it no one (that I could find until now) says how, but now I see!! Thank you so much

[@_zurr]

For "negative reversal" if you're using a digital program in black and white, a simple way is to have a base layer of white, draw in black, and when you want to have inversion, switch the brush color to white and set its blending mode to Difference.

[@xx-nt8fi]

Wow I am really impressed! I have never imagined that silhouettes could give me so many possibilities creating characters! They are inspiring! Well I am truly grateful! Thanks a lot! :3

[@HardinDesignClass]

I'm very happy for you!

[@samuellouis4940]

I have an upcoming test, and this actually boost my knowledge! Thank you for uploading this, you have my whole gratitude!!!

[@HardinDesignClass]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MJ-oj2qv]

Isn't it amazing how some schools actually teach, and most just take money and justify the cost by throwing together classes to keep you occupied. My studies were a complete waste.

[@baconekko2026]

I'm so glad that you took some Traditional examples on there! I'm working Traditional and I'm glad someone mentioned some thumpnail Ideas for Traditional art Your techniques are very advanced! My Hero :D Thank you so much

[@jasontodd518]

You have saved my ass! I was assigned a characacter design project meanwhile I can't get myself out of line based design habit, your tutorial came just in time!

[@OngoGablogian666]

Thank you for this video. I work in Zbrush and used this information to improve my digital sculpting. I often wondered if there were principles of silhouettes and shape design i was unaware of.

[@HardinDesignClass]

You're very welcome!

[@YonKamiyon]

Life saver!! Currently working on some school work you helped me so much thank you!!

[@bradb7517]

I’m surprised your channel doesn’t have more subs! This tutorial was so well done and had some really good points in it. Would love to start using this technique in my draws as I tent to get too caught up on the details. Would really help to also keep everything into proportion and fix mistakes quickly. Thanks for the tutorial. You earned yourself a new subscriber :) Edit: I scrolling through your videos and I noticed a parent orientation vid. I started watching it and you were going through your site and talking about classes. I’m sure you were talking about physical classes and such, but do you do online courses? I just graduated grade 12 and have been pursuing art. However most of the things I’m seeing in your class outlines, we never really practiced on. We learned some basics but never did extensive studies or anything of that nature. I’m really trying to improve and would appreciate any help! Thanks for reading!

[@HardinDesignClass]

Hi Brad, I'm glad that it's been of help to you and that you're going into art! Is there a career path you're interested in? Yeah I'm a high school art teacher and have Graphic Design, Entertainment Design and traditional 2D classes. You're more than welcome to use my class website with all my lessons and class tutorials at sites.google.com/phm.k12.in.us/aaronsdesignclass. Best of luck to you!

[@MJ-oj2qv]

@@HardinDesignClass What a legend.

[@b.martinyu-artist2138]

@@HardinDesignClass I'm teaching a high school class in character design, been teaching for almost 30 years, and I'm taking some notes. I used to do an assignment when students duplicated a layer that was themselves, arrange a bunch of those into a shape, merge layers, duplicate that, ad infinitum. never thought to make them silhouettes. great stuff. The head and shoulders turning into the arms is brilliant.

[@CerebralAilment]

Yeah this looks pretty fun! Thanks for teaching +

[@stachu5216]

I love your tutorial, thank you so much

[@TravisTraps]

Incredible Aaron!! Really liked the cut/copy/paste technique as well as the symmetry method, got my brain thinking in different ways. That cave spider at the end was gnarly too. Thank you for the upload...really feels like im in art school :)

[@HardinDesignClass]

Thank you, I'm glad it helped!

[@DennisBLee]

fantastic video, love your teaching style. keep creating content!

[@skyeblue6834]

so imaginative I love this sort of creation

[@TillMorrow]

This was extremely helpful and detailed, thank you!!🙏🙏

[@metalshorrorhouse-kd1ih]

This was just what I was looking for. Thank you so much for the breakdown

[@geserdasilva3815]

TYVM!!! this video was most helpful Silhouette is something i struggle every single day to improve >.

[@HardinDesignClass]

It's crazy fun once it clicks.

[@Poly_Knight]

Hi I just wanted to say this tutorial is amazing!!

[@jasonluciustaylor7489]

Super helpful, thank you!

[@jasonwang7]

Very informative video. Well explained with tons of great examples! I will be sharing this video with my students.

[@emanpaints3508]

This was the coolest art video I have EVER SEEN!!!! 😂😂🙌

[@funkymarza]

Extremely helpful! Thanks a lot!

[@pauljerome01]

Thank you for the video

[@ToiletPaper-1]

Thx for making this it helped alot on my video essay about videogame charachters and thier charachter design

[@milkbread5036]

This was so so helpful! I thank you!

[@knucklehizara4069]

Thank you! It was so helpful.

[@Rin-ly8ig]

Thank you very much Aaron, this help me alot on my character design practice. Is it possible to get hold of that PDF? Thank you!

[@JesseNickelltheFourth]

Cool! Thank you!

[@snailedlt]

Great video! Do you have a video that goes into more detail on posing silhouette drawings?

[@HardinDesignClass]

I don't but that's a great idea! I think that should be my next video (after such a long hiatus).

[@snailedlt]

Wow! I definitely did not expect this response! I'll definitely watch that video. Your videos are awesome for learning art theory

[@damianogiolitti3416]

Great video. I wanted to ask you a question about problem solving. For example you did the design for a mech with huge arms 5:24 Do people expect you to know how that arm is going to move or someone else will figure out that? How do we make that cool looking design to be functional? Is it all about studying real life machines?

[@HardinDesignClass]

Good question. In the early stages of just capturing your brain on paper, functionality isn't essential; you're just capturing the idea. Now if that design is one you end up producing it's a different story. Often times references of hydraulics, clamps, industrial equipment, etc. are used. Now for the "rule of cool" I'd be mindful of two areas: Size and form language. What that means is to emphasize/exaggerate areas of importance and then stylize them to a selected form category. For example: Are you making a villain's robotic arms? Use pointy forms combined with squares. Finally, never give up studying real life!

[@BakiWho]

good tips!

[@David-qe9np]

you are my hero.

[@dio9579]

Thx sir this so helfull 👍

[@Cookingforcampers7]

Thank you so much for this! What production software do you use?

[@HardinDesignClass]

I'm glad it was a help for you! I used Photoshop.

[@viniciusdeoliveira171]

Hey Great video. is the material displayed on the video avaiable?

[@HardinDesignClass]

I drew these in Photoshop using a Wacom tablet.

[@valtaoi1586]

can u provide that PDF which u showed in the video, just finding this very helpfull for studying. plz if possible do share. btw good informative video

[@krosshj]

WOW, very helpful videos, thanks very much, but I have a puzzle about how to design the shape, any principles? I means where to use big shape? where to use small? how to make good shape? now I have no idea(no method) about to this, just random drawing :)

[@HardinDesignClass]

Good question! Here's a video by Feng Zhu that really helped me out a lot on 1,2,3, READ for detailing and form: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5C7i6eLi7WihdU

[@ishaanvyas1490]

Totally helpful, does this technique also used in concept art ?

[@amayyaduvanshi2706]

yeah of course, it is not used by every artist, but it is still very useful.

[@ryanclemons1]

I know this is a older video just wanted to say this was helpful understanding the point of Silhouettes issue is I eally need a good video showing off how to make silhouettes like say i want to draw something i see as a Silhouette what would be some ways of doing that? I can do the "looking into the clouds one" ok but the odd think is when i want to draw one that is from real life my mind can't seem to understand how to do it. the only way i can kind of think of is first drawing the forms and then drawing them black?

[@HardinDesignClass]

As you grow in experience, manipulating the medium becomes more intuitive, meaning you won't have to actively think about what you're telling your arm to do to get what you want on the paper. The method you use to translate what's in your head onto the paper will be less important too. Whether you build shapes first or sculpt blobbies will depend on what method you're most comfortable with. What ultimately matters is what happens inside your brain: your understanding of what's going on with the forms. Silhouettes are just another way to "get the idea to come out." The amount of detail and complexity (think of it like "screen resolution" but of the idea you want to communicate) will come from experience using the method that you're most comfortable with. You're building up more neural pathways (mental muscles) every time you accomplish a task, so once mastering "control" is less challenging, your brain can funnel more energy/thought into minutia. Final point: If you're feeling mental resistance with a task, that's actually a GOOD thing! Learning/growing is strenuous so if you're feeling like you're wrestling as you work, you're doing it right!

[@ryanclemons1]

@@HardinDesignClass Thanks I just wish i was not so slow to learn thoht about trying to hire someone to look at some of my stuff and explain what my weak points are and how to fix them but some part of me is always worried about them just giving up on me like my teacher and just saying I should do something else.

[@HardinDesignClass]

Nah, just enjoy creating for yourself, not for the validation from others. Enjoy the creative act. Be patient, it takes a long time on the cellular level to build brain connections. I was frustrated too when I was growing (and we never truly stop growing). Finally, receiving a critique can sting sometimes, but remember to approach it objectively and with a growth mindset. You'll be fine!

[@jokeizi213]

Hi, what an Amazing lesson for me! But I just would like to have the pdf of the courses if possible !

[@HardinDesignClass]

Here you go! sites.google.com/phm.k12.in.us/aaronsdesignclass/tutorials-and-aids

[@jokeizi213]

@@HardinDesignClass thank a lot !

[@daviedood2503]

I like this sillouette method. I can get good shapes, I just suck at bringing out what I want from them. I need help badly.

[@HardinDesignClass]

Maybe I can help. What's giving you trouble?

[@daviedood2503]

@@HardinDesignClass Aaron hey omg man didn't think you'd even see this. Honestly I'm not sure.. I make these solid black blobs and I get this FEELING like 1 of them out the group can BE soemthing... I watched your 1to3 reading videos and binged everything else, but I HONESTLY can't bring out the inner contents of a sillouette

[@HardinDesignClass]

Well I have that challenge too! I have 3 solutions that help me when my silhouettes are looking like blobs: 1. Play with negative space (gaps). 2. "Thinking Resolution" analogy. Like a digital image, a low resolution is blurry and pixellated while a high resolution image is sharp and can be "zoomed in" to see the small bits. That applies to how we THINK when creating! If your silhouettes are blobby, tighten up the mental focus from full-body to just half of the body, then a smaller part and such. Think about what's going on in those small-ish areas. Like drawing the eye from life....I wasn't even aware certain parts of it even existed until I narrowed my focus (resolution). That leads to: 3. Draw from life (or photos). These are called "studies" and they build out visual library in the mind. With more exposure to different natural forms, you'll be able to dip into more form variety in your silhouettes! Hope that helps!

[@kwecsk9132]

lookings at clouds is also known as GO-WITH-THE-FLOW.

[@pollplace1]

the problem is that small negative spaces... when it is reduced in scale it becomes a noise that disappears.

[@HardinDesignClass]

Good point. A general rule of thumb I use is to avoid shrinking any more than 30% for things I'm serious about using.

[@MJ-oj2qv]

Have you put together an online course on Udemy or something yet? It sounds like it would do well.

[@HardinDesignClass]

Udemy... I'll have to look into that, thank you!

[@MJ-oj2qv]

@@HardinDesignClass It might not be the best option for you. There are lots of online class options you can look into and see what works best for you, or try a number of them to experiment. Or you could put one on your own website or maybe through YT with subscriptions or something. IDK.

[@sociallyawkwardguy7106]

now this is a great tutorial why does you have a very low sub count

[@HardinDesignClass]

Thank you and that's a good question. I actually started this channel as a resource for my students in class in a school with really high absenteeism rates....so maybe I never really approached things from a marketing standpoint before?

[@sociallyawkwardguy7106]

@@HardinDesignClass will I wish you'll get more subs your a great teacher

[@RobG95]

Would you be able to teach me?

[@HardinDesignClass]

What would you be interested in learning and maybe I could point you in the right direction?

[@RobG95]

Aaron's Design Class i'm trying to change careers and get into the concept art industry, currently doing a course and found your thumbnail/silhouette tutorial very useful. I'm really looking for a mentor, I'm trying to get a good foundation by studying the fundamentals, it's only like a couple of weeks since I've made this decision so I don't even have a portfolio yet

[@HardinDesignClass]

@@RobG95 Congratulations! That's a very brave step, one I'd like to take someday. I'm currently tapped out with my work and family responsibilities, however I can recommend some books that have helped me here: drive.google.com/file/d/1osUop6zsxeVsQdvQY6WC5Iqlo33N1_NR/view Keep me posted on your progress, if you don't mind! Best of luck!

[@jarderodriguez6600]

Heheheh

[@zaiziro8464]

I thought the second one selhouete is pickatchu.😂