Teaching Myself to Draw for 30 days

Join me on a painful journey to learning how to animate. First and foremost, I need to learn how to draw. Inspired by PewDiePie's recent 30 days drawing challenge.
I really want to thank a few channels who's content I used to learn and draw inspiration from!
@PewDiePie
@DrawlikeaSir
@samdoesarts
@Emirichu
@bluebiscuits
@marcobucci
@PookieSenpai
And many many more
Music:
Music from #Uppbeat
uppbeat.io/t/paul-yudin/illum...
License code: BGZ2PE6PNCJUBUDK
uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/homeward
License code: LHTW0RJ7FU0HY9CK

[@sapphyz7278]

tbh, i kinda feel like pewdiepie inspired most of us ppl who wants to draw or loves art, but didn't really try to learn it properly or get into it. Including me

[@leaptriesit]

Facts! So you started drawing too? How's it going?

[@king_bob7959]

Same with me I been doing it for 50 days now

[@leaptriesit]

Nice! Keep it up! Beware of burnout though, I sort of overdid it.

[@zocker2586]

same! going for 15 days now. and ive never felt so wrong about thinking i couldnt draw despite having lots of background in art through editing and graphic design. pewdiepie really is the goat

[@leaptriesit]

@@zocker2586 I'm the same way where I've done of digital designing in my day. Glad its worked out for both of us! Keep it up!

[@sleeper6548]

You are never too old to draw!

[@leaptriesit]

Preach it brother

[@rockrockrock2577]

looking very good! As a fellow artist, its amazing to see people start their journey, no matter how old ❤ please try not to fall into the trap of comparing your art to others, your art will always be wanted in the world, and there will be people who want to see where you take things. As a character designer whos been slacking for a few months, its inspired to see you working so hard. ive lost my drive at the moment, but seeing you gain yours fills me with so much warmth. take care, always draw for yourself, art allows you to create anything.

[@leaptriesit]

😭 this is so kind thank you! I hope you can find the motivation you need!

[@evgstarjffmwidk2113]

That's actually... A pretty big difference and a fast improvement! Damn... Even I'm impressed. I've been drawing for years LMAO

[@leaptriesit]

I really have the internet to thank. Tutorial vidoes are so helpful and easy to digest. Thank you for the kind comment, hope to see you again in the future :D

[@Noahvolex]

What a great video! :D It’s always nice witnessing someone else get into art and it makes me more comfortable in being a new artist

[@leaptriesit]

That's very sweet, thank you Noah :D

[@Qoxvjskabzfaizb]

I just think the fact that your avatar is a robot red eyed tree frog is just amazing

[@leaptriesit]

:D

[@northisdead1999]

I'm 25, and I'm three months into my art journey. It's inspiring how much attention you pay to facial expressions; they really bring the characters to life, even without perfect proportions and all that. I hope you keep drawing. You're doing really well!

[@leaptriesit]

Thats so nice man! Glad you enjoyed. How is your art journey going so far?

[@northisdead1999]

​@@leaptriesit I was feeling burnt out doing the same thing over and over. Two days ago, I switched to digital art, and it was the most fun I've had in ages. It was my first time being in that 'flow state' while drawing, genuinely addictive, almost like drugs😂

[@leaptriesit]

@@northisdead1999 Hey! Good to hear! Glad you got into that flowstate, I'll bet you made some really good stuff. I'd love to see your progress, you should make a video too ;P

[@mrferret3284]

I swear I can't really descrive the joy I get for everytime someone starts their art journey, it's a beautyful journey that never ends but as long as you enjoy it you'll never get tired of it and improve little by little Very proud of the results!! You are doing so great and thank you for sharing your progress!!!!!!

[@leaptriesit]

That is so sweet of you to say, thank you very much. Hope to see you again MrFerret :D

[@MyProcrastinationFix]

Your improvement is incredible, especially with how many different things you decided to tackle! I can't wait to see how you do with digital art!

[@leaptriesit]

I really appreciate it! I hope to impress! Hope to see you there :D

[@hilol825]

That's great improvement! :O Good job on this, mate!

[@leaptriesit]

Thank you!

[@YamiCami]

I suck at drawing girls but about the NPC guy it's the hat and small ears that make him seem off if you drew him with distinct hair or make the hat a little more detailed with bigger ears he'd look more like an mc

[@leaptriesit]

Ah, that makes sense. My working theory was the something to do with the chin. Hadnt thought about the ears, thanks!

[@Longpeppi]

i haven't tried drawing for a long time but since the time i see a lot of prespectives and poses that got me so hard it make me want to draw again

[@leaptriesit]

You should!

[@juliapauline2876]

The hands and feet were really good, I could visualise something and draw it really well(In language class only lol), but hands and feet never were for me, even if I use reference 😅

[@leaptriesit]

I appreciate it! Got a lot to learn, that's for sure. Thank you Julia!

[@dodododraw]

keep going! I have a small tip try to learn some basics from drawing a box while having fun drawing what you like (esp until the box challange)

[@rocky-my5ck]

Bro this is amazing! You're improving so well, i wanna watch more of what you make

[@leaptriesit]

Thank you rocky!! Next drawing video out next week, look forward to seeing you there :D

[@shantae6962]

Amazing keep up the good work ‼️

[@leaptriesit]

I will, thank you, shantae!

[@varees707]

What a lovely and inspiring video!! Keep up the great work. I am looking forward to seeing your progress

[@leaptriesit]

Thank you Varees! Hope to see you again in future videos :D

[@sprectra4344]

nice kaiki pfp

[@gryphondragon3]

Amazing progress!!! ☺️

[@leaptriesit]

Thank you :D

[@pale9098]

i like how it all ended up, i hope you've being continuing drawing after that. i've also decided to start drawing everyday after pewdipie's video, and watching other people doing the same is really inspiring

[@leaptriesit]

You have!? Nice! Hope it's all going well :D

[@tiffertoes86]

You did great! Thats a lot of porgress in 30 short days and i think it takes a lot of dedication to keep going aroind the holidays and on vacation too! I'm also exploring the idea of learning to draw, I'm 37 years old so hopefully I won't be too old either ;) I paint and I'm at at place where I cannot really progress any further without being able to bring my ideas to life without an exact reference of the subject. I also find myself stuck doing contour drawings, because that's how I learned to draw as a child but we didn't have art classes in my small school so I never learned any fundamentals or progressed further. I guess I have to start bu figuring out how people SEE simple shapes since all I see is the complex shape, then work on proportion and then perspective. Should be an adventure :)

[@leaptriesit]

That's so cool! My mother picked up painting as a hobby and told me how difficult it can be. What are contour drawings? I never came across those. If you're interested in practicing simple shapes, I highly recommend gesture drawings to help break things down. Good luck Tiff!!

[@Drawvin_Ink]

DUUUDDEE!!!! Absolutely blew me away in the 30 days you drew. Got some actual fuckin' potential, as an artist myself, I say all you need is more practice. I'm happy you're patient enough to make it pass the struggle at first to finally get to where you are now. Very proud !

[@leaptriesit]

😭😭 everyone is so nice, thank you Darwvin!

[@OGplushvideos]

your improvement is inspiring...i have been focusing on featureless front heads for a month or two now, I've gotten knowledgeable enough to draw okayish heads now but I've still got a lot to get through, especially the fundamentals which I'm still learning...drawabox is a nightmare 😅 I've taken the advice of focusing on one thing at a time, that being front heads as i said...it is really unbelievable that you're tackling on multiple areas of art at once, i honestly cannot imagine myself doing anything like that without feeling frustrated or completely exhausted...but hey, we're both improving on our own pace which is honestly a great feeling, i was actually so damn happy when i realized that the head i drew looked decent...it's an amazing feeling especially for someone like me that always dreamed of being able to draw stuff. i hope your art journey goes well and that we all continue on improving our skills!

[@leaptriesit]

Everyone learns at their own pace! The phrase, "the jack of all trades is the master of none" comes to mind. Maybe I tackled every subject all at once, but my skills in any one category is probably very minimal. I should take some time on the basics as well. Hope to see you around in the future :D

[@bungeepete7393]

About watching more than drawing, that is NOT bad. You can't draw something if you don't know how it looks like, it's all about observing!!! The more you use references and observe how things look from real life, pictures, movies, videos, etc, the better you will be able to draw it. even without a physical reference, if you have observed something enough, you will be able to form a good mental image of how it looks and be able to draw it better.

[@leaptriesit]

Thanks for the advice! I'm using more references during the next 30 days. Hope to see you there :D

[@tehritzyllama]

For someone diving back into my own artistic endeavors, I can't recommend enough both The Animators Survival Kit and The Nine Old Men. Both of these books dive deeper into fundamentals and the skillsets required to make your own animated works. Glad I found your channel, look forward to seeing your progress!

[@leaptriesit]

that sounds interesting, I'll look into it!

[@MetanoiaGaming-tf7ep]

Looking good! I will start my own journey too. Pewds really inspires a lot of people

[@leaptriesit]

Facts! Hope your journey is going well, Metanoia

[@remilhete]

Thats amazing 😮 you improved so much in just 30 days ❤️ thank you for this video it really motivates me to keep going, im currently in a journey myself to improve my art and im at day 32 now ☺️ i plan to reach 100 days and documentate all my progress in a video some day, it will take a lot of work and perseverance and your video was a nice boost in my motivation and mood 🌹

[@leaptriesit]

Congrats on 32 days! Stop by again when your 100 days video is made, I'd love to watch it. Keep it up :D

[@remilhete]

@@leaptriesitThank you very much ❤I will definitely make sure to share it with you when I'm able to finish it 😊

[@beepboop1938]

bro I'm on day 100 and I gotta say, it's been great

[@kermot1833]

Really enjoyed the video and I want to make only an humble suggestion, when you say that drawing with a reference and following it line by line feel like copying I think that you are right but I think you should see it like to not only watch the reference and drawing but try to understand it by applying all of your knowledge and trying to understand the technics putted on the reference draw, anyways I hope you will continue your journey you have my support❤

[@leaptriesit]

omg no problem Kermot, I welcome advice. My philosophy behind references has shifted and I'm doing better by using them more loosely rather than just copying them. Hope to see you in the future buddy :D

[@_littlewalnut]

I read that comic too :D its such a great story

[@leaptriesit]

amen brother, it makes my cold dead heart feel

[@-candylovesans-]

Compared to day 1, day 30 is amazing! (As a Down to Earth enjoyer, I might have some bias) But I think you really got all the fundamentals down! You understand shape language, dynamic posing, anatomy, expressions, and are REALLY good at bust shots! I feel like if you decide to continue drawing, you already know enough to where you can focus on the details instead of starting big! Proud of you man, you're doing amazing!!

[@leaptriesit]

Aw thank you, this was very sweet. I hope I can continue to impress. Look forward to seeing you in the future :D

[@-candylovesans-]

@@leaptriesit

[@snallyman]

You're doing great!! A little tip for proportions of the head. It's a little hard to explain but anyway. When you draw a cross for the head, the horizontal line is for the eyebrows (that's why the eyes seemed too high). Proportions are based on halves. If you draw a line in the middle of the whole (with hair) head you get the eyes. Divide the lower half of the face and you get the bottom of the nose, divide that you get bottom lip. Another thing is the ears are proportionate to the eyebrows and nose (they start at eyebrows and end at nose). And also when drawing a profile, if you divide the head vertically (left and right half) you get the ear + jawline. The rule of halves or whatever is also applicable to the body but I'm pretty sure you already mentioned that. I'm sorry if it's badly written, English is not my first language and it's also a little hard to explain without drawing it. But overall super impressive progress!! I'm looking forward to seeing you continue (if you want to)

[@leaptriesit]

No this was perfect! Well said. Yeah, it took me a few days to realize that the half of the circle is the brow line, not the eye line. I appreciate the advice :D

[@noob_artistrrrr]

if you ever struggle at moving on from drawing to drawing i advise using pen because if you made a mistake there's no erasing so you will have no other choice but to make another one. i think drawing 10 more pen drawings can make you improve rather than staying on a single drawing trying to fix it.

[@leaptriesit]

This is the cold hard truth that I need to be told. It terrifies me, but you are most certainly correct.

[@leaptriesit]

Just wanted to let you know that I spent today's drawing session implementing your idea. Look out for day 10 in the next drawing video, thanks again!

[@Mau-P]

good luck on drawing :D!!!

[@leaptriesit]

Thank you!

[@bobthe_god]

How can you draw hair so good I've been trying for 3 days and my hair is still bad😂

[@leaptriesit]

Thank you! That's very kind of you to say! I recommend finding a style that you like and using a reference to add to your drawing. Also, something I learned quickly was that the easiest way to make the hair look more natural was to have it cover part of the head somehow. Like if it partially obstructs and eye or overlaps the cheek, Similarly if your character has longer hair, having it castcade in front of them helps give it more of a 3D feel. Day 14 was a good example of all those things where the girls hair overlaps an eye and shoots out from inside the hood and down the front of her jacket. Also a little shading goes a long way! After covering something on the character's face, put a shadow in the same shape as the strand of hair below it, that really helps it to POP, I used that technique on both characters on day 30, it's especially obvious on the girls right eye. I doubt I have the authority to offer much advice, but that's what has been working for me! I wish you luck Bob! Next drawing video drops in 2 weeks, hope to see you there :D

[@kwjne]

Привет, отличное видео! Я в середине марта купил себе графический планшет и тоже пытаюсь что-то рисовать. Уже около 20-30 дней рисую. btw твой прогресс очень хорош. Желаю тебе удачи, продолжай рисовать дальше!

[@leaptriesit]

Спасибо! Я рад, что вам понравилось видео! Я надеюсь, что твой путь рисования у тебя тоже складывается удачно. Надеюсь увидеть вас снова в будущих видео!

[@mikelezhnin8601]

1. "Down to Earth" is amazing, and don't let anyone convince you otherwise 2. I think one thing that goes well with gesture drawing is learning anatomy, and to that I'd highly recommend "Anatomy Quick Tips" series by Sinix Design and youtube shorts by excaliblader. They both do a good job at explaining how body parts work and how it affects the drawing. 3. Good job overall. I think the study process was a bit all over the place, jumping from drawing faces to gesture drawing to practicing body parts to drawing full pieces - but I'm happy to see you try to improve from multiple angles. 4. Not enough references.

[@leaptriesit]

I appreciate the feedback. How do you recommend using references? Sometimes I default to just coping the drawing 1 for 1, but I doubt thats a good way to learn, or is it 0_o The next video should be out next week, hope to see you there :D (I do even less references in it, so I'm sorry in advance XD)

[@mikelezhnin8601]

@@leaptriesit (imho) basically you want 1-3 references for every "aspect" of your drawing. You drawing a character - a few references + extra for the face / important details. You want to copy someone style - also a reference. Different pose, clothing, lighting - references. Character hands - references. Face expression - reference. This of course depends on your visual library - how well you can draw from imagination.

[@leaptriesit]

I think that's something I need to practice for sure, focusing less on picking a picture to photo-copy and rather using several photos to help me amalgamate what I like most about them into my drawing. I don't deserve such great advice, hope you don't charge for it :P Also, Down to Earth makes my cold dead heart a little warmer, glad you like it too

[@mikelezhnin8601]

@@leaptriesitto add to that, there is nothing wrong with trying to copy something 1 for 1, as long as one puts some thought behind it. Like - I want to be able to draw eyes like that - or - I want to understand where to position eyes/nose/mouth. Though often that does not require copying the entire drawing. Cuz otherwise one often ends up with this awkward feeling of "welp, I drew it, something feels off, but I don't know what". F.e. you can try taking the reference, taking a facial expression, and combining those.

[@rockrockrock2577]

also, drawing guys was the worst 😂 i loved drawing women more ❤

[@user-gy2ow2ky9x]

ONG,i can draw womens i like all day

[@leaptriesit]

I didn't want to say it out loud but I'm with you 100%

[@IDontKnowYouWhoAreYou]

my god your art is better than mine when i first started when i was a kid :(

[@leaptriesit]

I think you're being a little hard on yourself, pal. You were a kid!

[@IDontKnowYouWhoAreYou]

@@leaptriesit well yea i feel alot better now even if i make a mistake on my art i keep going and drawing its fun :D and i can see you improve so much too :)

[@lour8862]

I like how you decided to draw more guys instead of making like everyone else and just sticking with girls because it was easier

[@leaptriesit]

Not all heros wear capes XD

[@gryphondragon3]

Im currently relearning to draw after drawing for 12+ years and still being terrible 😟 I'm not gonna give up

[@leaptriesit]

Good! You shouldnt give up. Be patient with yourself

[@Mephi_uwu]

You on day 1 is better than me even after trying to learn :( wow im pathetic

[@leaptriesit]

That's ok buddy, don't beat yourself up. I may be a novice at drawing, but I've admired animation and art my whole life, I'm probably just more predisposed to picking drawing up like I did. It isn't fair for you to compare yourself to me, nor is it fair for me to do the same for established artists. Everyone starts in different places, and just because you feel you started behind others doesn't mean you can't finish in the same place. Stay strong Mephi

[@G1assWater]

now 100 days😌

[@leaptriesit]

Pewds got me beat on that one, I'll be doing a another 30 days digital drawing, so 60 days I suppose

[@TopatTom]

Pewdiepie really did have a cascading effect on the art community huh

[@peterxyz3541]

Paper: printer paper… maybe $8 for a ream, 500 sheets sub-20lbs thickness. Spend $10-15 and get 24lbs thickness

[@leaptriesit]

o_0 sounds like your casting a spell on me

[@rook3859]

Are you still drawing? I seen pewds vids and another youtuber named zuffy from 2yrs ago. Made me want to draw but being 28 i figured it was to late to learn new stuff

[@leaptriesit]

I'm almost 26 my man, it's not too late. Pewds is in his mid 30's I think. You should try it! If you do, let me know how it goes!

[@rook3859]

@@leaptriesit ima go for it man, I'll let u know how my first 30days go 💪

[@leaptriesit]

@@rook3859 hell yeah, see you in 30!

[@Omi-vr2024]

I can only draw good in school my best drawings are in math💀

[@leaptriesit]

Lol

[@manhcuong3035]

If you are competent and really want to get better at drawing. I suggest trying to draw straightlines, circles properly. It's not sarcasm, those are basic trainable skills and it had certain logic behind it you would be surprise at what you can do if you know how to use your whole arm.

[@leaptriesit]

100%! When I started drawing I knew that was a skill I needed to focus on, but the allure of drawing other things was too strong and I probably did not practice as much as I should have. Thank you for the advice, I will do my best to incorporate that going forward :D

[@manhcuong3035]

​@leaptriesit Thank you for replying, i know its not that interesting to do, but when you mastered it, it would be extremely helpful since you can imagine horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines of xy axis intersecting the thing you want to draw that make it easier to spot the mistake. Same goes for the curves.

[@Nerb8]

i cannot draw eyes for the life of me

[@leaptriesit]

Practice makes perfect :D you got this

[@ThabisoJansen]

don't be scared to use reference

[@leaptriesit]

It's something I'm trying to get better at. I'm working on the next video and I plan on using references much more. Hope to see you around Jansen ;D

[@ihatetomatoees]

Wow, no improvement whatsoever

[@user-sg6ii3eo9i]

Are you even an artist? Hes progression looks slower, because he practiced almost all parts of arts from the start. I mean pewdiepie didn't practiced anatomy, and perspectives. Pewdiepie didnt practiced facial expressions. And he always draw with reference. Youre comparing 100 days to 30 days

[@leaptriesit]

It's going to take lots of practice. Hope I can change your mind in the future