Tips for Pet Portraits with Aaron Blaise

Aaron Blaise sits down to judge artwork submitted for the January #prokochallenge! The task was to produce a pet portrait or portraits using any medium at your disposal. The submissions would be assessed on accurate anatomy, creativity, draftsmanship, and emotional impact. Now you’ll get to hear Aaron’s feedback, find out who the winners are and view a bunch of the contest entries!
Thumbnail Art by - Puddleface - / puddleface_
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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 - Aaron Blaise ( / aaronblaiseart )
Producer - Stan Prokopenko (www.stanprokopenko.com),
Production Assistance - Kristian Nee (www.kristiannee.com/)
Editing - Dzmitry Tsydzik, Sean Ramsey (www.peoplewhodrawstuff.com), Charlie Nicholson ( / shloogorgh )
Music Used with Permission
Intro - The Freak Fandango Orchestra
Additional Music by Epidemic Sound

[@ProkoTV]

Thanks to everyone that participated in the challenge and to Aaron for judging! Be sure to check out his channel - kzbin.info

[@microraptorguy1387]

Damn, i missed the opportunity. Judging from the video and the amazing Artworks this was a really fun challenge. I hope there will be another one in future because i would love to participate as receiving a feedback from the great Aaron Blaise would be awesome^^

[@monsteradvisor1176]

@@microraptorguy1387 lol me too.

[@eddymorra1403]

What do I study to become an artist who shades and paints and sculpts?

[@eddymorra1403]

Really appreciate an answer

[@hannahpieplow8557]

Wow

[@AaronBlaiseArt]

This was so much fun to be a part of! We received 1000’s of submissions. It was really hard to narrow it down to just a few for the video. Thanks to everyone who participated and thanks to the Proko team for making it happen :)

[@COLORDOKID]

Thanks for all the useful tips!

[@h0llytr0n]

Loved listening to your feedback, so insightful! You spoke a lot about going beyond the reference, and I'd love some more information about how to do this in regards to lighting, do you have any videos with tips on that? I'd love to see one as a new sub. :) With composition it can be obvious what looks janky and how to make it read better, but with lighting, I have no idea how to deviate from reference without decades of experience to guide how it might look lit different.

[@hannahpieplow8557]

those are neat

[@TheR3alPuppet]

Glad I stayed until the very end of the video because I saw my painting at 51:55 the cat staring at the window. Thanks to whoever included that one! And congrats to the winners!

[@vladimirdursel]

It is beautiful ;)

[@leandrorobles]

Such an honor that my painting could get a laugh from Aaron and Dustin! This made my entire week! It's the watercolor at 43:10 (he comments about the size, it's 18 x 22,5 cm... :D) Thank you, congrats to everybody that submitted and thank you Proko for this challenge! \o/

[@lightthatburnsthesky4690]

"Art comes from your brain, not from your hands." i just had an epiphany.

[@usmanc479]

this comment just lead me to having an epiphany

[@johnluthoi6298]

"A man paints with his brains and not with his hands". -Michelangelo

[@sadieholmes6706]

You sign the piece so close to the subject to stop people from editing and stealing your art as there own. Or so people who find you art on other social media then your own can find you regardless of if you have been tagged or credited by the owner of said account.

[@aldwin_art]

4:40 OMG THATS MINE! I'm so excited! Thank you so much for the feedback! It's so surreal to have one of the animators of a Disney movie from my childhood talking about my work!

[@AaronBlaiseArt]

It’s a great piece!

[@facto222]

Now u got a comment from himself

[@DustinBlaise]

Love the added little clips when we say "Hello there" and "very nice" XD

[@spencerjonesvo3973]

Everybody brought their A game in these submissions. Truly inspiring. So much talent out there. Thanks for this!

[@vanceviggiano8551]

Such an amazing honor to have just been seen by the master and received a generous compliment from Aaron himself!

[@steveabel]

I’m pretty stoked a got a laugh out of Aaron Blaise

[@Flandelacasa]

such an honor to have Aaron Blaise just look at your work

[@pczb2692]

Ahh, I'm so happy to see Aaron Blaise here! I've been watching his live streams for quite some time, this is such a nice surprise :D

[@robbielu22]

Thank you for giving the little ti bits of what you saw in the portraits

[@Drew.Hunter.Maker.Artist]

You can see he genuinely enjoys some of these

[@valasafantastic1055]

Useful tips. Great stuff. Thanks for sharing. And hats off to all the artists who participated!

[@sophieha2573]

All the drawings/paintings were wonderful and something to aspire to. Love the goofy cone of shame portrait. Putting happiness back in the world👍

[@ShaudaySmith]

I'd listen and watch Aaron Blaise for any art reason.

[@kendricksparks4975]

So awesome to see my stuff in video! Great advice too! Can't wait for the next challenge!

[@pjlewisful]

Loved this!!!!! Such great tips were done so entertainingly! I love creative signatures & like seeing them like on that beautiful cat.

[@artistravel]

Loved this!!

[@2Peachcobler]

I'm glad I didn't have to judge these! Great job to everyone.

[@peterbathum2775]

Much appreciated. These have been very informative. This is particularly so.

[@santone1849]

Brilliant video loved all the art, but especially liked Aaron and Dustin's commentary informative and funny . Thanks Proko 👏

[@nickmccollum1196]

Learned a lot from these critiques!

[@feliciafaassenwong]

love this so much, made me smile :)

[@hallohallo2699]

Love your channel!!

[@Originalimoc]

OMG these are so good.

[@diahlarasati6683]

Really enjoyed this 😁

[@giovannisiano574]

Yaaa....my dog is now with a bound leg (slipped patella operation) and a collar. How true pets can give you everything!!!!

[@myriamlambert801]

Our pets are really part of our art. I really enjoyed this video. So fun, interesting and instructing !

[@klg6152]

Therye all awsome!!!

[@soberisticly]

Your simply amazing!!! You inspire me alot. Support from a small artist to a big artist!!! God bless u!!🥰

[@saii221]

my favorites! 26:18 32:18 42:37

[@mmart829]

I really enjoyed watching this video

[@marieannpascual]

I love this video ❤️❤️❤️.

[@KamenArts]

Damn Im early. Love you Proko and Aaron!

[@SparrowSprings]

Woohoo I made it into the video at 44:00 with the horse with flies lol I even got a laugh out of them 😁

[@hinzmachtkunst]

That was very helpful, thank you very much :-)

[@SoulscapeFineArt]

Thats great...!

[@KeriaArtJourney]

These are great I love the space Chewbacca dog in the space suit

[@hereticartist574]

Really loved this video! Been surviving on commissioned pet portraits after losing my job to the pandemic. Would love to have known where I could have submitted my work for his critique.

[@travelersguideYT]

I wish I could work in the industry too.

[@omrydrori1017]

i fucking love Aaron

[@shuvoarts.3314]

Very nice ❤👍

[@animesnepa]

A love the Disney animation cool

[@TheArtCookie]

Soo stoked that you enjoyed my cat in the box and dandelion piece at 44:45 and 45:01 :) (I think the wrong username was shown under both artworks, I'm actually @the.art.cookie, but all good haha!) Congrats to everyone who entered, so many cool artworks! ❤

[@kaidox5639]

44:34 " I call the ambulance , but not for me "

[@sanyogoo6017]

Call ambulance call ambulance!!!, but not for me!!!!

[@saph100]

I thank you very much because I have an unfinished portrait of my two deceased cats I'm getting from photos, only part of it was from life because it was their last breaths

[@jeremiahperko6071]

whoa

[@SilverFoxForestsDesigns]

How did i miss this hahaha bother amazing though amazing

[@meghanmercier2686]

Anyone else notice at 6:26 the dogs nails are pink?

[@guilhermebueno7282]

13:51 começou um forrozinho gostoso de ouvir.

[@zalexia27]

where do you get to post work patreon?

[@raghav4960]

How we can get refrence?

[@krishnachaitanya2205]

When proko met aron blaize

[@vendricure8801]

in Philippines(Bisaya)Proko means I'm professional just so y'all know :)

[@4ocketart]

❤💙💛🖤

[@jarendraws]

Notification gang 😳

[@philroydias5366]

I had submitted my entry following all the rules but it wasn't critiqued in the video. I hope that's normal.

[@leandrorobles]

It is completely normal, I guess. Too many entries for them to comment everyone...

[@philroydias5366]

@@leandrorobles OK thank you for replying

[@zalexia27]

every time i check your site it gives me an error any reason why

[@ProkoTV]

Hey, there! Do you mean Aaron's or the Proko website?

[@lancejames9228]

I can't print my name with my left hand

[@binimk8072]

👍🏻👌

[@vermis8344]

Looks like some of the entrants have the same problem: just can't get that perspective right. I can sympathise! Second place makes one word pop into my head: Dogmatix.

[@agkview]

I smell boar too.

[@ThatkidSquid]

To bad for me maybe next time 😊

[@natureworldarts2644]

Nice

[@dannymeske3821]

DOG GONE GOOD VIDEO!

[@meowmeowmeow379]

6:14 why does it have pink nails

[@user-dx5mg4gi2n]

Maybe they were painted? ^u^

[@sophiamcl]

Enjoyed the commentary, but the hysterical music in the background was distracting.

[@leeroyu1213]

o wow I am so jealous I didn't even know this competition was a thing lolz aw maaan lolz great stuff !!

[@omererdem964]

You are so beautiful and wonderful proko

[@MrThankman360]

I worry ppl sign it there bc if ego

[@karryesg]

oof mine didn't even show up,, oh well, congrats to the winners!

[@karryesg]

@somebodypleasecalltheambulancemycatisonfire i didn't either 🗿

[@yuezeng1518]

Me neither....

[@philroydias5366]

Mine too. And I attached a reference photo

[@cc12yt]

46:25 among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us among us

[@Vmshipe]

Congrats to the winners! Just a comment, I thought the point of the contest was judged on 'accurate anatomy, creativity, draftsmanship, and emotional impact.' from a reference image, the winner was super cute and creative but I didn't see a reference image and I think accurate anatomy went out the window :) I just feel like this should have been 2 separate contests, one for accuracy/realism and one for creative/fantasy/cartoon. This was a 52 minute video and they only went through a handful of entries. They could have reviewed a lot more! Also, it would have been much appreciated if they just searched the hashtag and did a slow video scroll over all the entries, that way at least everyone would have gotten a small shoutout in this video. Really disappointed in the judging of this contest.

[@PhDarien]

I didn’t submit. I couldn’t finish the drawing in time. Italian time zone.

[@xnet-pvzok728]

I'm sad

[@gaspachoo5046]

I feel sick, I really missed a good opportunity here. I had started a pet portrait but didn’t finish it in time.

[@himalayansalt32]

Oh no, I have missed the challenge...

[@KP-ek9ok]

Pigs have snouts, dogs have muzzles

[@aegis2393]

The music was way too loud and distracting. I had to concentrate really hard to hear what Aaron was saying. :(

[@permit40]

I agree that putting the signature prominently destroys the art. Sad. Nobody likes that. Use tiny initials to mark your work!

[@sophieneudorf6455]

I could never draw like that =(

[@meflea3675]

Oh shut up. We're all here to learn and you will too. Hang in there :>

[@sophieneudorf6455]

@@meflea3675 geesh ok

[@rocky8838]

It's kind of disappointing to see lesser portraits get a critique, yet I submitted 4 pieces that were definitely better than 50% of these and not even one of them was picked. I didn't care for the prizes, I just wanted to see what Aaron thought about them and if there's something I could improve.

[@rocky8838]

@Aurelion Sol I don't know if I can fully buy that since there's the whole Proko team + Aaron and his son to go through them. I mean, what's the criteria on which they base how a piece is featured in the video, because it seems to be very random to me and not based on who did the best artwork from all the people who submitted. At the same time, you shouldn't host a challenge if you don't have the time to go through the submissions.

[@rocky8838]

@Aurelion Sol I guess you're probably right about it not being a serious competition and more of a way to create content with a giveaway at the end due to how they skimp through the submissions and try to keep it light. All the pieces I submitted were made for clients and they had clear stories that weren't just regular portraits of their pets. If you're curious, you can look them up on my IG. It's pretty much the same username as here, only no space between the names and a 3 instead of the e at the end.

[@Jang09]

@@rocky8838 I just went through your insta posts. Here's my opinion, your dog works are good but not significantly better than what was shown in the video.( Your b&w human portraits are better ) I believe considering the number of people who submitted pieces yours wasn't picked just by chance. Unfortunately, this a video contest so not the greatest place for personal in depth critiques.

[@Vmshipe]

Agreed! A 52 minute video and they only went through a handful of entries. They could have reviewed a lot more! Also, would have been much appreciated if they just searched the hashtag and did a slow video scroll over all the entries, that way at least everyone would have gotten a small shoutout in this video. Really disappointed in the judging of this contest.

[@devyadav3273]

Stan is like Leonardo DiCaprio equivalent in art world. They both are best and they only feature in very few but nice videos/movies. Also stan looks a lot like Leo😉

[@kwstaras]

He completely missed the point of my painting :(

[@whatmemories3728]

BUY DOGECOIN

[@lynxlady5355]

I would have really enjoyed this video and I know I would have learned a lot from it, but I couldn't make it thru the first 15 minutes because of the far to loud and incredibly annoying music! Even though you were speaking at a fairly loud level, the music was still overpowering your explanation. As much as I wanted to continue watching, I just couldn't do it. :o(

[@danhutchson896]

Loving everything about the video except the music which is distracting and thus irritating. Why?