[Lain]

So, we already have a thread on whether creativity is learned or now, and ofc I side with the fact that creativity isn't learned, but the actual skills to bring creativity into the tangible world is something that's learned. And, since I now have way more time to do whatever at home, I figured I shouldn't be blowing the majority of it on playing vidya. Getting a job right now is gonna be pretty hard (although I do know a couple places that will hire anyone who walks in the door, even in the midst of crisis), so I should probably do something that I can somehow benefit from.

Reading would have been my first option, but I can't really show much for it without turning what I've read into some sort of writing of my own, so I figured I'll bust out the trusty Wacom and pick up drawing again instead.

Thing is, I suck at drawing. Like, I'm not terrible, but since I don't practice that often anymore, I really can't do much without heavily basing my work off of other references, or downright copying work others have done. Drawing people or characters is the worst, since I have no idea about how to draw anatomy and proportions just don't seem to work in my head, whether it be the proportions of a face or the proportions of a body.

So I invested about 100$ (USD) into a program on CubeBrush called ART School. It's usually 600$, cut down to 360$ at the moment for the whole thing, but you can also buy terms separately, so I went for Terms 1-4. Each term covers some kind of fundamentals about drawing or painting, and maybe a bit on 3D modelling as well. The reviews are pretty good, but I know that reviews can easily be faked. The course offers forums, though. so I poked around there.

And wow, you can really see people progressing and getting better at drawing over time (although most people tend to fall off after Term 3). At the very least, they get a handle on anatomy, shading, perspectives and proportions, which is fantastic.

So I bit the bullet and bought the first four terms which mostly cover fundamentals. I'll probably update with whatever I can draw and be relatively proud of.

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So if you've taken any online courses about doing some kind of art (i.e. music production, writing, drawing, 3D modelling, etc.) what was your experience like? 
I know that most of the time, you'll only see results if you actively practice, no need to tell me that. But did you actually learn anything helpful from said courses? Like, in my case, I'm mainly looking to learn about drawing proportions, so I reckon there will be a decent section in there giving a few tips on either how to visualize something, or drawing skeletons, etc. Or maybe if you did a music prod. course, it showed you some neat functionality in your DAW of choice that you would otherwise have no idea even existed.

And if any courses you took were fantastic, which ones were they? Drop names, always looking for more and if it's on Udemy, I can probably find it somewhere for free online ;P

[Darth-Apple]

Music courses would be great. I've done music production before, and it's very hard to learn a lot of the details. I would be completely overwhelmed with the thought of even doing photoshop without having some sort of support to guide me along the way.

A buddy of mine went to Full Sail (a school down in florida for creative arts), and he has learned an absolute wealth of skill just in a short couple of years. It can absolutely be taught. I should invite him here and see if he'd be down to join. He's done some very interesting work.

I'd say go for it. But practice makes perfect on it. On anything creative, your first work feels better than it is. Once you get good, your art/work tends to feel worse than it is. When you realize you're the one being the most critical on your work is when you realize you're starting to master the skill.

Nice thread btw.

[Lain]

I'd say go for it. But practice makes perfect on it. On anything creative, your first work feels better than it is. Once you get good, your art/work tends to feel worse than it is. When you realize you're the one being the most critical on your work is when you realize you're starting to master the skill.

I tell people this all the time when they ask about learning to write (usually students after I help them with an essay and they love the outcome) lmao.
"Once you get good, you realize everything you've written is complete dogshit. Then, you start to see how you can get better, and then hopefully you can get decent."

[Darth-Apple]

I like that.

I say this about life. The true alphas think they're betas.

And the betas are the ones who think they're alphas. They are above improvement and criticism. They never improve, and consequently never get good to begin with.