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Aditi E - @building_bloks
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drawings
Testimony
What do I love the most about the drawing camp?
- It’s doable!! And it is practical. All I need to do is to commit 20-30 minutes a day and do it.
- The way it is taught - slow and simple, yet great.
- Bonus chapters and bonus days - In the first 2 chapters, bonus days gave me the experience of drawing things in the simplest way. In The rest of the chapters(3,4), the bonus days took the lesson of the day on a deeper level ... I started doing the bonus exercise as an extra day exercise sometimes. And from chapter 5, things got more deeper with bonus days!
- My favourite in level 1 is chapter 2. I’m not sure why, but I think I liked the 10 min sketches in it, and the whole idea of flow ( the feel of just moving the hand of paper). I did the chapter again after all the chapters in level one were done. In level two - did just 3 days of chapter 5 part 1 till now, and I loved the bonus day 2.1 it was all about the various ways in which we can represent a character. That was fun!
- Add on suggestion - it would be awesome if we are given some 5 prompts to take up like a mini-project after a chapter or level - it would help us realise if we understood the concepts and how are we putting them into practice. Like working with the pop vehicles prompt after level 1 was great! ( okay, I did not complete it, I just did 2, my bad... I was kind of in the mid of Repeating chapter 2 and later was excited about starting chapter 5, but will do it ).
- Thank you very much for the wonderful course! I hope to draw from my imagination someday!
My art journey and the role of drawing camp.
(this has to come first, on the top.. I am not sure if this is important, but thought of putting it anyway!)
Drawing was just a hobby for me, but after I passed out my senior secondary, I had a lot of time, I started drawing more and started loving it more! I Found 100 days of sketching on Instagram and thought of giving it a shot (I truly loved the idea behind it). I started it on May 10 after a long debate with myself over starting an Instagram page (I am kind of scared to express myself because I always had the thought that people might judge, in this case, my drawings. I convinced myself that this was a way to overcome this and make myself better, and it did help!). I’m proud that I completed 100 days! I made sure that I did draw something for 6 mins or scribble at least! (I have a big smile on my face right now ) but I did not do it the way it has to be done. I could neither draw anything from my imagination, nor I was able to manipulate or add something to the reference picture when I tried to recreate it! All I did was to copy other artists. I dumped the prompt list on day 23-24 and went back to sketch looking at photos, and copying other artist’s work… that was so damn depressing : (
100 days were done, I deleted my account without a second thought. But then, I felt that something was missing in my day, yes! I missed drawing! I wanted to learn drawing the proper way and wanted to draw things from imagination. I found many techniques and tricks on YouTube but I was confused about where to start. That is when I enrolled in drawing camp, I bought the full course when it was released. I started it in the last week of August, tried my best to keep drawing every day, and I am really happy that I did it successfully till now. I started with the ‘begin drawing’ challenge a bit early, so, didn’t really post everything on the page, and failed to put up the highlights too, I just continued with the classes. I Completed the 30-day challenge! and now I think I’ll take a break from going forward with classes and try and practice what I have learned till now by choosing any 10-20 from the Pinterest board.
What did I learn from this journey?
- When you put effort into it, it never goes waste. Like... With the 100 days of sketching, I didn’t learn anything new or level up my drawing skills, but I formed a habit of drawing at least some lines each day. Doing this gave me a huge push to learn drawing the right way. After taking lessons in drawing camp, when I tried to draw something ( not my own ), this time, I could notice different new things in it, like the light and shadow and combination of shapes and forms in it! That is when I realised that I was making small unnoticed improvement every day : ) and even started caring less about the end outcome and started concentrating more on drawing.
- Consistency matters in everything!
- When you want things to be done, all you need to do is to start! That’s the most important step.
- Always think simple! - even the most complex things can be broken down to small ones - just like any complex drawing is built of shapes and forms.
- The drawing has to be neat and clear.
- I need to focus more on how correct is the drawing(in terms of perspective, light and shadows, and stuff) rather than how good it looks, I used to not really think technical earlier.
- Regarding the quality or quantity debate, I believe that quantity (lots of small things done with interest) will slowly lead to quality someday - and that is what I am aiming for!
Nikshitha - @nikdrawshere
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drawings
Testimony
Starting off, I'm really happy I get to be a part of the club of people who start and finish things now haha! I started the hundred days of sketching last year but stopped somewhere in the middle, so I was determined to finish this challenge, and it has been an interesting journey. Firstly, this course has organised the way I draw; I now know where I start and where I end. It also pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me feel like I accomplished something each day.
Things like circles and straight lines were something I used to be insecure about, but I think I'm doing a pretty good job at them now after this course. I never really tried drawing animals before but now that I've tried drawing them through the course, I have a base to work on and I enjoy drawing animals. I also "trust the process" now! I think I always wanted to learn the fundamentals but I didn't know where to find the resources for it. Drawing camp came as a whole package with not too much work each day. In the beginning of the challenge, I didn't know if I could balance all of my work but quickly I created a routine that worked for me since this course took up a very small part of my day.
It was very convenient to create a sustainable process. Drawing camp didn't just help me build the foundation for my art, it helped me learn a lot of other non-art things like patience, finding balance, getting out of my comfort zone, acceptance, believing in myself, and, of course, trusting the process. Documenting the process on my highlights was a major motivator throughout my journey! When I was in the beginning of chapter 3, I looked back at the solid improvement I made when compared to chapter 1 and that made me feel really happy; I just couldn't help but smile. I also think the fact that we had a finished drawing on so many days was an amazing thing about this course. I don't want to go ahead and lie saying I got through the course very easily; as fun as it was, I did have my ups and downs and I think that's the best part.
We learn by making mistakes; sometimes, after I'd posted the drawings, I'd find some errors in them, and I think this was an important part of this journey because I'm gonna make sure I don't make them again. After some time, I'm going to try to repeat the whole level again since it has been really useful. I can probably improve a lot more. But in the end I know that this is just the beginning, and I'm excited to see where I can take my art from here and also explore! Thank you for putting out such useful courses and this challenge for all of us Kesh! This must've taken so much effort!
Carlos Saavedra - @carlosjsaavedra
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drawings
Testimony
In recent years, it has been my kids who have influenced and fed my creative energy.
Being a creative individual who works as a communicator, there is usually no shortage of inspiration to do interesting work, but sometimes you just want to do something fun! This is where my kids offer the perfect audience for my creative experimentation. This past December, I took two weeks to make a 60 second animation of Santa having a conversation with an elf. It was at this moment that I realised that I had more stories to tell that my kids could enjoy. It was when I was perusing YouTube for tutorials on illustration when I came upon your channel and enjoyed the positivity of your videos and the fun that you infuse to your teaching. Almost as if it were meant to be, I noticed that you offered a Drawing Camp that could teach me the fundamentals needed to tell more visual stories.
I have always been interested in learning illustration and have watched many tutorials on YouTube, but I have never completed a structured course. I was not quite sure what to expect, but I was not disappointed to see your positive and fun persona from your YouTube videos translate into a more structured course environment. The order in which you have students progress through different concepts make sense as each subsequent chapter builds on the skills gained in the previous section. Throughout the process, I have always taken advantage of the bonus drawings and have found them to be a great exercise to review concepts – I do not consider them ‘Bonus’, but essential! The lessons are a perfect length, and being a parent of two, I can easily fit my drawing practice in, as my kids play or eat. I have been doing the lessons traditionally while watching the videos on my computer and have found the lessons easy to follow using the traditional method. The website itself is easy to use and enjoy seeing my progress bar change as I complete lessons. The only thing I have noticed is that when viewing the “Drawing Camp – The Program” module, the progress bar does not change as chapters are completed. Of the four chapters that I have completed, I find Shading the be the hardest, specifically trying to keep an even stroke of the pencil without having lines in my shading. I use a mechanical pencil, so finding the dull end to shade can sometimes be difficult. The one component that I have found very satisfying is the requirement to share my sketches on social media. While at first embarrassed, I have enjoyed sharing my progress with friends and family as they support and motivate me.
Overall, I am very pleased with the pace and breadth of content in this course and look forward to continuing my learning with Chapter 5 and beyond. My own kids book seems much more attainable today than it did before this course.
Thank you!
Anvesha Pande - @anvesha._pande04
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drawings
Testimony
The Drawing Camp Program has taught me really many things which are not only related to drawing stuff, but also how being consistent is the key to make anything a great success. Also the list doesn’t end here;
👩🏻🎨I learnt how to be patient with my drawings,
👩🏻🎨Learnt to set mini goals to complete my work to just get it done,
👩🏻🎨Learnt the basics of drawing which will really help me to improve my art,
👩🏻🎨And also to finish things, but not look at how perfect it is.
I am Anvesha Pande, a class 9th student, who want to take art as a profession in future, had to understand these life lessons/drawing tips and tricks for excelling.
I am highly honoured and fortunate to have you as my teacher who is always fun, helping , happy for others and always appreciative as you congratulate us after finishing every single chapter.
My Experience:-
I started DRAWING CAMP in August with the first chapter as to look forward what it was. I was really excited to start because I was one of the followers on YouTube who absolutely loved your work and your way of explaining things. First chapter of LEVEL 1 was really fun and addictive for me as at the end of it, I wanted to do more.
“MY HEAD TELLS ME TO STOP AFTER EACH DAY, BUT MY HEART GOES ON AND ON..” 😉
~Anvesha Pande
This happened with me each and every single day. This is what I like about the camp, that it motivates me to do more, which never happened to me in other drawing programs in which I have participated till now.
I love the camp sooo ..much and I am really really looking forward for the future classes.
Thank You Very Much ‘KESH’ for thinking about us and creating such a wonderful program in which we get all the things we want to know about art from the very basics to detailed art pieces.
Also, took up a resolution to draw regularly. As they say,
“IF YOU ARE PERSISTENT YOU WILL GET IT. IF YOU ARE CONSISTENT YOU WILL KEEP IT”
Melanie Charmillot - @iilwon
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drawings
Testimony
Let me give you a little background here :)
A few months ago, I bought « Digital art made simple », which was awesome learning about layers and brushes, but I had no idea what to draw and how to. That’s how I bought Level 1 of Drawing Camp, to get better at drawing. I did all chapters (before the challenge would start), that was great too. But I still wasn’t drawing daily and being a great artist.
Why ?
Before, I knew how to make good lines and assemble them to make a picture out of it, but it wasn’t « drawing ». My drawings were good before, good like when people see them and say « hey, that’s a good drawing! ». But I wasn’t having fun doing it, I wasn’t feeling anything. I was into results and perfection, that’s why I wasn’t able to finish anything or be satisfied with what I had done. While doing the challenge, because I’m such a perfectionist hard-worker, I wasn’t able to put the same amount of effort on every sketch every day. After barely a week, I got upset and I felt too tired to draw. When I tried again because I wasn’t ready to give up on the challenge, I made a sketch without effort, like I didn’t care. And that was my first good sketch. That’s when I realised that I wasn’t able to draw for fun without exceptations before. That was day 13.
After that I started becoming creative. In one of the bonus drawing from chapter 1, we are taught to make random shapes to practice lines, circles and waves. And from these shapes, I made creatures. It was fun. I loved it and that was also the first time I was drawing from imagination without pressure. I loved it so much that I did it again in the next day. That was day 15 and 16. From there, showing up every day and draw was a piece of cake. I was looking forward to it ! Because the pressure was gone, I took the freedom of choosing what to do every day. One day I would follow a class and bonus, another day I would draw from the Pinterest board... I started to own the challenge, having fun with it and creating THE great habit that seemed so difficult to create before.
My conclusion is the following : being perfectionist and hard on yourself is a habit impossible to keep when you draw everyday. You eventually get tired and upset, that makes you loose that habit. I started this challenge as a good student that was doing their homework, I finish it as as an artist finding their style. It made me want to continue, register for the 100 days of sketching and see what happens. I’m sure I will unlock more inner blockages that would keep me from drawing. Now I know I can do it and it’s not as hard as I thought. Thank you :)
Congratulations to everyone who had participated in the challenge. Some of you have made it successfully through the 30 days and a lot of people came close to winning this prize and have had their own unique experiences with the challenge. It was an absolute pleasure reading each and every one of your write up.
