Week twelve

I wanted to share with you the experience I was going through when I first started creating the People Skills series 100 years ago back in 2019. If you didn’t know, I made the entire People Skills series as it exists today (that’s 18 videos and lessons), in the span of 3 weeks. All while taking an intense children’s book illustration course, running my business, photographing weddings, and being a mother of two. Needless to say, I wasn’t sleeping very much. The goal was to do 3 more videos and 8 more lessons in the series to finish out the month, but ::SHOCKER:: I exhausted myself and had to stop.

Here's me , July 2019, on a break while photographing a wedding, lying on the concrete floor, pounding a Rockstar, trying so hard to make it through. Sleep matters, y'all.

Those three weeks were brutal and not something I’d recommend attempting. BUT I learned so much about what I was capable of, ways to work more efficiently, how to teach more effectively, and I am very proud of the work I produced in that time. And now, two years later, currently I’m working on finishing those last three videos! (And one of those videos is live now!) All of this is to say, be patient with yourself, and give yourself time. If you try to do too much too fast, you’re gonna burn out. Sometimes it takes years, but if you don’t lose sight of your goal, and keep working, you’ll get there.

Without further ado, here's what I wrote back in 2019:

While we were studying emotions last week, I was on a bit of an emotional roller coaster myself. When I took on this People Skills project, I don’t think I had a full grasp on what I was getting myself into. I definitely underestimated the time commitment it would take to make tutorials and/or lessons nearly every day. Since starting work on People Skills, my mental dialogue has gone something like this:


“Teach people how to draw people!? Heck yeah, I can do that!”

::initiates project::

“OMG, what was I thinking, I have no idea how to teach people how to draw people, I barely know how to draw people.”

::starts working on tutorial::

“This was a huge mistake. I can’t do this.”

::researches, disseminates information, develops systems::

“Ok, I think I’ve got something that will be really good! This is gonna help people!”

::starts editing video. remembers that video editing takes hours upon hours. sleeps very little::

“AAARRGGHH, WHAT HAVE I DONE??””

::finishes video::

OMG I DID IT AND I LOVE IT!!! I’M SO PROUD OF ME!!

Repeat process for each and every video. ::facepalm::

I’m not telling you this to vent or complain. I’m telling you this because YOU can do things you don’t know how to do. You can do things that are hard. You can start something with more “motivation” than “plans”, the important thing is that you START.

The truth is, I hear that little voice inside me that says “you can’t do this” with nearly everything I undertake. But I know that voice is just a part of the process. I know that if I hear that voice, it means I’m probably on the verge of learning something new, or having a breakthrough. All I have to do is stick with it and take the time to figure it out.

Over on the @bardotbrush Instagram this month, I will be sharing some handy infographics I made for all the People Skills lessons! Plus, we will be sharing people-themed artwork made by amazing Bardot Brush artists all month long to inspire you. Be sure to follow us, so you don’t miss it!

March's Theme:

people

Week 12: Limbs & Appendages

Week 12: Limbs & Appendages
This week we are starting to draw parts of the body: limbs and appendages, including, GASP, hands. Hands are freakin’ hard! But you don’t get good at something by sitting around talking about how hard it is. You get better at it by taking the first step, and the one after that, and the one after that.

We’ll be progressing gradually, starting small with tiny body parts like fingers and toes before tackling the body as a whole. Bookmark bardotbrush.com/people to get the daily lessons. And be sure to subscribe to the Bardot Brush YouTube channel so you don’t miss the NEW tutorials

The Prompts

Week 12 | march 14-21

Limbs & Appendages

Mon: fingers
Tue: hands
Wed: arms
Thu: toes
Fri: feet
Sat: legs
Sun: practice day!

This piece was drawn using brushes from my Pencil Box brush set for Procreate.

 

You can access each week’s prompts, with links to reference photos, at makingarteveryday.com

This Week's Tutorial

Live Tutorial! DATE at TIME PST

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The best place to catch the live stream is on the Bardot Brush YouTube Channel. Don’t forget: You can watch or re-watch the previous livestreams on my tutorials page on Bardot Brush!

Watch this video to gain an understanding of how fingers move and look. Learn how to draw them in several angles at various bent positions.

 

You’ll learn how to observe the hand and break it down into basic shapes that will allow you to draw it freehand.

 

Learn basic arm proportions, and what elements to pay attention to in your arm observations. Plus, I have a pretty cool method for making the arms look like arms and not bent tubes.

 

This tutorial on this page covers both feet and toes, but, we’ll spend separate days learning each.

 

My BRAND NEW video in the People Skills series is now available! The legs have lots of curves that change depending on what angle you are looking at. In this video, we’ll go into detail about where to place these curves and how you can stylize legs when drawing. I’ll also teach you a fun method that can help you draw legs in different poses.

 

This Month's Progress Tracker

You can always download the current month’s Progress Tracker at bardotbrush.com/progress

(its a .Procreate file, so you can keep track of your progress right in Procreate!)

You’ll find instructions about how to use the Tracker at the link above. I even made you a star stamp brush for you to use! It’s my Procreate version of a gold star sticker.

Share and Connect with other MAE Artists

We’ve got a Facebook group just for participants of Making Art Everyday and all things Bardot Brush! Come join our group of supportive artists of all skill levels, share your work, ask questions, and be a part of the community!

Making Art Everyday is brought to you by me, Lisa Bardot!

I’m the owner of Bardot Brush, one of the leading brush makers for Procreate. If you’d like to support me, please check out my premium brush sets that inspire creativity at bardotbrush.com.