Drawing from Real Life: Learn to Observe Reality

Begin the course by getting to know your teacher, Thomas Cian, who explains how he discovered his passion for drawing and transformed it into a career. He also tells you about the artists who have influenced his style over the years.

Continue with an overview of the materials you need for the course and see which ones your teacher prefers. Discover how to put yourself in the right frame of mind to take a positive and experimental approach to drawing and find your own style.

Learn about what a drawing is and what distinguishes abstract from representational drawing before seeing two distinct types of realistic drawings: one based on real life and the other on imagination. Then solve the problem of proportions and examine the idea behind functional observation.

Now it's time to apply what you've learned through a series of exercises designed by Thomas to help you see the world from a different angle.

Explore negative space and lines, draw a single object followed by an entire composition, and take a close look at perspective.

Once you've grasped these concepts, Thomas delves into more complex ones like visual perception and broadens your vocabulary by explaining the terms realistic, graphic, pictorial, hyperrealistic, and verisimilar. He also demonstrates the importance of silhouettes for depicting your subjects.

Finally, learn how to work with light and distance and how to create a variety of effects. Follow your teacher through another set of exercises to understand how subjects appear in the space around you and to practice all the techniques covered in the course.

To round things out, Thomas gives you tips on how to continue experimenting and share your work online.