r/ArtistLounge • u/Plastic-Reward-446 • 13h ago
Learning Resources For Artists đ Why Does the Creator of DrawABox Teach People How to Draw, Even Though He Isn't a Top Artist Himself?
Hi, everyone! Iâve been wondering about something interesting. We all know DrawABox -itâs a great and very popular free resource for learning the basics.
But Iâve noticed a paradox: the course creator himself (Uncomfortable) is only an intermediate-level artist. Many course graduates -young concept artists and illustrators aged 21â25 - produce work thatâs far more impressive. Not to mention the professionals on ArtStation, who create true masterpieces
Why is that the case? Is it really true that you donât have to be a brilliant artist yourself to develop an effective teaching method? Have you encountered something similar in other fields? Iâd be interested to hear your thoughts on the distinction between âknowing how to doâ and âknowing how to teach.â
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u/LogPotential5984 Digital artist 12h ago
Art is subjective. While there is sometimes clear indicators of what level someone might be at, other times it might be debated based on personal opinion.
Teaching art isn't just being good at art. I've known some fantastic artists who suck at teaching and vise versa. Teaching is it's own skill. I think the fact that the program is producing artists that "exceed" the skills of the creator is proof that what he's doing is beneficial.
I looked through the creator's portfolio and it seems like his strongest stuff is the more technical things you learn in drawabox which is the most important thing.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 10h ago
So, you don't like him as an artist, but you're okay with the way he teaches âbasic informationââthe simplest, very first step, right?
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u/Skeik Hobby Artist - Ink & Digital 12h ago
Did your math teacher need to have a PhD to teach you arithmetic? Did your music teacher need to have a platinum album to teach you to read sheet music?
Most of us going through life aren't the top of our fields. That doesn't mean we don't have useful things to offer to others. What draw a box teaches is a very specific slice of perspective and draftsmanship. You don't need to be Norman Rockwell to teach perspective.
Being an artist is something different, and it involves so much more than drawing forms in perspective. Art itself is subjective. What you think is a masterpiece isn't objectively true for everyone. Really this just feels like an excuse to share that you don't think Uncomfortable is a good artist.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
"Did your math teacher need a Ph.D. to teach you arithmetic? Did your music teacher need a platinum album to teach you how to read sheet music? "Wouldn't that be a HUGE PLUS???? As far as I'm concerned, obviously yes. You canât compare math and drawing. Theyâre different things. Listen, if youâre a great driver, itâs easier for you to explain to others how to do it. You have more skill and experience. If youâre a great cook, you have more experience to pass on. Why isnât it the same with drawing?
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u/Skeik Hobby Artist - Ink & Digital 12h ago
Get rid of the term art & drawing for now. It's too nebulous, too broad, to be referred to as a specific skill.
What Draw a Box teaches you is perspective and construction. Perspective is an objective skill. It's literally math just like arithmetic so yes, you CAN compare them. Draw a box tries to teach you how to do that freehand, and that is a skill that Uncomfortable excelled at as a prop artist.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 10h ago
Yeah, that sounds about right. After all, these are objective things that follow the rules, and they can be verified.
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u/EllenYeager 12h ago edited 12h ago
I think his portfolio is alright, a lot of male concept artists from the 2010s have that type of style.
Bear in mind he doesnât really have a strong social media presence and a lot of the art in his portfolio also looks old (posted 4-10 years ago). Not all artists or concept artists have 500k followers and an active patreon. A lot of really good concept artists barely have any online presence and you wouldnât even know their name, they just submit their portfolios to job applications through direct portals because a lot of it may be under tight NDAs. I have friends who are concept artists and their best or most recent work isnât on their website precisely because of NDAs. sometimes a company even tries to bar you from using your work in a portfolio for job applications âbecause NDAâ. I know people whose projects have been cancelled and they were literally left with nothing, some of them illegally downloaded their work anyway and some let go.
That being said I donât know anything about him or how heâs doing career wise. He may be drawing at a much higher level by now and we donât know it. Or he may be exactly the same. Itâs really hard to tell since he doesnât have much updated work. There are lots of concept artists out there who have average work and work for a small studio. Itâs not GTA6 but itâs still dignified work that takes skill. Youâd be surprised at how much concept art also relies on someone being pleasant to work with and able to meet deadlines. I know a team lead who told me they hired someone with a âboring art styleâ but âgod damn sheâs so fast and reliable, she takes critique wellâ. Iâve also known teams that deliberately avoid big art influencers because some have a hard time shutting up and not talking about work on social media.
Also iirc drawabox was kind of a crowd sourced effort and uncomfortable was the one who helped to organise and collect all the info from Reddit into a proper website and keep it running. so heâs not the ultimate grand master at art education who designed the entire course all by himself. I think itâs unfair to judge the quality of drawaboxâs tutorials just based on how good you think one guyâs skill level is. A lot of other uncredited artists contributed their advice and opinions to it as well.
Iâve personally never successfully followed drawabox tutorials because that system just didnât fit my learning style. Itâs a helpful, free resource but YMMV.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 10h ago
Have you found another systemâor other, more effective systems?
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u/EllenYeager 8h ago edited 8h ago
I have a lot of difficulty following step by step courses. Iâm not sure if itâs because Iâm neurodivergent.
online self directed courses were completely useless for me because I have trouble following steps and staying consistent. in person classes, workshops or portfolio reviews were a bit more helpful because I could talk to people and receive instant real time feedback, itâs so different when someone is physically pointing at your work and explaining whatâs working and whatâs not.
I generally made the most progress when I drew stuff I was interested in and committed to FINISHING every piece rather than abandon it or get stuck in an endless loop of studies. It was more engaging for me to figure out how to solve problems on the go (eg: okay my perspective sucks, how do I fix it? okay my pose sucks, how can I fix it?).
also having art friends to talk to really help. I never made it as a concept artist but some of them did, I ended up in graphic design (youâd be surprised at the amount of overlap) but Iâm grateful for their insight as industry professionals. some are in humble studios and some were in AAA studios prior to the massive layoffs. I still draw and illustrate a lot and still have dreams of creating my own IP.
I think we all have different learning methods. Some people thrive under having a strict format and for some other people itâs more autonomous and intuitive. Knowing your learning style really helps!
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u/earofjudgment 12h ago
Iâve never heard of him.
Some people are good at teaching. Some people may be amazing artists but have zero interest in teaching. If this guy is offering classes and his students feel like theyâre learning useful stuff from him, why do you care whether or not heâs a âtop artistâ?
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u/redroundbag 12h ago
Idk I never saw a single example of my Art teacher actually doing any art but somehow she gave advice that resulted in everyone producing better art. Also my understanding is that it's a course for learning to draw no? A person could only be interested in it to learn to draw ideas for 3d printing or something like that and they wouldn't necessarily care that the teacher isn't a pro oil painter or something
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u/BrigadoonFound 12h ago
First, who determines whether one artist is better than another? Art is subjective, and technical proficiency is only one measure of artistic ability.
Second, not everyone's talents lie in the same direction. Being an accomplished artist and being an effective teacher require different skills. Some extraordinarily talented artists couldn't teach a beginner how to draw a straight line, while others have a gift for explaining techniques and helping people develop their abilities.
There's also something to be said for recognizing a need, developing a teaching method, and building a successful educational resource around it. That takes creativity, initiative, and business sense.
And if his students are producing work you consider superior to his own, doesn't that suggest he's doing a rather good job of teaching?
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
It is up to the viewer or client to decide, based on their own experience and the quality of the work compared to that of other artists. As the saying goes, a taste for good food comes from eating good food. Itâs true that developing a teaching methodology is a completely different skill. But arenât the truly great teachers precisely those rare individuals who create masterpieces themselves and can explain to others how to do the same? When I spoke of good work, I wasnât referring to the graduates of his courses, but to graduates of art universities.
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u/BrigadoonFound 10h ago
Interestingly, you've just agreed with one of my central points: that teaching methodology and artistic proficiency are different skills.
But now you've shifted the question from whether someone can be an effective teacher to whether they qualify as a truly great teacher. Those are two different arguments.
You've also clarified that your comparison was with art university graduates rather than his own students, which changes the premise I was responding to.
And we're still left with the original question: who determines what constitutes a masterpiece? Artistic merit isn't necessarily an objective measurement, nor does the ability to produce a masterpiece automatically confer the ability to teach someone else how to create one.
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u/Ok-Bet-9392 12h ago
Iâm not even a Drawabox fan, but just cause you can draw doesnât mean youâre good at teaching it. Being a top artist and a good teacher is very few.
Iâd saw heâs pretty good at what heâs teaching though. Whether you buy into it or not his perspective and form construction are pretty good.
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u/BrookeToHimself 12h ago
Mark Kistler from the educational show Secret City is still at it (on instagram.) He has his techniques down, but otherwise he is unexceptional as an artist and it hasn't changed much; and yet he has inspired millions and gotten a lot of people a leg up into even attempting 3D perspective drawing. His mentor was a teacher Bruce "if you can write your name, you can draw" McIntyre (former Disney animator.) https://youtu.be/U-Igf5O6Bfg
Kimon Nicolaides (1892â1938) ~ The Natural Way to Draw ~ was the original inspiration. He thought that drawing was a skill anyone could acquire through practice and techniques, not innate natural talent.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
I understand what you're saying, but inspiration isn't what I was asking about. Inspiration is a personal matter for everyone. I was asking whether someone who doesn't draw professionally should teach.
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u/KillKennyG 12h ago
In my experience the people who have early knacks for an art form develop the hallmarks of their eye, taste and vision in a way that is impossible to describe and break down. To me it seems it comes from some combination of very early childhood habits or obsessions, and personal things that donât translate to a lesson structure.
I have had some amazing revelations and individual concepts taught to me by such people (as a musician) but their overall pedagogy was nonsensical to me, those individual concepts they could explain well were geared toward someone already advanced. They had progressed so fast, so young, that they couldnât seperate out a formula for basics they had intuited before they were teenagers. (Speaking of great artists who didnât later go through a teaching curriculum to be educators)
On the other hand, more ânormalâ people who built the steps of their craft later in life were better at remembering their own learning process because they learned older or had to start over a few times- they were less âimpressiveâ as artists compared to the legends, but were WAAAAAAY more helpful as guides and mentors, and personally I appreciated them more because of it.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
To put it bluntly, it's possible to be a good teacher but a mediocre artist who is outclassed by many others.
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u/ka_art 12h ago
What are you considering intermediate about their art?
I hadn't checked out their portfolio before so I checked it out... looks pretty good to me, and it looks like their skills are enough to make a living.
I belive drawabox is based on a class he took and worked with that professor to create drawabox.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
You clearly haven't seen enough. His work is worse than that of many graduates.
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u/ThinkLadder1417 12h ago
I found drawabox super useful for helping learn to use construction, and therefore my imagination, when drawing. I think because they have aphantasia they're an excellent resource, for those of us that also don't have a visual imagination that we can use as a mental reference
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
I think your case is too specific. Besides, you didn't answer my question.
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u/ThinkLadder1417 12h ago
Don't think it's that niche. Whilst most people have some visual imagination, only a minority have a very clear image that they can hold long enough to draw well from.
Every beginner (his target audience) benefits from learning construction techniques.
The answer to your question being even though you don't rate their art, they still draw much better than most people, and therefore most people new to drawing can benefit.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 10h ago
Don't you think that a teaching method from a more talented artist would be more effective? Do you perhaps even know of any such methods?
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u/ThinkLadder1417 10h ago
For what he's teaching i don't think so no
Is called draw a box, not "become a master in fine art"
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u/Ok_Tradition_7996 12h ago
I personally don't like the guy, but it's important to understand that teaching is different than performing. Is the coach of a football team the best player? Was Mike Tyson's coach better than him at boxing? Marshall Vandruff isn't a AAA artist but he's a AAA teacher. Plenty of AAA artists suck at teaching because they just do it intuitively without being able to explain it, or they don't have the right personality for teaching.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
I understand what you're saying, but wouldn't it be a huge advantage if the teacher were, at the very least, a professional? After all, the work of this course's author is far from commercial.
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u/teamboomerang 12h ago
100% this. My own son is an okay hockey player, minor pro, not going to the NHL, but he is pursued relentlessly for coaching. Rink owners and parents alike chase him down as do pro players playing at a higher level than he will achieve.
Not even CLOSE to the only example of this, and it works both ways. People can be amazing at at the top at teaching but only okay as a performer, and people can be a top performer and not be able to teach at all.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
I understand when someone knows how to do something but isn't good at teaching it. The logic here is clear. But how is it possible to teach something you don't know how to do very well? How can that work?
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u/Ms_Smythe 12h ago
It's not for everyone but I believe in the results. It's a very technical approach to making art. I personally believe that it's what makes the course very open for teaching even if the person has an intermediate level of understanding everything.
Like for example I can tell when a perspective/anatomy is wrong despite not being an expert in it. The course is very detailed to the point where students themselves can critique and share opinions on other students.
I've tried the course it's not for me but have seen people who actually take it very seriously become successful artists. You just have to rely on other students/artists if you want to keep improving.
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u/bogdemon 13h ago
I actually find drawabox pretty frustrating. Especially if you "turn in homework" it'll be a different person each time and no one can actually see progress you're making like that
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
I understand, but what do you think about the topic of my question?
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u/bogdemon 5h ago
I think they want to teach to pass on the joy of art and creation. You can understand the principals and elements of art and still for whatever reason not be the most exceptional artist and that's perfectly valid. Those can who can't(and I'm just using it as an expression here) teach! Also, since he's teaching art, he's constantly practicing so in theory his art will constantly improve
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u/Weary-Temporary-7297 13h ago
There is always someone further down the line than you wishing they can draw the way you do. They might not be the most skilled but they are doing what they can to help people improve and possibly surpass them.
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u/Plastic-Reward-446 12h ago
Of course there will be someone better, but shouldn't someone who teaches others be âreally goodâ?
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u/Weary-Temporary-7297 12h ago
Really good is subjective. There is also the old saying "Those who can, do. Those who can't, Teach." If all teaching had to be just from the top tier of their field then there wouldn't be many people trying to teach the next batch of artists.
I'm not the best artist in the world either but when I have a kid ask me at my convention table how to draw a hand or something, I'm able to sketch a quick rough on how I build and pose a hand for them to take away and learn, have had a couple come back the following year to show what they can do now using my technique.
It's all about picking and choosing what you wanna learn and what fits with the way you learn. Then moving onto a more experienced teacher if you feel you outgrow the first.
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u/defdump- 13h ago
He's at the intersection of being a good artist and a good pedagogue - what you want for the fastest way to progress through introductory skills.
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