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Check out my Free Illustration Mini Workshop where I share my journey from Amateur to Pro: https://www.thedrawingcodex.com/illustrationworkshop
You will get some simple advice on how to get more detail and polish in your work. How to think about composition. And my thoughts on how to prepare for professional work.

   • E50: The Hidden Power of Artistic Intent  

Most artists waste years doing studies and exercises that never actually improve their art - here's why practicing through real projects is the only way to truly get better.

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Most artists are practicing wrong. They're doing endless studies, rendering gray boxes, copying anatomy diagrams - but never actually getting better at making the art they want to create. In this video, I break down why traditional practice methods often fail and what actually works.

The problem isn't that you need more tutorials or exercises. It's that you're not integrating your skills through actual art-making. I learned this the hard way when I got my first professional comic book job. I thought I needed better technical skills, but the real issues were completely different - my process was wrong, my visual library was lacking in specific areas, and I wasn't practicing at the right scale.

I share the story of my Seven Pirates comic book project, showing actual pages where things went wrong and how I fixed them. The transformation didn't come from more studies - it came from committing to the project and learning through doing. Over 62 pages, I discovered what I actually needed to practice, not what I thought I needed.

The key insight: You have to practice making the actual art you want to create. Studies and exercises only help if you integrate them into your real workflow with your actual tools and processes. Otherwise, you're just getting good at doing studies.

This video covers:

Why the Five Elements of Drawing matter for practice
How visual library and foundation actually connect
The integration problem that stops artists from improving
My professional comic book story and what really went wrong
The difference between what I thought I needed vs reality
How to practice with clear intent
Escaping tutorial hell by making real art

Stop doing endless exercises. Start making the art you actually want to create. That's where real improvement happens.
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00:00 Intro
02:13 Welcome
02:56 The Five Elements & How Practice Fits In
14:03 Common Practice Pitfalls & Integration Issues
22:40 Seven Pirates: When Theory Meets Reality
41:32 Breaking the Study Cycle: Practice Making The Art You Want
51:51 Out





Happy Drawing!

Tim Mcburnie

Learn Drawing and Illustration from me: www.thedrawingcodex.com

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