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John Middick

I help people learn . Each week, on Monday, I publish a video newsletter called The Pencil Progress. Sign up now to be part of this exclusive group!

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The Pencil Progress

Stay inspired, and sharpen your craft with "The Pencil Progress" weekly newsletter. Consider a donation by clicking here. Thanks! Today, let's talk about something we all encounter but seldom celebrate. Mistakes. The True Value of Mistakes in Art “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” -Scott Adams This quote really resonates with me. I do make a lot of mistakes. But I never see them as a negative thing. They just are. It's information. I would...

Stay inspired, and sharpen your craft with "The Pencil Progress" weekly newsletter. ✨ Looking for an easy way to render shadows and figure out your colors? Grab your free Grisaille Method Guide and master the secrets of values and shadows! 👉 Download the Grisaille Method one-page guide In this week's video, I'm discussing the Grisaille Method. The video shows an excerpt from the workshop "Baby Luke"! I show you a couple of different segments toward the middle of this drawing process. I start...

Stay inspired, and sharpen your craft with "The Pencil Progress" weekly newsletter. Kickstart your creativity with the Goals Workbook. Time to get ahead with Q4 planning! 🎉 New year, new art goals!👉 Download Goals Workbook In this week's video, I walk you through creating a line drawing of a 3/4 turn on a male model from our weekly Friday Follow-Along series! I'm starting with the Procreate app and moving on to Photoshop, and I show you how I transfer the initial line drawing to paper. One of...

Stay inspired, and sharpen your craft with "The Pencil Progress" weekly newsletter. Are you enjoying this video newsletter? Consider leaving a tip of any size! Send A Tip! This week, I'm sharing a fast time-lapse. I'm drawing a portrait of a fair-skinned model on UART 800 Grit Sanded Paper. I generally start with muted hues for broad areas, gradually moving to details and more bright, saturated colors. I used a variety of pinks, yellows, muted reds, blues, and purples to create light but warm...

Stay inspired, and sharpen your craft with "The Pencil Progress" weekly newsletter. This week, we're talking about drawing hair using colored pencils. The video below shows you how I construct the large shapes early on. You'll see how I focus on the big shapes and volume of the hair right from the get-go. No need to fret about individual strands just yet – that comes later. Early in the process, it's all about the overall form, and how the lights and darks play out based on how the light...