Straight from the master's mouth to you. I didn't invent these exercises. During the 4 workshop days, Nathan emphasized two things A LOT: 1. Emotion 2. tonal abstract sketching I know most of us are working on figure and head craft, but for those who are making pictures or those who want to unlock their creativity (@Subham Sharma give these a try) this simple exercise is very useful and fun imo :) It's a perfect warm-up to your art and practice session if you're feeling a little 'flat'. Personally, this came at the perfect time. I've been in a comfort zone (form and academic rendering mode) for years and didn't even realize it. As a student, whenever a master artist I admire advises to do something, I go all-in and obsess over it until I fully absorb the knowledge and the core philosophy the master is trying to pass on to me. Nathan has been my hero and a HUGE influence for over a decade so I am trying my best to fully absorb what he taught us/me. This video is raw, no audio. I will make a proper version with commentary. If you have questions about the process, please comment here.

I made a short, quick, and dirty explanation about how I approach lay-ins for a different forum. I'll post it here in case someone here will find it useful (or will be able to point to problems with this approach). Here are the pointers: - Use light, thin lines - A good lay-in already has the sense of 3d without any tone - Avoid continuous contours, always look for overlaps - Draw through the form - Think in 3d (study the skull, the Loomis method, whatever else helps) - Make sure the outline has the same feeling as the original (I failed at this step here) - Center lines are your friends - Always check and re-check alignments and basic proportions

No surprise here. @Darin Huddy set this place on fire. Thank you so much for the energy and inspiration. You have set the tone and I feel like we are all following your lead. Congratulations. We are all excited to see you crush in November! 🔥 Show Darin some love in the comments 🤝❤️