Stan: Welcome back to part 2 in our series of figure drawing with Tim Gula.
In this episode, Tim shows us his pencil sharpening method and how it helps to draw rhythm lines.
Tim: That's a great post, so let's take advantage of that...
And following the weight, that's where the rhythm lines are going.
They're following and defining the weight.
Stan: How many pencils did you prepare for today?
Tim: I prepared about eight because they'll break or they'll dull, so I'm not hindered
by my lack of equipment in the drawing experience.
Like especially with a great model like Sarah here, I do not want to stumble over things that I shouldn't.
This is - this is - this pose needs to be drawn and yeah, as the more you draw everybody,
the more that statement is gonna have meaning like "oh, look at that pose, I got to draw it".
You're compelled because now you have the secrets and you keep practicing because that
is the secret of it all.
You keep practicing and you'll experience triumph beyond your wildest dreams.
And look at artists like Frank Brangwyn, look online Frank Brangwyn because he's the originator
of this whole method, fantastic designer and muralists.
If you don't know who that is, then you must find out.
And the more that you practice this wholeheartedly, the more you'll believe in yourself and what
you're capable of and then kind of like a magic takes place.
You start doing things that you didn't think possible prior.
Okay, that's good, thanks Sarah.
Awesome, I am gonna sharpen the ritmo pencil and you're probably gonna have to go online to find these.
These thick ones I recommend probably the most available.
It's important that you know how to sharpen the pencil more to draw in the method that we're using.
So, what I do is I get a regular blade, the kind with the safety end so I can hold it,
and then once I have that, then I start about say there.
I give myself a lot of play room and then I just start to carve...
Nice and easy.
You want to take your time so A, you don't destroy the pencil like these are hard to
come by and B, you don't do harm to yourself because everything works together; the pen
there, the surface of the paper, the type of pencil that works best on the surface of
the paper, it all works in concert with one another.
And you want kind of like that harmony because then it creates a sense of a comfortable,
you're comfortable with it all and that creates like a confidence that you're gonna need to
persevere to reach that level that you want to be at.
Okay, so, I’ve given myself - I’ve carefully carved away that much of the pencil, so that's
much as revealed before I now start to shape the point.
And by doing that, I just keep the blade at this angle and I - see, I don't take off much
and as I'm - as I'm carving, I'm turning it.
I'm letting my fingers turn it like that, nice and easy.
You have to be patient and you have to be careful because you want your tools to work for you.
Stan: Could you tell them why you expose so much of a charcoal?
Tim: Okay, and why I expose it, cuz I don't think of the pencil as a pencil, I think of
it in terms like of a brush.
And why I say a brush is because you're able to cover a lot of space, a lot of territory
on the surface of the paper.
That's why I give so much of - I reveal so much of the lead so there's a method to this madness.
Very careful, I'm turning it, rotating it as I carve and I just remove the slightest
amount because that - A, it keeps the point true, so it's not like bumpy or jagged and
B, the pencil point itself will be a nice shape to work with, like a brush.
I don't think of it as a pencil, I think of it as a brush.
It's important that you make that mental distinction.
You're not like writing your name, you're making definable images and designs.
And so, as I get towards the end, you know, I have to be a little more surgical about
the whole thing because I need that point to be just right.
You kind of want it looking almost lethal, like glue.
That's a formidable looking thing and it is formidable design.
Okay there, see.
Let's go by the paper here so you could see it better.
See?
Stan: Wow Tim, that's a really beautiful pencil.
Another important thing to keep in mind is studying with several instructors.
I like to bring on guests like Tim to our channel who have valuable knowledge to share
but even with all these extra instructors, there's no way Proko could make lessons for everything art related.
That's where this video sponsor Skillshare comes in.
Skillshare has thousands of online classes covering a huge range of artistic and business
subjects such as photography, graphic design, web development and more.
If you go premium, you get unlimited access to Skillshare’s classes from working experts,
so you can keep your brain as sharp as your pencil.
It's affordable too, an annual subscription is less than ten dollars a month.
If you liked seeing Tim Gulas gesture drawings and you're interested in seeing how far you
can push to stylized illustrations, check out Tom Froese course called Odd Bodies.
Learning to draw such graphic expressive characters could help loosen up your line work if your
gestures are a little stiff.
Because Skillshare is sponsoring this video, you can sign up with the link in the description
and get a two month free trial.
All right back to you Tim.
Tom: Look how I have it like a nice design even - even the pencil itself is a nice design
to help my design even further on the paper and now you're going to see why I’ve gone
to such lengths to make this pencil the way it is.
Okay here...
See now how I'm able to like use those because I have now so much available to me and then
with this shape, I’ve given the lead itself, it helps me to make those rhythm lines that
much more convincingly and get those shapes more definable.
Stan: You're not using the tip, you're using the side.
Tim: I'm using - yeah, the side.
It's all on exactly.
I am not using the tip.
I use the side and like I said, I think of it as a brush because I wanted to cover a
lot of territory on the surface of the paper, feel the flow, capture the design, feel the movement, the shape.
And this is the Fred Fixler method of sharpening.
I sharpen it in such a way the more I draw and if I keep it at that angle, the pencil
actually keeps forming itself, so it never dulls unless of course you break it or something
and it just keeps getting more and more - the point becomes more and more pleasant and easy to work with.
Okay, let's say now, let's do a head.
If you hold it at the right angle and you keep it there, the pencil just becomes more
evolved for the type of drawing you do.
If you see Riley's stuff, definitely the - the history's there but Fred kind of took it - well,
and modified it to his own.
The result is pretty much the same but their approach is a little customized to their own needs.
Getting back to the pencil, see the pencil kind of just - now takes on its own life because
I’ve given it the shape that the more I use it properly, the more it adapts.
But if you the viewer find it useful, then use it.
Stan: How long did you study with Fred?
Tim: Let me see, from 1981 to 1984 or five.
So yeah, yeah, four or five years.
He was - he was a tough teacher but you know, at the time, I wasn't too happy about that,
but looking back now, I'm glad.
It's funny how that goes.
Why you're - experiencing it's like "oh god, why am I doing this?", but then afterwards,
usually I look back and I thank God I did.
I'll tell you what, like for instance like he would like look at your drawing and he
just go like "you're never gonna get it.
I don't know why you're here.
I don't know whether to take your money or give it back" and it'd be like "oh, did he say that?
Oh no".
But somehow that would only make you that much more adamant about the whole thing.
"I’ll show you, you'll see, you'll see, I will get this no matter what" and luckily I did.
Here's a true story that he - because later I confronted him and I'm like "what's with
all that harshness" and he says, well here's an example of how Riley was, Frank Riley his teacher
Now look enough imagine this class, it was him, James Bama, Mort Drucker, Jack Davis,
all in his class
I mean, like a lot of these great artists you know, and Riley would come in one time
and everybody be working away feverishly with the model and Riley would take his kind of
like aloof survey and he's like "uhh what's the use?".
I mean, can you imagine that, I mean, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Frank, Bama, I mean and
Riley, what's the use?
So you know, and then he says okay, I get it, it's like and through that intimidation
that you know it sparked some kind of like "okay then, that's it, I will get this, I
am NOT gonna be put off like that".
And a lot of people would leave you know with tears, but a lot of people hung on their tenaciously
and you know, us the viewers or the fans are all better for it because look how like good
all those people I mentioned became thanks to him.
And in Fred's class you know, it was me, there was Glenn Orbick, I mean, a lot of good people
there too Greg Pro, and we all - we all suffered together.
Mark Webstermore, Laurel Blechman...
Fantastic artist.
And we all grew together and we all evolved and it's a good thing.
And it did, the collective does form.
Like you - you can feel it, the pulse and it is, it's atmospheric after a while.
And it was, and Fred was the - the catalyst.
And had he not been so harsh and intimidating, who knows, we might not have taken it as seriously
and not had felt the value of it once we finally got at a certain level like "oh man, we earned
that", and that's important to grow as a person and an artist.
Stan: So, how can people find you?
Tim: Just put Tim Gula Instagram and bam!
All of a sudden you'll be inundated with imagery.
Stan: Anything else?
Tim: And YouTube, yeah, and then you can also see me draw and get my secrets and use them
for your own benefit.