As a mid 30s Male just starting my art career, videos like this are priceless. If the Navy taught me anything, the very best leaders are the ones who maintain continuous growth, and are never afraid to admit when they don't have an answer. It's great to see the art community has superb instructors like yourself, showing students It's possible to teach and stay humble at the same time. Again thanks.

Did anyone think when he cut up that beautiful drawing, “Man! What are you doing???” 🤯😂

These are all important points. We think the concept of "hot passion" vs "cold passion" is especially meaningful. Maybe "cold passion" is the daily devotion that keeps the artist present and capable, so you'll be ready for your best work when things heat up!

Amazing tips! I wish I had an art teacher like yourself when I was growing up. As a child i thrived in art. My life was all about art, I had my own comic and drew everyday. My Kindergarten and Elementary (Primary School) teachers were so supportive growing up and said I had amazing talent but all that stopped when I went to High School (Secondary School). My Art Teacher did not like me at all and made my 6 years there hell. She constantly chastised me or put my art down because I did not follow her technique to the letter. I would explain that I absorbed her process and changed the parts that did not suit me or my style. She smashed my confidence to the ground. I was a hardworking student in art class, I got A's in my physical art exams and history exams. In my final year we had an award ceremony for students who excelled at certain subjects, My whole year group said I was a guaranteed winner but I had a feeling I would not win. In the end I didn't win and the winner was a girl who excelled in the history/written side and not the application side. Again I got straight A's in both. My teacher ignored me from there on out. I never spoke to her again but she destroyed my love for creativity for 20+ years. Only the last few years have I gotten the creative spark back but I wasted so many years due to a poor teacher. She is still in the school teaching today and I hope she has not destroyed others confidence and appreciation for art as she did mine. Sorry for the long rant but I have kept that bottled up for years and just kind of vented, sorry!

Thank you as always for the words of wisdom Stephen

So much wisdom in such a short video - thank you so much!

You're a great teacher man, and you're always generous with important information. You really want to see others succeed! Thank you so much for being here!

Yep, cold passion from day one of oil painting and all the rest I have ever done in the field of artistry. Never once I've started with enthusiasm, yet after I've got it going by convincing myself, I couldn't stop till late at night. Thank you for the tips!

Thank you so much for these tips and very helpful ❤🙏 and totally agree with the cold passion concept and I am still developing it and as you said facing alot of resistance! Your tips helped me to get more clarity and will work on it! Thank you so much once again❤🙏

Oh goddd the amount of detail in the portrait behind you is just mind blowing.. Love ur work btw..

Thanks for sharing your skills. I never had a real interest in art, but started after I retired which is great because of focus time. I have naturally looked at history/periods of art, started tracking names and style past and present. I find that the art has become a compulsive behaviour and I am satisfied with what I have done so far with sketching, water color and acrylic media. I see the changes in my work from last year my start to now. I have lots of Ideas I sketch for later use. The start up time you mention in set up is my routine of getting in the "place" of new work or continued work. Some work I hold till my skill level gets to what I want to do. The art is a long term investment in my abilities to be continuosly learning and your advice is appreciated as well as the observation to your background sketches that give me insight to your skills. Thank you!

Un gran dibujo. BRAVO 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

great video Stephen, love the production value; the panned back shots are great to see some more of your workspace/setup... tips are obviously great too.

One of my biggest inspiration is you Sir.. I call myself a student of yours (although unofficial) because there is so much I learned from you. And your work process is an example of pure elegance..(i took the first comment)

I'm an on and off home learner, i only use online resources to learn drawing and i really find it complicated and difficult most of the time. What I'm struggling with the most is the consistency and the fear of failure like if im trying to draw a portrait and can't the first 1% of it correct i just quit and feel down, but i try. Well thanks for the tips and advices and the book recommendation aswell!, I'll be reading this one asap, you simply lit up that little fire in me to start again. Thanks again Stephen, much appreciated

I really appreciated your answer to my question during your recent live stream re. mature student taking first drawing class. I think this video is a perfect follow-up to that, and I feel all the better for these tips. Also, thanks for the great book recommendation.

Thank you so much for this video ❤

That was really good! I already downloaded Art and Fear, and I'll be listening to it this evening. 🙂

Your videos help keep me balanced. Thank you so much. I teach but also strive to continue learning and perfecting my skills.

Thanks Stephen- Very Helpful….Heavily into art when young, stopped until my deep passion came up again 3 years ago.. I am 48…. Been working hard. Taking drawing/anatomy classes with Adam Miller this Nov in Florence….enjoyed the Block in boot camp…

Stephen, you are the most humble, knowledgeable, experienced artist I have come across. Thanks so much for these tips. Great for beginners and an excellent reminder for the experienced ones. I have read the book and I’m reading it again, great book. At 67, I continue to learn from other artists and each time, I learn something new. As a self taught artist, I must say that practice, experimenting and continuing learning will help a great deal. Thanks again for this video. Your videos are all full of inspiration and great content. Blessings and take care.

what i love most about this video in particular out of your others, is your discussion about the limits of teachers and their knowledge. I studied theatre (acting, writing, directing), and I do digital painting these days as well. An education in the arts isn't concrete. But I stopped suffering over things when I realized everything I've learned are just tools. Some of the things a teacher said THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ended up, for me, being something I only use sparsely. I'm glad I have the tool when I need it, but it's not my main tool I do most of my work with as a performer. So I really love when I teacher is able to admit this, compared to some teachers who act like gurus, whose knowledge and opinion is infallible.

I nearly gasped in horror when you sliced your drawing! I thought it looked great. 😳

Great video, as always! If you don’t get the skills early on, backing up is tough, but necessary to achieve a higher level in your work.

Love your realistic and specific advices

Thank you for your insights. I'm looking forward to a full video on cold passion and wondering if it relates to the principles of pragmatism.

I purchase your app and it is helping me a lot. Thank your for your interesting videos!

This is very refreshing & insightful video. Thank youu 😲👍👏👏👏

Good info here, good job and I agree, "Art And Fear" is a good book.

Very good tips Stephen! I'll keep these in mind while teaching. Thank you for the video 🙂

Stephen, you're the best!

Thanks for compiling your tips for us! I really enjoyed reading Art & Fear, but find myself perhaps needing a re-read after hearing your thoughts about it again here (: I like your tip about remembering our teachers don't know everything and aren't perfect, I really feel that and it's why I like online learning so much! Can get so many more perspectives about the same art skills! It's my first time hearing about cold and hot passion as well, time to cultivate some cold passion I guess 😅

Art & Fear, read it a couple years ago, and will revisit, get it!

Thank you!

I found it interesting that you tore up your work. When I was at school many years ago I was encouraged not to do that. I’m having to rethink that advice now.

I started as a student with excellent teachers. World class landscape guys. My goal was commercial art in advertising. What the teachers lacked was how to sell yourself. Start your portfolio. The most valuable class was taught by an old time salesman all about selling anything with live real world examples. Solid Gold! The marketing classes finished it off. I ended up a computer operating system debugger where your art is in your head. I still sell and maintain a portfolio but its quite different than an artist. As said, you Never stop learning!! Life is Good!

notes for myself hard skills - work on fundamental skills over stylization first cold passion - consistent level of focus over long periods is what will get you to your goal. reduce friction

your tips are realy beutifull , i can see how you growing up as and artist, thankyou soo much.

Hey Stephen would it be possible to make a video about shooting your own references including light set up. I haven't found much information about this.

Cutting up that drawing was the highlight of your video. Students have to learn that they are not making product, they are learning. You’re there to repeat your process over and over, learning as you go. (But take a snapshot)

I was actually living in Florence (my wife as a drawing/painting student at the Academia Belli Arti) when I decided to go back to art school. It’s a great city for autodidactic learning, I found, and wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.

Thanks Stephen. These are all great tips, specifically what you said about having cold passion, having the same insecurities as most artists, and being patient with our studies and never stop learning.

Thank you!!!

Thanks a lot

Cold passion, thanks.

God your amazing you show us how so so well. So interesting!! Thank you! ✏️💯💙

Gracias por tus sabios consejos.

The thing I try to remember with all art instructors is that there's a sort of survivorship bias at work in their teaching. You're learning from them the things that stuck with them and worked for them. That can lead them to thinking that those are the best possible ways to do something.

I used to get stressed out about my standards being too high; but what helped me is keeping those standards but also breaking them down into small steps or micro-goals. AND- also taking breaks. Mental exhaustion does not pair well with learning. So, once my brain is tired, I stop. l take a break. I let my brain rest. Maybe that’s a 1/2 hour. Maybe a few hours. A day. It all depends on what I have going on. I try hard not to beat myself up mentally and emotionally when I am not at the easel- because when I do, I also end up stressed once I sit back down to draw again.

Thanks maestro

I totally agree with your points there, I also feel (my POV) u can't learn everything from just your one fav artist, u need to explore more than 2 or 3 artists (one at a time though ) as per your niche. and try to break down their ways of making arts and maybe incorporate that in your work. having a good balance between "exploration and exploitation " is what I feel will work best . This is jus my POV and I am no way a pro artist but I did find many improvements in my work and most importantly I had lots of fun learning.

Cold passion interestingly informative I would love to go back to college to study Arts. I have degree in science.

When are you going to make more tutorials on here? 😱 From what I see it has been sometime now sence you have put anything new out. Keep drawing and keep smiling and havea great day ya'll.

Cheers

I love Art and Fear. Read it once every few years.

Cold passion is critical. It takes time and lots of practice to treat each drawing as if it were a job.

Nice drawing 👌

7:17 cold passion

Would you be willing to show us the portfolio you submitted that got you accepted into this school you mentioned? I’ve always wondered what a successful portfolio looks like.

No! Your portrait drawing was great! It was difficult to watch you cut it up. I am a new subscriber - I know I can learn a lot from you - thank you

Man you can really paint!

Thank you for this, was a good talk. I am a teacher myself and one thing I envy you for is how coherent you talk, haha! It's a compliment. Wish I could speak Romanian but.. Most of the terms are in English🐼 The end video was brutal! Took me a while to learn that 👌

Hi Stephen, I just wanted to let you know that you have helped me enormously with my art practice. I am trying to develop a consistent daily routine and have found sketching the easiest place to start. I wonder if you have any tips on how to create a regular painting habit as I tend to produce in fits and starts. Many thanks

What’s the name of that book you have on the table at the end and would you recommend it?

Hi Stephen , I've been following you for some weeks now I'm I really like the way you convey your ideas and ylove our teaching style, really relaxing and you feel close to your audience, I think . I see your drawing videos , and notice you work mainly with graphite. I understand that the ideas you teach can be applied to any medium but I like both graphite and charcoal for drawing, and can help myself but wonder whether do you ever use charcoal? How do you feel about charcoal vs graphite? I'm looking forward to subscribing to your Patreon. Cheers, Carlos

Love that you cut up the drawing!

I desperately need a video on cold passion.

Was that video on cold passion ever made?

Been struggling with portrait drawing for a while. Started a couple of years ago. Doing the Loomis method. Do you have online courses.. Jared

It's very refreshing to finally hear a teacher say it's okay to throw out your artwork. I feel like there's this sort of cultural reverence artists seem to have for "sketchbooks" and how you should keep all of your sketches around forever. I am primarily a sculptor and I can draw well if I really sit down and focus on it, but my natural propensity for creating beautiful sketches is not all that high. I'm not Kim Jung Gi. I don't feel the need to keep sketch books around forever. I much prefer Stephen's method of creating works on individual sheets of paper and if they're bad to the point where you don't think anything worth remembering can be derived from the mistakes made, get rid of them.

Stephen, we have a few things in common apparently or else our paths (figuratively) would have never crossed here. I was working on some Bargues a while back to beat down burnout I felt coming on and heard you mention you enjoy instrumental music, particularly classical I believe you mentioned. Every time I am at work in the studio I have instrumental music on as well. Not always classical but instrumental, usually acoustic fingerstyle guitar. I do not know if you enjoy acoustic finger style guitar, but I felt compelled since then to reach out to you and share a favorite or two of mine that, very literally enable me to transcend a moment. I hope you give them a listen, if only once. 1) Ventana by William Ackerman 2) Driving by William Ackerman. If you get around to it, and they make you feel a certain way, let me know what you think :). Take care and be well.

1:43 3:00 4:45 5:34 7:18 bonus 9:49

what did you do at the end!!

what book is featured in the shot of you cutting the drawing? looked like russian on the cover

Stephen, on your video, at minute 10:00, what is that book about?

what you mean by cold passion is basically discipline

Regarding Hot passion and cold passion (For the Christian’s). I expect some non Christian’s will be irritated at this I was reminded of this verse (Being cold or hot biblically means being active. This verse I’m sharing is likened to water Lukewarm water is not moving and is gross 15 I know your deeds,(A) that you are neither cold nor hot.(B) I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Stephen I am young art student and ai scares the hell out of me and puts me in doubt if there will be a stable in art career in future. ? I want to know your opinion

Что за книга "Чёрный рисунок"? Ютуб теперь переводит текст в видео?!

Do you remember which art school you went to?

RIP TO THAT SKETCH WHO SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR US 😢😂

I'd be happy to look at you the whole time...as long as I can sigh dreamily.🥰

Stephen, I'm so glad you showed yourself destroying the drawing you didn't like at the end and explaining that it's ok to do so. I had a professor back in college who said that we as artists need to learn to "kill our babies". Not every drawing, good or bad needs to be treated with such delicacy. It's fine to start over..............and do it better the next go round.

:D

Best advice...study anything that is not related to art or design because you have a 93% chance to be poor and miserable if you do so. Do art in your spare time.

whys he drawing reviewbrah

Don't destroy perfectly good work...

Release the chipmunks

When its not fun its not for you, but if you find yourself keep comin back to it knowingly its not a fun process, then its yours You are called for and are loyal Perhaps thats why God create a woman physique in such fashion

im best artist stf.u

blabla blabla blabla blabla !

Very good and useful information, I really like your video, it's great, have a nice day