Tempo: The Overlooked Key to Improving at Art

00:12:50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVY5gla0FNQ

Summary

TLDRThe video emphasizes the often neglected aspect of 'tempo' in art, crucial for enhancing the quality of your drawings. Tempo is the rhythmic pacing that involves drawing at varied speeds to achieve a more intuitive and confident artistic output. Understanding and developing your tempo can alleviate bad drawing days caused by drawing too quickly or too slowly, often influenced by mood and concentration. The speaker provides practical exercises to improve tempo, including drawing spirals, imaginative bubble patterns, and practicing automatic drawing. These exercises encourage finding an optimal drawing speed and rhythm, similar to conducting music. By focusing on tempo, artists can enhance their intuitive drawing capabilities, bypass confidence issues, and refine their skills, tapping into their full artistic potential.

Takeaways

  • ๐ŸŽจ Tempo in art is crucial for achieving a more confident and intuitive drawing style.
  • ๐Ÿ”„ Bad drawing days are often due to an incorrect drawing tempo, not just lack of skill.
  • ๐ŸŽถ Tempo is similar to musical rhythm, involving varying drawing speeds to find an ideal flow.
  • ๐ŸŒ€ Drawing exercises like spirals can help establish a comfortable drawing tempo.
  • โฌค Bubble patterns challenge tempo and visual rhythm, enhancing design skills.
  • โœ๏ธ Automatic drawing improves intuitive drawing rhythms and design tendencies.
  • ๐Ÿง  Understanding tempo helps tap into your vast knowledge of art intuitively.
  • ๐Ÿ“ˆ Practicing tempo can bridge the gap between unconfident and confident messy drawings.
  • ๐Ÿ” Identifying and avoiding repeating patterns in your work is key to finding a good tempo.
  • ๐Ÿค Developing tempo aids in overcoming innate insecurities in drawing abilities.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video begins with Synnex discussing fundamental art concepts like lighting, anatomy, and design, but introducing an often overlooked component - tempo. Synnex expresses that many artists have a good sense of tempo without realizing, and that lacking it could lead to bad art days, where drawings donโ€™t turn out well despite understanding the fundamentals. The concept of tempo is described as the rhythmic pace of drawing, crucial for achieving an artist's intuitive capabilities. While a consistent speed could indicate a lack of drawing flow, improving on tempo can enhance an artist's overall skills significantly.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:12:50

    Synnex stresses the intuitive and subconscious understanding of aesthetics, explaining that tempo is vital for accessing an artist's vast visual library and intuitive abilities. The video introduces exercises to improve tempo, starting with simple spiral drawing to establish a basic tempo, followed by creating circles or bubbles along an imaginary curve to help with visual rhythm and shape hierarchy. The most beneficial exercise is automatic drawing, which encourages a state of loose, intuitive rhythm. These exercises are designed to diagnose design tendencies and enhance intuitive drawing skills, promoting a natural confidence in artistic expression.

Mind Map

Mind Map

Frequently Asked Question

  • What is tempo in art?

    Tempo refers to the rhythmic pacing at which an artist draws, involving speeding up and slowing down to find an ideal intuitive rhythm.

  • Why is tempo important for artists?

    Having a good tempo helps artists draw more intuitively, tap into their hidden artistic potential, and improve their overall skills.

  • How can tempo affect my drawing quality?

    Drawing too fast or too slow can throw off your intuition, resulting in a bad drawing day. Finding the right tempo can improve your confidence and the quality of your art.

  • What exercises can help improve drawing tempo?

    Exercises like drawing spirals, creating bubble patterns, and practicing automatic drawing can help improve your drawing tempo.

  • How is tempo similar to musical rhythm?

    Both require finding a comfortable, intuitive rhythm that involves varying speeds to achieve an ideal output.

  • Can tempo improve my intuitive drawing skills?

    Yes, enhancing your tempo can help you achieve a more intuitive state of mind, allowing you to utilize your vast artistic knowledge.

  • What is automatic drawing?

    Automatic drawing is doodling with a loose and unfocused mind to find your ideal intuitive state, improving both tempo and design sensitivity.

  • Is tempo something that can be taught easily?

    While not traditionally taught, tempo can be developed through practice and awareness, enhancing the overall drawing experience.

View more video summaries

Get instant access to free YouTube video summaries powered by AI!
Subtitles
en
Auto Scroll:
  • 00:00:04
    hey everyone Synnex here now every
  • 00:00:07
    artist has some concept of the
  • 00:00:09
    fundamental things that will help you
  • 00:00:11
    improve it art form perspective lighting
  • 00:00:14
    value design anatomy and so on these are
  • 00:00:17
    all essential but there are certainly
  • 00:00:19
    other factors that go into making good
  • 00:00:21
    art one of the most important and
  • 00:00:24
    overlooked aspects of art comes from how
  • 00:00:26
    we interact with the canvas and when it
  • 00:00:29
    comes to interacting with the canvas one
  • 00:00:31
    fundamental component is tempo in this
  • 00:00:34
    video I'm not only going to explain why
  • 00:00:36
    tempo is probably the missing ingredient
  • 00:00:38
    in your art education but I'm going to
  • 00:00:41
    give you some exercises that will help
  • 00:00:43
    you improve your sense of tempo as well
  • 00:00:45
    a quick cyno for this video if you see
  • 00:00:47
    that 1x icon up at the top that means
  • 00:00:51
    you are seeing any drawing that's being
  • 00:00:52
    done in real actual time so I feel like
  • 00:00:55
    that's very important for a video on
  • 00:00:57
    tempo to actually show you how fast I'm
  • 00:00:59
    really drawing when I'm drawing so if
  • 00:01:02
    you're an observant person you might
  • 00:01:04
    have noticed that when a professional
  • 00:01:05
    draws anything they do it with a
  • 00:01:07
    graceful sense of movement and rhythm as
  • 00:01:10
    if they were conducting music most of
  • 00:01:13
    them might not even notice as they've
  • 00:01:15
    developed a good sense of temple over
  • 00:01:17
    many years of drawing without ever even
  • 00:01:19
    realizing it on a similar note all of us
  • 00:01:22
    have certainly felt the sting of having
  • 00:01:24
    a bad drawing day everything you draw
  • 00:01:26
    looks horrible in every fundamental that
  • 00:01:29
    you've been working so hard at is just
  • 00:01:31
    failing you this can be caused by many
  • 00:01:33
    factors you know stress health just all
  • 00:01:36
    kinds of random stuff but chances are
  • 00:01:38
    it's actually your tempo that is being
  • 00:01:40
    affected you might not have even noticed
  • 00:01:42
    but there's a strong possibility you
  • 00:01:44
    were actually drawing either too slow or
  • 00:01:47
    too fast on that day and it's throwing
  • 00:01:49
    off your intuition and once again this
  • 00:01:51
    can be affected by moods focus and all
  • 00:01:54
    sorts of factors but once you realize
  • 00:01:56
    that this is actually what's causing
  • 00:01:58
    your bad drawing day it can at least be
  • 00:02:00
    a relief to understand and maybe you can
  • 00:02:03
    even adjust it and on a more general
  • 00:02:05
    note just improving your tempo it's just
  • 00:02:07
    gonna make you a way better artist all
  • 00:02:09
    right so let's be more specific what do
  • 00:02:11
    I mean by
  • 00:02:13
    quite simply it's the rhythmic pacing at
  • 00:02:15
    which you're drawing this doesn't refer
  • 00:02:17
    to a single lock speed it refers to the
  • 00:02:20
    comfortable cadence of speeding up and
  • 00:02:22
    slowing down that can help each
  • 00:02:24
    individual achieve their peak intuitive
  • 00:02:27
    ability so like I brought up a moment
  • 00:02:29
    ago while a bad drawing day might mean
  • 00:02:32
    you're either drawing too fast or too
  • 00:02:33
    slow it can also just mean that you're
  • 00:02:35
    drawing too consistently at a single
  • 00:02:38
    speed and not finding the right in flow
  • 00:02:40
    of your tempo when I was younger I
  • 00:02:43
    certainly recognized the importance of
  • 00:02:45
    line confidence in line energy and art
  • 00:02:47
    and if you've been around on this
  • 00:02:49
    channel a while you might have even
  • 00:02:50
    watched my video on drawing with energy
  • 00:02:53
    from way back in many ways this is just
  • 00:02:55
    an evolution in my comprehension of that
  • 00:02:58
    subject drawing with energy is certainly
  • 00:03:00
    key but it can be hard to define what
  • 00:03:02
    energy means so I think drawing with
  • 00:03:05
    tempo is a much more accurate
  • 00:03:06
    description you can certainly have too
  • 00:03:09
    much energy and fall into a chaotic
  • 00:03:11
    dissonance but a good tempo will provide
  • 00:03:14
    both moments of energy and an ideal
  • 00:03:16
    level of confidence man the older I've
  • 00:03:18
    gotten the more blatantly obvious a lot
  • 00:03:20
    of these non taught theories have become
  • 00:03:22
    I've often gone long stretches of time
  • 00:03:25
    without drawing but even when I come
  • 00:03:27
    back to it I know I can rely on making
  • 00:03:29
    some decent looking art simply because I
  • 00:03:32
    understand how to draw with tempo and
  • 00:03:34
    honestly it's a bit disgusting how much
  • 00:03:37
    quality that you can add to your
  • 00:03:38
    artistic ability with just that it's
  • 00:03:40
    certainly enough that I feel like I
  • 00:03:42
    would be a trashy teacher if I ignored
  • 00:03:44
    this principle completely do you know
  • 00:03:46
    how many young artists there are in the
  • 00:03:48
    world that are called gifted talented or
  • 00:03:51
    just praised for their cool style when
  • 00:03:53
    often they just have a better innate
  • 00:03:55
    sense of tempo and they're drawing now
  • 00:03:57
    that can be from confidence but if you
  • 00:03:59
    can at least break down those factors
  • 00:04:01
    then everyone can improve at it even if
  • 00:04:03
    your confidence isn't great aside from
  • 00:04:05
    having different visual libraries which
  • 00:04:07
    is a huge part of becoming a better
  • 00:04:09
    artist the main difference I see between
  • 00:04:11
    the quote talented and the talent less
  • 00:04:14
    is a sense of natural confidence like I
  • 00:04:17
    mentioned and that extends into their
  • 00:04:19
    drawing at a better tempo
  • 00:04:21
    and if we can focus on just improving
  • 00:04:23
    tempo then we can help bypass any innate
  • 00:04:26
    insecurities or confidence issues that
  • 00:04:28
    you might have now you still might be
  • 00:04:30
    thinking how could the pacing and tempo
  • 00:04:33
    possibly make that huge of a difference
  • 00:04:35
    is it really impossible to become an
  • 00:04:38
    amazing artist if I'm not drawing at the
  • 00:04:40
    right speed when you put it like that it
  • 00:04:42
    might sound kind of silly but the
  • 00:04:44
    fundamental of tempo is not for the sake
  • 00:04:48
    of timing or speed the real God of art
  • 00:04:51
    is intuition and everything you can do
  • 00:04:54
    to achieve an intuitive state of mind is
  • 00:04:56
    a huge stride forward your knowledge of
  • 00:04:59
    art is vast more vast than you can
  • 00:05:01
    really comprehend encompassing not only
  • 00:05:03
    the incalculable expanses of your visual
  • 00:05:06
    library but your core animalistic brain
  • 00:05:09
    has this pure sense of understanding for
  • 00:05:12
    aesthetics and appeal and generally all
  • 00:05:14
    animals across the spectrum have some
  • 00:05:17
    sense of desire for rhythm and
  • 00:05:20
    musicality and just everything that's
  • 00:05:22
    what design theory is all about
  • 00:05:24
    discovering those hidden underlying
  • 00:05:26
    structures and rhythms that we find most
  • 00:05:29
    appealing so anyway there's so much
  • 00:05:31
    hidden inside and the only way you will
  • 00:05:33
    ever be able to pull from even just the
  • 00:05:35
    small fraction of this knowledge is
  • 00:05:37
    through intuitive means in that sense
  • 00:05:40
    there's no point studying all these hard
  • 00:05:42
    core fundamentals non-stop your whole
  • 00:05:44
    life if you're not going to work on your
  • 00:05:47
    tempo as well you'd be leaving a lot of
  • 00:05:49
    unrealized potential on the table yet
  • 00:05:52
    again this is what happens to us on a
  • 00:05:54
    regular basis when we have a bad
  • 00:05:56
    trawling day that's just the most
  • 00:05:58
    obvious moment of when you know you're
  • 00:06:00
    not accessing enough of what's hidden
  • 00:06:02
    inside you all right all right I'm still
  • 00:06:04
    trying to figure out how to teach these
  • 00:06:06
    subjects so I'm sorry if I sound like a
  • 00:06:07
    crazy person rambling around but
  • 00:06:10
    hopefully you're starting to understand
  • 00:06:12
    the importance of this topic if you're a
  • 00:06:14
    musician you probably already understand
  • 00:06:16
    that playing a song well it's often
  • 00:06:18
    achieved in the subtleties not just
  • 00:06:20
    mechanically playing every note at the
  • 00:06:22
    right moment but anyway let's start
  • 00:06:24
    getting into some real exercises that
  • 00:06:26
    you can do to improve your tempo each of
  • 00:06:29
    these will help both tempo and at least
  • 00:06:31
    one other thing depending on the
  • 00:06:33
    exercise
  • 00:06:34
    and I will be showing these all once
  • 00:06:35
    again at normal speed so you can get an
  • 00:06:38
    honest feel for the tempo I'm drawing
  • 00:06:40
    yet first up really basic and you've
  • 00:06:42
    seen me do this at the start of any
  • 00:06:44
    drawing session the simplest thing you
  • 00:06:47
    can do to establish some small level of
  • 00:06:49
    comfortable tempo and visual
  • 00:06:51
    coordination is to just make a few
  • 00:06:54
    spirals you can do them in any direction
  • 00:06:56
    you can follow them back around to the
  • 00:06:58
    middle go outward try to get a
  • 00:07:01
    continuous expanding flow to them and
  • 00:07:04
    the upside of this exercise is that it
  • 00:07:07
    only takes a moment the downside is that
  • 00:07:09
    it doesn't do too much to help with the
  • 00:07:11
    actual tempo of highs and lows and
  • 00:07:14
    learning when to speed up and slow down
  • 00:07:16
    it's really just about getting some
  • 00:07:18
    comfortable energy and just loosening up
  • 00:07:20
    your arm bit so now that that's out of
  • 00:07:22
    the way let's move to the good stuff
  • 00:07:24
    this next exercise will help you with
  • 00:07:26
    both tempo visual rhythm and shape
  • 00:07:29
    hierarchy so it's got all kinds of good
  • 00:07:31
    design stuff mixed in there what we're
  • 00:07:33
    gonna do is we're gonna make some
  • 00:07:35
    bubbles follow an imaginary C curve or S
  • 00:07:38
    curve in your mind and draw circles of
  • 00:07:41
    varying sizes and distances from each
  • 00:07:43
    other they can even be overlapping the
  • 00:07:46
    circle should be drawn at an energetic
  • 00:07:48
    pace focusing on the comfortable speed
  • 00:07:51
    at which you're drawing and not
  • 00:07:52
    stressing out about how perfect every
  • 00:07:54
    circle is you shouldn't feel rushed but
  • 00:07:57
    you also shouldn't feel like you're
  • 00:07:58
    allowing your brain enough time to
  • 00:08:00
    really analyze and plan out where the
  • 00:08:02
    next circle will go try to just feel out
  • 00:08:04
    the shape hierarchy naturally does it
  • 00:08:06
    feel like it needs a giant circle or
  • 00:08:08
    more small circles just let bad
  • 00:08:11
    sequences happen and don't get too
  • 00:08:13
    attached to anything good tempo requires
  • 00:08:15
    some level of non-attachment so all of
  • 00:08:18
    that observation and analysis should
  • 00:08:20
    occur after things are drawn not before
  • 00:08:23
    and speaking of analysis there's really
  • 00:08:25
    only one important thing that I want you
  • 00:08:28
    to check for every time you draw a
  • 00:08:30
    sequence of bubbles and that is can you
  • 00:08:32
    find a pattern any pattern whatsoever
  • 00:08:35
    maybe the big circles are too evenly
  • 00:08:38
    spaced
  • 00:08:38
    maybe the negative spaces between the
  • 00:08:40
    small circles is too consistent there's
  • 00:08:42
    a thousand things you could potentially
  • 00:08:44
    turn into a pattern
  • 00:08:46
    even just the same combinations of
  • 00:08:48
    circles next to each other every time
  • 00:08:51
    you find a pattern take note of it and
  • 00:08:53
    try to avoid doing that same pattern in
  • 00:08:55
    the future because the goal is to
  • 00:08:57
    actually not find any patterns the goal
  • 00:08:59
    is to find a comfortable temple and
  • 00:09:01
    visual rhythm that incorporates big
  • 00:09:03
    medium small and produces no obvious
  • 00:09:06
    pattern we want the created feeling of
  • 00:09:08
    randomness if you can do that your
  • 00:09:11
    overall illustration and design skills
  • 00:09:13
    will just improve if you need a hint on
  • 00:09:15
    this one be sure to go watch the big
  • 00:09:17
    medium small video you can't watch it
  • 00:09:19
    enough it really helps you with trying
  • 00:09:22
    to focus on ratios of what should be big
  • 00:09:24
    and what should be small but anyway I
  • 00:09:25
    promise you this exercise will do
  • 00:09:28
    wonders for your just general drawing
  • 00:09:30
    and design skills and saving the best
  • 00:09:32
    for last
  • 00:09:33
    there is one exercise that will help you
  • 00:09:36
    a temple more than anything else and
  • 00:09:38
    that is automatic drawing a topic that
  • 00:09:41
    has seen a resurgence and conversation
  • 00:09:43
    the past years mainly because of the
  • 00:09:45
    proko video that talks about it but this
  • 00:09:47
    exercise will train you to your ideal
  • 00:09:50
    cadence of when to make quicker lines
  • 00:09:52
    and when to slow down it will also
  • 00:09:54
    really diagnose most of your design
  • 00:09:57
    tendencies and really figure out what
  • 00:09:59
    things you need to work on automatic
  • 00:10:01
    drawing if you don't know is one name
  • 00:10:04
    for the act of doodling with a loose and
  • 00:10:07
    unfocused mind just doing your best to
  • 00:10:09
    clear your thoughts and just meditate on
  • 00:10:12
    the canvas with your pencil pen or brush
  • 00:10:14
    the goal is truly to find your ideal
  • 00:10:17
    intuitive state so try your best to flow
  • 00:10:20
    rhythmically into moments of faster
  • 00:10:23
    looser and larger shapes and then back
  • 00:10:25
    into slower and more controlled tighter
  • 00:10:28
    movements find your own musicality what
  • 00:10:31
    you should be looking for is ratio so
  • 00:10:34
    nothing should feel consistent in
  • 00:10:36
    spacing or speed you might find certain
  • 00:10:39
    ratios that work better for you but I
  • 00:10:42
    tend to find that roughly 80% of your
  • 00:10:45
    canvas should feel like larger and open
  • 00:10:47
    stuff while 20% might feel denser and
  • 00:10:50
    more controlled and detailed just avoid
  • 00:10:53
    you know half half everything split down
  • 00:10:55
    the middle so maybe 70% of the time your
  • 00:10:58
    making big fat swooping movements and
  • 00:11:00
    then 30% of the time it's more
  • 00:11:02
    controlled and you're just letting your
  • 00:11:03
    hands kind of detail in a couple of
  • 00:11:05
    things the big goal is to just let your
  • 00:11:08
    intuition start making those calls and
  • 00:11:10
    once again like with the previous
  • 00:11:12
    exercise save the analysis for when
  • 00:11:15
    you've actually finished something and
  • 00:11:17
    don't try to fix what's in the past go
  • 00:11:19
    to the future with new knowledge and
  • 00:11:21
    make something better you can do this as
  • 00:11:23
    much as you want and the more you do it
  • 00:11:25
    the better you'll get at it so it'll be
  • 00:11:27
    a really awkward and probably not look
  • 00:11:29
    great at first but once you keep doing
  • 00:11:31
    it a natural confidence will start to
  • 00:11:33
    emerge in your lines
  • 00:11:34
    I recommend coming back to this exercise
  • 00:11:37
    on a regular basis throughout your art
  • 00:11:39
    journey once again it'll really tell you
  • 00:11:41
    where your brain set for design are you
  • 00:11:43
    doing things that are too even are you
  • 00:11:45
    spacing things out too much
  • 00:11:47
    where is just everything working for you
  • 00:11:49
    are you just always going to angular
  • 00:11:51
    heart shapes are you making everything
  • 00:11:52
    too organic neither of those is a bad
  • 00:11:55
    thing but it'll at least tell you where
  • 00:11:56
    your brain set before you know it all of
  • 00:11:59
    this stuff will start seeping into your
  • 00:12:01
    normal drawing time and you'll realize
  • 00:12:03
    that even your messy stuff starts
  • 00:12:05
    looking stylized and confident that's
  • 00:12:07
    really where the big break happens for a
  • 00:12:09
    lot of artists that's space between
  • 00:12:12
    unconfident messiness and confident
  • 00:12:14
    messiness if you only look at finished
  • 00:12:17
    products you'll always be missing out on
  • 00:12:19
    the hidden fundamental that helps make
  • 00:12:21
    great art tempo so start drawing like a
  • 00:12:24
    conductor and make yourself into the
  • 00:12:26
    true artist you have locked inside all
  • 00:12:29
    right I'm wrapping up this video I hope
  • 00:12:31
    you learned something new today this is
  • 00:12:33
    an incredibly important topic to me and
  • 00:12:35
    I will keep trying to figure out new
  • 00:12:38
    ways to teach it I want to thank you all
  • 00:12:40
    so much for watching and of course my
  • 00:12:42
    extra loving to all of the delightful
  • 00:12:45
    patreon supporters that make this all
  • 00:12:47
    possible see you everyone
Tags
  • art
  • tempo
  • drawing
  • intuition
  • techniques
  • exercises
  • rhythm
  • automatic drawing
  • confidence