Studio Ink

Elemental Path - Quick Access

FORGING GREAT ARTISTS SINCE 2022

Specialty Path - Quick Access

Yoru: Hi! New here? Read Below!

Welcome students to Studio Ink! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Grandmaster Yoru, the only feline in existence to have achieved the title! I'm in charge of making something out of you.

Listen up! As you go through these lessons you might--no, YOU WILL--get frustrated. You WILL at points doubt yourself and you WILL get impatient. It's natural. After all, we're all just trashbags aiming to be better trashbags.

So do me a favor. Close your eyes. And take a deep breath. UOHHHHHHHHHHHH ......... HHHHHAAAAAAAAaaaaaa. Again. UOHHHHHHHHHHH ....... HHHHHHAAAAAAaaaaaa.

Good. Now anytime that you get overwhelmed I want you to pause. Take a break. Breath.

Your journey will be tough. But it should not be torturous. Take it easy!

I recommend almost everyone start with The 4 Main Elements. It's our foundational course and covers everything you need to know to be able to succeed in later courses and challenges.

I only advise skipping this course if you're a professional or advanced draftsman with a rock-solid understanding of form, space, perspective, and value. As an advanced draftsman, you should be able to take ANY subject matter and realistically portray it from ANY perspective possible. Photocopying does not count. You also need to be able to break a subject down into simple shapes and understand how these shapes come together to eventually form the final product.

Yoru w/ apple

Yoru breathing

Yoru's Greetings

Where to Start

Studio Ink recognizes a total of 8 artistic elements. These elements build on top of each other and are the keys to producing stunning representational art. A Master Draftsman of Studio Ink has successfully mastered all 8.

Without this element, none of the others would exist. Understanding Line means understanding that images are quite simple at their core. They are made up of many lines and dots strung together to represent something real.

This element focuses on putting lines together to create the illusion of something tangible and three-dimensional.

Manipulation is the art of taking a simple structure and then bending it at your will to create something more complex.

Deconstruction is the practice of taking complex objects around you and breaking them down into simple structures. By doing this, you come to better understand your subject of study and are able to more easily rebuild it in the future.

The Elements Explained

Line

Structure

Manipulation

Deconstruction

The first of the Advanced Elements. Light is indispensable, without it we wouldn't be able to see. But, where does it come from? How does it behave? By understanding the properties of light, we are able to craft better illusions and take control of how the viewer's eyes move around an image.

Most of us are lucky enough to have eyes that can see a large & beautiful spectrum of colors.

Is there a proper way to go about laying out and designing an image? Yes and no. Composition is all about learning what our eyes like to see and using that knowledge to our advantage.

Our final element is all about emotion and creativity. It's about gripping your audience and crafting such compelling images that they want to see more. Artists that have reached this point know how to make technically accurate images. Now they must hone their ability to tell stories and evoke feeling through those images.

Light

Color

Composition

Storytelling

The 4 Main Elements (Foundation Course)

Line. Structure. Manipulation. Deconstruction.

These four elements are vital to your success as a draftsman.

Master these and you'll be unstoppable.

Foundational Trials

Think you've got the elements down? Time to put them to the test.

The Grand Atelier inducts only the best potential members.

Let the Trials begin.

The Advanced Elements

Light. Color. Composition.

Ready to dive deeper?

Learn how to bring more life to your pieces.

A Word of Advice

Enjoy the process. Do not focus on the end result. Do not beat yourself up for making a bad drawing. We've all been there. Even I, the great Yoru, did not come out of the womb knowing how to draw hot, steamy, voluptuous--ahem--bread.

You will struggle. You will not get everything right away. And that's OKAY. If you're stuck, ask for help! That's what our community is for.

Art is not difficult. Placing marks on a canvas is not difficult. Patience, however, is difficult. It takes an immense amount of time and practice to become great. You will need to put in hundreds upon hundreds of hours. Thousands eventually. Your skill level will not reach the skill level of your favorite artist in a month. Prolific artists have spent YEARS mastering their craft. You'll have to do the same. For my competitive gamers: As soon as you get tilted, stop drawing. Do something else for a while. Continue the next day if you have to. Your mind should be calm and focused while you're practicing. Don't get mad. Don't have an existential crisis. Breathe in. Breathe out.