Pencil Kings Review: Art Courses Made For Every Artist
Pencil Kings Review: Art Courses Made For Every Artist
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In that location's a lot to say about the Pencil Kings premium course library and their art community. Their teachings are and then diverse that they can help almost every creative person.
But let'south have a peek under the hood and see exactly what a Pencil Kings membership gets you.
I'd compare Pencil Kings to Udemy. Not a Udemy grade, merely similar… all of Udemy.
Pencil Kings isn't a serial of courses, only a content hub. It's a site for generalists. Perfect for artists who want to try or practice many unlike types of art.
I would possibly compare and dissimilarity PK with the subject of my most recent review of a Vitruvian Studios form.
Both sites are phenomenal but their content is very different. They're aimed at very different audiences but both offer HQ videos with stiff training aimed to help you become a better artist.
Bank check Out Pencil Kings
Taken on the whole, Pencil Kings's credentials are merely equally solid as David Jamieson'southward too(owner of Vitruvian Studios).
All courses are taught by working professionals and some are taught by some of the top artists in their industries. For example, the color theory class is taught by Marvel encompass creative person Kirbi Fagan. And the Photoshop class is taught by YouTuber Sycra Yasin who we've shouted out here before.
These are large names that definitely grab your attention at first glance.
But let's go fifty-fifty further into the Pencil Kings setup to see what it offers artists from all backgrounds.
Content & Layout
Their content is divided into courses, tracks, and challenges. And there are incredible amounts of all of them.
Courses are the smallest unit of measurement of content. They're tutorials on one subject composed of about ten videos divided into 3 or four modules.
There are currently 119 courses as of this writing.
They range from the near basic to the fairly specialized stuff and everything inbetween.
But within that range are lessons on many of the obscure and interesting sides of fine art you won't acquire from other tutorials.
With Pencil Kings you'll probably be able to detect a video on that one bailiwick yous keep seeing other people describe beautifully, just never can find tutorials to assistance you lot. PK has it.
To arrive easier to know which courses to take based on your goals, they've also laid out several tracks yous can follow.
Tracks are essentially like degree programs at a concrete art school. They're lists of classes that you have to complete a sure path to being specialized in a sure field. Just as in a college caste programme you'll often exist taking the same courses for multiple different tracks.
But information technology'southward too fun to know how far you've moved towards a specific goal instead of just "hoping to improve your fine art somehow." Tracks sort of game-ify the procedure in a fashion.
This construction sets Pencil Kings apart from most tutorial sites where all of the content is organized linearly and you have to take all of them in lodge.
I much prefer this format which seems designed to aid you learn to draw exactly what you want in a very efficient way.
Technical Stuff
This is where the course library has a bit of a snag.
I'll presume that like Udemy, Pencil Kings class videos are bootleg and submitted remotely by the teachers. That's considering the quality is then hit or miss. It really depends on the teacher to determine how practiced the total video quality is
All videos are hosted on Vimeo which is smashing. But lighting and clarity are a crapshoot from video to video.
Sometimes it'southward fine. Other times it'due south grainy and kinda poorly lit. Sometimes the audio is very professional. Other times it was recorded on a toaster.
However, it'due south never bad plenty to go along you from learning. You might compare it to the idea of YouTube videos from 2010 vs YouTube videos from 2020.
What You Tin Learn
The sheer amount and quality of instruction makes up for whatsoever lack of production values.
In my more contempo reviews I took every course from front to dorsum. With Pencil Kings at that place were manner too many to complete everything, simply no fashion I could do it.
So I sampled several tracks to go a general idea.
The Perspective and Architecture rails is a good case: Drawing buildings is my potent point so I thought it would be interesting to judge it against what I already know.
The data inside was mind-bravado.
I saw techniques I'd never heard of even in years of searching for info on the field of study and reading technical drawing textbooks.
What I beloved almost their approach is that they give you detailed steps for drawing every shape, instead of but general approaches to perspective.
It's a teaching fashion usually used only for faces and bodies, but it'southward standard practice for everything here.
Granted, it'due south not always the most fun to listen to.
For example—slap-up teacher though he is—Sycra'southward delivery tin can put yous to sleep.
(They try to comprehend it with public domain music, but that doesn't exactly help.)
But you're not hither for a hyped EDM concert. You lot're here to larn. So if you're dedicated to paying attending, learn you definitely will.
I also listened to some of the free Pencil Kings podcast episodes where working artists share their stories about how they got into the industry and tips for other artists looking to do the same.
It isn't essential, just it's keen for the motivational side of art. Probably ane of the amend podcasts to listen to while you're drawing.
And if that wasn't enough content to keep you lot occupied, they also take a blog that's more often than not links to the podcast just does take some pretty good standalone articles here and there.
The Pencil Kings Courses
The subjects they cover are a stark contrast to more specific online lessons like those from Proko or Vitruvian Studio.
Vitruvian teaches you classical realism, very similar to the Proko lessons as well. You spend hours rendering every light fluctuation on a model's body in graphite.
Pencil Kings has some of that, but most of their courses focus more on stylized illustration, character design, and digital art. (Ironic, given the name.)
I tried a few traditional cartoon courses however, and was happy (but not surprised) to notice that their instruction for traditional fine art is just every bit solid.
They likewise offer courses in things I didn't call back yous could offering courses on. Like ones on creative person mindset and brainstorming ideas.
And they offer professional-taught courses in a lot of subjects that other tutorial sites don't take seriously. Example: they accept a class on drawing pinups. They had an entire class for Inktober. They have a form on—GASP!—drawing anime.
But that will make it more practical and attainable to the majority of artists who want to specialize in these topics.
Remember there are over 100 different courses and seriously they're all pretty detailed.
Here's a quick list of a few courses that grab my attention. No way I can listing all of them but this is enough of a sample to help you empathize their course structure:
- Colour Theory and Speedpainting
- Interior Design for Concept Fine art Pt1-3
- Portrait Analogy for Beginners
- Tips on Painting Fur For Wildlife and Fantasy Artists
- Digital Painting for Beginner Artists
- Introduction to Classical Blitheness Techniques
- Mural Matte Painting in Photoshop
- Introduction to the Illustration Process
- Advanced Analogy Process
- Advanced Gesture Drawing for Artists
- Drawing Fabrics With Colored Pencils
- Celebrity Caricature Sketching
- Ultimate Guide To Photoshop
- Cartoon Pilus and Clothing
- And many, many more…
Regular courses are generally an hour to an hour and a half long and spread out over several videos in a few modules.
Then there are the curious…
Pencil Kings Boot Camp Challenges
Challenges are drawing boot camps designed to be taken over a calendar month.
They're divided into four modules, one for each week.
These boot camps are more than intensive than the regular courses since they take goals and a set amount of work you're expected to practice inside the month.
Even the instructors say they don't realistically expect you to be able to go along upwards with all of the exercises. (So it's fine if you skip some.)
I'd never seen an online program like this before and then I took a look.
There are three of them to be found nether the premium tab: Figure, shading, and perspective.
And they weren't kidding well-nigh the number of exercises.
Each week's module comes with up to ii hours of instructional video and assignments for every day.
The courses are livestreamed at certain times during the year then yous can follow along as the course unfolds.
During the livestreams the hosts requite advice on techniques that the challenge is based around. And having to keep up with the challenges in real time might besides provide you an incentive to actually do them.
Just you lot tin replay them someday if you desire to do the challenge on your ain. And y'all tin mail your progress on the forums and so other users can hold you accountable.
Side note: I'd like to share a wrist stretch that one of the hosts mentioned in the figure cartoon challenge:
"Stretch your arm all the way out … Brand a fist … And first, bend your wrist upwards, then bend your wrist downwardly. And do that every 10-xv minutes."
And shortly after that came one of my favorite quotes out of all the videos I watched:
"Let the digital tablet be what it'southward going to be. Don't try to make information technology a pencil. Allow it be skatey and loose and all that good stuff … You can make information technology perfect after."
During months when Pencil Kings isn't doing the three full challenges they too post additional ones on the forum. Ones without videos, though.
Challenges are $100 each if you buy them on their own but they're free if yous pay for the monthly or almanac subscription.
Personally I'd mode rather do the monthly model since I wouldn't want to pay a apartment $100 one limited solo boot camp. Best option for the boot camps would exist the almanac subscription since you become admission to them whenever they become live.
The Pencil Kings Community
It didn't occur to me to cheque this at first.
Forums and online bulletin boards aren't really every bit popular in the other dedicated tutorial sites I've used: Ctrl+Paint, Udemy, Vitruvian… those communities were limited to comments or Facebook pages connecting with the teacher.
So when I came to Pencil Kings, I had to be clued in to await at it.
And their community is much more extensive than I suspected.
The forums aren't too agile since they're but for subscribers, but are active enough to offer value with at least several posts every day.
Information technology'due south mostly where users, nicknamed "Pencil Eaters," go to share their art for each others' critique. And having this kind of critique is just so damn important to your growth. It's one of the biggest selling points for Pencil Kings in my stance.
Their website too boasts a private chat room, private Facebook group, and live drawing sessions from the instructors.
I didn't become to apply those and so I tin't exactly judge their quality, only they seem similar worthwhile perks on top of everything else I've already listed.
Worth The Money?
Aye.
Pencil Kings courses can be bought individually for almost $15. This is merely slightly more than a Udemy class on sale.
Just no need to pay for individual courses when you can become access to the unabridged library(with new courses being added frequently).
A full subscription costs $30/month or $300/year.
If that sounds like a lot, a inexpensive fine art schoolhouse like a small atelier will run you at least $350 a month. An expensive art school will be… a lot more than than that. You know.
If y'all desire to learn more than than what a unmarried class offers but you don't have $300 at your disposal, I recommend yous do this:
Commit to learning as much as possible for iii months. Set up aside $ninety for a 3-month subscription.
Cram in as many of the courses as possible and if by the 3rd month you can't keep going so yous tin always cancel with no extra fees. This way you'll get to experience a lot from these courses and you can always re-subscribe in the future if you desire to.
Final Thoughts
In short: Pencil Kings is absolutely worth it, but particularly for digital artists focusing on concept art, animation, character blueprint, environment piece of work, illustrations… that kinda stuff.
Granted PK has its flaws like whatsoever tutorial series, generally in some lower-quality video/audio on some courses in the library. But it makes up for that in the sheer overwhelming amount of content that you get with only 1 monthly subscription.
It'southward a lot like the process of learning to depict itself: It's not neat. It's frequently patience-testing. Just in a fashion that helps builds your character as an artist.
I'd say Pencil Kings is a great identify to larn a lot of those pesky fiddling techniques that you know you're not skillful at, simply are besides hard to find tutorials on… and Pencil Kings has 100+ of these tutorials all in one place.
I program on returning to information technology when I take more fourth dimension and am really excited to go through more of what they have to offer.
Check Out Pencil Kings
Author: C.S. Jones
C.S. Jones is a Philadelphia-based freelance writer, illustrator, and occasional lensman. He spends his spare time listening to Spotify and waiting for trains. Someday, he'll finish that graphic novel. In the meantime, his piece of work is all-time seen at thecsjones.com or @thecsjones on Instagram.
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Source: https://conceptartempire.com/pencil-kings-review/
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