Robert Liberace: The Quick Draw (Drawing Excerpts from his Videos)

[DenisUtopian]

FANTASTIC! NO WORDS! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ARE THE BEST!

[Juank1o]

O.......M...........G O_o

[nikeafs91]

your vids have def. been hiding

[colourtolight]

fantastic :)

[klevdav]

Wtf

[FunkyFion06]

what is that he puts on the canvas at 2:18 ?

[cybrid1940]

This is another Talent !!!

Oh my god...

[becooldontfreez]

What kind of paper are you using? What is it called, please.

[TheArtistikSoul]

You see, I wanted to make my paintings look classical like that but they always end up looking like one of those "Painting By Numbers" things that you can get at any old arts and crafts store...

[JDepptastic]

i dont like it ,i love it !

[puppeteye]

sad to see all those artist that show how nice they can draw and paint!!! just to make some cash!, and you get few tips from the dvd!, its just artist ego!, the best teacher of drawing from the last 50years was gottfried bammes! for sure you can find his books in english. incredible books about anatomy and drawing not ego just pure knowlege! he could draw the whole sleket and muscle out of his mind, amazing stuff! peace.

[crashburnwinston]

@puppeteye My apologies, but I don't see a connection between how the fact that Rob sells his videos could is connected to his ego. This is his profession. He spent years a lot of money learning how to draw so he could support his family. It's not about ego. I have met him, taken classes with him, and can say he is probably the most humble, unassuming and supportive art teacher I have ever had. Please don't assume every artist who is talented must be terrible person. Just not the case here.

[crashburnwinston]

@puppeteye My apologies, but I don't see a connection between how the fact that Rob sells his videos is a function of his ego. This is his profession. He spent years a lot of money learning how to draw so he could support his family. It's not about ego. I have met him, taken classes with him, and can say he is probably the most humble, unassuming and supportive art teacher I have ever had. Please don't assume every artist who is talented must be terrible person. Just not the case here.

[deeknits]

A W E S O M E!!!

[2Touchstone]

Hello, when Raphael and other Renaissance artists used chalk, did they use chalk pencils like this, or sticks of chalk?

[tomestubbs]

As a materials & techniques professor it was a curiosity to try Red, gray & white natural chalk. The biggest problem with finding & choosing lumps is that no 2 are the same in hardness or color. Black chalk had been mined out of existence so what's left is gray chalk which varies quite a bit more in hardness & color. It's not about skepticism for what was used by the masters tried and true, it's about trying what they have used. There is a difference in handling it's the delicacy.

[ChadSmith1452]

@tomestubbs

I.

Fascinating. If you mean to say the appeal lies in sating the historical curiosity of discovering *exactly* how the *exact* materials used by the old masters handled (rather than availing oneself of some "lost secret") then I enthusiastically agree. I've long been curious about exactly how their brushes looked and performed. There are very few paintings prior to the eighteenth century (or subsequent to it for that matter) in which the artist depicts himself...

[ChadSmith1452]

II. ..holding his brushes (believe me when I run across one I take notice) and in almost all such painting the brushes are sketched in only very cursorily and could scarcely be distinguished from a fist full of dandelions. But in the rare exceptions, the brushes the artist shows himself holding appear to be very blunt, the tips rather bulb-shaped -almost like a shaving brush. I imagine these would be very difficult to work with.

I don't suppose you'd know anything about this?

[tomestubbs]

Using coffee as a tone for the ground is about the most destructive advice one can give.

[martin4oooooo]

I give my soul to be your student ...

[DHHark]

whats the music called??? :D

[ecatombe92]

O.O

[cooFREAKS]

Wow... phenomenal. I want to learn how to draw the human body correctly so bad. This is absolutely wonderful. You're extremely talented.

[Limited317]

hey Robert you are amazing. I just learned about you from my professor Karen Santry. She showed me this piece you did. Apparently you guys art traded. I can definitely appreciate this. Really gave me the momentum to draw tonight.

[ArtDVDReview]

Robert Liberace has set the bar high. HIs DVDs truly are educational tools. RL is a master and eloquently expresses his ideas while conducting demonstrations. His fine gestural pencil marks on the toned support demand a high level in production quality and the quality shines through. This is not a pro stepping out of his league to make bread & butter money off of hobbyists. This is a conscientious effort to share knowledge from a master made available to everyone interested.

[arrecotinarrecotan]

my teacher's friend dug up some authentic sanguine...he passed away and never told; so my teacher wont let me even touch it.

as for the black chalk, i find that General's xtra hard charcoal pencil is the material on the market most resembling natural black chalk; or of course you could get the actual thing: really expensive though, frustrating to work with; getting it on the paper is tricky bc of how hard the chalk is...but i guess paper quality gets its share of blame.

[ChadSmith1452]

@arrecotinarrecotan

I'm curious how authentic sanguine handles. Do you know if it's anything like a Conte' crayon? I just saw the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit at the Getty museum yesterday, and there's a drawing of a baby's head not more than two inches high, and it has lines so fine and fine, crisp you could't possibly do that drawing in red Conte with out resharpening after almost every stroke.

As for black chalk substitutes, if you like General's HB I highly recommend you try Wolff pencils.

[ChadSmith1452]

@ChadSmith1452 edit: *fine and crisp

[tomestubbs]

@ChadSmith1452 It is best to go to Robert Doak and Associates or Sinopia to hand pick lumps of Sanguine natural red chalk. No 2 pieces are the same in color or hardness. Black chalk no longer exists and Charcoal or the very fugitive Berol color pencils do not suffice. Sanguine is slippery unlike the fabricated Conte sanguine which drags on the paper surfaces.

[ChadSmith1452]

"Best to go to Robert Doak or Sinopia and hand pick lumps of Sanguine..."

But why? Is the product really worth that trouble? I must say I'm very skeptical. To be honest, this reminds of all the talk of finding the "lost medium" of the old masters and Maroger's endless experiments and and concoctions that sought to "rediscover" what was in fact nothing more sophisticated than simple walnut oil (in Rembrandt's case) or poppy oil and mastic resin (in Rubens' case).

[tomestubbs]

@ChadSmith1452 Well really it a lot to do with the skill of the artist as well. The lumps of Black Red and White chalk act differently than the Conte or other attempt at mimicking the original medium. No Miracle here as with the so-called speculators like Doerner or Maroger etc. Science has discovered the real fact underlying oil painting techniques. Real Sanguine is slippery and retains its shape better than most commercial fabrications. Sedimentary rock has a natural molecular binder.

[SweetPea1239]

do you draw many of these from imagination or are they all from reference?

[KPattonArt123]

i'm pretty sure he's working from life

[fjc973]

this is !!Great .

[TheGeeWhy]

where will we be able to purchase said videos?

[siamboxing5]

Thank you, one more thing, does he discuss all of the materials he uses in his videos?

[robliberace]

Yes, he's very thorough with everything.

[mo91919]

Where would one easily buy those red chalk pencils he uses in Europe? (maybe benelux?-

Because I've asked around and most shopkeepers here haven't even heard of it, but if I give a brandname and tell them specifically what to order, they might.

Thanks in advance.

[robliberace]

Most art stores, actually. They're just Prismacolor Verithins.

[mo91919]

I see. Thank you for the quick reply.

I'll go and order a box or scarlet red then.

I'm just guessing the type of red ofcourse :)

[robliberace]

Scarlet works (as does any color) but I use mostly "terra cotta" colored pencils--it looks most like sanguine chalk.

Good luck

[mo91919]

Thank you very much. I sincerely appreciate the information. Have a nice day.

[robliberace]

terra cotta, actually

[ChadSmith1452]

@robliberace

Where do you get those pencils?

They look like red chalk but the leads appear very thin.

Your draftsmanship, by the way, is as good as it gets.

[ChadSmith1452]

@robliberace

Oh, they're Verithins? Wow that's a surprise, because at :43 you seem to be blending them.

It's amazing how you get that sfumato look with prismacolor pencils.

[AmericanArtistMag]

yes

[siamboxing5]

amazing! i cant wait until i can purchase the figure drawing videos. BTW what pencils do you use for the red and black figure drawings? Thank you

[robliberace]

Rob's "Figure in Motion" video will be out in mid August. Just go to his website. The pencils here are Verithin. Thanks!

[donelleking]

Rob your work is trully inspirational... but out of Curiosity how old are you?

[humblestumble]

Absolutely fantastic.

[robliberace]

Actually, the pianist, Liberace, is my grandfather's cousin.

[keyboardmagic]

Are you related to LIBERACE the pianist, by chance?

[GriNGoLocoTe]

Awesome vid... have to check out more of your work... greetings from Ecuador!

[RentAnEducation]

Fantastic. I saw the article about you in the American Artist "Workshop" issue, and stopped reading as soon as I saw that you have a DVD. I went straight to your site and ordered it! Now I need to go back read that article.

I've been a fan for years.

[robliberace]

Thanks a lot. I hope you enjoy the DVD.

[UncleRabbit1]

You are damn good Robert. Did you draw this from your imagination?

[robliberace]

No-they're all drawn from life.

[rfarcot]

masterful! Truly inspirational.

[Cakes858]

Good video Rob! Almost as good as being back in one of your classes!

[Cakes858]

Good video Rob! Almost as good as being back in one of your classes!