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Are there any neurodivergent-friendly tutorials?

stellatae

stellatae

Member
hi everyone!

I am not sure how to word this but I'm looking for art tutorials that are either made by neurodivergent creators or people who understand neurodivergent people. There are many parts of my art that I want to improve but I struggle with many of the popular tutorials. This is not hating towards those creators, they are fantastic, and help many people, but I want to find something that will click with me!

I struggle with long walls of text, or hours-long videos, but I want to get better! Any suggestions, creators, or even your own tips/tricks are welcome <3!

Things I'm trying to improve right now (well everything but here's a small list)
  • proportions
  • line-art (edges are always pixelated rip)
  • clothing (make it look properly fitted/drawing certain garments)
  • backgrounds (I usually hide from them lol)
edit: I forgot to say thank you sm to everyone who comments!
 
Schrodinger'sMeerkat

Schrodinger'sMeerkat

trash mammal
I'm curious too. I'm autistic as well but most tutoritals I can find you'd think they a "thank my sponsors" video or a "lets talk about my life"., It only takes ONE distraction to make me loose focus.
 
snowsketches

snowsketches

Active Member
Well, the first thing would be to clarify what neurodivergent friendly means to you! Neurodivergency can mean so many things, and even when speaking within just the autism spectrum, people's needs still vary greatly. Is it about using visual notes and using large, clear fonts for people with dyslexia? Is it about being incredibly thorough for those with autism who require very specific instructions? Is it about shortening video length and having abundant visuals for those with ADHD? These are all examples of making content more friendly to different types of neurodivergency, and helping people meet their individual needs.

If you're just looking for more bite sized videos, I highly recommend ctrlpaint.com and their free video library! Their videos range from maybe 3-12 minutes. Their fluid linework video is 5 minutes long, their 3 major masses video (which is the basis of how I draw figures to this day) is less than 4 minutes long. He has two gesture videos (1) (2) that are 5 minutes long each. He also has various topics on things like perspective and composition.

Another thing I do with some of the longer videos is to put it at 1.5x or 2x speed, and actively take notes. Even if I never look back on them, having something to do instead of just sitting there and listening really helps to keep me engaged. I'll try to draw examples of what they're talking about as soon as I can, and draw along with any demonstrations. I'm yet to find a drapery video better than Istebrak's - her videos are a bit dry and on the long side (1-2 hours each), and it sometimes takes me a few days of taking it in in small bursts to get through it. But it's the kind of video I'll only need to go through once, and will benefit from that knowledge for many months to come, so it's better for me to take it in small bursts than not at all! Having a goal of going through 5 or 10 minutes of a video per day will still accumulate into lots of knowledge being consumed.

In terms of pixelating edges, that sounds like just a canvas size issue. I always start with a 3000px by 3000px canvas, because you can always size down, but you'd have to repaint various areas if you wanted to size up. Keep your canvas big and the pixelating won't be a problem!
 
Pomorek

Pomorek

Antelope-Addicted Hyena
Personally I think this is a problem inherent in many video tutorials. They're simply too long and over-talked. I've seen some hour-long behemoths whose content could be conveyed within 20 minutes if only the creator kept to the point. Heck, I've seen some that derailed altogether and never reached their point.

I always appreciate when a tutorial is brief and sticks to the topic, I struggle with those hour-long ones unless it's something extra interesting. The speed up function is a godsend to me. Taking notes is a must too, otherwise this new knowledge may "evaporate" from my head rather quickly.

I may be old-fashioned but at least in the 3D world it was better when the tutorials were in a form of illustrated text. Such format enforces some quality. Also some more technical aspects are much better conveyed this way. Nowadays everyone can record something random and call it a "tutorial" and then I have to sit there and lose time searching for something of actual value among all the junk.
 
L

LameFox

Guest
I will second using long videos in increments. There's not much functional difference between an hours-long tutorial and a series of smaller ones if you just focus on one stage of drawing at a time. You can also watch them multiple times, maybe take one to really pay attention then just come back to it occasionally to refresh your memory.

Pixelation in lines sounds more like an issue with your canvas size or brush settings than a matter for tutorials though.
 
stellatae

stellatae

Member
snowsketches said:
Well, the first thing would be to clarify what neurodivergent friendly means to you! Neurodivergency can mean so many things, and even when speaking within just the autism spectrum, people's needs still vary greatly. Is it about using visual notes and using large, clear fonts for people with dyslexia? Is it about being incredibly thorough for those with autism who require very specific instructions? Is it about shortening video length and having abundant visuals for those with ADHD? These are all examples of making content more friendly to different types of neurodivergency, and helping people meet their individual needs.

If you're just looking for more bite sized videos, I highly recommend ctrlpaint.com and their free video library! Their videos range from maybe 3-12 minutes. Their fluid linework video is 5 minutes long, their 3 major masses video (which is the basis of how I draw figures to this day) is less than 4 minutes long. He has two gesture videos (1) (2) that are 5 minutes long each. He also has various topics on things like perspective and composition.

Another thing I do with some of the longer videos is to put it at 1.5x or 2x speed, and actively take notes. Even if I never look back on them, having something to do instead of just sitting there and listening really helps to keep me engaged. I'll try to draw examples of what they're talking about as soon as I can, and draw along with any demonstrations. I'm yet to find a drapery video better than Istebrak's - her videos are a bit dry and on the long side (1-2 hours each), and it sometimes takes me a few days of taking it in in small bursts to get through it. But it's the kind of video I'll only need to go through once, and will benefit from that knowledge for many months to come, so it's better for me to take it in small bursts than not at all! Having a goal of going through 5 or 10 minutes of a video per day will still accumulate into lots of knowledge being consumed.

In terms of pixelating edges, that sounds like just a canvas size issue. I always start with a 3000px by 3000px canvas, because you can always size down, but you'd have to repaint various areas if you wanted to size up. Keep your canvas big and the pixelating won't be a problem!
Click to expand...

I never thought of it that way so thank you for mentioning that. If I had to narrow it down there are a couple of points that you mentioned that click.

  • require very specific instructions
  • visual aids
I'm going to check out ctrlpaints library! I did not know about that resource so thank you for the link!
 
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