🎦 How I record my art process
#14 Everything you need to know about recording your art
Dear little demon,
Welcome to the edition #14 of the Art Missive! We are now 2,656😈 in this newsletter: thank you sm for reading ❤. The demon tribe say "hello" to all precious newcomers.
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In this Art Missive
1. Introduction : record your art process
2. Things that did not work for me !
3. My setup to draw and record
4. Other tools I use
5. Tips to help you find your perfect set up
Introduction
In the last Missive, I walked you through my art studio but we did not really talk the setup I use to record my art process and post it on Instagram.
It actually took me a while to figure out what was the best recording setup for my practice : what lightning ? What camera ? What tool for editing ?
There are several questions an artist must answer to be able to record themselves without disturbing their process too much. As far as I’m concerned, it took me months to find the perfect setup and each time my practice evolves, I have to spend a little more time on adapting my recording method.
I can surely say that recording is one of the most painful tasks to do for us, social media artists. So it’s not a surprise to see that one of the most frequently asked questions I get refers to my recording setup.
That’s why, in this edition #14 of the Art Missive, I’m going to share with you how I record my art and what are my content creation essentials.
Trendy things that didn’t work for me
I first started recording my art in 2020, when Reels became inevitable for artists who wanted to grow an Instagram community.
And honestly, it was a nightmare…
Before this, I was never interested in video. I was just a doodler taking cool pictures on Instagram.. Not a damn youtuber.
So I decided to benchmark recording techniques of successful artists and tried to copy them : I tried many many many things before finding the right setup for me.
Here are 3 things I see a lot of artists use that did not work for my practice:
1. Drawing flat on the table
The majority of artists I see on social media draw flat on their office like this:
Look how cool this looks ! It seems natural, the viewer feels immersed in the video, it’s like watching your friend doodling next to you… It makes you think drawing is easy!
While I was used to drawing with an inclined easel, seeing all the amazing artists draw flat on their table made me want to try.
But for me it did not work at all :
1️⃣ When you draw on a flat surface, it can be difficult to maintain proper perspective.
2️⃣ Without an easel, my position was so bad which not only led to back pain, but also to bad gestures, smaller range of motion and altered pencil strokes.
3️⃣ My recording process itself was also affected : when you draw flat on the table, the natural light spreads out less evenly on the paper. It is also harder to find the perfect camera position without creating an unwanted shadow on your paper or obstructing the view on your work.
Since I decided to avoid working on a flat surface, my recording process is really simplified.
I gave up on this “cosy natural look” to focus on a comfortable setup that did not obstruct my art process too much.
👉 If you are used to draw flat on the table but you 1) struggle to find the best camera angle without obstructing your process 2) hate how the light spreads on your paper 3) don’t feel comfortable and free in your gestures… You definitely want to try incorporating an easel in your practice.
2. Using artificial lights
When I first started recording my art, I was not happy with how dark and boring my videos looked, while I noticed that many other artists on Instagram and Youtube were using artificial lights. So I bought some… But after using it for weeks I was still not happy with the result.
Few months later, I decided to adjust my practice to only rely on natural light and it changed everything.
Same drawing, same camera, different lights :
1️⃣ Unlike artificial lights, natural light costs nothing.
2️⃣ With a natural light, you get a more accurate representation of colors.
3️⃣ Natural lights are more consistent and you get a better render when recording
4️⃣ And most importantly, natural light can provide a natural and organic feel to your recorded art process, which can enhance the overall aesthetic of your video
⚠️ Of course, many artists need artificial lights in their art practice. It actually really depends on the place you draw, the crafting material you use, the purpose of your art, the size of your canvas… Here, I’m focusing on what worked for me regarding the recording process. And I truly believe that, when it comes to recording, natural light is what provides the most accurate and organic rendering.
👉 If you are used to record your art with artificial lights and 1) you think that your photos or videos do not do justice to your art 2) you want to improve the quality of your content 3) you want to make your editing process easier and faster… You should definitely give a try to record your process in a nice evenly spread natural light.
3. Holding the phone
They are two ways to record your drawing process:
The most popular way is to hold your phone with one hand and draw with the other.
This process is often used because ✅ it’s free ✅ you only record key moments so you don’t end up with too many rushes to edit ✅ you get a nice organic and immersive video at the end.
However, this method did not work for me:
❌ I was always forgetting to stop my art process and take the time to record some parts
❌ I found it really hard to recycle and repurpose my rushes into several Instagram contents
❌ My hand was damn shaky and the video was not good at all!
Soon enough, I understood that holding my phone while drawing was disturbing my art process too much without ending up with getting good results on the video itself.
So I bought a 20€ mechanical arm to hold my phone. And now, I just push the “start” button and draw without worrying about recording.
👉 If you are used to hold your phone when drawing but you think it disturbs your art practice too much… Try to stabilize your phone with something else: a tripod if you have the budget or some books or stuff like that, if you don’t.
My recording setup (traditional art)
You know that I moved in a new art studio last week but here was the recording set up I used for the past three years :
👉 The mechanical arm : personally, I make sure that the recording device is parallel to the inclined easel and sketchbook. As I record in 4K format, I can put the camera further away from the paper without damaging the quality of the records. The inclined position helps a lot in avoiding unexpected shadows on the paper from the recording devices.
👉 Position of the phone : as I’m right-handed, I make sure to set up the phone on the left side, far enough not to obstruct my vision. Depending on your own setup and preferences, you might want to add an interesting angle to your camera. I personally like recording as straight as possible.
👉 Camera : I use a basic phone (an old Google Pixel) in the 4K format. It’s not an obligation to record in 4K : I actually started doing that after I had reached 40k followers on Instagram. Of course, recording with a high resolution will improve the quality of your content. However, keep in mind two things: 1) recording in 4k requires a huge capacity of storage and a very good internet connection 2) Instagram does not handle 4k resolution so you’ll also have to lower your quality a bit before posting.
👉 Light : I always position myself in order to get an evenly spread natural light on my paper. If it’s not achievable, I make sure that the light does not come from the right side because I’m drawing with my right hand and this will lead to cast unwanted shadows.
👉 Essentials : when drawing, I keep my essentials next to me. I also use a little clip to hold my references in front of me.
My recording setup (digital art)
You know that I’m currently learning digital art and I’ll be posting more and more digital pieces on my Instagram. So how do I record my digital work?
My digital tablet is also set up on an inclined table which allows me to use an identical set up for both my traditional and digital art process.
Other tools
My recording process also rely on other tools :
1️⃣ A standing easel for big size projects.
2️⃣ A hard drive : a very important tool for social media artists (especially if you record in 4k). I have several hard drives to store my videos. This way, I can always recycle my videos into several contents. So please, don’t delete your video rushes after making one Reel. This is the best way to end up burning out. Store your rushes and repurpose them each time you think it’s relevant and fun !
3️⃣ Ring lights : I know… I told you to rely on a natural light. But in some cases (for example in the winter, when the natural light is really low all day long) I use artificial light (set on low) to support natural light.
4️⃣ Snapseed App to edit my photos and Capcut App to edit my Reels.
5️⃣ Adobe premiere to edit more complicated Reels : you could exclusively rely on Capcut to edit your Reels but as I use 4K resolution videos, Adobe is more likely to handle it.
Tips to find your perfect recording set up
1️⃣ Keep it cheap : except if you are passionate about video making or if content creation is part of your job, you don’t need an expensive set up, especially because it is highly likely to evolve with your art.
2️⃣ Be patient : finding the right setup can take so much time. Your art is unique and so is your recording process. That’s why I suggest you take the time to try new things, stay curious about different solutions and constantly evolve until you feel like you found it.
3️⃣ Find tailored solutions : don’t try to force yourself into a setup that you saw somewhere else. Other artists’ setup can be an inspiration for you to try out new things and to understand how they technically responded to challenges like lightning, stabilization etc… But at the end of the day, things might be different for you so keep in mind that there is no right or wrong. The perfect recording set up is the one that disturb your art process the least.