Youtube speedpaintings

Youtube

When I decided to create YouTube speed paintings as a hobby, I had to figure out how to do it and determine the frequency of releases. I initially picked the first day of every month to give myself a firm deadline. If I could work quickly or had extra time, I might increase the number of illustrations. Another step was determining what I needed to know: What's the editing process? Which programs do I need to learn, and to what extent? Later, I'd also streamline the process using components in AE.

After some research, I discovered that QuickTime Player, which was free and already on my iMac, was perfect for recording videos. Since I had an Adobe subscription at the time, I explored its offerings to see which programs would be best for editing videos and music, and then for the entire speed painting. Once I identified the relevant programs, my goal was was to learn them very quickly as I go.

Personal project

This was a very fun, personal project of mine. It was very early into my career where I had just started working professionally and I also wanted to do my own thing during my free time. Drawing and painting are some of my passions, so making youtube illustrations of my passions just made sense at the time.

I decided to upload one speed painting illustration on the first day of every month for 6 years. Ensuring it would have come once a month always on the 1st added a lot of discipline in my overall work for my entire career moving forward. One of the reasons was that I love painting, another was to give myself the opportunity to learn several different applications. I learned how to use Quicktime Player, Adobe Premiere, Audition, and After Effects for the sake of uploading these illustrations online.

What to paint?

This process would take between 25-50 hours to create the illustration, with topics ranging generally from tv shows, movies, and video games. Once in a while, I like to tackle other subjects such as sports, concept art, politics, etc. It could be some sort of replication or abstract illustration of a topic, or have some more fun to try to tell a story.

process of one of the speed paintings

My process

I first choose a topic, then take time sketching many different variations. Once I choose which sketch works best, I draw the illustration while recording my screen. I use Premiere to edit the video. Once I cut all unnecessary parts of the video, the next step is speeding up the video so it's within a 2-5 minutes.

Once the video is rendered on AP, I then render and add the effects on After Effects. Depending on the song or songs, I use Audition to make extra edits. Once it's all put together on AE, I upload the file on youtube.

end of the video showing the finished illustration

Why do this?

I love writing, designing and drawing. These are staples of my personality I love doing and will be doing even when I'm 80 years old. Like most people, I love doing my own projects. It allows me to be creative or just practice my illustration skills. I get to learn how to use several different programs while keeping my illustration and some design skills in check.

In my early 20s until my late 20s, part of that intrigue, interest and love turned into some simple but fun to do illustrations on youtube. I'm in my early 30s now, so who really knows where that intrigue, interest and love of those things will take me for my next passion project...

Youtube link

View illustrations