Marco Bucci is an artist and teacher who has built a following of over 800,000 subscribers on YouTube. His YouTube channel teaches novice and intermediate artists how to better paint and sketch.

Marco got his start on YouTube in 2008 after feeling inspired by DVDs he owned that taught watercolor and oil painting. “I thought, ‘Hey, I could do that.’” Marco noticed many artists were uploading timelapses of their work, and put his own educational spin on it by explaining his process. That first video was titled “Digital Paint Demo.”

Since that video, Marco has expanded his artistic career to include talks around the world and even a project with Disney. He’s also publishing a book in November. I spoke to Marco to learn about his creative process.

TL;DR

• Choose topics based on your interest, not necessarily the algorithm. This approach has led to unexpected successes for Marco, and has allowed him to maintain more authenticity.
• Even tutorials can use a three-act structure. In Marco’s videos, he tends to introduce the problem, introduce the concepts you’ll need to solve it, and then demonstrate the application. This makes his videos more engaging and easier to follow.
• Production can be simple, but don’t skimp on the audio. High-end equipment isn’t always necessary for valuable content.

Selecting ideas

Marco prefers chaos to an ordered method for content selection. “I go by the seat of my pants every month,” he said. “I have no idea what the video is going to be like…The seedling is always just the overall umbrella topic.” 

These seedlings often stem from whatever Marco is excited about that month, like his recent video exploring the art style of the 1997 video game Riven, which was recently re-released.

 When he does have an idea, he makes sure it’s laser-focused. “It's gotta be something small,” he said. “I'm zooming in on something instead of thinking of some big thing like game design, that's way too big.” As a result, Marco has a catalog of videos that spans everything from shading a sphere to drawing hands.

Unlike other creators, Marco doesn’t get too caught up in trying to predict which idea will get the most viewership.

“I never thought the Riven video would do well. And it's like my best performing video easily this year,” he said. “ I am so bad at judging what will get clicks that I have just taken myself out of that equation. The only filter is if I feel passionately about it and [whether it’s] informative to a viewer. At the end of the day, I'm trying to be an educator.”

Structuring ideas

Even though Marco makes art tutorials, he still employs a three-act structure.

“Act one is always the problem. And can we see a possible solution to it?” Marco employs questions like “How did they accomplish this look?” or “How can we draw better faces?” 

Marco will use his second act to lay a foundation of ideas and techniques that the viewer must understand to solve the problem. For instance, his Riven video goes into depth about the game’s use of contrast and light.

Marco’s third acts often feature the demonstration of himself employing all the techniques and concepts the video has outlined.

Filming the idea

Marco does away with high-end production, opting to film on his phone.

“I put my iPhone on a tripod. And I have…a single light that kind of shines one way. And I just hit record.”

“I try and do medium shots to show some of my environments. I think people do like to get to know the person they're watching.”

Despite his lax attitude towards his environment and filming, though, “Audio has to be top notch,” he said.

Lessons for other creators

In his 15 years of making content online, Marco has learned plenty along the way. 

“I try not to take any knowledge for granted,” Marco said, explaining that he takes the time to go over concepts so that both novice and intermediate artists can appreciate his work. “Some people will think of ideas as self-evident or obvious,” he said. But his years also working as an art teacher has taught him many of the areas his students struggle in.

Marco also has narrowed down his approach to visuals, making sure to highlight only one concept at a time. If Marco is explaining the direction of sunlight in an illustration, for example, he makes sure to draw attention specifically to that sunlight.

“It's five seconds long, maybe less, but now we move on because people can understand one idea very quickly. Now we move on to the next idea,” he said.

Marco also notices common mistakes from other creators. “I don't like when people don't know how to get to their idea, so they're talking around and it takes them 10 minutes to get to a point,” he said. “I like when language gets to the core of an idea as fast as possible with as few and  simple words as possible.”

When asked what his top advice would be for newer creators, Marco recommends consistency.

“I don't think consistency needs to mean like two times, three times, three posts a week. I mean, people do do that, and that helps. I think the algorithm just mathematically likes that. But to me, consistency just means whatever it is you can do at your level of quality that you want to feel comfortable with.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.