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Position:Home>Visual Arts> How to practice drawing?Question: How to practice drawing!? How do i improve my skills at drawing!?
Im not too good at drawing right now but im determined to get better, but the problem is, i dont know what or how to improve on my drawings!. People have suggested drawing anything but that dosent really help!. What do i need to do to improve drawing shapes, shading, proportions and stuff like that!? Any help!?Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Well, they are right, those that advise drawing anything!. You get better by doing it, drawing!. Drawing anything provides experience and practice using various skills, like perspective, size, angle direction, and so on!. Get a sketching tablet, like this one: http://www!.dickblick!.com/zz103/22/ Carry it with you everywhere, with a pencil or pen!. And draw every day, preferably several times a day!. And REMEMBER THIS: the quality of your drawings is not as important as the time you spend struggling to get it right, right proportions, accurate lines, etc!. You want to draw better shapes!? Get some shapes and set them up somewhere and draw them! You want to shade better, practice shading!. When it comes to skills, humans learn by doing, period!. There are good books on drawing!. One of the best is here!.!.!. http://www!.amazon!.com/Keys-Drawing-Bert-!.!.!. Here's another, if you don't mind the title: http://www!.amazon!.com/Drawing-Dummies-Br!.!.!. !.!.!.and it's good for shading technique!. Again, there are no short cuts!. If you're serious, then draw at least 1000 drawings in a year, starting tomorrow, or today! I've done that several years!. One year I averaged about 6 hard drawings a day--but at the end of that year I was rather amazed at how much better I was drawing!. That's another key: Draw things that are hard for you to draw!. It's like weight lifting: You don't get strong lifting light weights!Www@QuestionHome@Com draw from life, still lifes, not picutres as your main source of practise!.!.!.!.!. the more you do this, the better you get at discerning detail like tones, relationships between lines, spaces or shapes!.!.!.!.!.!. in a nutshell, as much as you want to improve technical skill, you also want to get better at "seeing" and both of this will come through drawing from observation!. also practise gestural drawings, they train your eye to pick out the essential elements of a figure, or object, and you have to do them quickly!. like 10 - 30 second!. I also wanted to improve at drawing, above was advice i was given from others and through reading artbooks, (get some good artbooks to-good ones give invaluble advice)!. overall, just draw draw draw!. anything!.!.!.(haha)!.!.!.till you get sick of it and then draw more!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Orwellian987, I think the book you were referring to was "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain"!. That one is oft recommended, and for good reason!. There's one method in there that I really like, about negative spaces!. I don't think a fancy sketchbook is needed (I would recommend those with spiral binding, or those with book binding, with a hard cover, though!.!.!. more durable -!.-)!. But, it could go both ways!.!.!. to make you draw "harder" things, or it could intimidate you from drawing, possibly, when you want to draw for fun!. And it's very good to have fun!. If you draw with a flexible mind, you never know how your drawing will come out!. Yeah, carry your sketchbook around with you!. Well you don't even need a sketchbook!. Get an old marble notebook if you can't go shopping anytime soon!. I have a messenger bag (very informal, but lots of pockets! Durable too!.!.!.!.) my brother bought me for my art stuff!. I have a journal in there, a marble notebook, and a jumbo computer-paper sized sketcbook I bought for 8 dollars at Borders (the paper is almost exactly like computer paper, too!.!.!. it's recycled! Hahaha)!.!.!. and all my art stuff!. The better, more heavy-weight paper, I leave at home!. If you get something for which you keep your drawings, it would be a good idea to keep stuff in chronological order!. It would be good to write the date on whatever it is you draw (at least!. : D)!. there aren't any standards in art, I think, so it would be good for you to at least tolerate you wanting to do something different onece in a while!. If you have fun, then you'll probably get passionate!. ^^ Everything will come in due time!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Going out with a sketchbook and drawing from life is the biggest thing you can do to improve!. Its also about learning contours/shapes of objects, values and tones, perspective color and technique!. The more you do the more you learn from mistakes and how to draw what you see!. Yes just go out and draw, but also draw something that catches your eye or is interesting because it will most likely be interesting to someone else!. Taking drawing classes will help try SHMCLUB!.comWww@QuestionHome@Com well a great way is to actually try to imitate other people's work in pencil!. Just to black and white pictures!. Now I know this sounds fishy because you are copying other peoples work, but what's great is that you will learn how they accomplished that drawing by copying!. This is pretty good!. Oh the type of images I'm talking about are like the ones on this book cover!. http://www!.amazon!.com/Exploring-Basics-D!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com A good book that will help you is called "drawing from both sides of the brain" or "drawing from the left side of the brain," I can't remember!. But seriously, get it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com get a template you dont see results of getting better instantly it takes time like weeks months or even years depending on the personWww@QuestionHome@Com have you tried using grids!?Www@QuestionHome@Com First, get an 18"x24" drawing pad!. That is NOT NEGOTIABLE!. My current sketchbook is 9x12 but I will literally pull sketches on Newspaper pages!. While you are out picking up that pad, get carbon-- crayons would be better than pencils!. It's very messy but it makes marks!. The other thing to get is krylon spray fixitif, though some hairsprays work as well, a kneaded eraser, and a pink pearl eraser for edges!. Draw from the shoulder and practice holding your wrist still!. Again, don't move your wrist!. Think of drawing as as much a physical activity as tennis or skiing -- it's safer than the latter but doesn't help you stay as fit as either!. Nevertheless, that is what it is!. There is one more thing you need!. A rag!. For a first exercise, find a picture of a drawing or painting you like!. Nothing too linear!. If it uses a variety of lines to suggest gray areas, that is called hatching and it's certainly acceptable for this!. It literally doesn't have to be too good if you like it!. It should have a variety of light and dark areas!. You won't be copying the lines which is one reason to use charcoal here!. Set yourself up so the sketch pad leans against Start by indicating the darkest areas of the picture!. Obviously, you are supposed to blow it up, so you might draw a frame as large on the page as has the approximate proportions as the shape of the picture!. Don't draw any objects or lines yet, just shapes which correspond to the blackest elements of the picture!. Don't bear down too heavily with your crayon (or you can use pencil but crayon is better to start) yet!. If you feel like you've made a mistake, for now, take your rag and smear it rather than erase it, and draw on top of it!. Once you have the blackest areas, start in by trying to indicate the areas which aren't quite as black!. Follow the overall tones of the picture rather than the details in other words!. For first erasures, use the fabric, not the eraser!. And press down to make things really dark later in the picture when you need to contrast between that part and lighter tones!. Often, even if it looks pretty good, it's a good idea to smear the whole thing!. And what do you do next!? You use EITHER the Kneaded eraser (for areas) or the pink pearl (for edges) to indicate highlights!. Draw with them, and only do so on parts of the picture you do NOT intend to draw on again!. Then of course you start over!. Work from dark to light on top of your now gray paper!. Pick up and read two books!. You should be able to get them at your local library, either from their collection or through Interlibrary loan: Betty Edwards, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Kimon Nikolaides, The Natural Way to Draw!. Anatomy and perspective are important, but first you should understand that you are making marks on a page, and you should understand how to make good marks on a page!. So draw big and try copying -- the way I said!. And don't even HOPE for perfection!. The thing about art is sometimes a rough approximation is BETTER than an exact copy because with an exact copy you will be working on something by someone who is HOPEFULLY working at the limits of his or her competence, and you might be able to get part of their intention better even if you are just starting out!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |