Drawing Tips

February 22nd, 2010 by Robert

Drawing

well is not a mysterious talent. You shouldn’t think of drawing as a talent that you need to be born with. I take it as an insult when people tell me that they weren’t born with artistic talent, insinuating that I was. Let me tell you that if you want to be good at anything it takes hard work. Everyone has the ability to draw and everyone has some artistic skill. O.K. some people have less trouble in picking up these skills than others. We just just have to work on what we have and push it to our best level.

The secret of drawing well is that there is no secret. It simply means practice, practice and more practice.

Drawing Tip 1

Sketch: Keeping a sketch book is one of the best ways of improving your drawing. Keep a small book (it doesn’t have to be a posh, expensive book) in your pocket and use it every time that you see something that interests you. Quite often you will see something interesting but won’t have time to draw it at that time. Try making a quick note and return to it at a late date. You will also find that something noted but not continued with at this time may become important at a later date

Drawing Tip 2

Keep all of your drawings to compare them later. This is a great way to monitor your improvement, which will encourage you to practice even more.

Drawing Tip 3

Drawing is fun. It is not a task. Think of your practice as play. On one hand saying practice, practice, practice, and on the other hand comparing it with play may seem that I am contradicting myself. When you really get into your drawing practice and stop being frightened of making mistakes you will start to think of your drawing as fun. In one of the margins of one of Michelangelo’s large drawings in the Medici Chapel in Florence there is a little funny face doodle. So if fun art was good enough for Michelangelo it is good enough for us. Einstein’s remark about the greatest intellectual leaps are made in the mood of play is something worth thinking about.

There you have it … three drawing tips … sketch as often as you can, don’t throw your drawings away, and treat your drawing practice as fun.