How I draw

Eighteenth Post 06-18-05: How I draw

First let me start out be saying that I am not really that good of drawer. I just like to draw though. And sometimes I can turn out a good drawing. Let me share some tips that I have learned along the way.

When you first learn about drawing, you, the artist, draw from life. The artist learns how things look from different positions and how to create the impression that a 2D space (the drawing) appears as 3D.

This is a lot of fun. Someone from the class models and you draw them from how they appear from your seat. You learn anatomy and how the body forms poses.

Once you learn drawing from life the fun begins. It is time to learn drawing from the imagination. Think of a picture in your mind and try to focus on its shapes, contour, and what position it is viewed from. Now make a basic sketch of it while it is still in memory. Keep the sketch basic and concentrate on the basic shape.

Once you have a good vision your mind and a quick sketch. Start to draw the larger drawing. Start by laying out the basic shape and add some shading. Here you can use reference pictures. (All art teachers emphasize reference.) Using the reference, compare your drawing’s shape and view. Note the shading and details. The details are where you need reference because it is difficult to visualize these complex elements. So finish your drawing using reference pictures for comparison.

After I finish my drawings if I am not happy with them, I trace over them with tracing paper. It helps me if I left something out, the perspective is wrong, or my proportions are off. Drawing is all about proportions. If the contour isn’t exact and the proportions are right, the drawing still should look decent. But when the proportions are off the whole drawing is incorrect.

Drawing from life is fun, but there is something intriguing about drawing from the imagination. It doesn’t mean the artist doesn’t use reference. It just means he uses mental images to create something new.