How to Draw

[Deva]

So I've recently been to Italy - in particular Rome and Venice. Whilst there we obviously visited a lot of landmarks and saw some cool works of art. I'm a big fan of work made from the baroque era, so made it a point to visit many sculptures, fountains, basilicas and galleries around both cities. Without a doubt it's some of the most inspiring stuff I've ever seen, especially work by Bernini.

But I digress, as we were walking through the streets of Venice it was common to see people sketching their surroundings and even to see a few painters doing various oil/water pieces. My mind was blown just watching and I was super jelly. I've always wanted to draw like that, yet I've always sucked hard.

My question is; is this a natural gift or can you work at it? I'm beginning to think it's a mix of both; obviously you need to be creative, but can you really go from being bad to very good? If so, how? I know practice makes perfect but surely there are some techniques to help and internet guides which have helped you?

 

[Mucski]

Drawing is a gift ... that a lot of people have nowadays. Sure you can try and learn it step by step and in time get better, but you won't be any better then those who have done it all their life. It depends whether your parents slapped you when you drawn some weird stick man all over their news papers and books, or they said "oh look, our lil' son can draw, so cute". My parents encouraged me, so I went on drawing all over their books until they bought me a note book, but then I neglected it for a very long time. Doesn't seem like I forgot how to do it though.

So to the point your reflexes, your eyes, your brain has to be trained to envision something, and put it on paper somehow similar to what you imagined.

 

[Cyndaquil]

Practice. Practice. Practice. You will get better with experience. It isn't a gift, it is a skill.

 

[Mucski]

Yeah, what he said. Unfortunately you need years of practice ...

 

[Deva]

Fair point. I used to be encouraged heavily by my parents for anything creative. I used to draw clocks perfectly for some reason then stopped and painted those paint by number things over my grandparents. I stopped all that stuff after my Dad left though for some reason... Now I can't draw for poopie free hand, but can manually draft components using curves/scales/compass' etc. pretty good... I just haven't done anything free hand since I was like 7. Just seeing those people with a book sketching their surroundings in Venice was astounding and I wish I had that.

Has anyone used online tutorials to get tuition before?

 

[Mucski]

When it comes to drawing there's only one tutorial you need to learn, skeletons and guides. Other than that it's practice and imagination. However the above does not apply to sketching landscape. You need to know how to draw in perspective, and just ... I don't know, imagine what you see as a sketch, and outline it on your paper. I find it rather easy even though I've only done it a couple of times. It relies on a few steps, like first draw the big important things, then add the details.

 

[Deva]

I suppose you're right there, it is a gift and I have been told in Art classes before to draw the significant focuses first followed by the background items. I guess it is a gift really, though I will definitely try
I would love to be a good sketcher and eventually sculpt models... I used to be very good at pottery, I had a few classes with my gf in which we were told told we were naturals and the best beginners he saw (not to blown my own horn), and thought it was just to get business until I saw everyone else's attempts lol.