-
Not an art teacher, but I regularly do freehand technical drawing as part of my job. And have had some pretty talented teachers try to help me with drawing/painting etc. Some tips from what I've learned from those infinitely better than me:
Do lots of free hand drawing on paper. Lots, and lots. Leave the drawings to one side for a bit then come back to look at it with fresh eyes and think about what you are pleased with, then think about why. Also don't be afraid to draw over something, ruin something, and stop before you are happy. Every now and again something that brings you joy will come out of it.
Another excersize that I liked was doing several studies of the same subject in a very quick time frame 2min or 5min. Maybe do 5 very fast drawings of the same object. It limbers you up and stops you being worried about doing things wrong.
Try different scales every now and again. Blow something up or shrink it down. Draw something on a big bit of paper sometimes and really free up you arm for large gestural movements.
The key thing is to enjoy it, because otherwise you won't keep going. Sometimes to clear my head I just doodle wierd patterns and try different ways of making a mark.
Long reply this, hope it's not boring or condescending. I'm sure people who are both better at drawing, and better at helping will be along soon.
AWu-Tang-
several studies of the same subject in a very quick time frame 2min or 5min.
Yeah this is a good one. Helps with fear of a blank page and as you say, good for limbering up and getting the creative juices flowing.
Don’t be precious - you’re just drawing and it doesn’t have to be perfect or even legible.
AlexD
So, thought I’d revive this thread and ask a question or two if that’s cool?
I’ve never been an artist, naturally left handed as a tot(both parents lefties) but strict CofE/High Anglican education in my early years meant I’m now right handed for writing but ambi(ish) for tool use. Basically I’m shit with both hands.
Fast forward to secondary school where the only acceptable art was ‘still life that looks like what it’s supposed to look like’ and anyone who fell short had their homework ripped up in front of the class(my teacher was a massive prick and eventually got weighed in by a 6th former) which undoubtedly killed the aspirations of many kids in my town.
Based on those experiences I’ve never really felt anything arty was for me but this week I got fucking stressed at work and decided I might need a little drawing in my life.
Now, this might sound ridiculous but where on earth do I start? I have a passing interest in 50s atomic futurism/atomic age kitsch etc and have spent years loitering around in tattoo shops so have been exposed to a lot of pen and ink illustration.
This is the first thing I’ve attempted in about 20yrs, obviously the anchors were traced first but at this point I’m just interested in baby steps and learning a little hand eye coordination.
Any advice on a book/YouTube series/any other starting points? Of course a big part is practice practice but ummm.... yeah 🤷♂️