drawer

August 30, 2005 12:11 AM

I'd like to improve my artistic abilities.

It seems like my artistic abilities have severely degraded through disuse since high school. I rarely draw anything but doodles, and with my skills the way they are it's no wonder!

I've always been pretty good at simply copying images I'm looking at, but I especially have trouble realizing 3-d objects that I'm imagining on paper. I also can't really do figure drawing at all. I'd really like to be able to draw people well.

Are there any good books that might go over the basics? Stuff that I can do in my spare time, etc?

posted by delmoi to media & arts (14 comments total)

Look no further; if drawing can be learnt from a book, these will do the trick:
uno

dos
posted by dpcoffin at 12:45 AM on August 30, 2005

there's this too. which given your situation sounds maybe more appropriate.

from the first user review:
If you want a quick, "no brainer crash course" that will get you up and drawing ASAP, then use first "The (New) Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. The exercises in that book can be completed in less than a week; by then, you should be able to draw impressive lifelike portraits.

Now, let me warn you: Ms. Edwards' book teaches you how to COPY (draw) WHAT YOU SEE just as your eyes see it. You won't learn to draw from nothing; you will need a photograph or model to work from. Simply put: you will learn to copy whatever you look at.

Now, if after that, you find yourself wanting for more-- that is, you want to learn and do more -- then get this book by Nicolaides.
posted by juv3nal at 12:56 AM on August 30, 2005

Don't bother with books if you are really interested in learning. Take drawing classes at a local art school or college. There is nothing that can beat the critiquing of a good art teacher and group of talented students. Books will do nothing for that.

Also don't bother copying 2D stuff, work entirely on copying real 3D things. Get yourself a nice hard-bound sketchbook and take it everywhere. Start sketching on the bus, while waiting in line, in the park, etc. Don't doodle but try to copy what you see, realistically and loosely. Don't bother with details until you get the forms in the correct proportions. At this stage you are not trying to make art, you are trying to become fluent in the medium.
posted by JJ86 at 1:01 AM on August 30, 2005

Search the p2p networks and torrent sites for PDFs of Andrew Loomis' classic drawing and painting books. These books are all out of print, and used copies often sell for a hundred dollars or more. There's a reason for this, though--his anatomy and perspective lessons are succinct, easy to follow, and brilliant.
posted by xyzzy at 1:14 AM on August 30, 2005

Don't be so quick to pooh-pooh dpcoffin's "uno" suggestion; that's a very highly regarded book. It's all well and good to say "draw", but if doesn't hurt to grok a few basic concepts in advance so that you can try to put them into action when you get to a figure drawing session (or whatever). DWTRSOTB elucidates some very helpful notions (eg: negative space, perspective) in a very lucid and efficient manner.

/This coming from a long-time figure drawing session addict.


ObAdvice: My advice: Work BIG. Get those full size tablets, giant clipboards and bunches of graded charcoal (I use a tackle box). It's much easier to explore technique this way. You can always scale back, but (in my experience) it is much more difficult to go from small --> larger.
posted by RavinDave at 1:24 AM on August 30, 2005

I second or third "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". I come from a family of artistic and creative people and that book is always available.

Drawing real life is all about how to see things. Once you can "see" it, you can draw it.

Use that book, take a life drawing class, and practice. Ideally you'll want to go through a few sets of charcoals and pencils in the space of a month or three or so, and hundreds and thousands of sheets of cheap paper.

Use newsprint if you must. Butcher paper, whatever. Save the thick rag bound acid free archival stuff for later. I know it's pretty and it feels nice, but it's expensive, and that'll just make you think too much about producing quality work rather than just trying to draw and practice.

Don't worry about masterpieces or quality. Just burn through the paper with real effort. Start with the knowledge you're going to throw your results away, draw on the back of it, in the corners, etc. Just draw, and keep drawing.

Eventually you'll start getting to the point where even after you've thoroughly trained yourself to just toss it and move on to the next sketch, you'll go to crumple it up and toss it, and you just can't. Because you've broken through.

But seriously, just draw, and keep drawing. Not even a book as good as "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is going to improve anything without lots and lots of practice; But it'll help.
posted by loquacious at 3:21 AM on August 30, 2005

Sorry "rag bound acid free" should be "rag bond acid free". That typo is possibly confusing and I can't let it stand, even if it's nonsensical.
posted by loquacious at 3:23 AM on August 30, 2005

Seeing as the most important part is the training - learning "how to see" and exercising your hands - just practise as much as possible but don't worry too much about the results. A good tip I learned from the Simpsons is to see everyday objects and people as being made up of simple geometrical shapes (cones, spheres, tubes). Concentrate on each principle (colour, form, light, shading...) separately until you understand it inside out and would be able to draw it from memory!

As you're interested in the 3D side of things, why not use a simple modelling program to make renders of uncommon objects from any angle you please. Blender is a good free one.
posted by tommyc at 5:20 AM on August 30, 2005

I'll add in my two cents for Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I wasn't able to dedicate enough time to complete it but I saw a dramatic improvement for the couple of weeks I could stay dedicated.
posted by substrate at 5:51 AM on August 30, 2005

Wow, my dad has many Loomis books.
posted by substrate at 5:58 AM on August 30, 2005

juv3nal's answer above is already marked as one of the best, but I thought I'd mention that working with the exercises in The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study by K. Nicolaides certainly improved my abilities, but he's demanding! If you follow his program rigorously you'll be fine.
posted by safetyfork at 11:40 AM on August 30, 2005

saveloomis.com

Draw, draw, draw!
posted by meta87 at 1:20 PM on August 30, 2005

make that saveloomis.org

sorry :)
posted by meta87 at 1:20 PM on August 30, 2005

This site includes a couple of nice exercises. They more or less develop hand eye coordination as well as fine tune your ability to pick up boundaries in an object and draw those as opposed to icons.
posted by substrate at 6:13 PM on August 31, 2005