How to draw...

[gius]

^It's called "blind contour drawing"
You stare at something and draw its outlines, without looking at your paper
It helps develop eye hand coordination

 

[cupkate]

^Well I didn't mean blind contour but yes that's a way too. I just meant as little as possible. Of course you look at your paper some, but people tend to focus in too much on their paper and not what they're drawing.

Of course I'd rather draw from life than memory though. So it's different if you're drawing from memory.

 

[gius]

Yeah the problem with looking at your paper too much is that you will start to invent or idealize and change what you're actually drawing
So in the end, it won't look like what you're drawing
and that doesn't improve observation skills

Also if you look less at your paper you become sensitive to space and distances

 

[two months off]

It's always important to draw what you see, not what you think you see.

THAT is about the most important piece of advice I could give, and it's good to remember it even if you've been drawing for ages.

 

[cupkate]

^ You're right. That is a great way to put it.

 

[fourboltmain]

I just keep pushing lead until it works. I see a lot of proportion too, so I kind of visualize where to like should star/end and I think about where the next line is going and it's relation to the next line. I also lightly map out the figure and then start getting darker and darker as I go on, but I always check the stick figure before I start throwing muscles at it.

 

[Romantic Rebel]

Also... we used this book in our drawing class.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
by Betty Edwards

/tbpcontrol/

There are different editions of this book --I think this is the most recent

That's a great book. I've read that and I think that it would really help an absolute beginner in drawing.
Right now I'm reading her book about colors. It's titled: A course in mastering the art of mixing colors. Really helpful for someone who lacks knowledge in colors like me.

 

[Snow-White]

:-( I used to draw lots .. and now .. am stuck in a rut and dunno how to get out of it

 

[gius]

^Maybe make an inspiration board
things you'd like to draw

Or read Betty Edwards' book
It has some exercises for drawing, no thinking involved

 

[Ievut]

Nice drawings daniellat

 

[Tondo]

what can you guys say about making the actual result faithful to your "plan"? like making the drawing identical to what you pictured in your head. is it really impossible?