hand drawing skills

[__fangoria]

I've been immersed in the world of grapic design for several years now (since I was about 9;I'm 17 now) and have been told by quite a few people that I have a good eye for it.I've always wanted to do this for a career,or at least freelance,but there is a problem;my hand drawing skills are pretty terrible.Are there any methods,books or anything else

Comments

[insolentmuse]

Hand drawing has always been my biggest weakness and honestly the only thing that helped to develop it was taking the series of drawing classes at college (Which are required in our graphic design major anyway). I've only taken the Intro to and Beginning Life, but honestly, the improvement has been HUGE HUGE.

Like chicken scratches have become framing one of my charcoal pieces because I loved it so much ;)

[aubuchon]

Just draw random things all the time - try and draw for a little bit every day, even if it's just a quick 10 minute drawings.

DON'T RESTRICT YOURSELF TO DRAWING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Sorry - that probably doesn't apply to you, but it just annoys the hell out of me when someone says they can draw and then they show me pages upon pages of anime/mange style fan art.

Take a life drawing course.

If you like reading + psychology + history - I've always recommended the book

"Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation" by E.H. Gombrich

It can change your whole method of perception when it comes to looking at and creating art, but be forewarned it's not "light" reading.

so those are all things I recommend.

[aubuchon]

oh, and that book was recommended to me by a guy that painted this

[aeazel]

Poor (whom I'm assuming is) Gregor. I do love the detail of the Escher-esque print on the side of his blanket.

I am definitely going to have to check out this book. From the way you describe it, I'm reminded of James Elkins' The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing, which I adored--even if it was rather dense at times.

[aubuchon]

Yeah, it is a dense read - so it isn't for everyone, but like I said - it can give you a new outlook on art, especially the fact that what isn't there is just as important as what is.

[algebraic]

bring a sketchbook around with you at all times and sketch whenever you can.

[kittensrule]

a way to learn drawing...Take a photo. Draw a grid on it. Take a larger piece of paper and make the same grid only bigger (take up the whole page). Draw square by square..so you are not overwhelmed by the big picture. We did this back in high school. It gave me a great idea about perspective.

After drawing a bunch like this, it got much easier for me to draw just by sight because I had payed so much attention to the little details.

Get a basic drawing book too. It will teach you how to measure using your pencil.

hope this makes sense.

[__fangoria]

I've never heard about that before,I'll def. try it out!

[kittensrule]

you will be amazed at how good it turns out. I think it's a great exercise! Then you can work on fun stuff..like shading.

[peterbilt_47]

Ahhhh, gridding! I just did a total brain dump on this topic, and had forgotten that. I should use it more often myself.

[x_1013_x]

Yeah, just work at it. As with many things, practice makes...proficient? I don't want to say perfect because that is subjective. Anyway, just sit down and sketch. Draw from life, study your subject. Apply basic principles of logic, geometry and physics...wait, that sounds hard. What I'm trying to say is that you have to work at something to do it well. And I have to agree with aubuchon, just because someone can draw one type of thing, doesn't mean they can draw.