Many times I hear “You’re so lucky to be talented at drawing”, “I wished I knew how to draw like you”. Like Drawing is a talent you are born with.
Well. Maybe this can happen. If you have some kind of Asperger autism, some kind of genius or something else, Who knows ?
But for the vast majority of people out there, we weren’t born geniuses, nor robot printers. Like everyone we had to learn to crawl and walk for a few years before being able to use a pencil. And the first attempt is usually a bit messy.
The same way you learnt how to walk, you can learn how to draw. That sensibility people think is innate ? You can learn it too. It also has a name ! Principles of Design. Why is a flower beautiful ? Answer this question, take out the principles and you have a theory. Replicate it, if it works, you have a replicable exercise to create a beautiful flower. And if the same principles apply to any other objects, you have that sensibility.
On some forum you might see that once you are past your 20’s, it’s too late to learn. Every master was once a student (but I am just kicking open doors with that). Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Disney….. Some even begun quite “late” (after their 20ies like Beekart, Anthony Jones, Stephane Woota Richard….). The companies or the clients don’t care about your age nor your background and if you have a talent or not. Only the Craft matters.
The only thing left is Hard Work. You can learn fundamentals and be ok with that but if you want to take it to the next level, you will need practice. And a lot of it. Like anything else. And also a Vision to drive you to your goal. You won’t cut it but you will be unstoppable. But it may take years so be ready.
I am a strong believer that with only a few principles, anyone can become fairly good at drawing and painting in a short period of time (not pro but enough to be able to express themselves).
Especially with Internet nowadays, you can learn any skill at any cost.
Design principles
I love this one as it is mostly reflection and decisions to make. No hard skills involved and it is highly translatable to any field (music, photography, drawing and painting, massaging, sports…..) And yet you can push the thinking so far.
Draftmanship
Your eye-hand synchronization. How well can you trace a straight line ? Is your hand is following your will on the paper ?
Volumes
Being able to see and understand volume in space, especially a 2D space. It also brings you some basic perspective understanding.
And from there I think you can follow with more scholar fundamentals like :
But this is a never ending yet so interesting journey to learn about the skill and about yourself.
Now, If you liked this post, I am curious to hear your story and see how much your work paid of over the years, Feel free to share them in the comments below !
Cheers guys !
Resources for learning :
Beekart interview
5 Youtube channels to upgrade your painting skills
3 Top Online mentorships to bring you to the next level
(Below are some practices with beekart exercise he talks about during the interview, such a wonderful way to work on fundamentals, check it out !)
