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Have you ever seen an illustration and thought to yourself, “I wish I could draw something as beautiful as that.” Well, I believe anyone can become a competent artist with practice and dedication to the craft. But, where to start? Many of the art-touching goons in Creative Convention recommend “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” by Betty Edwards. So, when Keetron offered up his copy, as well as a complimentary workbook and some art supplies, I greedily took him up on his offer. But, why should I be so selfish? Why not share this with any goon who might be curious about becoming a more skilled artist? Thats where this thread comes in. I figured we could all learn from Betty Edwards lessons together. I will be going through the book, pulling whatever pearls of wisdom I think are worth sharing, paraphrasing where I can, as well as posting exercises to follow along with. I encourage anyone who’s interested, to join in and draw with me. Regardless of any previous experience, or talent, we can always strive to improve. First, lets begin by gathering our supplies for our artistic journey. You don’t need to use the exact tools I’ll be using, but they are recommended, and perhaps you’ll find them useful too. Pencils: #2 Writing pencil with an eraser top #4B drawing pencil (Turquoise, Faber Castell, or similar brand) Eraser: A white plastic erasure (Staedtler) or Pink Pearl eraser Pencil Sharpener: (I’ve always found the small hand-held ones work best.) Graphite Stick: #4B Charcoal: 6 sticks of natural charcoal 2 sticks of synthetic charcoal (CharKole or similar brand) #4B charcoal pencil Conte Crayons: 1 black 1 sanguine (reddish brown) Chalk: 1 pale gray, or 1 pastel crayon Erasable felt tip marker: 1 black (Crayola, Sharpie, or a similar brand) Ink: 1 small bottle of India ink 1 small bottle of brown writing ink Brush: #7 or #8 watercolor brush Alarm Clock or Kitchen Timer Paper Towels or Tissues Clear Plastic: 8” x 10”, to make a Picture Plane (Tapered Glass can also be used) Use a permanent marker to draw two cross hairs on the plastic, vertical and horizontal crossing at the center. Lightweight Cardboard: [i]2 Pieces, 8” x 10”, to make a view finder. From one cut a rectangular opening of 4 1/4” x 5 1/4” and from the other, cut out a larger opening of 6” x 7 5/8” 2 Alligator Clips to fasten your viewfinder to the picture plane. Drawing Paper or Art Journal Finally, for those who wish, a copy of The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and its accompanying Workbook. Now, none of these supplies are completely necessary, (I would personally love to see some one follow along using only a copy of MS Paint) but to get the most out of our lessons together, they have been recommended. Now If you don’t have everything at once, don’t worry. The first few exercises only ask for a sharpened pencil and enthusiasm.
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Jan 1, 2020 23:57
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 09:06 |
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My partner does the illustrating, I just do engineering and videogames. sorry op.
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Jan 2, 2020 00:03
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Drone_Fragger posted:My partner does the illustrating, I just do engineering and videogames. sorry op. No problem, but if you change you're mind, feel free to follow along. I'd assume engineering and drawing kinda go hand in hand. This method is especially meant for beginners. Preface and Introduction Betty Edwards had always had a background in fine arts, but believed anyone could learn to draw. So when she began teaching she was astonished by how difficult her students found drawing. One day, she had all her student copy a Picasso drawing upside down. To everyones surprise their drawings were extreemly well done. The following year, 1968, Roger Sperry began releasing report on his research on human brain-hemisphere. His work suggest that the brain uses two funamentally different modes of thinking. The left focusing on verbal and analytical, and the right focusing on visual and perceptual. Learning this herself, Betty embarked on a quest to create a curiculum ustilising that discovery. “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” is the culmination of her lessons. It’s focus is on teaching five skills One: the perception of edges Two: the perception of spaces Three: the perception of relationships Four: the perception of lights and shadows Five: the perception of the whole, or gestalt Chapter I: Drawing and the Art of Bicycle Riding The first chapter serves as an introduction to dispell any intimidations about drawing. While seeing someone’s master work can instantly make you feel like anything you could draw couldn’t compair, you shouldn’t simply surrender. Anyone can learn to draw. Much like riding a bike, instruction about drawing almost always proves more confusing than the actual act of practice. All you need to draw is average eyesight, and decent hand eye coordination. We will be learning how to see differently. When you decide to sit down and draw a particular object, whatever it is, you may suprise yourself with how many details you might have not have noticed earlier. And the more you draw like this you’ll begin looking at everything in a different matter. “Learning to draw is reall a matter of learnng to see- to see correctly- and that means a good deal more than merely looking with the eye.” - Kimon Nicolaides “It is in order to really see, to see even deeper, ever more intensly, hense to be fully aware and alive, that I draw what the Chinese call ‘The Ten Thosand Things’ around me. Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world. I have learned that what I have not drawn, I have never really seen, and that when I start drawing an ordinarything, I realize how etraordinary it is, sheer miracle.” - Frederick Franck Now that you’ve begun looking at things like an artist, you’ve unlocked that creative part of your brain and can begin utilizing it. To borrow from the bicycle metaphor again, you’ve begun to find your feet and can pedal withconfidence. All you had to do was start.
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Jan 2, 2020 00:11
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Chapter II: The Drawing Exercises: One Step at a Time All right, time to actually start drawing. Obviously I haven’t given you any actual instructions yet so these drawings will act as a starting point for your artistic journey. Exercise #1 “Pre-Insruction Self-Portrait” For this exercise all you will need is your #2 writing pencil, drawing paper, and a mirror. Simply sit down in front of the mirror and draw what you see. Spend as much or as little time as you want, it’s recommended to spend about 30 minutes, but I probably banged mine out in about 10.  Don’t be upset if your first drawing isn’t as good as you’d like it to be. We’ve only just started and haven’t had any real instruction yet. Do take some time to take a look over your drawing and pick out a few areas where you think you succeeded in capturing, and don’t forget to sign, date and title it. Exercise #2 “Pre-Insruction Drawing of your Hand” For this exercise all you will need is your #2 writing pencil and drawing paper. Once again sit down somewhere comfortable, and examine your non-dominant hand. Try out a few poses until you find one you feel you can hold and draw, then get started. Try to spend at least 15 minutes on this drawing. Once you’ve finished sign, date, and title it.  Exercise #3 “A Person, Drawn from Memory” For this exercise you will once again need your #2 writing pencil and drawing paper. This time when you sit down to draw. Recall someone you familiar to you, whether it be a family member, a friend, or lover. Perhaps, you maybe even want to draw a celebrity. Whoever it is, once you’ve locked on to them in your minds eye, begin drawing them. You’re welcome to just do a portrait, or full body sketch.  You probably found this drawing even more difficult than the first two. Without a reference even the most skilled artist would find it difficult. The purpose of this drawing was to train your mind in recognizing and refining common symbols and shapes that you’ll repeat in any portrait of any person. If you compare it to your self portrait you might notice that their are several similarities in how you drew certain characteristics. Don’t forget to sign, date, and title it. Exercise #4 “Pre-Insruction Drawing of the Corner of a Room” For our last exercise of the day, all you’ll need it your #2 writing pencil and drawing paper. Look around the room you’re working in and choose a corner of it to draw. It can be a fairly spruce corner, or a complicated scene with lots of furniture and/or items. Just draw as accurate to the best of your abilities.  Now you might have found this easier, or maybe more difficult. Since this drawing focused more on geometric shapes rather than organic shaped, you might have discovered where you specialize. Don’t forget to sign, date, and title it. Congratulations! You’ve finished your first few exercises, and hopefully gained some more confidence in your drawing ability. Perhaps you’d like to post them and share with your fellow students. Peer review is an important part of any artist journey. It is one of the most difficult parts too, as I’ve seen more than just a couple artist burst into tears after a critique. But if you’re thick skinned and can listen to someone tell you where you did poorly, than you can learn the areas you can improve. Besides, people will also tell you where you succeeded, and that's a very nice feeling. Also feel free to do the same for other artists and we can all gain from one another’s experience. That will be it for now. If there are any questions or comments, I will reply to them. But I need to read ahead for a little bit, and finish the rest of Chapter II. Johnny-on-the-Spot fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Jan 2, 2020 |
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Jan 2, 2020 00:30
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Totally discriminatory against those of us without a visual imagination.
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Jan 2, 2020 01:01
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goatface posted:Totally discriminatory against those of us without a visual imagination. By no means do I mean to discriminate against those who suffer from aphantasia. This method (from what I read,) focuses on drawing from life. If you can see it, you can draw it. Admittedly, I have no experience with aphantasia, so I cannot relate, but I do imagine it would make any of the excercises that ask you to draw from memory extreemly difficult. If you do not want to participate in those, by no means do I require you to. This is just suppose to be a fun little thread for those who desire to develope drawing skills. Johnny-on-the-Spot fucked around with this message at 05:12 on Jan 2, 2020 |
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Jan 2, 2020 01:21
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Johnny-on-the-Spot posted:Exercise #3 “A Person, Drawn form Memory” 
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Jan 2, 2020 02:14
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Excellent job! Your subject is immediately recognizable, and illustrates an important part of the exercise, recognising common symbols and shapes used in drawing. I wonder if you started with the "G" of the ear? Using easily repeatable and familiar shapes in your drawings can help build the frame of your art work. I commend you for your start. While I really like your claw, but I assumed you were trying to draw a hand. Hands are very difficult to draw, (my hand drawing looks very clawish too,) so I implore you to challenge yourself and continue the exercises with the hand drawing. Once again, I really do like the hand you drew.
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Jan 2, 2020 02:36
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This is very good. I’m done reading ty!
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Jan 2, 2020 02:56
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Less text more art!
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Jan 2, 2020 03:02
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https://twitter.com/PopeCorkytheIX/status/480045502650937345?s=20
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Jan 2, 2020 03:05
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Jan 2, 2020 03:10
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Jan 2, 2020 03:16
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are we just posting this sort of thing now?
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Jan 2, 2020 03:42
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 While I do like to encourage this sort of silly nonsense, I wouldn't mind see more people post their own art. 
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Jan 2, 2020 04:35
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we used that book in my high school drawing class, good choice keep it up art goons
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Jan 2, 2020 04:46
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