The Hardest Thing (And The First Rule) About Drawing (2024)
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Bert Dodson has illustrated more than three dozen books. He taught illustration and drawing for several years at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology, and today we celebrate his work by giving you a glimpse from his classic book, Keys to Drawing. One of the first points that Dodson makes is his Rule #1: draw the large shapes first, then the smaller shapes.
“Sometimes the hardest thing about drawing is beginning the process,” he writes (share this quote on Twitter). “The subject is before us, the blank white paper stares at us, and our pencil is poised. All we have to do is start. But where? How? Rule #1 suggests that it’s easier to work from the general to the specific rather than the other way around. Start with the largest shape you see. Forget everything else and draw that shape. It may be the outer silhouette of a person or subject, or it may be a shape that includes more than one object. Whatever it is, that’s where you start.
“For example, let’s say you are drawing flowers in a vase. Rather than first drawing each flower and then the vase separately, you might first draw the entire silhouette as a single shape. What you’ve done is capture “flowers/vase” as a whole idea. The drawing needn’t be executed perfectly, either. This is a way of quickly getting the measure of the subject. Now you have something you can build on, restate, compare with surrounding shapes, subdivide into smaller shapes, etc.
“There are no set numbers of major shapes for any given subject. Choosing which are the large shapes in your subject is up to you. If you’re in doubt, squinting may help. Then draw first those shapes you see with squinted eyes.
“All drawing is process. You make some marks on paper. Those marks help guide you to make other marks. You frequently don’t know where you’re going until you get there. A large shape starts that process.” ~Bert Dodson
In addition to his mini-lessons and drawing tips, Dodson includes eight self-evaluation checklists through Keys to Drawing. Using these self-critiquing questions is a great way to keep things real as you practice drawing exercises. Some examples include:
• Did you observe the subject as much as you observed your drawing?
• Did you break down your subject into shapes, drawing major shapes first, then secondary shapes?
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One of the first points that Dodson makes is his Rule #1: draw the large shapes first, then the smaller shapes. “Sometimes the hardest thing about drawing is beginning the process,” he writes (share this quote on Twitter). “The subject is before us, the blank white paper stares at us, and our pencil is poised.
What are the hardest things to draw? Some of the most challenging things to draw include facial expressions, foreshortening of the human body, drapery folds, drawings based on your ideas instead of a direct reference, hands, movement, and gestures.
The first rule is that there are no rules. Second rule is that there are only rules if you make them for yourself. Third rule is that art is not constrained to societies definition or standards.
Tesseract (Hypercube) A four-dimensional analogue of the cube. Its complex structure makes it difficult to draw in a way that accurately represents its form.
While we truly believe that anyone can learn to draw with enough practice, we can't pretend that it will be an immediate or easy journey. There are many challenges that you'll face when practicing this art, many of which are inherent to learning any new skill, while others are unique to it.
Rule #1 suggests that it's easier to work from the general to the specific rather than the other way around. Start with the largest shape you see. Forget everything else and draw that shape.
With a proportion equal to x²=x+1, the golden ratio in art creates a balanced relationship that the mind's eye loves. More precisely, it is about obtaining a precise ratio between the different parts of a work, an image, or an object. The value of this number is 1.61803398874989482045.
The golden ratio is a method that you can use to divide lines and rectangles in an aesthetically pleasing way. Architects use a very accurate golden ratio number, 0.62, when designing buildings. As an easier rule of thumb for your art, you can use a ratio of 3 to 5.
In many cases of Rule 34, internet users depict their favourite cartoon or animated characters in sexual fantasies. This is sometimes referred to as 'fan art'.
Though triangles may be the strongest in a technical sense, there are distinct advantages other shapes can provide over them. Take cylinders, for example. Pillars have shown great capabilities in withstanding the test of time. This is because rounded shapes don't have points of weakness.
While hands make for stunning drawings, they are notoriously difficult to draw due to the amount of bones, muscle, and tendons in each hand. But don't let that intimidate you. Simplify the process and break hand drawing down into basic shapes and manageable steps, and you'll be on your way to drawing a lifelike hand.
Finding inspiration to create art consistently is probably the most difficult thing about being an artist. All artists hit creative roadblocks from time to time—that's totally normal. Not knowing what to create next is not cool, especially if art is your career, but there are ways to break out of a creative rut.
Drawing well can be challenging for beginners because, besides requiring knowledge of fundamental art concepts and techniques, it involves fluid coordination of hands and eyes that results from the muscle memory that is cultivated naturally over time through repetition, practice, and patience.
When you draw from life, your eye has to work much harder to translate the 3D objects in space in front of you into a 2D drawing. You have to learn to observe, investigate, and visually analyze what you are seeing.
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