HN Books @HNBooksMonth

You have a point that some people don't have the talent to decompose objects from their mind'e eye into basic shapes. I would argue that some forms of drawing are based more on practical skill sets, which can be learned, as opposed to the ability to detect the pitch released from a musical instrument. (I make that claim as a guitarist myself)

Trying to improve your drawing ability is worth the time and effort spent. I have been working on improving my artistic lens for the past month. Am I yet at the skill level I want to be? No. Have I sacrificed a lot of time? No.

I sit down once a day whenever I can find 10 minutes, set a timer, and sketch whatever comes to mind. On busy days I skip this practice, but always make it up in the following days.

You can see the progress in this imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/GTF6w#0 . These are by no means exact representations of the image in my mind at the time. On the other hand, they are quickly getting closer to my imagination everyday.

For a practical book on the topic of drawing, I recommend http://www.amazon.com/The-Drawing-Right-Side-Brain/dp/087477... .Reading that book helped me gain a lot more confidence and understand a lot of the science behind drawing ability.

I also have a large amount of bookmarks on improving your pixel art skill set. If those would be of interest then I am happy to share those links.

⬐ novamantis

You should consider working with just paper instead of a some crappier digital painting program. You need to learn your fundamentals first & use a much better program.

Don't give me crap for recommending Photoshop because I use it and think it's bloody amazing with the things it can do.

I seriously recommend you pickup a trial of Photoshop and go through these,

- Learn some fundamentals anyway you can (huge number of tutorials for nearly anything online)

- http://www.wacom.asia/au :: If you're doing digital, get a tablet from these guys. Go bamboo if you're not rich.

- http://www.ctrlpaint.com/ :: This site teaches you a fair bit about Photoshop and drawing in general.

- http://theroundtablet.com/ :: Awesome for tablet owners and if you want to tutorials from professionals. Also has some nice brushes from well known artists.

- http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/ :: These folks are legendary. They're all over the industry & have some of the best teachers on the web. They cost a bit but it's worth it. Seriously recommended.

- http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?870-Journey-of-a... :: A real beginner to pro journey where some guy with little experience shares everything as he practices relentlessly. Possibly for the inspiration category...

INSPIRATION : These are great for games but also good for just coming up with a starting point for say, concept art. - http://chaoticshiny.com/ - http://donjon.bin.sh/

⬐ dsirijus

I applaud your persistence but I'd argue that you might be better off refining your work, than just making new sketch each time.

But it's art - I can imagine you developing your own style this way, and I'd absolutely have no problem with it.

And I guess it is easier to keep one-sketch-a-day as a habit than feverishly improving single piece to no end.

What do you think of this book?

"The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.

Has glowing testimonials like: "I have a degree in commercial art and learned more about drawing from this book than I did in four years of undergraduate instruction. If you practice everyday what Ms. Edwards teaches you will be drawing as good as any professional artist in six months. This really is the best book on drawing ever published!"

http://www.amazon.com/New-Drawing-Right-Side-Brain/dp/087477...

http://www.drawright.com/

⬐ jcl

Reading the article, I couldn't help thinking of parallels to drawing and particularly that book (well, the original -- I haven't read the "New" one).

Contrary to the expectations of most people, life drawing is largely a mechanical process that can be learned. It is very much a matter of learning to "turn off" the part of the brain that interprets images so that you can concentrate on relatively unimportant lower-level visual details, such as the angle at which the contour of a nose intersects the contour of the cheek behind it. The exercises in the book -- copying upside-down pictures, copying pictures in a grid, concentrating on negative space shapes, etc. -- all help do this.

The physical left/right brain distinction, by the way, is speculation on the part of the author; apparently people with damaged right brains are also capable of learning life drawing. It does serve as a useful metaphor, however.

⬐ dasil003

I think one of my undergrad drawing teachers incorporated elements from this book in her lesson plan, but I've never read it myself.

It strikes me that different people need different approaches to learn how to make the mental shift. The very fact that it's a right-brained thing means it's impossible to give someone a process. You can explain it at a meta-level, but I think the only thing that really produces the desired result is some sort of suggestive technique--like a koan.

⬐ wallflower

One of my artist friends has always told me that 'Drawing is about learning to see.'

I am starting to believe him. Since I do fantasize about being able to pull out a sketchpad in a public park and draw convincingly and/or do caricatures, I've ordered the book. I feel like I can be open to a non-traditional approach.

Just ordered the book along with another book I've always wanted to get 'Impro by Keith Johnstone'