1. othman

    othman New Member

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    Bit of help with art, please

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by othman, Jan 26, 2009.

    So I'm doing art for GCSE but I need to draw more as although I'm okay I do need to do a lot more drawing. And I don't know what to draw as ... well I don't know what to draw!! Some suggestions would be very helpful because I do do drawing from scratch but I tend to just stare at the paper as often as not ... so if anyone has like some good photos I could draw or a good subject (I do any techniques as in drawn copys sort of thing and abstract alterations).

    Thanks, Othman
     
  2. Carmina

    Carmina Contributor Contributor

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    You have lots of lovely people on the site here who I am sure would love for you to do their portraits.
     
  3. NaCl

    NaCl Contributor Contributor

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    What mediums do you work in? For example...hi-res digital graphics, oils/acrylics, watercolor, pen/pencil, etc.

    Also, do you have a website or other online account where the quality of your work is displayed?
     
  4. othman

    othman New Member

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    I'm just doing this for practice to get better and gain the habit of drawing daily. And I really do need the practice for more than one reason.

    I do mostly use pencil, occaionaly paint and water colours and the occasional pen, but what I actualy want is some suggestions as to what to draw as I don't like drawing people or things I know as I subconsciously (or maybe not sub) want it to look perfect as I actually know them. But I don't like drawing from my imagination too much as it's nice to have a base with which I can then alter as I please.
     
  5. Ashleigh

    Ashleigh Contributor Contributor

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    what about cities and buildings? They'd be good practise for achieving correct light sources and shading, aswell as trying out different textures etc.

    Other than that there's always still life, you could draw fruit and such.

    If you have a messy desk, why not draw that? I'd suggest drawing whatever's around you.

    As for themes, just think of something that interests you, and all of the things associate with it, and sketch them.

    A good way of getting good is sketching quickly; dont pay attention to too much detail, just practise forms and techniques and dont linger on one piece too long.

    Good luck with your GCSE'S by the way! I got an A for GCSE art but it's alot of hard work and very repetitive, so speed drawing would be a very good idea at this stage :)
     
  6. othman

    othman New Member

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    Thanks, Ashleigh, I'll do that.

    Go, go googley!
     
  7. The Freshmaker

    The Freshmaker <insert obscure pop culture reference> Contributor

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    You said that you aren't good at drawing people. That might be a good thing to start with, though. As an artist, it's always good to challenge yourself. It's the only way you can improve.

    I'd recommend going through magazines and finding images that you like, and sketching them. If you don't like just copying, then find a figure that pleases you and draw it into a different setting.

    You could also try drawing people and places from novels you've read, based on how the book describes them.
     
  8. NaCl

    NaCl Contributor Contributor

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    Ashleigh's right. There are "pictures" all around us.

    In high school, I accidentally won an art show by drawing a picture of my history book sitting on the corner of my table with a half glass of milk and couple cookies sitting next to it. It was done in pastel charcoals, using a point-source lighting that was in color where the light was bright and faded to shades of gray in the shadows. I only did that picture because I could not think of anything to do for my art homework. The choice of subject was really acting out against my art teacher whom I didn't like. I figured she'd expect some "artsy-fartsy" subject and a drawing of a school book with food would just piss her off.

    Well, she shocked me. The woman took my damn picture and entered it in an art show on Nantucket Island. It won best of show in it's category and she presented my with a ribbon and $100 on Monday when I came to school. I was mortified...she did it in front of the class.

    (BTW - $100 was a lot of money back in 1964 when minimum wage was $1.25 per hour and my dad only earned $500 a month. A pair of Red Ball Jets tennis shoes cost $4.99 and a big candy bar was a nickel.)
     
  9. Carmina

    Carmina Contributor Contributor

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    My husband follows this one cartoonist who gave himself a "Dude a Day" challenge for a year. Draw one person a day.
     
  10. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Drawing from imagination is not the best approach. You are better off working with phtotographs of actual subjects, so you will develop a stronger sense of visual proportion. When people draw from imagination without having done many studies from real subjects, they reinforce distortions created by a symbol-centered mind. for instance, most people will place eyes too high on the head, because they "know" a face consists of an oval that contains eyes, a nose, and a mouth, with about equal space given to each zone.

    If you draw (paint, etc) from real life models, paying attention to actual proportions, you'd develop a sharper eye. If you can even stop thinking them as named features, you'll do even better - that is why people often make better drawings by painting the "negative space" rather than te objects temselves.

    Faces ARE a better place to start, because if the proportions are off, you'll know it right away. If you screw up the proportions on a tree, it will probably still look like a tree to you, because your eye isnt't as trained to recognize trees as distinct individuals.

    Also, don't only do "straight on" faces looking directly at the camera. Draw people looking down at the ground, or looking back over their shoulders either toward, away from, or at various other angles from te camera (vantage point).
     
  11. BatCountry

    BatCountry New Member

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    i suggest picking random stuff out of your fridge and drawing them as they all come in different shapes, sizes, shading etc.
     
  12. garmar69

    garmar69 Contributor Contributor

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    This is a very important aspect when drawing. There are many techniques, but I feel this is one of the most valuable. And one I focus on the most when drawing.

    This is why my efforts at drawing from imagination usually don't come out as well as I'd like. No reference. I'm trying to fix that though and gradually getting better. It's important to try different things to break out of the box as it were, to grow as an artist. Same thing applies as a writer imo.
     
  13. Mcarpenter

    Mcarpenter New Member

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    Yes, I highly recommend a book called Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain. http://www.drawright.com/ It focuses on ridding the tendency to draw preset symbols, while tapping into your brains ability to copy what you see in front of you. It has a series of fun exercises that build your skills.

    I got it when I was a teen and when I entered highschool art, the teacher used the exact same book, so I was tip top in the class...won the art award every year after that until that stupid airbrushing class. The airbrush itself was fine. But I hate exacto knife carving on frisket paper with a passion!

    I'm a graphic artist now. It doesn't get much easier than Photoshop, lol. Plus no mess to clean up...
     
  14. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I use an airbrush on plastic models, and I know what you mean about frisket cutting. What a pain!

    Drawing on the Left Side of the Brain was an instant classic. I'm not much of an artist, myself, but even I found that book useful many years ago.

    For me, CorelPaint replaced darkroom chemicals. I was pretty adept at darkroom art. One of my photographs of a Boston street used nearly a dozen intermediate positive and negative masks and several separate exposures per print for a posterized false-color image. It took the better part of a day to generate the mask films and get the right exposures. With software, I could do the same setup now in a matter of minutes, and every print would be identical with perfect registration.

    But I still like working with oil paints, when I find time. My mother is the real artist though. I have several of her paintings on my walls, and her house is a gallery of her works.
     
  15. Carmina

    Carmina Contributor Contributor

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    Another trick for reprogramming your brain to draw what it actually there and not your presets is to draw upside down. Take a photo, turn it upside down and draw it.
     
  16. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    That doesn't work well for me. The patterns remain too clear. But I can read upside down writing too.
     
  17. Carmina

    Carmina Contributor Contributor

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    I can read upside down writing too...but the muscle memory of drawing..say a face...rightside up is so there..that I have to pay more attention when drawing upside down.
     

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