In this article I will explain in detail and to perfection, a trick to learn how to draw more easily, in a simpler way. It’s a great trick.
By following it, step by step, plus the techniques that I will reveal below, you will undoubtedly be able to advance quickly in your learning process. Pay attention and continue reading!
Is it possible to learn to draw more easily?
Get ready, because right now you are going to read something that is going to save you a lot of headaches and wasted time.
First I want to tell you that I really had a hard time learning to draw in my beginnings. I must admit it, it was not easy, and surely to you, the same thing is happening to you that happened to me when I decided to start studying drawing.
I didn’t know if I had the conditions to achieve it, but I loved the idea and I had the intention to become a good artist, to enjoy my hobby and maybe, and why not, in the future I could show my qualities to the world.
The beginnings, a mix between effort and results
At the beginning things did not go as I wanted them to. It was very evident that I was not born with the innate quality of drawing, which meant that, in my case, I would have to try much harder if I really wanted to achieve my goals.
I was trying hard, but my first strokes were not producing the results I had hoped for. I was drawing, copying and spending too many hours trying, but I was not getting the fruits of my dedication.
I thought that if I could see personally how this or that artist did it, that way, I would discover his or her secret and then, everything would be easier for me.
After wasting a lot of time, I learned that there are no dark hidden mysteries waiting to be discovered, but that it all comes down to a set of techniques that when you know them and apply them consistently, things change and you realize that everything starts to work wonders.
Techniques, know them and apply them
As I mentioned before, it is essential to know and apply the techniques in a constant and orderly manner, so that everything goes perfectly and there are no mistakes.
Pay close attention because this one I am going to teach you is one of them.
First: Search, find, and trace the shapes.
One of the most logical ways to practice drawing, when you are just taking your first steps, is to try to copy from good photos, or drawings of other artists. Also from life, doing it by direct observation of an object or a figure in a certain pose.
The trick is to be able to establish quick proportions at a glance, and, that allow you to realize the general shape of the main object you are drawing.
As we see in the image, once you have established that shape, you can subordinate the rest of the elements to it. In this way, you will use the main shape you made at the beginning as a reference.
This way you will be able to place correctly in space and proportions the rest of the objects that appear in the image.
You can start adding the details later, but always starting from the biggest to the smallest. But later, never before.
Easily acquire the ability to “see”.
It is logical that your sight gets lost in the details when you try to copy something, it is normal that it happens, it happened to all of us, no doubt, but you have to avoid falling into this when you take your first steps.
A technique to acquire the ability to see the basic shape, is that, before you start drawing, take the image you are going to use and place over it a transparent paper. Then you will begin to draw it on this paper.
This will give you an idea of what you need to look for with your eyes.
Then, draw that same shape on your blank sheet of paper, observing simultaneously the drawing of the reference image and the simple shape you have drawn on the transparent paper.
Why is it useful to do this exercise?
This visual exercise will help you to gain confidence and to be able to interpret the shapes you “see” in the image, using directly your sight and your perception, and thus, to be able to transfer them to your blank sheet of paper.
It is very important that you also think about the empty spaces.
After you manage to interpret the basic shape of your drawing, pay special attention to the opposite shapes, which are simply all those that surround your main shape.
These are the blank spaces or open spaces of a given composition, known as NEGATIVE SPACE (The green area in the example).
Being more strict we would say that the negative or empty space is the space left between the different elements of a composition.
Check if they are equal to the ones you see in the image of the drawing you are using as reference.
If not, try to adjust it until it looks quite correct.
Get the most out of this exercise
If you want to give more value to this exercise, I propose that after doing all the above you start again, but hiding the sheet of transparent paper that has the lines marked on it. Remove it from the middle, do not look at it anymore.
Now try to do the whole exercise from scratch, just as if you were observing the basic shape for the first time, but without the help of the transparent paper. What will happen?
In some corner of your mind you will have a small record of the previous exercise and then, it will be easier to do it in this second attempt.
This is very beneficial, because it records the conscious process that you have done the first time using the transparent paper as an aid, and this is strengthened by the effort of the unconscious process that you are doing now.
Using these exercises, you will better understand how to look for and find these shapes when copying a drawing successfully, starting from a reference.
This is something fundamental and indispensable when you are learning to draw.
Now, when you have to make a drawing copying directly from life, the process to take measurements and establish proportions is quite different. But we will see that in a next article.
Conclusion
As mentioned at the beginning and during the article, this trick requires concentration, but, once you master it, you will be able to make your drawings in a faster and easier way. Undoubtedly, what you have learned today will be of great use in your artistic future!
That said, I invite you to get your pencil and try this simple but infallible trick right now, which will increase your confidence and skill immediately when you need to plan a drawing, no matter how difficult it is.
And I assure you it works!
Daniel Kopalek
