You know, I’ve always had some desire to draw. Being able to draw is actually there on my wishlist. Well this blogging thing has bought me into a little bit of contact with a few artists, and some sketching blogs. It got me thinking, why can’t I draw? Even though I believe I don’t have any artistic talent, surely a lot of drawing is based on a foundation of techniques and skills that can be taught and learned? I haven’t done any engineering drawing for many many years, but I was reasonably OK at that. So I could visualise shapes and objects, see and draw perspective, and so on. Surely mastering some basic ‘technical’ skills and techniques would be within my grasp and mean I could at least learn to draw at a level of ‘technical’ competence, even without artistic talent? So there I was in the shopping mall, and the bookstore had a “Learn to Draw” book on special.
So I drew about 10 circles and cubes from the exercise lessons in the book and then started in on Still Life. These are my first two drawings, a couple of cups from the cupboard, took about 30 minutes each. I know they’re not much, but I’m bizarrely happy with them for my first ever attempts. The other thing is, when it comes to drawing and the equation, ‘Me + Art = ?’ the answer is Staedtler Mars Lumograph wooden pencils. Mechanical pencils don’t really enter my thinking when it comes to art. Strange.
So I drew about 10 circles and cubes from the exercise lessons in the book and then started in on Still Life. These are my first two drawings, a couple of cups from the cupboard, took about 30 minutes each. I know they’re not much, but I’m bizarrely happy with them for my first ever attempts. The other thing is, when it comes to drawing and the equation, ‘Me + Art = ?’ the answer is Staedtler Mars Lumograph wooden pencils. Mechanical pencils don’t really enter my thinking when it comes to art. Strange.
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4 comments:
Bravo! The shadows in and on the upright cup are phenomenal!
Wow, those drawings are amazing!
I've found mechanical pencils are OK for line work - but sketching? No way. There just isn't the same amount of control - as you get with a wooden pencil.
When sketching you don't necessarily use the point of the pencil at all. An artist once showed me how to shade using the side of a pencil - another reason real artist don't use pencil sharpeners - but use a knife instead.
Keep up the drawing Dave. It's a rewarding past time.
Good work. Drawing is a lot of fun. I never thought I was much good until I started drawing with my "Little Brother". We did a lot of drawing together with coloured pencils. Consider a Panasonic KP-4A battery operated pencil sharpener; it is a nice piece of inexpensive engineering that points pencils well.
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