There are some people out there that can draw from the day they are born. Then there are the rest of us who need to learn how to draw. But like learning how to drive a car or ride a bike, there are steps along the way that you need to master for you to be able to perform those tasks effectively and efficiently.
The act of drawing is no difference, it 's just a more challenging skill to acquire and require more time investment to develop. There is a science behind drawing and can be broken down to two major components. They are the physical and mental aspects.
Physical:
The act of sketching something require the muscles in your arm to extend in a specific direction to make a mark on the paper. Drawing for the first time can feel like writing with a left hand (if you are right handed). The lines aren't straight and your arcs are wobbly.
But after a few days, you noticed your drawing hand is more steady and have more control over how you laid down the lines. This is caused by a phenomenon called muscle memory. When you repeat a task over a period of time, your mind will form new neutral connections that will enhance specific coordination which allow you to perform those task more efficiently and accurately. So mileage is the key here. Practice drawing straight lines and curve lines and try to hit the same mark twice and focus on accuracy.
Mental:
Then there are the mental aspects of drawing which require you to understand basic fundamental of perspectives, like vanishing points and eye level. This is the most difficult stage. It's just cold hard science and it can be boring. But knowing the mechanism behind perspective will free you from it later.
At this stage is where most people will quit, and tell themselve things like I m not born with the ability. And cry and whine like a baby. But if you push through this part, you are half way there. Some of you might say. 'What!!?' only half wayyyyyyy??' Yes, that s right. Because now that you know how to draw, the next stage of progress is about what you draw. This is where all the fun begin and where the real party start. But there's still quite a bit of hills to climb. But you may say, "I draw well, but I keep coming up the same boring shapes and designs." So what s the secret to coming up new and cool ideas from the imagination.
The question to ask first is, what is the imagination. It is not something you can touch or taste. Never the less, it is an amazing feature of our brain that enable us to spit out ideas. But where did those ideas come from in the first place?....The ideas from the imagination comes from your everyday life. The thing you see, hear, read, and so on. So what comes out is directly linked to what you put in.
In essence, how well you can draw from your imagination is dependent on the maturity of your mental visual library, the collection of stuff you've been putting in your brain. So what comes out of your imagination depends on what you put in. It's important to take control of your life and be more intentional in what you expose your life to. The bottom line is, being able to draw very well is not enough, you have to take control of your imagination and utilize it to bring fresh and new ideas onto the table................... Or someone else will do that job for you.
The field you want to be in is very rewarding, but it requires a lot of growth. There are no shortcuts. But the sooner you learn to take the right steps and work smart, the sooner you will get here. There are many paths to get to one destination. The smarter person will get there first. Work smart, I learned it the hard way.
10 percent physical, 90 percent mental.
Read more here.
The act of drawing is no difference, it 's just a more challenging skill to acquire and require more time investment to develop. There is a science behind drawing and can be broken down to two major components. They are the physical and mental aspects.
Physical:
The act of sketching something require the muscles in your arm to extend in a specific direction to make a mark on the paper. Drawing for the first time can feel like writing with a left hand (if you are right handed). The lines aren't straight and your arcs are wobbly.
But after a few days, you noticed your drawing hand is more steady and have more control over how you laid down the lines. This is caused by a phenomenon called muscle memory. When you repeat a task over a period of time, your mind will form new neutral connections that will enhance specific coordination which allow you to perform those task more efficiently and accurately. So mileage is the key here. Practice drawing straight lines and curve lines and try to hit the same mark twice and focus on accuracy.
Mental:
Then there are the mental aspects of drawing which require you to understand basic fundamental of perspectives, like vanishing points and eye level. This is the most difficult stage. It's just cold hard science and it can be boring. But knowing the mechanism behind perspective will free you from it later.
At this stage is where most people will quit, and tell themselve things like I m not born with the ability. And cry and whine like a baby. But if you push through this part, you are half way there. Some of you might say. 'What!!?' only half wayyyyyyy??' Yes, that s right. Because now that you know how to draw, the next stage of progress is about what you draw. This is where all the fun begin and where the real party start. But there's still quite a bit of hills to climb. But you may say, "I draw well, but I keep coming up the same boring shapes and designs." So what s the secret to coming up new and cool ideas from the imagination.
The question to ask first is, what is the imagination. It is not something you can touch or taste. Never the less, it is an amazing feature of our brain that enable us to spit out ideas. But where did those ideas come from in the first place?....The ideas from the imagination comes from your everyday life. The thing you see, hear, read, and so on. So what comes out is directly linked to what you put in.
In essence, how well you can draw from your imagination is dependent on the maturity of your mental visual library, the collection of stuff you've been putting in your brain. So what comes out of your imagination depends on what you put in. It's important to take control of your life and be more intentional in what you expose your life to. The bottom line is, being able to draw very well is not enough, you have to take control of your imagination and utilize it to bring fresh and new ideas onto the table................... Or someone else will do that job for you.
The field you want to be in is very rewarding, but it requires a lot of growth. There are no shortcuts. But the sooner you learn to take the right steps and work smart, the sooner you will get here. There are many paths to get to one destination. The smarter person will get there first. Work smart, I learned it the hard way.
10 percent physical, 90 percent mental.
Read more here.
Thanks for this great breakdown. I am glad I stumbled across this blog, great stuff Aaron!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words! Cheers.
ReplyDelete