i fancy myself a creative person in aspects such as writing music thinking and being, however i cant find the ability to draw or create images within myself. any advice on how to become better at this faucet of creativity or do you either have it or you dont?
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i have no art with me right now, i am on vacation in arizona/nevada, which, if you ever get the chance to do, bring your ipod and listen to tool as you drive through the desert. its pretty sick. anyway, i KNOW my drawings are terrible so posting i think would be pointless, i am just looking for techniques to get better at sketching so then i can get better and make sick drawings like the ones on here. its frustrating to see such great art and not be able to make anything myself. i would imagine maybe if i started sketching alot and copying complicated images that that would improve my skills? anything like that yall know of?
__________________ if im the man YOURE THE FUCKIN MAN
What I have experienced through the art courses that I have taken so far is that many instructors at the beginning will have their students draw shapes and shade the shapes to understand value changes on an object. Doing this helps out a lot once you start creating still life drawings. Don't be afraid to push value changes.
Feed off of whatever emotion that you are feeling at the time. Find a subject, formal aspect, or concept that you find interesting and want to express through your work. Also determine what style you want to work under representational, abstraction, non objective. Try not to think so much about the end result when you are creating.
Last November for one of my design course projects I took Leonardo Da Vinci's "Fetus in the Womb" sketch and changed it up by making a collage instead. I cut out different shades of blue from magazines to express the vulnerable side of the fetus. I wish my computer wasn't crappy or else I could show it to you along with other pieces that I have created. If I visit my sister this week I'll use her computer to post some of my artwork.
Whenver I am stumped on ideas I resort back to the elements and principles of art. They are fun to play around with.
Elements
Line
Shape
Color
Value
Texture
Depth
Principles
Unity
Variety
Harmony
Balance
Rhythm
Emphasis
Movement
Here are some artist that work in a variety of mediums and styles.
Marcel Du Champ
Connie Imboden
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Andy Warhol
Keith Haring
George Braque
Pablo Picasso
Paul Klee
Jackson Pollock "Jack the Dripper"
Gustav Klimt
Van Gogh
Salvador Dali
Frida Kalho
Henri Matisse
Hope that this is helpful. I'll reflect more and come back with any other advice that I can think of.
Kathy Kollwitz
Henri Rousseau
Edvard Munch
Eadweard Muybridge
Theodore Gericault
William Blake
John Henry Fuseli
Antonio Canova
Rembrandt van Rijn
Matthew Barney
Yasumasa Morimura
Kiki Smith
Robert Mapplethorpe
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Robert Smithson
Eva Hesse
William de Kooning
Diego Rivera
Alexander Calder
Meret Oppenheim
Piet Mondrian
Marsden Hartley
Umberto Boccioni
Odilon Redon
Paul Cezanne
Edouard Manet
Claude Monet
Mary Cassatt
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Learning about past and current artists helps out a lot when learning certain techniques and movements.
hey sorry it took me awhile to come back. all this in information is great, im gonna break out a sketchbook and try to use the ideas here. ill post some stuff soon with my scanner. thanks alot guys.
__________________ if im the man YOURE THE FUCKIN MAN
There are four stages of art criticism that I have been taught. I found one of my class handouts from art appreciation that teaches people how to look at a someones art before quick judgment. I thought that this would be useful to put on here if you or anyone else would like to use this advise that I got whenever the next time you look at a piece of artwork.
"Description: This stage of the critical process is the identification and recording of facts about the work of art. Knowing the name of the artist, the culture from which the work came, the title, the dimesions, the date produced and the medium allows the viewer to understand the context and historical perspective in which the work has produced."
"Formal Analysis:This stage of criticism deals with the identification of relationships within the artwork. The viewer will look at the elements of art and how they relate to each other and the piece as a whole. Identification of relationships between the elements, principles and symbols are also looked at in this phase of the process."
"Interpretation:The object of this stage is to determine the meaning of what the artist is trying to say in the work of art. Meaning and content of artworks most times goes beyond the first impressions of the viewer. In interpretation of a piece of work the viewer must look at all factors that effect the work. These factors may include such items as the artists personal experiences, the time and location of the production of the work, the social climate of the period and any other items that may effect the artist and their work."
"Judgment: The purpose of judgment is to determine the quality or lasting importance of a work of art. In this process you look at the design quality, the expressiveness, the originality and the social importance. Will the piece stand the test of time as being an important work in the history of art, or is it just an average piece with no significant importance?"
I think this drawing would be cool to see it done with using acrylic paints or color pencils. This drawing seems to be screaming the aora of color. The nice thing about acrylic paint is that it is a forgivable medium. If you create something that you dislike or make a mistake while painting it is pretty easy to cover it up or start over. What I like about your drawing is that it has this pop out feel to it. I bet once you put some different value tones of shading down on the drawing it will pop out far more.
Here is a website that I go to from time to time that gives some basic art tips.
The best quality of an artist is the need to create. It is good that you are breaking out the sketch book and exploring. I have been in art courses where some people will walk in with little or no knowledge of art and by the end of a three month period they will be drawing realistic portraits. As long as you continue to learn and fuel that craving of wanting to improve then you'll be creating what you want in no time.
Pencil is a good medium to start out with because it gives an edge to the artwork and the more that you work with it the better understanding that you will have of other mediums. I advise just to stick with a number 2 pencil instead of buying those big sets of pencils that you see at art stores. Save the money to invest in good quality drawing paper and for framing. Once you jump into color pencils a way to have fun with those is by blending the colors. Start out lighty until you figure out where the arrangements of your lights and darks will be at in the drawing. Also another good thing to invest in is some art fixatif. You can find this at any store like Wal*Mart. It will protect your artwork from being smeared. Just make sure that you don't spray it on until you are absolutly sure that you are finished with your drawing because you can't go back and erase.
I'll continue to look at your artwork and come back with any other advise that I can give you.
Last edited by RocktheVisualArts; 07-10-2007 at 04:36 PM..
thanks, that helps alot. i think if i get better at the technical aspects of drawing, i would be alot better, because im never short on inspiration. heres one i drew today, it took me about 45 minutes.
see on that one, among other things, i bet if i decreased the size of the underbelly of the mushroom and organized the squiggly lines inside of it, it would look alot better.
__________________ if im the man YOURE THE FUCKIN MAN
haha tell me they suck, the point of this thread is that i want to get better at art. i was told to present some of my art so i can improve. i am definitely not trying to impress anyone. i didnt even want to post anything in the first place.
__________________ if im the man YOURE THE FUCKIN MAN
it doesnt suit mine either... i think it blows dick. however i can see my drawing skills get better. i believe it will be months maybe longer before i can create something worth looking at.
__________________ if im the man YOURE THE FUCKIN MAN
Here is the Da Vinci one that I was talking about earlier. I love Da Vinci's anatomy art and I have been wanting to do my own version of his piece for a while.
Here is the Da Vinci one that I was talking about earlier. I love Da Vinci's anatomy art and I have been wanting to do my own version of his piece for a while.
thanks, that helps alot. i think if i get better at the technical aspects of drawing, i would be alot better, because im never short on inspiration. heres one i drew today, it took me about 45 minutes.
I like how in this drawing you are playing around with different textures inside of the mushroom with the use of line and shading. The characters on the left and right side seem to be just hanging out though. I think it would be cool to find a way to some how have them more involved in the picture. Not the main focus because you don't want to over take the power of the mushrooms status in the picture, but some how incorporate an activity between all of them. That is good that you are timing yourself. This is a good way to log in on how much you have improved over a certain period of time. Plus it will come in handy if you ever decide to take an art course because instructors will challenge you to do things faster as you move along through the course.
Yeah, I recommend that you take a look into perspective drawing. This will help out a lot place your subject matter in different depths. This is also a useful way when it comes to drawing buildings and any other type of enviornment. Be prepared to have a ruler around once you get to this.
Also another thing that is useful is holding on to your pencil differently. Sometimes I'll loosen my grip so that way I don't get tempted to shade hard in certain areas where light is hitting an object. When I am shading huge dark areas I'll switch over to my left hand, so my right hand won't get tired out too quickly.
Always keep your eyes open. Sometimes the best subject or concept matter is right in front of you.
My sister found me this quote by Vincent Van Gogh.
"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
Just remember not all artists start out at a young age like Pablo Picasso. Artists like Van Gogh didn't start getting heavily involved in the arts until 1880, I believe in his late twenties about a decade before he committed suicide. I highly recommend that you rent the movie called Frida sometime. Her story is pretty interesting.
I don't really show my work that often. Once a year if I get a response from an instructor about a piece I'll enter in a student art show, but thats about it. I do enjoy the street painting festivals though. I love that feeling of performing my own visual concert to the public along with other artists.
I don't really show my work that often. Once a year if I get a response from an instructor about a piece I'll enter in a student art show, but thats about it. I do enjoy the street painting festivals though. I love that feeling of performing my own visual concert to the public along with other artists.
well, you should display them more often, not just here..maybe in public too.
__________________ "Think for yourself, question authority"-Timothy Leary
I just got my English courses out of the way, so I'm gonna start getting into science. I've wanted to take an anatomy course for a while. I always like to look at the anatomy books in the school library for reference. I'm pretty sure that I'll take anatomy in the winter when the life drawing course is offered.
I think once I build up a good amount of new material I'll start showing my work more often on here and to the public. My goal before school starts back up again on September 17th is to have at least a few more new pieces done.
[QUOTE=RocktheVisualArts;2054548]Thanks TEST, Stoned Immaculate, and Eulogy33.
I just got my English courses out of the way, so I'm gonna start getting into science. I've wanted to take an anatomy course for a while. I always like to look at the anatomy books in the school library for reference. I'm pretty sure that I'll take anatomy in the winter when the life drawing course is offered.
I think once I build up a good amount of new material I'll start showing my work more often on here and to the public. My goal before school starts back up again on September 17th is to have at least a few more new pieces done.[/QUOT
going into a science career is a smart move. I plan on becomming an underwater archaeologist.
__________________ "Think for yourself, question authority"-Timothy Leary
remember that there are more ways to create and bring art into the world beyond drawing in a sketchbook. I always wanted to be artistic and find an artistic outlet, and so i would draw and paint and try to do all sorts of shit that wasn't exactly eye-candy or moving art.... or anything worth viewing bc it was a failure to me, as well. But, i soon started doing other stuff... i did some wood work, photography, etc. and then i began doodling at school and kind of found my niche, but it takes a while. Don't force stuff. Because if you do, it's no longer yours... its somebody elses coming out of your pen. It's like that annoying kid who can't be himself because he wants to be like everyone else.
I recommend getting a pen and a piece of paper, if its sketching that your into, and setting the pen to the paper and let your hand move the pen wherever your hand wants it to move.
Every dab of ink on that paper is your art and something that wasn't there before. I respect technique and think that it should be learned, but i value one's style more. Find your style first.
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Re: artist?
mikec, there's a book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". I've never looked that closely at it, but I've heard from many people that anybody can learn to draw with this book.
