I need to learn to draw...fast

Cafe Society
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(Mods: I waffled on IMHO vs. Cafe Society, even GQ. I will somehow survive the blow to my fragile ego if I’m moved.)

I’m a software developer in my 30’s. Since I write for modern desktop machines, a lot of what I do is graphical, and this is my problem. I’m OK on things like icons and buttons, user interface design, and all the other sorts of “engineering art.” I’ve also got a good grasp on my tools, Photoshop, MultiAd Creator, and the like, and can control a camera passably well.

But increasingly software (games in particular, but even splash screen and interfaces for mundane sort of stuff) requires art that’s representational of something in the real world: i.e. sketched or drawn, either directly into the computer or scanned or traced with an art tablet.

When I attempt to generate this, I end up with what I call the “lucky accident.” While I can play around for a while with my tools and get something that looks good, but it’s a process driven by my tools and aesthetic sense. In a somewhat controlled sense, what I’m doing is generating options at random and picking the ones I like. I simply do not have the skill to decide what something should look like in my head and then make that appear on paper or pixels.

My company is too small yet to consider paying someone else to do this stuff, and while I can get some royalty-free art off the web, it’s frustrating not having creative control. I know what I want, I just can’t get it onto paper.

Now, I don’t believe my art skills can’t be salvaged – I’m probably a little bit on the bad end of the average layman’s abilities, but I’m usually capable of learning. However, I don’t have the time to get formally trained or take several classes, (although if I could find an introductory one that could be fit in between my two jobs, I’d take it). So what I’m looking for is a mechanism to learn the basics of drawing quickly. I’m not looking to become the next Da Vinci, just to get something that people won’t laugh at. I realize that art is a profession that takes years to master, but I need to acquire a hobbyist level proficiency.

Probably what I’m looking for is a book; preferably one aimed at novice adults rather than children. I need specific tips and instruction, not just lots of pages of things to copy. I don’t mind putting time into it, but the faster I can get up to speed, the better. From looking at Amazon, I appear to have hundreds of choices, most of which are ravaged in the user comments.

Anyone done this successfully? What books (or other mechanism) did you use? How long did it take?

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The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson

Drawing for Older Children and Teens and works for Adults Too

I got these links from a drawing site and they’re all books I’d recommend myself.

I recommend all of them, though the “Drawing for Older Children” one might go a little too slow for you.

Drawing does take time, but yes, you can learn the technical part of it. You can learn how to draw what you see (The “Right Side of the Brain” book is especially good at that), but if you want to draw from your imagination, that’s gonna take a while, unless you have latent gifts that you are unaware of. But, you definitely can amaze yourself and others if you really work hard at it. Don’t buy into the myth about “talent,” like if you don’t have talent you don’t have a prayer—you can learn how to draw if you are disciplined and determined. You may not be as good as someone who really has loads of natural talent (and they worked at it), but you’ll be respectable.

You’ll see in the Right Side of the Brain book that the students’ “before” and “after” drawings are very dramatic and the change happened in just a few months. The methods taught in that book are tried and true—I know this first hand.

The Bert Dodson book is also awesome. In fact if I were you, I’d get both because I think he covers stuff in a different way than the Right Brain book.

There’s a book by Lee Hammond (on drawing portraits from photographs) that I would STAY AWAY, STAY FAR AWAY from—not that you look like you’d want her specific book anyway, but she teaches “junk” methods that get a fast result but leave the student with no real fundamental understanding of drawing. (They become human copy machines and won’t be able to draw from life and certainly not from their imagination.)

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Wow. Almost the exact same thing happened to me a couple of years ago. I didn’t think I could draw and I hadn’t since highschool but I was the closest thing to an illustrator in a group working on a project that needed drawings. Basically I went home and started to draw because I had to. It’s crazy but 3 years later I feel pretty confident about my drawing skills. Much more than I ever was as a kid when I did the most drawing. After that all I had done was use a mouse and, like you say, it’s not the same thing at all.

The only book I ever used was “The Natural Way to Draw” by Nicolaides. But if I had used it under pressure it would have psyched me out. However, it is very good and might be helpful for you. It helps you understand how drawing works. Basically, there are two things you’re trying to do. You’re trying to capture the movement of what you’re drawing, and you’re trying to get the contours right at the same time. When you just look at something and try to draw it, it takes a lot of practice to be able to do those two things at the same time. When you’re starting out, it’s helpful to take it as two steps. That means using a lot of paper and practicing before you really start to draw.

It psyches you out to think that you’re just supposed to sit there with a blank sheet of paper and turn it into a picture. When you’re starting out you need references and models for everything. You have to be inventive. If you can’t imagine how something looks, find it or set it up and really look at it before you start drawing. Sometimes you have to be really inventive if you’re drawing something weird. You need to practice and not freak out when you get it wrong the first time. Use your eraser, use tracing paper, and treat it the way you treat moving things around with a mouse. Eventually, you start to learn from your mistakes and it gets easier. If you do the exercises in the Nicolaides book, it will help.

The biggest part of drawing is knowing what looks right. I always remember the kids in school who were the worst at drawing were the ones who could draw something utterly crooked and stop because it looked right to them. Really, being good at drawing is a lot about knowing when things look wrong. If you already know that, you can probably learn how to draw pretty quickly. You just need to get past that feeling that if you drew it crooked the first time you won’t be able to straighten it out. YMMV but that’s how it works for me. The biggest thing that stopped me was thinking that I couldn’t do it. When I had no choice, I found out that with enough erasing and trying again, I could.

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I definitely second “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain,” most good artists recommend it, I should probably pick it up one day too.

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First off, thanks, TimeWinder, for your eminently reasonable attitude!
Your topic is a toughy because it could fit very well in several places.
It’s gotten a solid start here in IMHO but just by subject matter I think it may garner even more attention from the aesthetes of the Cafe Society.
Movin’ it on over…

TVeblen,
IMHO mod

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A third vote for Drawing on The Right Side of the Brain. The results you’ll get are incredible if you do the exercises as outlined.

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Another vote for “Drawing on The Right Side of the Brain.” It is superb in terms of getting you up to speed quickly, and most people would be quite impressed with the work you would be able to turn out after reading it.

**pokey ** is right about “The Natural Way to Draw” by Nicolaides, and his/her points are well taken. But it’s not a book for doing anything quickly! If you follow the exercises the way they are outlined it will take you a full year of three-hour sessions. You’ll be great at drawing when you’re done, but it will take dedication and a *lot * of time.

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Wow, I am amazed by how many people reccomend “Drawing on the right side of the brain.” That was what I used to first learn to draw well back in elementary school. Of course, that was before it was the “new” version.

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The most important thing to learning to draw is, like pretty much everything else, to Practice As Much As Humanly Possible.

The more you do it, the better you get at it. This is the human condition, more or less, but that’s for another thread.

The more ya practice, the more ‘tricks’ ya learn, like “this line and this curve, and this line and this curve, makes a perfect shape for this sort of thing”. They add up to a drawing when ya put 'em all together.

But man, there’s nothing more boring than sitting there drawing the same thing over and over again.

And there’s not much more intimidating than that blank sheet of paper, and no idea whatsoever what you’re going to draw on it.

So… I offer the following: http://www.isketch.net/

Free to play, no need to register, just make a name and jump in.

This is where I learned to draw.

It’s basically like pictionary… they give ya a word or phrase, you draw it, people guess what it is.

The nice thing about this is that it gives you a nearly endless variety of things to draw, and keeps you entertained while you’re doing it… you can chat with the other players when it’s not your turn and all.

Granted, I’m still very cartooney, but in less than a year I went from being able to draw the transparent cube if I was lucky to doing sketches that actually look pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Aside from that, go out and get a few pads of paper and a bunch of drawing tools… pens, pencils, markers, chalk, whatever the heck ya feel like, and carry it around all the time. Any time you have a spare moment, pull it out and draw something. Anything. Doesn’t matter what.

Practice, you will get good.

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Aside from the good suggestions you’ve got on books, I’d also like to recommend that you look around at your local adult education opportunities. After you’ve gone through the book, taking a beginning drawing class (often offered at high schools, or art centers, or whatnot) is a great way to learn. Can be a trifle pricey, of course.

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Another vote for Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. We used the original edition when I was in middle school at an arts magnet school, and it’s really helpful in teaching even people who think they can’t draw at all to learn to get what they see down on paper.

A website I’ve recommended before is the Fantasy Art Resource Project. I stumbled across it by accident and was pleasantly surprised by its quality and breadth. From the title I was expecting stuff like “Busty Elf Maidens 101” or “Cool Watercolor Dragons”, but the advice and articles cover a wide variety of subjects of general use to aspiring artists.

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I too vote for Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain. You shoul also try tocarry around a clipboard with a bunch of copy paper, and produce 100 drawings every day. Don’t even worry about the right side of the brain. Draw anything you see. Draw FAST- 1 to 3 minutes per picture, max. Do this standing in lines, waiting at the Doctor’s, on hold, waiting for your computer. Keep only a few. In month you will be astonished at the difference.

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OK, gentlefolk, I have in my hot little hands The New Drawing for the Right Side of the Brain from my local bookstore. It’s a shame none of you recommended it. :slight_smile:

I’ve got a couple of the others on order (they haven’t invented printing yet in my neck of the woods). Now, I suspect I’m down to that nasty “Practice, Practice, Practice” part that I never seem to get to skip.

**Phnord[/p] and Lamia, I’ll try out your websites post-haste, as well. C K Dex, I’ve got my eye out (there’s a University a couple of miles away), but haven’t found anything yet.

Thank you all for your suggestions and encouragement. Well worth the $4.95.

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Warning - Comical Answer !!!

Okay, since you have some good solid replies to your predicament, this was my “take” on the topic.

  1. At first glance your thread appeared as if John Wesley Hardin might be gunning for you and you felt your quick draw skills needed appreciable enhancing.

  2. You need to learn to draw fast. In other words, you’d like to paint the Mona Lisa in 5 minutes? Seems like something late night info-mercials would advertise. "That’s right - you too can become a serious artist with our Masterpiece-Per-Minute™ training program.

I bet I’m not the only one that had these thoughts creep into their brain.

And as I said, it is nice to see that you got some great help from a lot of SDMB members.