06-25-2013, 07:26 PM
I certainly agree with the part about self critique, and I do believe you have to sit and try and figure things out rather than using google image search whenever there's a bump in the road.
I gotta say though, keep in mind that unless you have some sort of photographic memory or similar artistic superpowers, your brain will only store fragments of visual information until you study it in detail. Like I grew up on the countryside with lots of tractors around, I loved tractors as a kid, I had many tractor toys etc and I saw a tractor almost every day until I was 18. But even so I couldn't draw or paint one accurately even if my life depended on it, because I had only flimsy bits of visual information in my head, a very general and cartoony idea of the vehicle. In order to draw a tractor well I'd have to go back and study it again, this time paying full attention to what it actually looks like, and once applied i could draw a convincing tractor any time.
My point is that visual memory is inaccurate unless you have studied things with drawing or painting in mind, truly observing the object/setting. Try accurately drawing a disney character from a movie you watched 300 times as a kid from memory, if your'e anything like me you'll fail miserably because you don't actually remember what they look like, you only have an idea of what they look like, even though you have watched them for hours and hours as a kid. This is true for everything, even really basic stuff like anatonomy and light etc, you need to revisit everything to be able to accurately reproduce it in art.
As I'm already ranting, and it's on topic, I'll also say that copying photos or anatonomy drawings doesn't necessarily give you understanding of what you are drawing, the goal is accurate knowledge, and there are more then one ways to achieve it. Why search for 30 minutes for the perfect google image ref of a hand in the right angle, when you can just move your eyes away from the screen and look at your own hand, from any angle. You can get all the information you need right there, looking at your own hand, or foot, or face in the mirror etc. Simply observing it with drawing in mind can provide you with the information you need.
Just like OtherMuzz says, I beleive there's a risk that a lot of people get into a routine of doing daily studies etc, without actually learning very much, just becoming good at reproducing photos or objects but not reraining much practical knowledge from it.
End of rant! :-)
I gotta say though, keep in mind that unless you have some sort of photographic memory or similar artistic superpowers, your brain will only store fragments of visual information until you study it in detail. Like I grew up on the countryside with lots of tractors around, I loved tractors as a kid, I had many tractor toys etc and I saw a tractor almost every day until I was 18. But even so I couldn't draw or paint one accurately even if my life depended on it, because I had only flimsy bits of visual information in my head, a very general and cartoony idea of the vehicle. In order to draw a tractor well I'd have to go back and study it again, this time paying full attention to what it actually looks like, and once applied i could draw a convincing tractor any time.
My point is that visual memory is inaccurate unless you have studied things with drawing or painting in mind, truly observing the object/setting. Try accurately drawing a disney character from a movie you watched 300 times as a kid from memory, if your'e anything like me you'll fail miserably because you don't actually remember what they look like, you only have an idea of what they look like, even though you have watched them for hours and hours as a kid. This is true for everything, even really basic stuff like anatonomy and light etc, you need to revisit everything to be able to accurately reproduce it in art.
As I'm already ranting, and it's on topic, I'll also say that copying photos or anatonomy drawings doesn't necessarily give you understanding of what you are drawing, the goal is accurate knowledge, and there are more then one ways to achieve it. Why search for 30 minutes for the perfect google image ref of a hand in the right angle, when you can just move your eyes away from the screen and look at your own hand, from any angle. You can get all the information you need right there, looking at your own hand, or foot, or face in the mirror etc. Simply observing it with drawing in mind can provide you with the information you need.
Just like OtherMuzz says, I beleive there's a risk that a lot of people get into a routine of doing daily studies etc, without actually learning very much, just becoming good at reproducing photos or objects but not reraining much practical knowledge from it.
End of rant! :-)