12-11-2015, 08:32 PM
I think the logic is sound, from still life I had a real fast boost in my skill when I made dedicated efforts towards them (I should do them more).
You've got so many different areas that come under fundamentals, they all need attention and are all hard in the beginning, depending on what direction you want to take you have:
1) perspective
2) form
3) lighting
4) design and shapes
5) drawing from observation - getting your eye and hand communicating well so you can draw what you see
6) gesture
7) anatomy (which can include everything from the skull / eyeballs / skeleton / superficial muscles to clothing and drapery which rely on the anatomy beneath it)
Probably loads more could be added. You do strengthen a lot of those doing still life, and I can see your form, perspective, lighting and observation drawing has really shot up from doing that.
8) Underlying all of these though is dexterity and skill with your pencil, which makes things so frustrating when you know what you want to draw but just can't do it how you'd like, or when you have to fight and struggle to wrestle a drawing and it takes so long to do something that ends up looking quite simple - it's so tiring! After every drawing you feel drained...
The first 7 need specific practice, the 8th one will just happen on it's own - it's a real grind until it does, but then you're world will explode and you'll be flying! (try different mediums, draw from the shoulder, do line / abstract shapes warm ups to increase this skill more)
So to answer your question, definitely it's beneficial to study multiple things at once.
You've got options to approach your study: for me, while I was getting to grips with all that stuff I'd spend maybe a month or two at a time on one specific area; be it drawing heads and learning the skull / planes of the face, or studying perspective in line only, or going hard at Hampton anatomy. That way can be good as you get really immersed but it's important to set yourself a time limit (a week / a month / however is best for you) and then move on. At the end of that time I'd feel I wasn't ready to move on yet, I hadn't learned it all and wasn't where I wanted to be and sometimes I'd just keep hammering at that one area. That was a mistake as time would go on and I'd lose sight of why I was doing it and would feel a bit aimless and get miserable that I still wasn't where I wanted to be.
The other way is to write yourself some kind of study programme and switch things up and do different things on different days.
With both ways though, it's really important to set yourself goals and give yourself a time limit - doesn't mean you need to complete that goal in that time but it keeps yourself fresh and motivated, and you always have something to look forward to.
This is starting to get long! I apologise : ) Long story short: yes I think you should do some kind of figure based stuff - not necessarily figure drawing from a model, as sometimes that is pretty academic - but gesture practice / anatomy studies / head & skull studies.
All that said - it's about having fun too, if you're getting a buzz off still life it's good to ride out that buzz and keep doing them. When it drops off then switch it up.
Sorry for this long scattered reply XD hope there's something useful in there!
You've got so many different areas that come under fundamentals, they all need attention and are all hard in the beginning, depending on what direction you want to take you have:
1) perspective
2) form
3) lighting
4) design and shapes
5) drawing from observation - getting your eye and hand communicating well so you can draw what you see
6) gesture
7) anatomy (which can include everything from the skull / eyeballs / skeleton / superficial muscles to clothing and drapery which rely on the anatomy beneath it)
Probably loads more could be added. You do strengthen a lot of those doing still life, and I can see your form, perspective, lighting and observation drawing has really shot up from doing that.
8) Underlying all of these though is dexterity and skill with your pencil, which makes things so frustrating when you know what you want to draw but just can't do it how you'd like, or when you have to fight and struggle to wrestle a drawing and it takes so long to do something that ends up looking quite simple - it's so tiring! After every drawing you feel drained...
The first 7 need specific practice, the 8th one will just happen on it's own - it's a real grind until it does, but then you're world will explode and you'll be flying! (try different mediums, draw from the shoulder, do line / abstract shapes warm ups to increase this skill more)
So to answer your question, definitely it's beneficial to study multiple things at once.
You've got options to approach your study: for me, while I was getting to grips with all that stuff I'd spend maybe a month or two at a time on one specific area; be it drawing heads and learning the skull / planes of the face, or studying perspective in line only, or going hard at Hampton anatomy. That way can be good as you get really immersed but it's important to set yourself a time limit (a week / a month / however is best for you) and then move on. At the end of that time I'd feel I wasn't ready to move on yet, I hadn't learned it all and wasn't where I wanted to be and sometimes I'd just keep hammering at that one area. That was a mistake as time would go on and I'd lose sight of why I was doing it and would feel a bit aimless and get miserable that I still wasn't where I wanted to be.
The other way is to write yourself some kind of study programme and switch things up and do different things on different days.
With both ways though, it's really important to set yourself goals and give yourself a time limit - doesn't mean you need to complete that goal in that time but it keeps yourself fresh and motivated, and you always have something to look forward to.
This is starting to get long! I apologise : ) Long story short: yes I think you should do some kind of figure based stuff - not necessarily figure drawing from a model, as sometimes that is pretty academic - but gesture practice / anatomy studies / head & skull studies.
All that said - it's about having fun too, if you're getting a buzz off still life it's good to ride out that buzz and keep doing them. When it drops off then switch it up.
Sorry for this long scattered reply XD hope there's something useful in there!