So you read my post about keeping a sketchbook, and you actually went and got at list two sketchbooks, one for you and one for your child. You possibly warped it with a favorite fabric. You even got a brand new pencil (perhaps 'Ebony'
what now?
How to start?
What to draw?
Well, anything in front of you, really, But that doesn’t help very much does it?!
“What should I draw?” is a common question for people who are just starting to draw. What I usually tell Zoe (5 ½) when she asks me the same question is “draw something you like” so she ends up drawing flowers, and I end up drawing her drawing flowers….
Zoe, Water color
Zoe drawing an Anemone, water color. for meanings and legends of flowers go here
a flower from mussel shells, Zoe and Tali
Choosing something that you like is very helpful when you are just starting to learn how to draw. I remember my early drawing classes in high school, most of them where cubes and cylinders arranged on a platform, I was not intrigued at all. But one time we had a live model, that was the first time I wasn’t waiting for the bell. Few years later I have started taking a figure drawing class in adult education. I used to take the same class over and over again. After I have heard the same thing enough times, I thought I needed to draw with no interruptions, so I started going to open drawing studios, spent many hours drawing naked models from observation. There are many open studios like that in every city, and they are usually inexpensive. Now I draw anything at all, what ever is in front of me, my favorite though is to draw Zoe and Ori, usually when they are asleep.
Drawing what’s in front of you, or in other words - drawing from observation, is the best way to train the eye to see.
“It is in order to really see, to see ever deeper, ever more intensely, hence to be fully aware and alive, that I draw what the Chinese call ‘The Ten Thousand Things’ around me. Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly rediscover the world” Fredrick Franck, The Zen of Seeing, 1973.
Why don’t you pick up an object you like, something of interest to you, it can be your hand, a toy, a favorite stuffed animal, a flower, etc. place yourself in front of it (comfortably), look at it for a few minutes, only then start putting marks on the paper. Try not to move your head up and down going back and forth from your paper to the object keep your head still, Minimize the movement to your eyes only. do not get 'sucked' into your drawing, you should be mostly looking at the object you are drawing in order to draw it as it is. The information you need is in the subject matter and not in your drawing.
Simply draw what you see, just as you see it – this is one of the most important keys to drawing well.
I have been using a couple of books my self that i think are every helpful in learning how to draw and how to teach your kids how to draw. you may find them here.
