The same can be said for most any creative endeavor. Art, music, writing, etc. all require some amount of confidence to just go and try. It doesn't matter if it sucks, you'll know then what doesn't work and have an opportunity to find what does. I found this to be especially true when I was playing jazz frequently. I wasn't lucky enough to have a good teacher so I had to teach myself many things. That meant playing a lot making a lot of horrible sounding mistakes. But with those mistakes I figured out what I should be playing and got better. Had I shied away from opportunities to play, I wouldn't have been able to figure things out and get better.
Make mistakes, they'll do you more good than harm while you're learning. Just be sure not to let them dominate your thought process, if you focus on the mistake itself instead of how to improve it you'll never get anywhere. ;3
The same can be said for most any creative endeavor. Art, music, writing, etc. all require some amou
Welp, I'm pooched. I've got literally zero-confidence and I absolutely HATE looking back at anything creative I've ever done before. I find I end up saying to myself, "God, I was such an idiot! What was I thinking? If I had a time machine, I'd go back, meet my younger self, and beat the stupid putz silly. Or just not have even bothered to begin with..."
Welp, I'm pooched. I've got literally zero-confidence and I absolutely HATE looking back at anything
Hello! Somebody linked this to me and I actually have a minor issue with it (that I hope you won't take personally, but I feel it's something that needs to be said)
From taking art classes and watching a myriad of streams, I can tell you that those "hairy" lines are called gesture lines, and they're used to help build your line as you draw it, or in some cases to assist with the flow of the image. If you're drawing off of muscle memory, then all of your drawings may start to look the same! Someone who has been drawing the same sort of thing for years (or just drawing in general) may have nice clean, confident sketches, but if you're telling amateur artists -- you know, the ones who LOOK for advice -- to sketch without using gesture lines, then you may be impeding on their ability to progress artistically. Confidence in your art is nice, but your sketches aren't supposed to look nice. (again, usually veteran artists have nice looking sketches, but that comes from YEARS of experience) They're supposed to be the framework., and at times, the practice! It's only step one of a final piece, and usually nothing is left of the sketch by the final draft.
When I read this I felt like I was being told "just draw what's in your head" and good lord, if it was that simple, everyone would be an accomplished artist. Just my two cents. I hope you don't take this as a personal attack, it's more of a nitpick! 'w'
Hello! Somebody linked this to me and I actually have a minor issue with it (that I hope you won't t
No worries. Perhaps I didn't illustrate this idea as well as I could have. Or maybe I am just an art snob, beak in the air...lol. But really, I only want to help. I'll try and clarify my points as best as I can because I see where you're coming from.
I think our concepts of hairy drawings are not the same. You're right that a sketch will be composed of gesture lines that aid in flow and proportions (I do this all the time, you can see these in my sketches). With that in mind, it's hard to make something flow with a train of short lines like connect the dots. You'll end up who knows where because you're working in a straight ahead fashion rather than a step by step fashion, focusing on those little lines rather than the picture as a whole which is a common hindrance and source of frustration. Broad strokes across the entire page give your body and limbs a direction to go, giving your gesture a unified clarity. I don't say here that your first line should be the one you use and that you should know exactly where to go, I say that it should point, generally, where you want to try going. I'm saying draw a line, be it a curve, ellipse, or whichever, that defines a shape even if you end up needing to clarify several times after seeing it with a darker, more committed line. If you're going to communicate to me, in your drawing, that this arm goes over here and points - I want to see that flow from the core with continuous gesture lines and then continuous shape lines that gives this pointing a clear semblance if one were to squint their eyes. Not short and unconnected marks on the page. This is an exercise we did at university. The sort of straight ahead or "hairy" drawing habit is inhibiting because it's very easy to get tunnel vision - focusing on little unconnected details before the gesture is there...very frustrating if you're a beginner wondering what you're doing wrong. You're simply not learning. You're guessing how the lines go, you're not seeing the shapes that the lines create.
Hairy drawing and gesture drawing are not the same thing, I assure you. Just like clarity and cleanliness might sound like the same thing, but even a messy drawing can be clear so long as your lines are continuous and flowing verses a bunch of little lines defining your shapes. It'll be unclear where your edge is and where your shape ends because the lines go off into space rather than following a similar path. Even if you figure it doesn't matter due to a sketch being simply a starting position, this is a landmine when it comes to inking or coloring later on because you won't know what line is the line you meant (unless, of course, you clarify with an additional sketch overlay which can be avoided). If you're going to draw the head using a sphere, draw a circle with a clear edge even if it takes a few light attempts and then a darker committed line. It really helps to see the shapes you're putting down because it'll improve your awareness of them. I don't see shapes in a hairy drawing. I see a bunch of lines. Especially if you're a newcomer to drawing, thinking about things in basic shapes rather than lines is incredibly helpful - lines in a gesture drawing ought to flow.
This is what I was taught, anyways. The years might cloud my memory of how hard it was early on, but I know this mindset is what brought me out of uncertainty and into a more confident way of dealing with the inevitable obstacles. Thinking about lines as something economical has helped me be more mindful of shape, gesture, and overall more purposeful drawing. I won't say I'm perfect and know all the secrets though. I'll just say this can help.
No worries. Perhaps I didn't illustrate this idea as well as I could have. Or maybe I am just an art
I see what you mean, then. I guess it was a lapse in either how well this was communicated, or how well I was reading it ~3~
But I will say that everyone is different, and we all have our own process! This process isn't inherently wrong, and what I implied isn't inherently right (by a longshot, because look how much art I post nowadays) Hell, this is probably how a lot of the more experienced artists that I watch stream draw. (Some of them don't stream the sketching process :< )
The way I sketch is sort of a mix. I start out by shooting a bunch of bigger, looser shapes onto the page, and then I add details as I go. The final sketch is an unholy mess, but I drew it, and I know what to do with it, so I guess in the end that's all that matters, heh.
I see what you mean, then. I guess it was a lapse in either how well this was communicated, or how w
