Many people think that drawing is a talent that can only be acquired from birth, and many believe that they don’t need to develop it further.
This way of thinking is wrong, italentos. Everyone can draw. However, even if you can already draw, you still need to develop your skills. Coincidentally, I want to share some effective ways to develop your drawing skills.
1. Watch Drawing Tutorial Videos
Most people who want to learn to draw usually watch tutorials. This is probably the most common method used by beginners. But did you know that it’s not just beginners who watch drawing tutorial videos? Even professionals still watch them.
Professionals usually watch these tutorials to try new things they’ve never tried before, such as how to add lighting to their work or experimenting with new art styles. By doing so, they can combine these new styles with their own, thereby further developing their talent.
2. Watching Speedpaint Videos
Earlier, we discussed watching tutorial videos, but now we will discuss speedpaint videos. Before that, what exactly is speedpaint? Speedpaint is a drawing process that has been recorded and can be watched. Why do I recommend watching speedpaint videos? This is because my own experience has also developed through speedpaint.
Speedpainting can inspire us to try new things that an artist has done, so we can learn the drawing techniques they use. Although it’s not a tutorial, after watching speedpainting, we’ll know the elements used in the artwork created by the artist. Therefore, if you think drawing tutorial videos are too long and boring to watch, try watching speedpainting videos.
3. Following References
References are very important, especially for artists. Usually, when we draw, we have to determine the theme, elements, poses, and so on. Does the theme just pop into your head? Of course not. We still have to look for references. To develop your drawing skills, following references is something I highly recommend.
From these references, we can learn about the shapes, colors, lines, and lighting we want to create. Besides being inspiring, references can also help us decide what to draw if we don’t have any ideas, and many references provide us with drawing techniques, such as tutorials.
However, among the many image references available, we must still adhere to the rules set by the artists who created them. Most artists don’t appreciate it if we claim their references as our own or post our drawings that mimic their references without permission.
The most polite thing to do if we want to use their references is to ask for permission or credit the artist who created the reference. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of asking for permission, you can also use references from your own photos, others’ photos, landscapes, or other objects.
As for websites or apps I highly recommend if you want to find drawing references, you can use Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram to find other references that are license-free.
Those are some methods I can suggest to help develop your drawing skills. So, how about you? Is there any of the methods above that you think can help develop your drawing skills?
Of course, the most important thing is to be brave enough to try new things and not be lazy about learning them. Because the key to improving your drawing skills is to keep practicing. Hopefully, we can all develop our drawing skills even further.
Readers of italentos.win can also add their own suggestions or methods that you think can help develop drawing skills in the comment section. Keep up the spirit, don’t give up on developing it.