Learning to Draw

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General Index, Preface and Introduction

These Pages are stil under construction. I'm trying to hasten the work...

1. Chapter 1 - Freedom from the Symbols
   1. The Symbolic Perception
   2. First Exercise: Mirror Images
   3. Second Exercise: Inverted Pictures
   4. Third Exercise: Void Spaces
2. Chapter 2 - Proportions
   1. Exercising the Hands
   2. Exercising the Eyes
   3. The Human Body
   4. Guide Lines
   5. Think Fast, Draw Faster
3. Chapter 3 - Perspective
   1. 3D Images in 2D Media
   2. Orthographic Pictures
   3. Realistic Perspective
4. Chapter 4 - Lights, Shadows and Colors
   1. The Light and the Human Eye
   2. A Choice of Colors
   3. Painting Technics
5. Chapter 5 - Composition
   1. The Harmony
   2. Classic Structures
      1. Triangle
      2. Square
      3. Circle
      4. Wave
      5. Lemniscate
6. Chapter 6 - Frontiers
   1. Graphisms: Personal Styles
   2. Drawing Finish
   3. Computer Graphics
   4. Illusions
      1. Classical Illusions
      2. S.I.R.Ds.
      3. Stereo Pairs
7. Chapter 7 - Animation
   1. Animation Technics
   2. Computer Animation

Preface

This text was created based on personal experiences with the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", by Betty Edwards, the Brazilian TV series "À Mão Livre" (a popular expression that means drawing without rulers, using only the perception), produced by Cultura Television and presented by Philip Hallawell, and a few other publications, TV series, family's and friends' help. I recommend you to read the book and watch the series (the book may be found translated to different languages, but the series are in Brazilian Portuguese).

It's very important that you read all section and practice all exercise. Don't skip any exercise, don't matter how insignificant or uninteresting it may look, they all have a purpose. Read all instructions before starting any exercise. Don't read anything or stop for anything while drawing, mainly in the beginning. Work in a silent place, where no one can interrupt you. When you get habituated to draw, you will be able to do it anywhere and anytime, in a calm forest or standing against a wall in a busy avenue.

It's better to use an inclined table, the kind used by designers, but any other plane surface can do the job. In the first exercises, it's good to fix the paper sheet in which you are drawing with adhesive tape. Don't change your position while drawing, mainly when drawing solid objects or landscapes.

Introduction

Is the skill for drawing an inborn aptness or can it be learned? Is it necessary to know how to draw figurative pictures to make good artwork? How to draw well, like professional artists? These and other questions generally appear to the ones that feel the need to express what they think and dream in the form of pictures and paintings.
The skill to draw is like any other one, it's hard to start without proper orientation, it demands a lot of time of exercising and, mainly, it needs a great dose of personal will power to improve, but it can be learned. It's not necessary to know how to draw figurative pictures (the ones that reproduce some real scene, caring with the realistic look of the result), but artists that have this skill are able to transcript to physical media their ideas better than others, because they have a better perception of their own minds.
Finally, to draw well, it's necessary to practice, and the earlier you begin, the easier it will be. Today, to gather enough time to do something you want is really a hard job. Try to reserve a weekend to practice. Don't let the fear of failure fright you, anyone can learn to draw well, just give you a chance.

The human brain is composed of two hemispheres. To the majority of the population, the left side of the brain is responsible for the logical processing, sequential thought, the abstraction, the language, the reason, while the right one is responsible for the spatial and analogic perception, global thought, the reality perception, the intuition, the emotion. The logical side works with symbols, so it's better adapted to process the language. The other side works with shapes and analogic data, being more adapted to "artistic works".
The two sides of the brain can operate independently. When you do something that uses only the skills of one side, the other "turns off".
Today, most societies only stimulate the logical hemisphere, beginning in the childhood and going through the school age. After a few years, they begin to use that hemisphere to do almost everything, even things that was supposed to be done by the other side. The logical side doesn't allow the artistic side to "wake up". And when people try to draw and see the bad results, they generally quit.

The next chapters will teach you how to "turn off" the logical side and "turn on" the artistic side.

Page last modified on 1997-April-27 Sunday.

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