Something that troubles me..

[christinakal]

Greetings to all of you!

There is something that is troubling me for quite some time now. I am not a professional artist, I consider myself as a student and I found myself being way more comfortable painting than drawing. Here is an example of 2 studies I did today

I can see that my drawing skills are not the best, considering, that I have devoted more time drawing than painting. Is it something normal? Has this happened to any of you? I would love to hear your opinion οn this.

[Heather Boyd]

@christinakal

1. Did you use reference for the painting one and not for the drawn head one?
2. If you drew the ear like you painted the ear - would there be that much of a difference?

Maybe you are far more at ease with painting than drawing -as it comes more natural and that's why you work longer and harder at drawing.

[NessIllustration]

Looks like you used a reference for the ear, and none for the drawing. That could make a huge difference. It wouldn't be that you're better at painting, but simply that your better in general when you have a reference to help you.

[ArtofAleksey]

That’s a good question I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I think different people have different aptitudes for different skills. I think the contributing factors are, how you learn, how you perceive things, how you retain information, and what you enjoy doing more.

I think that during different times people are in a different state of mind which affects their performance and their ability to learn. All these thingies are factors.

Do you enjoy painting more than pencil drawing?

[Whitney Simms]

@christinakal maybe you feel more comfortable with form vs liner? You can see how 3D objects are and can translate that into a painting easier than finding the lines in a 3D form. And it would be much easier for us to tell you the difference if you drew and painted the same picture and we saw your reference? And the ear looks amazing! The face looks good. Still not bad.

[christinakal]

@Heather-Boyd Yes, I used reference for both. These are photo studies I did to compare drawing/painting skills. I drew the basic shape of the ear and then I started painting. I guess I need more practice in drawing

Thank you for replying!

[christinakal]

@NessIllustration Well, I used reference for both that's the thing Maybe I feel more confident painting than drawing and that's why my drawings doesn't look good. The solution I guess is, practice practice practice!

[A Former User]

I personally don't see anything wrong with your drawing but if it's something you're not totally comfortable with them it just takes lots of practice!

[demotlj]

Maybe you could think of drawing as laying down forms instead of line. Instead of trying to draw the countour, using the pencil just as you would a paintbrush (using it more on its side to shade) to block out shapes. I actually think you have an advantage over most people who are learning to draw because understanding form is so fundamental and you obviously already have that.

[christinakal]

@Aleksey Yes, definitely I enjoy painting more, but I also admire a good solid line drawing. I would really like to be able to do both, at the same level.

@Whitney-Simms Well, I guess I fill more comfortable, yes. That's a good idea. I would try both painting and drawing the same picture!

@hannahmccaffery I totally agree!

@demotlj Actually that's how I sketch in my sketchbook and you're right it feels like painting to me and comes much more naturally! This specific portrait sketch I did is made in Photoshop so that's might be a reason.

Thank you all for replying and for your kind words.

[CukiArtist]

I'm the opposite, I feel more natural drawing than painting because I used to sketch a lot and so I'm more used to it. As others have said it's probably just a case of experiment with different drawing methods and see what best matches you. After that it's practice, practice, practice
I will also mention however that my drawings in Photoshop never look as good as my physical sketches do, I don't think it's a program well suited for drawing but if you find the right brushes to build up form like you do in your sketchbook it might get better.

[christinakal]

@CukiArtist Drawing in paper it feels so natural, I agree. But drawing digital takes more practice for sure, Well, we will get there eventually :smiling_face_with_open_mouth:

[NessIllustration]

@christinakal Uhmm then it's something else... It might be that you're more comfortable representing light and shadow realistically as they appear on a reference picture. When you draw, you have to translate shapes and lighting into lines, so that's an additional step that you maybe have trouble with? Mind you, your drawing is really nice and there's nothing wrong with it! It seems compared to the ear it's much more stylized, and that you have also spent a lot less time on it. So it's not a 1 to 1 comparison! I would be curious to see you draw a realistic ear (using the same reference, even!) and taking the same amount of time to do it, this might make it easier to see what's going on here!

[ArtofAleksey]

@christinakal ok cool. How do you usually learn best? I am trying to improve my own line drawing skills and finally finding out what’s working by trying new things. All this after a bajillion years.

[LauraA]

Some people think like painters, in big shapes, while others think like draftsmen, in lines. Of course it's not quite that simple and most people are a bit of both, but it's worth considering. As a test, you can try drawing the same image both ways and see if one is easier than the other. Neither is wrong!

[christinakal]

@NessIllustration I will to that. I am curious to see that myself I am aiming for a more stylized style as I am starting a comic book project. I just need more practice. I would like to do realistic studies so I can understand how things work and then make them more stylized.

[christinakal]

@Aleksey Well, my learning process includes a lot of tutorials! haha but in general the thing that helps me most, is studying other artist's work. I try to understand how they put their lines, how they construct their drawings, their thinking process etc. Other than that, realistic studies helps a tone, understanding how things work. Some exercises I personally do:

• Film Studies. I draw or paint screen shots from movies. It helps with composition, acting and of course light and mood.
• Drawing animals and people in simple shapes (cubes, spheres) but in different perspective. Try 2 point but also 3 point perspective.
• Plein Air paintings. I usually use reference images from http://www.mapcrunch.com/.
• I sometimes try to take a picture (usually a character) and I try to stylize it. But I usually fail! I definitely need to practice more!
• And whatever study I do I try then to draw it without the reference, to see what I remember!

I hope it helps!

[ArtofAleksey]

@christinakal nice. I really wanna try doing the move scene studies. I really like the production design of Pride and Prejudice. When i was trying to figure out my comfort and style i had to gather some old drawings I did and compare them to styles I wanted them to look like. I tried to redraw those in the other style and something just clicked eventually.

[christinakal]

@Aleksey Great. I am glad that something clicked! Very nice feeling

[ArtofAleksey]

@christinakal do things click more often for you with painting and color?