Quickly become better at drawing—without burning out—by using my workbook.
Google Search Console tells me that the most popular pages on my website are a rotatable 3d cube model, a skull model, and a page where you can easily create things on perspective grids.
I understand: you want to reduce learning to draw to smaller chunks you can focus on, the fundamentals. Form studies. Anatomy: learning the proportions of the head and the human body.
But I believe it is the wrong thing to focus on.
Drawing from memory has been my best exercise; it replaces form studies because it trains you to “feel” when a line is off or does not match the underlying form. It is a far more valuable skill as it frees you from constructing.
Here is one drawing I made from memory this week:
I didn’t draw this to memorize this specific thing. Instead, doing this exercise makes me better at visualizing the things I want to draw and using what I see in my mind’s eye as a drawing reference. It also makes me better at feeling when things are off.
I have drawn this a dozen or so times. I am learning to figure out what makes the drawing work, what aspect I need to draw accurately, and which parts I can wing a bit. In this case, the egg shape of the body must bend downward. I had to work on balancing the box on the bee so it didn’t topple off. Things I didn’t need to be as accurate about are the feet of the bee and the number of lines on the bee’s body.
Notice how I also practiced 3d form when drawing the bee’s body and the box.
This is way more fun than just practicing form, and it is rewarding when you end up with a nice drawing, especially when you have to make a dozen attempts to figure out what makes it work. And as a bonus, you learn all the fundamentals along the way.
This is the “wax on, wax off” for artists. If you have seen “Karate Kid,” you will understand the reference.