I’ve wanted to write this blog post for a long time. Wonder why I haven’t? Well, it’s in fear that I won’t be able to actually explain how I draw because I think a lot of my talent is just inherent—I wasn’t taught, so how can I explain it to others?
But, shoving down that worry, I’m tackling this post. I’ll do my best!
I’ve been artsy for as long as I can remember. I remember coloring a picture of Strawberry Shortcake when I was four or five even! It was one of my favorites at the time. Let’s disregard the fact that my brother (older by a year and a half) didn’t like all the pink and decided to draw a huge black X over the whole thing. 😬
Besides coloring, I was HUGE into drawing horses for several years. I had pictures, photos, drawings, trinkets . . . you get the idea. I was obsessed. The way I started out drawing horses was probably how you can imagine it: a rectangle body with four legs sticking straight out of it with a chunky neck and head.
But my mom had an interesting book about drawing at the time, and it had some animals in it. I just copied those over and over until I got the idea of how circles and curves joined together into the body of a real animal.
After that, I began studying the things I drew more carefully. Stick figures turned into something resembling cartoons . . . and it went from there.
I think a lot of it has to do with talent and interest in what you’re doing. It goes for any hobby, whether it’s mechanics, art, or computer programs. My dad is an engineer, and he’s tried many times to explain trig and calculus (among other things) to my siblings and I without much luck. I think some people’s brains are just wired differently, and I’m not here to say anyone can be an AMAZING artist! I’m definitely not—it’s just a fun hobby that I’m pretty good at.
But moving past that . . .
When I moved on from horses, I took up faces avidly. I LOVED drawing whole faces, eyes, noses, ears . . . my sketchbook looked pretty creepy in some parts. But my mom let me snoop in her portrait drawing books as well as old photo albums and pictures. I started copying more—this time whole bodies. I practiced a lot.
And when you practice a lot, you get better.
I began drawing some cartoon/anime styles as well as hyper-realistic drawings. I love a mix, and I practiced all of it. I colored with markers mostly and had some fashion design books as well. Clothing has also been super fun to experiment with!
When I got really into writing, I started drawing characters. That was a little harder because I had just a picture in my head to follow for a lot of them. That’s where the mind’s eye comes in. It’s not something everyone has, and those who do have it have it to a varying degree.
It’s when you can picture an image or design in your head and make it come out onto paper or other designing programs. I have it to a certain degree—when you say “elephant” I can picture an elephant. I could probably sketch a decent one from memory. But a bear . . . well . . . that’s a little harder. I use reference pictures a lot in my drawings to make them stay realistic (especially animals—not my strong point!).
So yeah! The subtitle of this post is “How I Draw from Scratch.” And how do I do it? Well, it’s a combination of things. First, inherited artistic ability. I know some people just aren’t artistic. And that’s okay! You have other skills. 😀 Second, mind’s eye: knowing which shapes to use and how things look in real life. Third, reference pictures. I know that’s sort of cheating since it’s not “from scratch” at that point, but I’ll admit I do use them!
And that’s all I’ve got today! Have a lovely day, everyone, and thanks for reading. 🌼
God bless!
~Janet