It might not seem related, but check out a library book on
cartooning. My favorite was How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way.
This book gave a lot of guidance on how to draw people and animals.
First off, I don’t draw especially well. Better than some, I guess.
But with all the discussion about drawing it reminded me of a movie
some might like. Robert Crumb was an underground cartoonist - Fritz
the Cat and Mr. Natural for those of us geezers who remember. I will
say that he was a strange, odd man who was more than a little creepy
at times, so there’s some of that in the film about him. What’s
fascinating is watching him draw, and he drew constantly, like 8
hours every day. The “portrait of a man” part is pretty dark
sometimes (be warned). The “portrait of anartist” part is
fascinating, though. It’s called “Crumb” and it’s on Netflix…
BTW, his brother used to beg on a street corner right outside our
shop. Never knew that’s who he was until we saw this film.
If someone hasn’t already mentioned it, the book “Drawing on the
Right Side of the Brain” may help. Here’s myy testimony in a
nutshell: I drew the classic “smiley face” pople all my life.
Finally, I sought out help in trying to render my jewelry. I wasn’t
satisfied, in my “before” and “as built” drawings. Someone on the
forum suggested that book. After reading the book a couple of times,
I practiced the exercises and then practiced the real thing, I am
now able to do a great deal better rendering jewelry. I can also do a
pretty darn good portrait now. I used to believe either you had it or
you didn’t, when it came to drawing. Now i believe you can probably
teach a monkey to draw. Of course it would probably want to draw
still life - bananas.
I have been watching this thread with great interest; I am glad to
see that the book “Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain” is
being mentioned as often as it is. It is a great book.
Another great book and technique is Nicolaide’s “The Natural Way to
Draw”. I was introduced to this method probably 20 years ago and to
this day it is my favorite way to draw. Once you get the hang of it,
the results are amazing. It is also very meditative.
Sandra
from Snohomish, WA where spring has finally arrived, for a few days
anyway…