Frustrations with Learning Art

[Halei-Helai]

Hey all! I have a question for all of you artistic furs.


I'm in another one of those phases where I seriously contemplate trying to learn to draw. I have done it a few times before but I never seriously stuck with it because I get frustrated. Specifically, I can see something clear as day in my mind that I want to draw, but something gets lost in translation on the way to my drawing hand and I cannot visualize it on paper at all. It is like what I imagine in my head and what I imagine on paper are two entirely different things, and it is really dispiriting. Is this something that sounds familiar to anyone?


I can do really basic cartoonish stuff but anything beyond caricatures and with more realism is a real challenge. Do any artists here, of any skill level, have any advice for me? I keep wondering if I just don't have the right sort of brain for it since I am a numbers girl who is also a musician. Is there any truth to that?


Bonus points on your answer if you do watercolors. I would absolutely love to learn them but it was almost infuriating trying to use them when I briefly attempted to.


Thanks!

[MrRazot]

Watercolours are great, but they're pretty hard to learn to use. Patience though will see you succeed.

Basic cartoons are a start.
I would say that you should try to draw what you see before you draw what you can't.

If you imagine what you want to draw, but don't know how to, then how do you?

If you want to draw a character and you imagine the character in a certain pose, go to Google images and find someone or something in that pose.
Same for imagining certain clothing or scenes.
Look for references and draw from them. Eventually you'll have no problem drawing freely from your mind.

Sit at a new musical instrument and try to write a song. Without knowing the chords, how will you know how to play a basic song?
You've also had to listen to music to know how music sounds.

Arguably, you can sit at a piano and play around with the keys until you can say you've learnt the piano by ear, but the faster and smarter way is to learn how to read the notes and how to translate them into music.

Arranging a pice of art is exactly like arranging a piece of music.
The brush is your instrument and the knowledge of shape, form and light are your chords.

The chords are the same with every instrument, but knowing how to play one doesn't mean you can pick up the other. Water colour is the same in this regard.

So
- be patient with your skill
- try to focus on one medium (understanding that it takes time to learn to use any brush or type of paint)
- use references so you can see with your own eye what you see in your mind (taking into view various aspects of art such as lighting and proportion)

Good luck!

[Ori]

Well first off, almost anyone can be an artist! Did you know the right side of the brain vs the left side of the brain thing is disproved? People can be both really good at numbers and be an artist. I mean I'm not a mathematician, but I've managed to stay in honors math while balancing my art skills and I've seen a lawyer that was really good at drawing people using just a pen.

I agree with MrRazot, you should start by doing cartoons. But the training method to get better is to copy what you see (Which is how I got better). So copy cartoons or anime, and do it often. In this way you get an idea of how to draw things with some influence from other artists, and with time you gain your own style. Make sure to be critical, but not so critical that it makes you feel bad and want to quit. You can use any trick you know to copy the art, {Like breaking down what you see into basic shapes} you just can't trace it because you don't really gain much from it unless you're studying how the person did something. (I suggest not going crazy and trying to copy colors and shadows. Which I was forced into doing. It's a bit too much for someone learning to do, instead try copying the form and using a black and white image. {Color can sometimes make things look different than it seems.})

Also, understand what you're drawing, and understand definite rules about things. For an example, almost all guys have a shoulder width of about three heads. (Not in cartoons and anime, but in IRL.) Tricks like these come in handy.  Something like this:
Understanding and studying this is key. These things are called proprotions so you should find a few if you search up proportions of the human body (Or specific parts of the body online.)




Once you get really good at copying cartoons or anime, try real life. Just keep taking it another step forward, making it more difficult each time, but do it at your pace.

As you get better at copying you should find that drawing from your head is easier.

My friend actually was like you, he drew often cartoony stuff, but he was annoyed that he couldn't do realistic stuff. He asked our art teacher how to get better, and her response was to look at a real object or person and draw it/him/her.

In art, follow this quote: 'Do what you fear, and fear dissapears'. You're scared of backgrounds? Then draw backgrounds. Scared of portraits? Draw portraits.

As for watercolor, can't help you there. I cheat by using watercolor color pencils.


However if you really want to draw something from your head at the moment, here's what I suggest. Write down as much as you about your character as you can. In  this way, you can focus on drawing the character and not so much on both drawing the character while trying to remember what you're drawing. (Which is what I often do for requests.) Use a multitude of references.

[Halei-Helai]

Thanks to both of you. What you have said is actually really helpful, and hopefully I can put this stuff into practice with practice!

[Ventus Fall]

I would like to give a short, small comment for now o3o

Practise, always practise. It sounds lame, but that is all it is.
One thing me and a few other artists agree on (as in, I've had a few in-depth discussions on dA, FA, etc.): There is a thing as talent. However, this only accounts for people are are able to learn things quickly. Anyone can draw. People who have talent for drawing just seem to pick things up quicker,  but it doesn't mean others who don't have that cannot learn to draw. It might take more time, but I think people who work hard, and have a specific style are much more valued artists and more valued in general. They are also able to help others, comment and critique on pieces, which I think is extremely helpful.


Anyone can draw, but it is those who push on, those who know what they want, they are the ones who eventually grow to be true artists ^-^


I dunno if this all makes sense, I'm heading to bed now xP