Skip to main content

Finding the right subjects

They say, when you start drawing you start to see the world differently. And you feel the urge to draw everything. The first part of this claim is true for me to a certain degree. I do sometimes look at things with the eyes of an artist, wondering how I would draw this. The second part not so much. I am still quite selective when it comes to choosing subjects to draw.

They also say that everything is interesting when you draw it. And when I see other people's drawings of supposedly banal stuff, I like them. But I can't get myself to drawing just anything. It has to be something special or something that spontaneously attracts me or has some other motivation behind it, except that it's in front of me and I want to draw.

So one could think that the moment I do find something visually interesting somehow, I would want to draw it. And there is sometimes the thought in my mind that I would have to want to draw at least everything I do find interesting. As if I was not allowed anymore to find something interesting without wanting to draw it. But there is a difference between me finding something visually interesting and me wanting to draw it.

Why is that? Am I just not daring to draw something interesting, because I believe it's too difficult? Or do I think it's not interesting enough to draw it? Or is it that my brain - the part that is in charge of drawing - says: I can't do anything with this right now? I often find myself browsing a photo site and getting attracted to a photo, but then I imagine drawing it and finally decide against it, because I don't see how I could approach a drawing of it.

You somehow have to broaden your artistic 'vocabulary' in a useful way. On the one hand, you have to challenge yourself in order to make progress. On the other hand, if the challenge is too big you get frustrated. And you certainly don't want drawing to frustrate you. Probably, all you can do is trust your intuition. If a subject totally scares you, allow yourself to reject it. If you think, it won't be easy to draw, but you have an idea, how to approach it, give it a try.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction

I have been drawing for 20 months now. I started back then, because I wanted a creative hobby, that you can do on a daily basis without needing lots of material initially. So I decided to learn a bit about the basics of drawing, practiced and soon found out, that it is easier than everybody thinks. And after all, you don't have to be perfect for it to be fun and for your drawings to be valuable. You are free to find your own way of drawing. While drawing as often as possible, I often find myself thinking a lot about this craft and me doing it. I certainly like drawing and sketching in sketchbooks. They are like journals you can browse through again and again and see what you were up to when you filled them. I am going to share my thoughts about drawing here and hopefully will dare to share one or the other drawing.
Post a Comment
more »

New Sketchbook

 There is nothing like preparing a new sketchbook after you have finished the previous one. I like to decorate the insides of the front and back cover with stickers. One that says „Sylvia‘s sketchbook no. x“ and some simply for decoration. After filling the first page I also add the month I started it. After filling the last page I then add the month I finished it.  The stuff on the right is just digital. 
Post a Comment
more »

Gouache

I have bought some Schmincke Designers Gouache and some Hahnemühle watercolour paper. I need to start practising with the good stuff, because my older niece has asked me to paint something for her 16th birthday in October. So I have done this little painting in my mixed media sketchbook today. The paint is great, so much smoother and easier to handle than the cheap stuff I have used so far. After getting to know it better and practising a bit I will also test the new paper. I‘m looking forward to more painting adventures.
Post a Comment
more »