Drawing - Art or Science?

I'm just watching a comprehensive Skillshare class called "The Art and Science of Drawing", which is taught by a professional, academically trained artist. It is certainly great that there is such a professional, comprehensive class on Skillshare. I'm watching it to revise the basics of drawing, to get a reminder of the theory behind the practice.

So far, so good. Though, what this class also reminds me of is why so many people shy away from learning to draw. It looks complicated and like needing lots of effort to make sense. So many dos and don'ts. Of course, it's about realistic drawing. The strange thing is that I've watched a lot of people not adhering to all these rules, like how to hold your pencil and how to place your paper, and still doing great work.

Above all, drawing shouldn't only be for those who are prepared to draw 'academically correct'. It should be for everyone and it should be fun. My own drawings may not be good enough to be able to win prizes at art shows. So what. I think they are pretty good and I had fun creating them. I did this quick drawing of a tulip I had bought yesterday. It's certainly not perfect, but it looks like a tulip and I'm sure it doesn't look like it was done by a four-year-old. Yes, I'm sure Van Gogh's drawing of my tulip would have been better. But this doesn't make my drawing unworthy.

When I began I found it very helpful to know something about the science of drawing, but what is really important is the art of it. The being creative, the letting something come into being on the paper in front of you.

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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.

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.

Architecture

Drawing architecture can be intimidating. A simple house or part of it is no problem. But something more complicated with lots of details tends to leave you overwhelmed. Where to start and how much detail to include? I'm not experienced in drawing more complicated buildings. So when I came across this photo of a church in Arles I liked the perspective, but at first wasn't sure if I could draw this. But I must have felt adventurous and went ahead. I grabbed a pencil and started with the basic shapes of the tower. Then proceeded with the basic shapes of the rest of the building - as much of it as fit on my page. Then the windows and some other, more detailed parts of the church. I didn't think much about perspective, just drew what I saw. With pencil you can always correct things if they don't work out. I would not have dared to draw this with pen from the start. When the pencil sketch looked good, I went over it with a fineliner. I added some more details an...

Sylvia‘s Art Journey

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