About drawing

There seem to be so many people out there who, when looking at other people's drawings, say they wish they could draw like this, but didn't have the talent for it. They don't know that it doesn't take special talent or years of excessive practice to get a decent drawing on paper. Anyone who really wants it can learn it. Especially when you're watching others draw and you are eager to get started yourself, don't wait any longer.

There are so many ways to learn the basics these days, especially on the internet, and it's free. Then you should discipline yourself to draw every day for at least six weeks straight. Five to ten minutes is enough, but it's important not to miss a day. You can start with simple, relatively geometric objects. In this way you train your eye-hand coordination, which means that the hand learns to implement what the eye sees. Looking closely is also important, not to rely on what you think something looks like.

Drawing is a craft that must be practiced to master. Regularity is important. And individuality is more important than perfection. Put ten artists in front of an object and everyone will draw it a little differently, each in their own way. Drawing is not about copying and a drawing is allowed to look like a drawing. There are cameras for photorealism.

Drawing is not primarily about the product. You don't have to be a van Gogh for drawing to make sense. You don't have to be a star chef to cook something tasty. Sure, it's nice and motivating when something respectable comes out of it. More important, however, is the process of seeing something emerge in front of you where there was just a blank sheet of paper. It's about creating something, something that hasn't been there before. Each drawing is unique, whether you draw from an object, from a photo or from your imagination.

And even if you are initially dissatisfied with a drawing, you should not despair. Often one is too critical immediately after drawing. You should put it aside and look at it again hours, days or even weeks later. It is often only possible to judge a drawing objectively with some distance.