[Tomten]

Just wanna know.. is there any chance of getting good at drawing if you�re not born with it? My friend is really good att drawing on papers and stuff and he has been that way as long as i�ve know him. If i try to copy the image with a pen, even then it get�s fucked up. So.. now i wonder, can i get any good at painting if i�m not born with a talent for drawing?

[Rinaldo]

we've had a few threads along this line. can't remember the names. there were a few oppinions o nthe matter but as far as I'm concerned "hell yes". just practice as much as you can and try to pick up all the tips you can.
the best book I can recomend is "Drawing on THe Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. it won't teach you everything, but it deals with the perceptual problems that plague budding artists. it deals mostly with drawing from life and ref (photos drawings etc.). ther are a lot of other things that make up "being able to draw" but the base act of drawing is covered. learning anatomy, design, etc. is a bit different but not really any more "unreachable" to those who not natural born. some people just have a lot of things down from the start. it doesn't necesarily mean you cant learn them.

[Light]

The answer is a definite yes.

I've always minimized the existence of talent but if it does it exist then its the natural tendancy to draw the proper way. I don't think there are any masters who became masters just by talent alone.

Drawing on the right side of brain is an excellent start. In fact, I think the "sphere, cube, cylinder" approach is hard to learn (at least it was/is for me) because its going away from the natural way of drawing (which I theorize is based on visual and memory).

Also, I've seen beginning artist use that approach to shade things and it turns out looking like a gradient fill was applied (I've did the same thing). So, I think an artist way of using those concepts is a bit different then the non-artistic way of using those same concepts.

The bad thing is it will take a lot of time and patience. I started at about as worst as one could start and I've made a lot of progress. I've filled up thousands and thousands of pages of sketches. Just to flip through the sketches I liked enough to save would take me hours!!!

However, looking back its clear that one way I was doing things was "right" and the other way was wrong (or left).

The odd thing is now I'm going back and making pictures that are techinically wrong but saying this has a good emotion to it and can be developed techinically later. But I'm digressing.

With proper guidance you can probably get better much quicker then I did. I think the key things to remember when drawing are:

1. Draw on the right side of the brain (see the book)
2. Drawing is a process that is not made in one step.
3. Have fun!

Painting is the same but can be easier. Drawings tend to appeal to the techinical senses where color (paintings) tend to appeal to the aesthetic senses. A good blend of both is probably the most interesting.

Anyway, you probably wont understand what I'm talking about. But yeah, try painting and drawing and sketching. Do it all. Then post it here. =)

[Capt.FlushGarden]

I think that there is something you have to be born with, and almost everyone are born with it, the only thing you have to have, is a lot of paciensce (t�lamod) and the hunger of becoming better at drawing...I've tried to "teach" my friends to draw, but they give up so easily...
�va �va �va s�ger jag bara, och alla som �r bra h�r har b�rjat �va n�r de var sm� barn...det tar en j�vla tid lixom!

[Plop]

Someone once said:
Dogged persistence is a good substitute for genius.

[RobT]

If you like something enough and are passionate about it you will be good at it if you persist.

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RobT

www.gameart.com/mindstorm
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

[TRAZE]

Yop, i have the same problem sometimes.
But there are two words in artwork, art and work, so try to work on !!i do so.

[Isric]

Anyone can learn! Yes! Every human being on the face of the earth could draw fantastic stuff if they worked hard enough.

BUT. When I was in math class, I learned how to do what i had to do. I could balance equations and figure things out, but there were a few people in class that could fathom incredible formulas and whip through 50 questions in five minuits. The same applies for art, music, and anything else. Anyone can learn, but there are always those who just...know.

[Krazy]

your only as talented as you believe you are, yes it takes some inborn imaginative types stuff but even the best did stick figures way bcak when ]

[Ragnarok]

Once I heard: work is 10% inspiration and 90% expiration.
So, talent may be a 20%, but you have to work very much to develop it

[Ahcri]

You know, if a person can draw doesn't mean he can do brilliant artwork. Because skill isn't everything. Some people can't draw as well as a skilled painter, but he has thoughts and emotion and he use them in the painting, then he is a better artist then the skilled one.
Just remember, artist and painter are different. Painter paint really nicely but not necessarily have hearts in it. You can figure out the rest.. In the meantime, just practice, if that doesn't work, you can always draw for fun and doesn't care what other people say.

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http://gameart.com/ahcri
heard that people with issues or problems in their lives that constantly complain grow more in depression and will eventually grow more angry towards little things in life that don't matter at all." --The "Wise" Man on the P.O.V.

[NDR113]

I really like this post. very insightfull. I also believe you can learn how to draw and paint if you want to...But only if you want to. I've seen people who learned to draw with their feet because they didn't have arms. hehe Go figure...

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...I would rather die as a man than live eternally as a robot..."Andrew Martin"