[davenewt]

Gob. Smacked!

Hey folks,

I've been lurking for a little while (found this place via Graphic Forums, hi to anyone else who's also on there! *waves*) spending a lot of time browsing through the SpeedPainting thread.

I have been, um, gobsmacked by the wealth of talent on display. I mean, I use photoshop and illustrator all the time (I do DTP and Marketing stuff in my day job) but I've never considered calling anything I do "art", or myself "artistic" in any way.

However, instead of just admiring from a distance, I've decided to join in the fun here. Because it *does* look like great fun, to be able to create stuff like you guys churn out, seemingly so quickly and easily!

So, in recent weeks I have (1) bought myself a wacom tablet (2) purchased two books: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and The Complete Book of Drawing (just today, actually!) and (3) signed up to play with the talented people!

The more I look at people's creations in places like this, the more I have become convinced that I want to be able to do something similar. Until now, I've been telling myself that I'll never be able to teach myself how to draw. I've considered classes, but heard people say that you don't learn much from classes, and the only way to learn is to look at other people's work and get drawing yourself. The barrier then was "but I can't draw ANYTHING" - so I never bothered even trying. But now, from reading the first few pages of "Right Side", I can see that there *is* hope, and I *will* be able to improve greatly with time and effort. It sounds so obvious, doesn't it? Without trying, how can you ever hope to improve? So I'm going to at least try.

If you made it this far into my post, thanks. I hope I can continue to gain inspiration from you guys, and that you will endure my questions and inevitably bad artwork to begin with. Perhaps you should have an "evolving artists" thread where the talented folks need not look, for fear of seeing what people with zero talent are capable of producing?!

Anyway, not to take up any more of your valuable creative time, I just really wanted to say "hello, and thanks for the inspiration that has brought me this far."

Keep it coming!

Cheers,
Dave.

[MCMA]

Hi Dave and welcome.

You're not alone. We are many lurkers too afraid to post
PS: Right Side is a great book. Not just false hopes and promises. It has really helped me to see and somewhat think. hehe.

Essence is look + understand + lots and lots of hands on practice = development. Hands, eyes, technique and understanding can and will be trained.

I have really enjoyed Johannes Vloothuis online tricks of the trade as well as his encouragement. "Talent is not a must to become a great artist. Correct guidance and constant practice will achieve great results." Talent can only get you so far. Knowing how to fix things is invaluable.

Sorry if I'm rambling on, and I really should go practice some now
_________________
The Dark Ages was caused by the Y1K problem.

[seth1]

dave, Nice to see another artist in the making!@ If you have the dedication and the inspo you will defently go far! Just practice, practice, practice, Draw from life ALOT, Make it a must. Draw cups, spoons, apples, people! every thing. Allways try and keep a little sketch pad and pencil with you, and even scribbling or drawing circles continuious, helps! Also when you have the time check out this E-book http://saveloomis.com Amazing book written by Andrew loomis! Read draw and learn every thing out of there. The main thing i would say to get down is the basics of what makes up a shape, form, vaule, and line is.. I dunno though!

Cant wait to see some work from you! If you ever need help or any thing you can add me to msn if you have it at [email protected] or aim: archanjel84

Seth

[eyewoo]

Welcome Dave...

[davenewt]

MCMA: thanks for the kind words!

seth1: I looked at saveloomis already actually, tried to sketch a few of the heads. Wasn't too pleased with my efforts, although some aspects of the approach were surprisingly simple. I just need to work on the execution Don't have MSN, but thanks for the offer. I hope you don't regret your comment about not being able to wait to see my work... it might be a while if you expect anything half decent! Hehehehe.

Cheers,
Dave.

[davenewt]

[seth1]

Naa man! really em looking forward to seeing some work! check out conceptart.org the fourms! If you make a sketch book there you will get tons of feed back!

[davenewt]

[seth1]

Heh! Yeah! Cant wait to see yours!!!!!

[Ranath]

hey!

I've actually heard that Drawing with Right Side of the Brain is not very good book.. here's the article: http://www.chiseledrocks.com/articles/snakeoil/section0.htm

anyway the trick is not to read books anyway, it's about learning anatomy and drawing through etc, and then just drawing a lot

[Xoryp]

well there are a lot of amazing things that come from so many thats exactly y i like it here im desperatly trying to get photoshop for myself once again so i can join in once more and i love the fact that every1 hre is positive and never put your work down they try to help so welcom and thnx to every1 here
_________________
Feed the flame, before it feeds itself...

[Naeem]

hey dave,
welcome . As Ranath mentioned, there's theory and then there's practice. Don't get too caught up in theory! The best you can do is compulsive drawing day and night. For the book Drawing from the right side of the brain, I wasn't too pleased with it when I bought it. It just showed you a cool trick to copy pictures. I'm sure you won't be able to hang your model upside down and then draw them; hehe.

It will take you very far if you can master the pencil . Back in the day, art students for the first 1 or 2 years of their schooling were only allowed to use the pencil/charcoal; just the non-painting medium. They did not touch paint until after they had gotten a firm grasp on form and value. From that, you can see how important it is to practice and draw.

As everyone else said; Welcome aboard! You'll have a real good time
_________________
http://www.annisnaeem.blogspot.com/

[davenewt]

ranath: I know I'll have to do more than read

xoryp: yep, it's a friendly place alright! why else would I feel like posting here at 1:20am?

annisahmad: thanks, I hope I can draw lots in the weeks/months to come! I think drawing only with pencil for a couple of years would be difficult, especially since I just bought a wacom. But yes, pencil first, then digital... that's probably the normal way to do things, right?

Later!
Dave.

[insane007]

I would say practice practice practice. for instance: I goto my classes at my university and draw people around me during class, or sit at the coffee shope and do it. Draw everything you see and you will start to gain a good knowledge of drawing shapes. I admire your effort! perhaps you could start a begginer drawing thread, I would certainly join.

[davenewt]

You guys asked for it... I just posted my first stumbling steps. Apologies in advance for anyone clicking the link below

But really, thanks to all of you for the encouragement so far!

http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=40013

*grin*
Dave.

[Gort]

Dave!! Cead mile failte romhat! Don't be shy and hang tough on the criticisms here; they're often sharp but meant well.

Sl�inte!!
_________________
- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield