Pencil Sketches & Drawings – Just for Fun
…and, more importantly, Practice!
Yes, practice…it does make a difference in your drawings. The more you draw, the better you get at it. So, if you want to become a better artist then…
practice!
and even if you’re not too bad at something…it never hurts to draw some more!
It just gets easier to draw things…especially if you draw the same thing over and over. Eventually you start sort of memorizing how the lines should go…
or more exactly, you find it easier to figure out which way the lines should go and how to judge those pesky proportions!
It kind of becomes second nature after awhile…especially if you sketch something many times in different views or positions. This is why for myself it’s not that hard to draw a horse without looking at a reference photo. I’ve drawn a LOT of them over my lifetime although I don’t have them on here…at least not yet.
Usually it’s a lot easier though to have a good reference photo of the subject you’re trying to sketch or draw. This way you can see exactly how the proportions of each part of the body is supposed to look compared to what you think it should…
believe me, I’ve tried drawing things that I don’t usually draw much from memory and well…
they just didn’t look right!
And no matter how hard I tried to get them to look right…
They still looked kind of “off” when it came to proportions and not very realistic at all.
Maybe my memory isn’t so good after all…
Yeah, I know my memory isn’t the greatest, lol. And, most artists do use reference photos to have something to go by or follow. Otherwise, if you’re not sure how something is supposed to look, you’ll never get it to look right without a reference to follow.
It’d be like making a new dish you’ve never tried making before…
without the recipe!
So, if you want to get good at drawing something, then go ahead and draw it! Then draw it again and again but in different positions or different view points.
Anyways…
Here’s just a few things I’ve been up to lately….
Do you draw the same subject over and over?
Or, do you draw or sketch different things once in awhile?
Just for fun….?
Let me know what you think…
Does it help you to practice drawing and sketching the same subject?
I’d love to know what you think, so feel free to drop me a comment in the comment box below!
One more thing…
Art is supposed to be fun isn’t it? So, have fun with your drawings! If it’s not perfect, that’s okay…it’s all practice so you’ll be a better artist in the long run.
Hi, Sherry.
So interesting to see your drawings. Thanks for sharing with me.
I did draw when I was a child but I just looked on another drawing so it wasn’t a big accomplishment. But I remember that I liked to draw. You are saying in this post that all artists need a reference photo. It’s like a drawer or a painter that take their sketches outside and draw or paint what they see in nature. Or can it be just an image of a deer on a photo? A reference photo is that a image taken from a photographer or can it also be outside when for instance looking at a deer or any other animal?
Just curious. Do you think I could be good in drawing if I practised a lot?
Tove
Hi Tove,
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! I find it does help a lot to have a reference photo to go by, but it is all up to the artist on what they want to do. If they want to achieve something that looks realistic, especially those trying to achieve “photo-realistic” results, having a decent, clear photo of the subject works wonders.
Yes, I agree that using a photo is like when a painter or drawer takes their supplies outside and sketches out what they see in nature and then continues building upon it with either pencil or paint to add the details as they see it in real life. The only difference is the photo never changes, but when outside and doing this when viewing it in “real” life the light changes along with the shadows as the time goes by…which may make it a bit more difficult for something really detailed.
A reference image can be an image of a deer in a photo, even one you take yourself, or an image from a photographer could be used to as long as you either have permission to use it or just use it as a reference to get the basic idea of the shape of the deer’s head, how long it’s legs are compared to the rest of the body, or which angles does it’s legs have to make it look like a deer’s leg when you draw it.
Now, if you’re viewing a deer standing outside and try to draw it…it’s still a reference I would definitely say. But, since it will keep moving around a lot, it’d be hard to get it “picture” perfect…unless, of course, you’re really fast at drawing! I’m not that fast, although I’m getting much faster than I used to be since I’ve been doing a lot of artwork lately.
Yes, I certainly believe you could be good at drawing, Tove! Practice does make a difference! As they say, “Practice makes perfect…” Even practicing drawing for 20 or 30 minutes a day helps to improve how well someone can draw.
Anyways, to sum it up…it’s basically up to the artist on whether they want to use a photo or not as a reference…they certainly don’t have to do so, but it makes it soooo much easier to figure out what type of shapes and angles make up the animal’s basic structure.
I hope that explains using reference photos a bit better!
Thanks again for stopping by and commenting!
Best wishes ~Sherry