12 Drawing Mistakes to Avoid

8/10/2019 12 Drawing Mistakes to Avoid

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12 BIGGEST DRAWING MISTAKES

EVERY FINE ARTIST MUST AVOID

by Vladimir London


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Contents

Introduction

Erroneous belie #1:A Solid Drawing Skills are not essential or the fine artist anymore.

Erroneous belie #2:It is more important to learn how to express yoursel in art beore or in-stead o studying the drawing skills.

Erroneous belie #3:I need to learn how to draw a particular subject like people or animals, orcars, etc.

Erroneous drawing approach #4:Drawing what you see instead o drawing what you know.

Erroneous drawing approach #5:Drawing people without the knowledge o human anatomy.

Erroneous drawing approach #6:Drawing objects without a knowledge o perspective.

Erroneous drawing approach #7:Drawing without the knowledge and appreciation o golden ratio.

Erroneous drawing approach #8:It does not matter how to hold a pencil.

Erroneous drawing approach #9:Rendering shades without lifing the pencil.

Erroneous drawing approach #10:Relying on tools like rulers, pair o compasses and grayscale value cardsinstead o training your hand and developing essential skills o visual judg-ment.

Erroneous drawing approach #11:

Using Five-pencil drawing method instead o relying on one or two pencilgrades and trained hand.

Erroneous drawing approach #12:Smudging the graphite pencil or sofer effects.

Conclusion


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Introduction

Hello,

As the fine art teacher and the ounder o the Drawing Art Academy, I have

met many fine art students around the World who had some erroneousbelies about drawing. Teir points o view sometimes reflected theirdrawing techniques knowledge gaps. In many cases flawed thoughts arepassed by semi-proessional art teachers who are not good fine artiststhemselves.

In the last 100 years the world has seen a gradual but steady declinein traditional fine art skills. Tis is mainly because o the directioncontemporary art is developing. No longer good drawing skills are essentialor making a career in art. Who needs a drawing skills i a plastic bag ull

o rubbish can be called a piece o art i its placed against the wall in somecontemporary fine art gallery.

Nevertheless, I am very glad that so many students in various countries areego to study the realistic fine art. Te appreciation o beauty and celebrationo the millennium old traditions o the fine art are still in demand. I am

very happy that you are interested in traditional drawing techniques andwant to improve your drawing skills.

Why should you be listening to me today?

My fine art education comes rom intensively studying easel drawing andpainting or 15 years rom the age o nine. I have drawn and painted or aslong as I can remember mysel. I was ortunate to get very proessional fineartists as my art teachers. My fine art education combines three separate5-year courses Fine Art School where I studied Drawing, Painting,History o Art, Decorative Arts, and Sculpture, ollowed by a 5-year courseat the Academy o Art, department o Easel Painting and Drawing.


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And finally, I spent 5 more years obtaining the university degree, andbecoming a proessional fine art teacher.

Since then fine art has been an essential part o my proessional lie. Duringseveral years afer graduation, I was doing personal exhibitions in Europeand North America. My artworks ound their home in collections in manycountries around the globe. Afer settling down in the UK, my creative

career ound a new application in digital-, industrial-, graphic- design andmarketing. Te drawing skills and practical knowledge o fine art greatlyhelped me. Te ability to express mysel creatively would be very limitedwithout the oundation o every art Strong Drawing Skills.

I never stop painting and drawing. Te skill o drawing is or lie.

Presently I am teaching fine art students over the Internet as it helps toprovide value to so many people around the globe who would not be ableto benefit rom me otherwise. No more o my personal time nor countries

borders limit the way students can learn skills and techniques o drawingand painting.

Once you have learned how to draw, you have this wonderul gif or therest o your lie.

Now, I will explain the 12 erroneous ideas that every drawing master mustbe aware o.


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A Solid Drawing Skills arenot essential or the fine artistanymore.

Tis goes to the philosophical question What is the Fine ART? I youridea is that art is something shocking, completely useless that can belabeled with a ridiculously high price tag or no other reason than youdont understand it, because its art, then I have to agree, no drawing skillswill help here. It is heartbreaking that the saying has developed in last ewyears: Hes not a contemporary artist, he can draw.

You have to make a decision, either you value centuries-old traditions obeauty and attractiveness o art. I, in your opinion, art has some purpose

to gloriy, stylize or truthully portray the real world around us or your owninner imaginary world and ideas, then drawing is the key skill to help youachieve this purpose.

Drawing is an imperative foundation of various arts painting,sculpture, decorative arts, architecture, industrial, and graphical design.Possessing strong drawing skills is a necessary component to being amaster o your creative proession.

Erroneous belief #1:


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Imagine a musicianwho did not botherto learn notes norpractice harmonies.Would you instantlyrecognize by listeningto his cacophony that

he isnt a proessionalmusician?

Or how about adoctor, who did notspend enough timelearning basic skillso his proession anddecided to operate ona live person?Would you be happyto be his patient?

Would you board anairplane knowing thatthe pilot did not studywhat it takes to be apilot? You may say, butin art no human lie is

in danger. Tat is true,but it is not an excuseor fine artists notto study the originaldrawing skills.

I you want to be a fine artist, you must develop your creative skills bygetting the most out o drawing education to be ree to create your artwithout any limitations.

In the Drawing Academy, we focus the educational process on delivering

to you, as a fine art student, the fundamental and most necessary drawingtechniques, so you could improve your drawing skills even if you havenever drawn before.


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It is more important to learnhow to express yoursel in artbeore or instead o studying thedrawing skills.

Erroneous belief #2: Do not get me wrong here; the ability to express yoursel in fine art iscrucial or a fine artists. Tis is what makes you unique in art and thereoreis essential element o your creative career. However, you do not want tohandicap yoursel and severely limit your creative abilities by not havingthe necessary drawing skills.

Answer honestly to yoursel the ollowing question: If you want to make a

great piece of art, but your hands cannot draw creative ideas you have inyour head, would it limit your ability to make the intended artwork?

Did you have such situations when you imagined something really greatand creative, you started to draw your ideas and afer a while you realizethat result is nowhere near what you wanted to create? It might be still agood artwork, and people around you wowed by it, but deep inside youknow that the results is inerior to your imaginary picture.

Would it be great to have an ability to express yoursel in art with thereedom o crafsmanship that strong drawing skills enable you?


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I had discussions with many students who were getting the only expressyoursel art education. Some o them were advocating such educationalapproach, whereas others were concerned that year afer year they did notmaster what it takes to become a skillul fine artist.

Te truth is, not many fine art institutions teaching how to draw these days,most o them are just providing such guidance as be creative and expressyoursel without giving the craf skills how to do so. Tis goes back to theact that so many art teachers are not proessional artists themselves, theydid not get the drawing skills rom their teachers and nowadays passingeven less skills to next generations. I a student is lucky to have a naturaltalent, he might have a chance to become a skilul fine artist. What aboutthe rest?

Fortunately, the fine art is based on basic skills like drawing that can belearned, practiced, and mastered. Heres the big discovery drawing skillscan be mastered by anyone who has desire and will to do so.

No matter what age or sex you are, lef or right handed, your race, yourreligion none o these matters i you want to become a better drawingmaster. You can learn how to draw starting today. Even i you have beendrawing poorly all your lie or have not drawn since childhood, you stillcan take the drawing course rom a proessional drawing teacher andimprove dramatically your drawing skills.

As a student of the Drawing Academy you will discover how to improveyour drawing skills so you will be able to draw what you want, how youwant.


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I need to learn how to draw aparticular subject like people oranimals, or cars, etc.

Erroneous belief #3: My answer is a no-nonsense statement: if you have the necessary drawingskills, you can draw everything you see or can imagine without any

limitations, even if you have never done this particular subject before.

When you know how to draw, and someone asked you Can you draw agirl, or can you draw a car? you would be smiling in return. Yes, you candraw. Full stop. It doesnt matter i you have never beore draw something

like a superman or example; i you have drawing skills and necessaryknowledge o human anatomy, perspective, drawing techniques, etc. youwill be able to draw him.


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o put it in perspective, lets say you have learned to drive a car and nowyou have all the necessary driving skills and knowledge o traffic rules, etc.When someone asked you: Can you drive a Mercedes, or can you drive aFord? you would take it as an amateur question. Yes, you can drive; in actyou can drive any consumer car available on a market and any car that willbe developed in the distant uture.

It is like asking aproessional che: Canyou cook a sausage, orcan you cook a steak?

Yes, you know he can!Even i this sausagecame rom a brandnew manuacturer andthe cook had neverseen this sort o meatcombination beore,yes he can cook it.

At the Drawing Academy, I am teaching the key drawing skills. Tiseducation is not based on subjects like How to draw a girl or How todraw eyes, etc. Instead I am providing video lessons on how to drawprofessionally, so you would be able to draw a girl, and to draw a ace, andso on because you will get skil ls to draw anything you like, anything yousee or can imagine. Tis is the most essential skill you will have to progresswith your creative career.

So you will be able to draw anything you can imaginei you study andpractice well the skills o drawing.


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Drawing what you see instead odrawing what you know.

Erroneous drawing approach #4: Albert Einstein once said,Imagination is moreimportant than knowledge.

It is so true. However, theirony in drawing is that youhave to draw imaginary

things to depict realisticobjects.

Many art students are taking a very simplistic approach to the drawing,they draw what they see, not what they know or imagine.

I have to explain it in details. For example, you are drawing a still lie witha vase standing on a table and a book placed next to it, a drapery goesaround the vase and the book, partly covering these two objects. You might

just depict what you see visible edges o the vase standing on the table, acorner o the book showing up rom under the drapery. All looks good toyou, as you have used to this view.


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A spectator comes along, and he sees that on your drawing or paintingthe vase is floating above the table and the book intersects inside the vaseunder the drapery. What went wrong? You just drew what you saw, notwhat you knew or imagined.

Your drawing or painting would look much more believable when youdraw what you know.

Continuing with the same example, a still-lie would benefit greatly whenyou start your drawing as i all object are totally transparent, and you couldsee through them. You instantly will see that the vase is not touching the

table i your drapery, covering the vases lower part would be transparent.Te same goes or the book. I you draw the imaginary edges o the book,covered by the drapery, you would avoid its intersection with the vase.

Tere are many other imaginary lines you shall deploy in your drawing.For example, the imaginary vertical line that goes right in the middle othe round vase it is vertical axes. Te imaginary horizontal lines thatserve as main axis o the vases ovals its top, middle, and bottom circularedges. Te imaginary lines o two-point perspective, which cross over inthe vanishing points. Te imaginary lines, which indicate relationship and

angles o your main drawing masses, and so many other imaginary lines,which help you to make a realistic drawing.


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Te same goes or al l other genres: portrait drawing, human figuredrawing, landscape drawing, animals drawing, and so on. Alldrawing requires you to know the subject and draw what you knowusing some helpul imaginary lines rather than just what you see.

O course, you may erase all those imaginary lines afer you haveconstructed a drawing in right proportions, and helping guides are

no longer required.

You may say that you have seen some beautiul drawings done withno indication o those imaginary lines whatsoever. Tere is onesecret you shall know. Every proessional fine artist uses those lines.Sometimes an artist draw these lines on a paper, sometimes he justimagines them in his head, and sometimes imagination o thoselines happens subconsciously, so he is not actively thinking aboutangles and proportions.

o make your way toward such level o skills that imaginary linesare just that imagined in your head, takes some practice andknowledge. I you are a beginner, it is better to draw helping linesand later decide whether you would like to keep or erase them.

At the Drawing Academy your will see in almost every fine artvideo lesson how to draw what you know. I will teach you how touse imaginary lines that will help you to take your art to the nextlevel.

Once again, to master the art o drawing you shall draw what you

know and imagine rather than just what you see.


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Drawing people without theknowledge o human anatomy.


Everyone instantly recognizes the difference between amateur andproessional portrait or human figure. Why is it so? What it takes to drawpeople like a proessional artist?

Vs


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Afer the decline o theRoman culture medieval artlost those antic traditions andor many centuries figurativepaintings and sculptures were

very simplistic, I would evensay amateurish.

Tis was due to the churchprohibiting any practicalstudy o anatomy by fineartists.

Te answer to this questionbecomes obvious when welook back in the history o art.

Ancient Greek and Romansculptors had a goodunderstanding o human

anatomy and created beautiulbusts, portraits, and humanfigure sculptures nowdisplayed in various museumsaround the world.

Until the Renaissance era, when several artists like MichelangeloBuonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci, despite the danger o being prosecuted

or illegal at a time corpses dissection, ventured into unknown subjecto the human anatomy. Armed with the anatomy knowledge these artistscreated the greatest works o art human civilization have never seen beore.


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How critical to a fine artist to know the subject of a human anatomy?

Let us consider the ollowingexample. How important or a cardesigner to know what is insidea car to design a great looking

vehicle? O course he must be

aware o the bones or chassisand muscles and joints orengine and gears inside the car.

Do you still believe that fine artist can draw great figurative artworkswithout any knowledge o the human anatomy?

Tis coincides with another erroneous belie that it is enough or a fineartist to draw what he sees rather than what he knows. In act, the figurativedrawing is mostly what you know about anatomy instead o what you see.

O course you, as a fine artist, do not draw the portrait starting rom theskull, wrapping it with flesh and finally covering with a skin. However, suchprocess might go inside your head when you draw a portrait. You shouldunderstand how skull bones affect the proportions o the head, how acialmuscles move lips, jaw, eyebrows, and make emotions on a ace.


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I have good news or you; the knowledge o all bones, muscles, and tissuesis not required. You are not a doctor; you are the artist. However, you mustknow and understand at least the basic anatomy o the skeleton and skullas well as main muscles under a skin. Such knowledge will propel yourfigurative drawing skills to a much higher level.

At the Drawing Academy you will have special video lessons dedicated tothe topic of human anatomy for fine artists.

You will discover all main aspects o this subject - how to draw humanskull and what bones makes the skull, what important acial musclesinfluence the shape o the human ace. You will also see detailed videolessons on the construction o human skeleton, and most important

muscles o the human body every fine artist must know. Tis also includesthe anatomy o human hands and eet.

On examples o dynamic anatomy you will see how to draw human figure,portraits, and hands in movement under various angles. All these lessonswill give you a valuable resource o better understanding how to draw a

man, how to draw a girl, how to draw eyes, how to draw hands, how todraw eet and so on.

I you are complete beginner these lessons will be a great springboard oryou to understand and master the drawing o human figure and humanace. I you are an advanced fine artist, it is always helpul to reresh yourknowledge o the human anatomy so needed or fine artists.


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Drawing objects without aknowledge o perspective.

Erroneous drawing approach #6: Every fine artist must be familiar with the perspective in the drawing.

Te word perspective derives rom Latinperspicerethat means to seethrough. Tis translation coincides with the drawing approach #4 describedabove fine artists should draw what they know as i they see through allobjects rather than what is visible in reality.

Tere is one act you, as a fine artist should be aware about - it is impossibleto draw a picture o 3-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surace likepaper, board, or canvas without distortion o depicted objects.

However it is possible to minimize those distortions by choosing the mostsuitable kind o perspective and thereore the knowledge o perspective isthe must-have or every fine artist.

During the course o the history o art the rules and appreciation operspective drawing were changing.


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Starting rom Egyptian rescoes and drawings on papyrus ancient artistsused a vertical perspective. Perspective in Egyptian art is very different tothe contemporary kind. Te rules o perspective in ancient Egypt evolvedto a certain degree o excellence that served many generations o Egyptianpharaohs. It would be wrong to say that Egyptian perspective was incorrect,as no perspective can depict flawlessly the real world on a flat surace,including the one we are using today.

Russian iconography artists developed an understanding o perspectiveto another level. From 10th to15th centuries they created a style that isa reverse perspective. In Russian Orthodox perspective a viewer can see,or example, our planes o a cube instead o three. Scientists say that thiskind o perspective makes total sense as human brain processes visualinormation exactly in this way.


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Since then in the 14th..17th centuries, Renaissance artists in Italy andNorthern Europe took a scientific approach to study perspective.

With the development o a camera obscura, fine artists could do opticalstudies o perspective and established rules that are in place until present days.

Optical perspectiveis very apparent in photography. Because so manycontemporary artists use photographs in one way or another in the process

o creating their artworks, optical perspective is something you shall beaware o.

In the Drawing Academy Course you will see comprehensive video lessonson the subject of perspective. You will discover fundamental rules of one-,two-, three- and four-point perspective and learn how to apply those rulesin practice. Your drawings, enriched with appropriate perspective willlook more realistic and pleasing to a viewer.


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Drawing without the knowledgeand appreciation o golden ratio.

Erroneous drawing approach #7: Golden Ratio or Golden Proportion is present in every aspect of life.

Whether you draw a human figure, composing a stil l-lie or makingan ornamental composition, you will benefit rom the knowledge andapplication o Golden proportions.

For last two and a hal millenniums the subject o Golden Ratio ascinatedpeople. Te Golden Ratio can be ound in nature, it is also applied tofine art, architecture, financial markets, optimization, industrial design,painting the list is endless. Everything around us in organic world aswell as everything created by man comes with proportions, and thoseproportions correlating with the divine ratio making objects look beautiul.


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Mathematicians, engineers, fine artists, architects, and sculptors all agree that object proportioned in accordance to the Divine Ratiolooks pleasing to a human eye.

You, as a fine artist must be aware o the Golden Proportions andknow how to use them in your art.

In Te Drawing Academy you will discover what the divineproportion is and how to apply it to your drawings.

In several in-depth videos you will see:- how to calculate divine proportions;- how to find golden proportions in the greatest works o art by

well-known artists;- how to make your very own golden gauge and;- how to use this tool in composing your artworks.


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It does not matter how to holda pencil.


During my career o a drawing and painting teacher, I have met quitea number o artists and art students who missed the undamental skillo holding a pencil in the right way. Many o those artists had alreadygraduated rom the art colleges and schools. o my question were theybeing taught how to hold a pencil? they were surprised and responded, Isthere such thing as the right way?

Yes, there is, and the earlier you, as a fine artist, master this basic necessaryskill, the better your drawing progress will be. You see, the correct way oholding a tool inevitably influences the perormance.

I you know anything about the gol, you would agree that correct gripand swing is the must have by any proessional goler. Tere is no point ospending hundreds o hours practicing hitting a gol ball unless you holda gol club in the right way. Te same goes or holding a pencil. Tere are

several grips you may employ, depending on the position o easel and scaleo the artwork.

In the Drawing Academy you will see an especially dedicated videoshowing how to hold a pencil. With this so necessary skill you will benefit

from the freedom and precision of the pencil movement. You will see onmy own example in every video with drawing process the right way tohold a pencil.


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Rendering shades without lifingthe pencil.


With so many how to draw videos available on Internet I am very muchsurprised o how ew o those artists have strong proessional shadingtechniques.

Rendering shades without lifing a pencil is acceptable or a our-year childwho never took a proper drawing class.

Scribbling is also good enough or a ast disposable sketch. However, iyou want to excel in drawing, learning shading and hatching techniques isessential.

In the Drawing Art Academy, I will show you the multitude of ways howto render shades and how to use various hatching methods. You willbenefit from my own examples in every video with a drawing process.


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Relying on tools like rulers, pairo compasses and grayscale valuecards instead o training yourhand and developing essentialskills o visual judgment.

Erroneous drawing approach #10: You might have seen some onlinevideo tutorials advocating suchtools as grayscale values.

You might also rely on a ruleror drawing long straight lines orcompass or drawing circles.

You have to train your eye to distinguish even slight differences betweentone values. As a fine artist, you shall develop so necessary visual skil ls orecognizing tonal values as well as training your hand to draw lines as youintended, rather than relying on helping aids o a ruler or compass andgrayscale values cards.

Heres one example. As a baby you most likely have been transported in ababy carriage beore you have learned walking on your eet. Both methods walking and riding in a carriage give the same result o getting you rom

point A to point B. However, your parents wanted you to learn to walk, asrelying on your skill o walking would serve you or the rest o your lie.

Te same goes or drawing. You may use a grayscale card to judge the tonalvalues in the beginning. At the same time, practicing your visual judgmentis much more important and will help you to perect your drawing skills.

Also, practicing your hand drawing skill will improve your ability tocontrol the pencil with precision and reedom you want to have.

Using such tools as ruler, compass, and grayscale values cards is the sameor a fine artist as or a walker to walk with help o crutches. You do notwant to have lame drawing skills.

At the Drawing Academy, we want you to have the best drawing skills, and

therefore will give you video tutorials on traditional drawing techniquesthat served many generations of greatest fine artists.


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Graphite pencils are graded rom 9H to 9B going rom hard to sof grades.Heres how it goes: 9H, 8H, and so on, 2H, H, F, HB, B, 2B, and so on, 8B,9B. Tere is also the U.S. system that uses numbers only; the approximatecorrelation between these two systems as ollows: #1 is B, #2 is HB, #2 isF, #3 is H.

Yes, you have to choose the right pencil or the job. Let us say H5 grade isunlikely to provide a deep tonal value no matter how hard you push it. So iyou plan your artwork to be in a certain tonal range, you should choose oneor maximum two pencils that will deliver the darkest value you need.

Changing multiple pencils with different hardness or varying tonal valuesis the handicapped approach.

I you want to become a proficient fine artist, you must rely above all onyour hand skills to draw the lightest and the darkest values a pencil canprovide.

Your talent depends on your skills, not on your tools.

Heres one story that illustrates this point. One very talented photographerwas invited to a dinner and showed his photo works to a hostess. Oh, youmust have a very good camera she commented. Afer the dinner he paidback her a compliment. What a delicious dinner it was, you must have a

very good pan.So using one or two pencils shall give you brilliant results when you havenecessary shading and hatching skills.

Relying on multiple pencil grades would serve you an unwanted avor obeing handicapped by tools instead o developing your drawing talents andskills.

In the Drawing Academy you will discover how to develop your naturaldrawing talents.


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Smudging the graphite pencil orsofer effects.


When you see someone smudging a graphite pencil on paper with a fingeror stump, you know this person is amateur artist.

Te practice o graphite pencil smudging is as inappropriate as going to avery expensive French restaurant, ordering a 5-course meal and asking toblend all five courses together because you are going to it them all anyway.You just do not do that. So you dont do graphite pencil smudging.

I have to say that there are other mediums like charcoal or carbon sticks orpencils, which can be smudged by a stump to achieve smooth gradations ovalues. However, graphite pencil shade rendering shall be done in strokesand crosshatching without any smudging.

In the Drawing Academy, you will discover the correct ways of bothmethods - smudging the charcoal and carbon pencil as well as renderingshades in graphite pencil in strokes and crosshatching.


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Conclusion

Let us recap how you can benefit from theDrawing Academy Course:

1. As a student o the Drawing Academy you will get video lessons that youcan use to improve your drawing skills.

2. Your improved drawing skills will help you to reely express yoursel in art.

3. You will discover drawing techniques and approaches that will enableyou draw confidently anything you may see or imagine.

4. You will discover how to greatly improve your art by drawing what youknow instead o what you see.

5. In the Drawing Academy you will get video lessons on human anatomy,knowledge o which is required to draw people and portraits proessionally.

6. You will discover necessary inormation on how to draw in perspective.

7. Video lessons on Golden Ratio will enable you to improve yourunderstanding o eye pleasing proportions and will equip you to createbetter proportionate artworks.

8. In the Drawing Academy you will discover the correct way o holdingpencil so your drawing will benefit rom precision and reedom o pen-strokes.

9. By watching how to draw video lessons you will discover proessionalshade rendering by stroking and crosshatching.

10. In the Drawing Academy you will discover how to master your drawingskills, so you will be able to draw without such helping aids as rulers,compasses, and grayscale value cards.

11. By watching the Drawing Academy video lessons, you will realize howto rely on your trained hand while drawing without limitation o drawingmedium.

12. In the Drawing Academy, you will discover various methods o drawing

in charcoal, carbon pencil as well as drawing in graphite pencil, andworking in pen and ink.

For more information and to enroll on the DrawingAcademy Course, please visit http://DrawingAcademy.com

12 Drawing Mistakes to Avoid

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