DRAWING SKILLS CAN BE LEARNT: Just like any other skill

Article by Ronnie Rayner Larter

If you are one of those people who lacks confidence at drawing, or convince yourself that you cannot draw; you are creating your own barrier to learning. Because you believe you have no talent whatsoever, you never take the steps to learn. Let me tell you something; you can learn to draw just as you can learn any other skill. Don’t knock yourself down. Decide right now that you will learn and then put in the effort to achieve your goal. All it takes is to learn HOW to draw and then practice the how’s.

When I started learning to draw I was absolutely useless. I felt disappointed and convinced myself that drawing was not for me.

My drawing abilities in the early days – by Ronnie Rayner Larter

Because I had a burning desire to paint, and having convinced myself I couldn’t draw, I moved away from trying to draw realism and latched on to something less skilful; abstract painting.

During those years of studying and experimenting with abstract art, I felt more and more despondent and dissatisfied with myself. It was not fulfilling my needs. My mind kept returning to realism; that is where my passion was. So one day I made a conscious decision to learn – and stuck to it.

In the beginning I embarked on a self-study programme, copying the work of other artist’s and my drawings began to improve a little. However, I wanted to improve much further, so when I was 37-years-old I decided to enter Art College, and boy was I disappointed. I was taught very, very little about how to draw. We were given projects and were expected to get on with it to produce something fantastic. All the time I was at college, I found I was still teaching myself how to draw while outside of college time, so in essence I was still a self-taught artist in that respect. After two years, although I was given a distinction for two illustrations, I didn’t feel the college helped me improve at all.

Although Art College opened doors for me to become a freelance artist, I continued with my personal self-study programme. With the onslaught of the Internet I took time out to search amongst the increasing number of art tuitions that began to appear; all promising to help you become a better artist within a few weeks or months. Yes, we can learn the principles of drawing in that time, but learning how to draw well will take time, perhaps at least one year, but more like two years just to become good at drawing, which is why so many wannabe artists never take the plunge. The time it takes to learn tends to put them off.

The wannabe artist needs to cultivate a passion for art and have a strong desire to learn. If I can do it then anyone can. If you are one of those people who feel drawing stick men is your best effort, don’t believe it. You are much better than that. We all are. Believe in yourself and jump right in and I feel certain that after a year or two your drawing abilities will eventually surprise you.

My drawing abilities now – Mona Lisa – by Ronnie Rayner Larter

Why not try The Drawing Academy as your online art school that offers a very well-priced course, which in my opinion cannot be bettered anywhere on the Internet.