Have you always been interested in learning to draw but fear that it might be too hard or that you waited too long to get started? Though the old cliche says that you “can’t teach an old dog new tricks, ” multiple studies find that older minds are far more capable of learning new skills and abilities than previously realized. While it’s true that learning to draw at a younger age might have been easier for you, there’s no reason you can’t master this skill now.
That said, unless you’re naturally gifted as an artist and have somehow never picked up a pencil until now, your learning journey is going to take some time. The challenges inherent to learning a new skill vary depending on various factors, including your learning style, your previous art experience, and the time you put into your practice. No matter how comfortable you are with drawing or how long it takes, there are many tools you can use to make this process easier.
What is Drawing?
Drawing is a far more important skill than many realize: multiple studies and news articles have called for teaching drawing as a fundamental skill in all schools. Why? Behavioral scientists believe that drawing is uniquely important to the human mind because it provides a simple but effective way of communicating. Just think back to ancient cave drawings: even our ancestors millions of years ago were expressing their lives in fascinating details even then.
While simple, that artwork expressed complex ideas: in a few lines, ancient artists highlighted their lives and what they considered important, including tracking prey and simple spiritual ideas. Since then, drawing has advanced considerably to include more complex techniques and styles. Yet at its core, this skill is all about expressing an artist’s feelings and communicating. As a result, learning to draw is well worth your time and breaking through its challenges.
Benefits of Learning Drawing?
When you see a kid drawing stick figures, you might just think they’re doodling or having a little fun. While drawing is definitely enjoyable, its benefits go far beyond a little entertainment: mental health specialists believe that art therapy is one of the most effective supplemental treatments for emotional and behavioral disorders. This therapeutic method helps people better communicate their concerns and makes it easier for therapists to treat a person successfully.
Furthermore, learning to draw can help you create fun and interesting artwork. For example, you can sketch outdoor landscapes while visiting a park, draw portraits or caricatures of your friends, produce the basic outlines for a painting, create fun comics to share, design in-depth animation, or even make photo-realistic art to sell. If you master drawing, your possibilities are limitless, though it will take you some time to become fully proficient at this artform.
What Are the Hardest Parts of Learning Drawing?
While we truly believe that anyone can learn to draw with enough practice, we can’t pretend that it will be an immediate or easy journey. There are many challenges that you’ll face when practicing this art, many of which are inherent to learning any new skill, while others are unique to it. Make sure you read through this list to prepare yourself for these challenges, including the section at the bottom highlighting a few ways you can reduce their impact on your learning.
Expectations
The toughest part about learning any new skill is managing your expectations. Simply put, people often expect far too much of themselves right away and often get disappointed when they aren’t immediately good at something. Your crude first drawings or struggles with perspective may make learning drawing feel impossible. Don’t give up! Except for those few singularly talented geniuses, learning to draw takes time, effort, and self-compassion.
Motivation
There are going to be times when you simply won’t feel like practicing drawing. Maybe your kids want to watch a movie or there’s something fun going on in town that day. Perhaps you’re simply feeling defeated after struggling with a hard drawing and don’t want to draw any more. Motivation isn’t always easy to maintain. However, the only difference between a successful artist and the thousands who’ve failed is motivation. Stick to it and you can master anything.
Lack of Natural Skill
Have you ever watched your naturally talented friend draw beautiful artwork without effort and felt a tinge of jealousy? You’re not alone: just about everybody knows someone who never had to practice art to master it. However, drawing is just like any skill: you can perfect the basic techniques through repetition and consistent work. Sadly, frustration with a lack of innate talent is a common roadblock that might require a little effort to overcome.
Finding Time to Practice
Modern life is busy and finding time to practice your drawing isn’t always going to be easy. For example, you probably work at least eight hours a day and might have children who take up a lot of your time. Furthermore, you have friends to visit, chores to do, and other tasks that simply can’t be ignored. As a result, you might find yourself getting increasingly distracted and unable to practice properly. This common issue makes getting in your art reps harder than necessary.
Understanding Lines and Shapes
The basic geometry of drawing is made up of simple lines and shapes that you learned on your first day in kindergarten. However, learning how to link these geometric items into fully realized artwork might take some time for many people. For example, you’ll need to learn how to combine simple shapes, erase their connecting lines, and create attractive and complex styles. Thankfully, this process becomes far easier with practice and can form the basis of your art.
Mastering Perspective
On a more technical level, the biggest challenge many people face when learning drawing is perspective. Simply put, much of your artwork will emulate a three-dimensional perspective on a two-dimensional plane. To achieve this goal, you must perfect perspective, which is knowing how to capture the angle at which your artwork makes sense. It’s a complex process that even frustrates master artists. It’s likely the toughest thing you’ll have to learn when drawing.
Mitigating These Challenges
We don’t share the difficulties above to scare you away from learning to draw but to prepare you for managing them more effectively. We honestly believe that you can learn to draw even with these challenges: as long as you’re willing to work for it, you can master any new skill. Here are a few ways you can make this process easier:
- Greater Personal Understanding: It’s important to temper your expectations and understand your likely “peak” ability as an artist. We’re not saying that experimentation and improvement aren’t important. Instead, it’s critical to know exactly how good you’re likely to get and to be comfortable with it. Always strive to improve but have compassion for your flaws.
- Self-Directed Clases: Are you having a hard time knowing where to go next with your drawing practice? Do you have a limited budget and can’t afford more in-depth drawing courses? Consider online videos. These free lessons can help you try out more complex techniques and improve your skills. While they offer no interaction with the teacher, they can help you progress.
- Temporary Office Rental: If you struggle to find a place to practice drawing in your home, consider renting temporary office space. These inexpensive locations can take you out of your home, away from distractions, and make it easier for you to focus. You might even meet fellow artists in shared office spaces who can help you master drawing more effectively.
- Drawing Groups: Join a drawing group in your hometown by searching your newspaper or online event boards or signing up for sites like Meetup. Drawing groups include like-minded artists looking to improve their skills. They can break through your motivational problems and teach you techniques to better master coloring and texturing your artwork.
- Guided Drawing Courses: If you struggle to learn without support, consider taking CourseHorse lessons. They provide online drawing classes that you can take anywhere, as well as in-person programs in cities like New York and Boston. CourseHorse also provides team-building drawing events that can help up to 500 people master this uniquely creative skill.
By using these resources, you can improve your learning experience immeasurably. Importantly, remember that learning is a journey that you must take one step at a time. You’re not going to be Pablo Picasso right away: that’s okay! Even if you only master a few simple techniques, the learning process itself is rewarding and can make you a better and happier person.
Key Takeaways
- Learning to draw is a very beneficial process when handled properly
- It will take some time to master the techniques necessary for drawing
- You must temper your expectations and have realistic goals
- Overcoming a lack of natural skill is possible with practice
- Drawing includes complex concepts like texturing and shading
- Self-directed learning is inexpensive but often ineffective for many people
- You can learn to draw by taking private, online, and in-person CourseHorse programs