Yeah, looking at the reality is incredibly important. There’s a followup post on observation now that deals with some of the issues you describe.
Did you learn to draw well (i.e. create a finished product you’re happy with) without looking at the paper at all? If so, how long did it take you. (That’s actually what I’m currently learning how to do. I don’t think it’s necessary to be completely strict about it, for developing general skill. But I also want to be able to draw people while I’m talking to them, and its a prerequisite for that.)
We would usually take our sketches that we made in class and find which ones we liked the most, then go back to where we drew them and create a composition out of them. However, I do remember that in sophomore year, we had to do a charcoal drawing of a still life and we had to do it without looking at the paper at all. The results varied across the class. I found that mine was not terrible, but I was not particularly pleased with it. I think the reasons had more to do with the charcoal and less to do with the technique, though. I always had an issue with working in charcoal. Regardless, I remember the class starting to work without looking at the paper in freshman year throughout sophomore year. We picked it up again in senior year a bit, doing gesture drawings of people, but did not focus on it much, since most of senior year was self-teaching and solo projects.
The class was 5 times a week for 45 minutes each session.
Yeah, looking at the reality is incredibly important. There’s a followup post on observation now that deals with some of the issues you describe.
Did you learn to draw well (i.e. create a finished product you’re happy with) without looking at the paper at all? If so, how long did it take you. (That’s actually what I’m currently learning how to do. I don’t think it’s necessary to be completely strict about it, for developing general skill. But I also want to be able to draw people while I’m talking to them, and its a prerequisite for that.)
We would usually take our sketches that we made in class and find which ones we liked the most, then go back to where we drew them and create a composition out of them. However, I do remember that in sophomore year, we had to do a charcoal drawing of a still life and we had to do it without looking at the paper at all. The results varied across the class. I found that mine was not terrible, but I was not particularly pleased with it. I think the reasons had more to do with the charcoal and less to do with the technique, though. I always had an issue with working in charcoal. Regardless, I remember the class starting to work without looking at the paper in freshman year throughout sophomore year. We picked it up again in senior year a bit, doing gesture drawings of people, but did not focus on it much, since most of senior year was self-teaching and solo projects.
The class was 5 times a week for 45 minutes each session.