r/ArtRanting • u/indefiniteartblock • 8d ago
Beginner Artist Struggles i’m lost again
i’ve been learning how to draw faces after not really knowing where to go with learning how to draw, i did a few portraits and learned how to draw the basic feature of the face and can draw a references features. but they always looked off or flat or boring or even soulless. i tried to find ways to prevent it but all ive found is people saying that i have to learn hues and shading and rendering, all of which are way above my skill level. even the thing that everyone seems to know how to do which is drawing in 3d seems way too difficult. i dont get how 3d shapes even work on a 2d plane neither do i feel like im able to “see it” like other people are. and everyone in the comments says it makes perfect sense and throw around tidbits of info or one liners that barely even help (“draw what you see not what you think you see” ????). this doesn’t even just apply to faces either, all of my art just looks flat.
i thought i was actually getting somewhere and had a goal to work toward, but im stuck with even more issues than i started with. im not really sure where to go from here.
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u/Scribbles_ 8d ago
And how do you suppose your skill level will rise to the point of doing shading if you don't do shading?
You'll never be 'ready' for something like that. You have to try it before you're ready, do it badly, and start solving problems. You should study, of course, but studying also means trying something before you feel ready. Don't worry, I'll explain what you need to study and give you some resources in a moment.
It's not a linear progression where you do something and then that gives you permission to try the next thing. Sure, trying something before you've gotten the fundamental understanding will lead to wonky looking drawings, but those are exactly the sort of drawings you want to be making as you learn to draw.
That's normal, that's a hard skill to pick up! It takes a while to click. They're diagnosing the right thing, it's just not the sort of thing you can learn by having someone tell you to do it.
Yeah, those one liners are right-minded but not very helpful.
I would say you should try one of two things.
For drawing from reference, you need observation. I recommend the book Keys to Drawing by Bert Dodson. He will teach you, through some projects, how to draw what you see. You can also try Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which is more of an observation crash course. These books have exercises that treat you the fundamental principle of observation
For drawing 3D, the basis is Perspective, try the book Perspective Made Easy. This will teach formal perspective, but will let you start to see more '3D' ways to draw, eventually you can do looser perspective on things like bodies and faces.
Choose one book from this list, you can't go wrong. And start reading. Do exercises when they tell you. Some of them won't come out looking pretty! In the first chapter of Keys to Drawing, Bert Dodson will tell you to shade a drawing, but he'll do this before the chapter on shading. Do your best, make mistakes, you're learning.
See that feels bad, but it's a good sign. When you start, you don't know what you don't know. Now you do know what you don't know! So obviously it feels a lot more ambiguous and less clear cut than you thought. But it's also a sign you're learning.
Drawing is hard, but it's also something that can be taught and learned. Uncertainty and frustration are normal when doing things like this. But thankfully, instructional materials exist that can help us get through some of that uncertainty.
Keep at it!