My Terrible Drawings are Ruining my Paintings. How do I See Like an Artist?

Drawing underpins painting, and oils are no different. An inaccurate drawing will continue to niggle regardless of how good the painting technique is. This is why it is important to get the drawing right before laying paint to canvas. But it goes further than this. Drawing begins before even pencil even contacts paper. Here, find a test into how visually aware you are.

Learn to Draw Better with this Test 

As drawing is vital to painting, have posted my Youtube clip here that delves into how visually aware you are. My video includes a test into visual judgment. This means looking at things and making visual estimates on their shapes, angles and coordinates. Judging how things look includes the following by the use of the naked eye (no visual aids such as rulers, protractors, spirit levels, etc.)

The angle of a line, which might be on paper, or the inclination of an object. See how close you were to the mark only afterwards with a protractor. Bear in mind a right angle will exhibit 90 degrees; a straight line, 180 degrees. Is the angle acute? (Less than 90 degrees)? Is it obtuse? (More than 90 degrees). The trueness of a shape.

Is a circle truly a circle, or is it subtly oval? Is the square slightly asymmetrical? Is the triangle equilateral, or is one side slightly longer?

Drawing Tips by Measuring

Judge the position of one object in relation to another. Is it higher? Lower? How far away is it? Use an object as a frame of reference. (Is it half the width of this object? Double the width?) The image shows an example of making visual estimates of size relation. The height of the strut is roughly the same as the space between two. Again, the chair is roughly in the center of the two struts in a symmetrical formation.

Find other measurements that fit simple ratios and fractions within a scene. This is the key to making objects fit in a drawing, rather like a jigsaw.

Do your Eyes Deceive You?

Judge how symmetrical a shape is. Does it skew at one side? Is it lower on one side than the other? Such visual acumen is vital in portraiture and other objects of nature such as butterflies and markings on fur. Awareness of symmetry may hold to key to creating balanced compositions, which includes the arrangement of a bunch of flowers or to design a motif.

Take note of tonal variations of any aspect. What is the darkest area? Where is the mid-tone? Can the scene be divided into basic tones? How many tones would there be? Color can often interfere with tonal judgment. Half-closing the eyes will cut out most bright colors and make tones easier to see.

Learn to See Like an Artist 

How level is a line? Does it tilt a little? Which way? Look also at vertical lines. Is it truly vertical or does it tilt? Difficulty in judging the trueness of lines may explain why some people find hanging a painting difficult or to hang shelves. This might also explain why some drawings appear to lean to one side on paper. Often, over-familiarity with a drawing will cause its errors to become invisible.

When Drawing Begins

Judging if Something is Straight

As explained in the clip, drawing starts before the pencil touches paper. A line can only be drawn once a good visual estimate is made. This might be the center point of the scene or how curved a line is.

Beware of distorted perceptions in drawing. Examples of these can be found in the clip. These can sneak into the drawing in the most subtle ways, causing errors and unwanted focal points. The angle of a door might appear twisted or the struts of a chair too thin.

Common mistakes are often due to the brain’s insistence that something is there when it isn't. Our so-called left brain, where the speech center is located, will assign labels to things. A chair has four legs and a seat at the top. But from certain angles, a chair will appear to have three legs and no seat at all.

Do Your Eyes Fool Your Brain in Drawing? 

The key is to dispel all assumptions about how objects ‘should’ look and simply copy lines and shapes, but this begins before pencil contacts paper. Doing so requires high visual awareness.

The test within the clip will establish how good you are at making visual estimates before putting lines on paper. In others words, whether your eyes fool you into poor drawing.

Take This Test for Drawing Ability 

Good Drawing Underpins
Good Painting

Within this test, you will find ten questions that look at angles, sizes, coordinates and tones. Don’t use visual aids, and resist pausing the video. Answers are given at the end.

Eight or more out of ten and good visual awareness is demonstrated. Five to seven is not too bad, but distorted perception may sneak into your drawing. Four or below out of ten and your visual awareness needs fine-tuning. Don’t worry if a low score is the result, all that is needed is practice. Good drawing is all about making accurate visual judgments before putting down what you see onto paper. This is essential to oil painting.

In many ways, applying the oil paint forms the second part of the project. The first: drawing requires equal consideration. Good visual awareness is the key to good drawing.

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