Draw!

One of my non-resolutions is to teach myself to draw--with heavy reliance on instructional materials.  Outside of elementary school--decoupage, fingerpaint etc--I've never had any formal art instruction.  Stick figures are a stretch.  Though I have looked at at taking some locally-offered drawing instruction, classes are for more of the leisure class or student, and they don't work with my schedule.

So, I hit the digital landscape and found several things in my typical uber-immersion deep dive into a new land.  I'm not bothering to learn how to paint yet; I simply want to learn how to see and train my kindergartner hand to draw.

My immersion has fortified my spirit.  I was under the impression that folks picked up a pencil and started to draw--eye to hand, hand to pen, pen to paper.  However, in watching many videos, I see that professionals use guidelines to help ascertain proportion etc.  Believe it or not, that alone was enough to get me going.

I purchased Accurasee proportional tool, which you can find here.  You can also download a grid program that will grid over pictures to help you map proportions.  I've elected an in-between method using center horizontal, center vertical and two diagonal lines on my reference photos and using the Accurasee proportional tools.  With this tool and my nascent drawing skills, my dog looks like my dog, cat looks like a cat.  No googly eyes.  No alien-esque feature. 

Whether a crutch or a help, there are many opinions.  I figure that if professional artists use it, then it is good enough for me.  Like any endeavor one embark's opinion, there are many conflicting opinions.  Essentially we have to be the final arbiter.

I like the help.  It eliminates alot of frustration, and it is teaching me to see proportions and angles and how all the parts work together.