How to Draw Anything, Something, and Nothing at All

There are a lot of ways to learn how to draw — as many, in fact, as there are those who draw. But only two kinds of tutorial seem popular. Online, it is the “How to Draw Something” tutorial video or article. In schools, it is the “Practice Drawing this Something Until You Have Attained Enlightenment,” with that “something” usually being a tablecloth. There are rewards and pitfalls with either approach, but they have left me wondering if we’re missing the point.

With the “How to Draw Something” approach, it would be reasonable to assume that you would only ever learn how to draw that one “something” from that one angle, in that one style, and with that one type of shading. But in practice, these limitations don’t seem to exist; plenty of artists have learned from these tutorials and can draw much of what they want.

With the “Practice Drawing this Something” approach, it would also be reasonable to assume that you would only ever get better at drawing that one tablecloth that you were ogling for hours. But this seems even less true than with the “How to Draw Something” approach; still life and figure study have yielded some of the best results in improved drawing ability.

Why is this? Well, I’m not quite so senseless as to really wonder why— it’s obviously the extra stuff that you learn alongside the subjects of those tutorials and studies that really seem to impact how well you draw. Couple those little revelations with an understanding of the basic framework of art, as well as a problem-solving mind, and you will at least be able to outperform all of those other people that gave up and say, “I can’t draw.”

I am interested in that extra stuff. In fact, I am interested in how I learn and have learned that extra stuff. Art can be a life-long journey, or it can be a few minutes worth of curiosity. For me, it’s the journey. Think of this place as a companion to study with. You can sit down, draw, and poke your head over here to see what I’m trying to learn. It’s not always going to be pretty, successful, or helpful. But, if you stick around, maybe you’ll learn something with me.