How do you guys make study fun?

[wwswimming]

sometimes when learning new stuff & focussing & concentrating becomes too much, i go into "coloring book mode", just drawing abstract stuff, playing with ray-tracing, particles, dynamics, and lots of colors.

[Rebeccak]

You're probably not having much fun because of feeling self-conscious. I'm not personally a big lover of public sketching, I prefer to do drawings from the figure in a group in a Workshop, or work on my own stuff at home, but that's just me. :) Outdoor / public sketching is always much more fun in a group, try getting some friends together and going to a place like a zoo or a public park where there are likely to be others out doing the same thing. As I've gotten older I definitely don't feel as self conscious about taking a sketchbook out into the world, but when I was in college I was definitely more uncomfortable about people seeing me draw. :)

[Agigaherger]

I agree with Rebecca and the more you do it the more you'll like it. Eventually you'll look forward to doing it, it'll become a treat.

[TheDeceit]

I think I know what you guys mean. Painting for hours is just fine for me because I'm seeing rapid improvements. Right now, I don't have a style of sketching that I'm good at, and the things I do try aren't improving as quickly as I'd like. That's pretty discouraging and it makes me just want to stop.

Hopefully soon I'll find a style or technique that I'm proud of. I've switched out my v5 pen for a mechanical pencil to sketch with, which is a lot more freeing.

[newellteapot]

I've got the solution for you!
get this book

Andrew Loomis
How to have fun with a pencil
you can find a free copy on www.scribd.com

you'll love it!!



Hey guys, I have a problem. Going in to year 2 Illustration at Ringling CAD and I still have very fundamental and discouraging problem: I can't find fun ways to sketch. Every time I sit down at a park, zoo, or coffee shop and pop out my sketchbook I get incredibly anxious. I know how necessary studies from life are yet I can't seem to have fun doing it, and fun is the reason I went into the art career in the first place!

So how do you have fun with your studies from life? How long does it take before you get tired of sketching your surroundings and have to stop? Are there any techniques that stop you from not being so burnt out?

[mhenry]

I'm pretty self conscious when I sketch too by myself. I think, as others have mentioned, sketching with friends or other organized groups is definetly a good way to take your mind off those feelings and get to drawing.

[StompTheGlomp]

Sometimes I feel anxious when I go out into the public and draw. There are always people peering over my shoulder watching me draw and it makes me self conscious. Here are some things to try.

1) Distort your drawings. Pick one thing to enlarge or shrink dramatically. Like...their hair or forehead or feet.

2) Use color. Draw all males in one color, and all females in another. Or make all people or living things black and inanimate objects color

3) Blind contour. It's great practice and also lets you loosen up because it's not supposed to be perfect.

4) make a few big lines (some wavy, some straight) across your paper. To get rid of the white background. And then use those lines to form a composition. Like if you draw a big hump through the middle it could be a hill. Place all of the people you see on it.

Just because you're drawing from life doesn't mean it has to be a classic portrait that's stiff. Have fun, be loose. Also, since you're just sketching, it doesn't have to be perfect. Just let loose and have fun. And if one of your scribbles interests you, you can revisit it in a different place and try to make a fully rendered piece out of it. But yeah, don't take yourself too seriously. Don't get anxious. Just relax and enjoy. :)

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