We\’ve all been wowed by a sketch of a familiar face or an animal that seems to jump off of the page with realism, even though we know it was done with a common pencil and paper. How do artist capture life and imagination on paper? Art is a birthright for some, and for others it is an acquired skill.

Your eyes are always right

The first thing for the beginning artist to learn is that artists use a different vocabulary than the rest of the population when they are working. The trick is that they never name the object they are looking at. Significant, yet simple for those learning how to see. If you can see, you can draw.

Your first challenge could be to draw a face. You look at the eyes, the nose and the mouth and no matter how hard you try the image you produce does not look like the model standing before you. This is why. It is not important to state everything that is being drawn because of the range that item may have in looks. Instead they concentrate on the size, shape, and proportion unique to that nose. They look at the details, such as the line of the bridge of the nose. The successful design of the face is through a series of relationships in the lines of the nose.

Your imagination is soaring

The right side of the brain must be dominant to improve the flow of your drawings as discussed and recorded by Betty Edwards in \”Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.\”

Right and left side, make up the whole brain. A persons ability to judge and show excellent organization skills can be determined by the left side of the brain. It sees a nose and says \’this is a nose.\’ The logic side wins during the interview process.

The right side lacks logic and organization. It determines depth perception. Yes. Its view is unique. So how do you put you right brain in gear and start making art? Analyze characteristics of something before placing a name. Portray it as diversely shaped lines. Look for the lines location and intersections. Try to calculate the distance and structure of the line.

Keep Your Eye on the Model

Drawing requires you to look constantly at the object. Find a line to replicate on paper. In fact, many art instructors insist that it is more important to look at the object that you are drawing, than to look at your paper. Focus should be directed at the line and not at the details. The addition of certain items may be made after your first line is created.

Comfort in this field takes a significant amount of practice. Work hard at it. There are many things that you can do with drawing.