How to Think When You Draw Tips -
How do you think when you draw? That may seem like an easy question to answer, but are you sure that the way you think when you draw is the most effective? It’s possible that other people are getting better results by thinking in different ways than you do. Think about this question and think about your own drawing habits; if there’s anything that can help you to improve, it’s knowing your own methods so that you can make them better. With this article, I’ll show you some different ways of thinking that may be useful to try out when you draw in the future.
Before You Start Drawing
Preparation is key. Before you start drawing, take a few minutes to think about your final product and how you want it to look. This will allow you to make a plan before sitting down and making marks on paper. How should your main subject or subjects be positioned? What’s the overall composition? Should things be balanced or symmetrical? If your drawing is made up of multiple components, how do they relate to each other in terms of shape, size, tone, etc.? For example, in a landscape drawing with a sky and land mass as components, should one element be larger than another? How large/small does it need to be for it remain visually appealing? These are all things that must be considered before putting pencil on paper.
The Best Way to Approach the Page
The best way to approach a drawing is with an open mind. Just let things happen on their own and trust that they’ll work out in your favor. Once you open up your mind, it’s possible that many of your initial ideas will either grow or shrink in importance—and no matter what happens, don’t give them more importance than they deserve. Understanding how shapes and angles interact is how you begin to develop a solid foundation of understanding how to think when you draw. The ability to see these relationships at first glance comes with time and practice.
Drawing is about getting yourself in a frame of mind that allows you to make marks on paper (or pixels on screen) that are meaningful. Approach your page with focus and concentration, set goals for yourself and then give them your all. There’s more than one way to start a drawing; there’s even more than one way to approach an art project. But there’s only one best way: yours.
How to think
When you draw, you're using your visual cognition as a tool. You can't rely on verbal communication to figure out how to tackle a drawing project or which drawing tools to use, so if you want to communicate visually and persuasively, you need to learn how to think when you draw. When we sketch something with a tool or express an idea visually without words, we're relying on our imaginations and creative abilities. However, it's not that different from using logic and reason when working with language—just in a different way. When you’re drawing, getting lost in your art is a great feeling. But how can you learn to do it more often? It all comes down to learning how to think when you draw. Try thinking about things that help expand your mind and free up your creativity. These could be music, spiritual beliefs, meditation—anything that will relax and focus your mind on positive things! So if you want to get lost in your artwork more often, try incorporating some of these activities into your routine.
What Should I Focus On?
I’m guessing you’re drawing a person. People are notoriously difficult to draw. But don’t let that stop you! The first thing I’d recommend is figuring out how you want your drawing to look at completion (e.g., I want my subject looking over his shoulder and smiling at me, or I want my subject leaning in a doorway with her back against it, hand on her hip, looking ready for action.). Then I would focus on doing whatever needs to be done in order for your drawing to be perceived as such—that means working through anything that might make a potential viewer perceive your drawing differently than how you intend.
During the Drawing Process
During your drawing process, think about how you want your work to come out. If you're a conceptual artist, ask yourself questions like: What do I want my audience to think about when they see my art?; How would I define myself as an artist?; and How does what I'm doing now compare with my previous artwork or other artists' pieces? If you're an illustrator or technical artist, make sure you are thinking about details: Is my audience going to notice that I drew all of these hexagons by hand rather than using rulers?; Are they going to know why it's better that there are eight letters in 'Hello World' rather than nine letters in 'Hello World'?; and so on.
Did you know your drawing abilities and artistic style are strongly influenced by what you think about when you draw? The trick is to be aware of how your mind works and adapt your thinking as you work. Here’s how: A basic rule for generating images is there should be one main object or focal point in a scene. Your job is to put it right at the center of interest and then pull it out, especially in an abstract drawing. Once that’s done, everything else takes its place around it. In other words, if your picture has an apple tree in its background, think about how important it is. Don’t let details overwhelm a central focus or prevent viewers from identifying with objects in front.
When I Look at My Drawing, How Am I Doing?
There are a few things you want to look at and think about when you’re evaluating your work. From a distance, how is it looking? Are there lines that just don’t look right? Is it balanced well in terms of color or value? Are there aspects that draw your eye in? Is it engaging? If you get up close, what are you seeing then? Does anything stand out as awkward or strange up close but looks good from far away, or vice versa? Are there values (tones) that feel off based on what’s nearby them and how large they are in relation to other elements? Do some parts feel too busy while others look empty and could use more content?
Your drawings don’t need to be perfect, but they should be recognizable. To figure out how you’re doing as you draw, look at your work through a sort of lens that helps you spot specific issues. I call it What do I think is going on here? Your answer to that question can reveal where your drawing is not working, and give you ideas for how to make it better.