Aspies For Freedom

For those who are not naturals at doing the spatial/perspective aspects of drawing:

How long did it take you to learn how to do this properly?  What is involved?  Were you taught in a drawing class, did you get 1-1 instruction?

I've been trying to get back into drawing lately, I've tried doing 2 different pieces, and abandoned both projects because I hadn't planned anything in the drawing and then realized lack of proper perspective was too noticeable.

The other issue, which relates to the spatial deficiency, is I do not see a Gestalt in anything.  To me, everything (including the drawing in my head) is a bunch of random details, strung together.  When I start a drawing, I start backwards... I put stuff like a fence/wall/grass in, to make sure that I'll "get it started."  Once I have something nice and decorative on the paper, THEN I'll try to think of what should be the "main" part of the drawing.  I never have any plan in my head except a couple loose ideas.

Okay, so again, for those who are NOT spatially gifted, but still like to draw:  how long did it take to learn spatial stuff/perspective, and did you have to practice A LOT to "get it down" ??

I FEEL LIKE GIVING UP!  My lack of cognitive ability, and trouble focusing on delicate mental tasks (like perspective, anything math-related as well), is KILLING me.

Alright. Shall try to give the best answer I know how.

All my life. (which is thirty years so far) or at least since the moment I knew how to pick up a pen. Except for those sort of savant-type geniuses, I'm thinking it is an ongoing process, and therefore there is no real answer.
Personally I would still love to be able to draw better than I can right now.

The only advice I can give in this regard is, if you feel like something is going nowhere and you really want to give up on it, that's up to you.
However, the best option is to keep on drawing even when it isn't going so well. Even just random scribbles in a notebook that no-one is ever likely to see. Honest, even if it turns out crap sometimes. Practice may not really make "perfect", but it does amount to "better"

Go with that. It's often more fun that way.

I'd find it hard to follow any kind of "instructions" in art because I just start somewhere in the picture and do freehand. All this stuff with drawing circles and ovals first would seriously irritate me but a lot of people seem to swear by it.

Even professional artists, people who are really good at what they do, the vast, vast majority started out downright sucking. I'm by no means a skilled artist, but I have liked to draw. If you're interested in improving, it's best to go on with what you're drawing, even if it looks bad.

One thing I have had trouble is in coordinating the pencil to do what I want it to do. That's why I have trouble to make straight lines even if using a ruler, and round shapes are pretty difficult. The exercise that animators use to improve their ability to make round shapes is to draw freehand circle after circle after circle, for a long time. Eventually, their hands get used to the motion, and their shapes become smoother, rounder.

I too have tremendous problems DECIDING what to draw. The only way I can usually resolve this is by (if drawing something small on the desk) closing my eyes and reaching out to touch something, and what I touch is what I draw, or (if drawing a scene, outdoors or indoors) I zone out for a few minutes, and then see what I naturally gravitate to look at, any object that strikes my interest.

I have trouble with perspective drawing, too. I don't think I can offer much of any help on this, except that when I'm drawing just for myself, I try not to worry about it. And if it comes out funny-looking, I can always tell myself I'm doing "abstract" art.

Well, I need to find some way to learn perspective, some way to figure out what a person will look like from the side, what a person should look like in motion, how to do shadows, etc etc.  And I see that it's so hard for me because I don't "see" spatially.

An image in my head is 2d.  There's a LOT of images and bits of images floating around in my head, that's why I'm "creative," but none of it is spatially defined.

Maybe I just have to learn how to do this and work hard at it, rather than think it's built-in for everyone except me...?  Could this be the case...?

My answers may not be what you're looking for but I'll take a risk. It sounds to me as if you'd like to do *realistic* drawings -- at least, drawings that might be accepted in mainstream Western society as realistic.

Dog Drawing
http://z.about.com/d/drawsketch/1/0/h/9/...rawing.jpg

My first point is that not all people would consider that realistic or capturing the essence of the dog. There are other valid, "realistic" perspectives. Some of them may come more naturally to you. Let's just see if we can't free ourselves from the "typical" straightjacket.

But then, why concern yourself with realism? If your purpose is to express yourself, you might turn your back on realism and find it liberating. Even conventional cartoon drawing may have this effect.

Dog Cartoon How-to
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/how-...als-22.jpg

If you're stumbling over perspective, I'd like to note that there is quite a body of theoretical knowledge behind it; you'll need to study that to create "3-D" work in the traditional manner. But rigorous perspective is a very new discovery -- most art before about 500 years ago had no perspective at all, as we think of it today.

Medieval Dogs
http://animalreviews.zelica.net/assets/dog2.jpg

Even that may be too difficult or restrictive. Scott Adams, writer of "Dilbert", has got absolutely no idea how to draw -- nor does he much care. He's been ridiculed by "better" cartoonists but he's making money, has a large and loyal following, and has found a way to express himself.

Dogbert
http://www.avtokrator.org/~cwynne/images...ogbert.gif

Perhaps the most successful artist whose technical abilities truly suck is Lynda Barry. She doesn't bother in any way to cater to the conventional taste. She's out of the mainstream market but not by much; her engaging story lines draw readers in. My armchair diagnosis is, she's on the spectrum.

Summer Dog Bingo
http://archive.salon.com/mwt/comics/2001.../story.gif

Lynda has written a comic book on how to draw -- a don't miss. It was given out in 2007 for Free Comic Book Day so you shouldn't have much trouble finding a copy. Her philosophy is: Draw. Draw no matter what, even if all you can do is scribble squiggles over and over. Squiggle enough and eventually you will move to something that tells a story.

If you are like me, you may find that the only way you can be comfortable with any kind of graphic representation is to follow a set of strict geometric rules. If so, suggest you put aside pencil and paper and learn to use a vector drawing package, like Macromedia FreeHand or Adobe Illustrator. Let your obsessions work for you and make up rules both beforehand and as you go along.

Tangram Dogs
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbvi...og_set.jpg

Or you might want to get into oils or acrylic. Leave all restrictions behind.

Abstract Dog
http://www.ebsqart.com/Art/6215/169926/a...75_275.jpg

Who knows? Drawing may not be for you at all. You might just unlock your visual creativity with a camera. Photography is not all about point and shoot and what you get is what you get.

Dog in Cemetery
http://www.identitytheory.com/visual/pic...metary.jpg

You might consider sculpture, too.

Dead Dog Art Table
http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/resource...eaddog.jpg

* * *

I can give you a few practical tips that work for me when it comes to creating any sort of artwork.

* Always do something -- anything. Something is better than nothing. You can always smother it in its cradle and start over. You may be surprised at what you want to allow to develop.

* Let yourself spend time. If you're busy, that's hard. Make time. Some people need a schedule. Some of us need to let ourselves be ready to work at any time, to steal minutes from other things. Don't let the hot iron go unstruck.

* Study up. Learn how to search the web for examples (as I've done here), tutorials, and tools.

* Develop habits and templates. I have a set way of beginning every work. Blank paper -- or a blank screen -- is terrifying. Once you get routine stuff down, the blankness is broken and you're on your way.

* Forgive yourself. Give yourself permission to waste paper and to doodle. Do it deliberately, to break the ice. Here's an exercise: Take a fresh sheet -- not of trash but of good drawing paper. Take your pencil in your fist and just jam back and forth a few dozen times, like a six month old kid. Rip out the paper, ball it up, throw it away. Harder than it sounds but the next sheet will be easier.

* If you want to do something formal, practice the underlying skill as much as needed. Don't expect it to come easily. Drawing is no easier than playing a guitar.

* Consider going to a computer, even if you don't want to do geometric work. If you're especially stuck on materials cost, it's a great way to perfect something before committing it to paper. Also, you avoid the endless eraser syndrome, where you just can't move on because you can still see that wrong line, no matter how you rub.

* Compensate for your limitations -- or even capitalize on them. If your eyesight is not so hot, draw larger figures on larger paper. If you have poor motor skills, don't try for fine detail. If you have trouble populating a canvas with a large number of figures, stick to one at a time. Come to think of it, Keith Haring did all of that at the same time.

Dog Barking
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images...osters.jpg

You look at also, for instance, cartoon strips. These are often very stylised in 2-D,  and many times what the artist has trouble drawing, he or she will simply hide behind a fence or something.

If you are still interested in perspective, possibly you might practise using straight lines.

* Draw a dot in the centre of the page.
* Next, lines radiating from that central point.
* Following those lines, make a series of solid shapes (squares &c -- which you might eventually flesh into cubes.)
* Play with your design. (go larger, smaller, turn to complex shapes, shade.)
* But follow the lines to your same mid-point.

But yeah the key really is to practise, observe, mess up, forgive yourself for messing up, enjoy the process of simply making lines on a page.

And even occasionally, DON'T PLAN! Just draw!

If you are dead set on realistic perspective, here is a serious, in-depth study that begins with the basics:

The Theory and Practice of Perspective, by George Adolphus Storey (1910)
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20165/201...0165-h.htm

It's a complete book so you'll have to wait for the load. Suggest you save the entire thing to your own local hard drive disk -- be sure to include images and all linked files.

Good advise...just do it! And keep going.
Relax, play around with pen, paint and whatever...develop you're own style.
Sooner or later you'll create something you'll like.

Planning is often fear and procrastination in disguise.

I took art classes for many years.  I had to learn perspective from books.  Some teachers also got us to use "frames" to set up the drawing.  I was taught how to block out my drawing first -- such as making a stick figure frame before drawing a nude otherwise I would tend to just start drawing a body part that interested me and end up with the proportions all wrong and running out of space on the paper.  

Some old masters actually used from type of glass window with grids on it and put grids on the paper to draw.  Some teachers just think that people should be more expressive and just draw abstractly.  I don't think that the old masters taught that way.  Drawing and painting used to always be taught by copying the master's work.  There were rules to follow.  

I got some books on perspective drawing and I found books by Betty Edwards, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" to be very helpful.  It teaches you to see first and then draw.  There are tricks and the results are amazing.

I've never thought I could draw or paint.  Doing collages kind of works for me, and I love the colors.  But I find it so much easier to prepare to do one than to actually do one.  Something about a blank piece of water color paper is intimidating.  And I've discovered that no matter how much I think I might know what I want to put together, it has yet to happen that way--something always seems to change the scope mid-process.  I *wish* I could adopt a more experimental and fun-loving approach....I'm working on it, but it's so hard to silence the inner critic sometimes.