Stumble it!
I recently got an assignment to illustrate a small educational reader. One of the illustrations contained all of the following objects: a bicycle, a house, a car, and a horse.
I’m sure I let out an audible groan.
The thing is, I hate drawing every single one of those objects. Do I have something against them? No…but the thought of drawing them multiple times in various perspectives gives me a headache (and if you’re not a fan of perspective, a bicycle can be your worst nightmare, believe me!). I enjoy drawing little cuddly animals and cute kids. Most everything else, I can do without.
Every artist will come across this problem, and probably quite frequently. If you are a working illustrator, you can’t just push it aside.
The Problem
Because of my illustration style, I make up a lot of what I draw, and I rely a lot on what comes out of my head. If I hate to draw something, I can almost guarantee it is because of one of these reasons:
- I am unfamiliar with the subject. I love drawing kids playing baseball, but I hate drawing kids playing football. Why? I don’t know football nearly as well as I know baseball. And if I got an assignment with one of these two sports, I would have to be familiar with the field, the equipment, and the rules of play before I even picked up a pencil.
- I don’t have the drawing skill. Enough said, I think.
When I come across something that I don’t know very well and am not able to draw, I know the drawing is going to come out bad. That does not make me very happy. Also, I know if I want to create a good drawing, it’s going to require a lot of work. That also doesn’t make me very happy.
The Solution
Well,
- DON’T give into your laziness, and
- DON’T avoid the subject altogether (you can’t anyway, if it’s a job).
This is how I got through my assignment — I scoured the internet, books, and art for images. Then I drew pages and pages of sketches. I drew until I was comfortable drawing these objects over and over again from my head. That’s really all it takes, but it is a lot of work. And you know what? I was beginning to enjoy myself after awhile.
The beauty of all this research is that the next time I get an assignment with similar subject matter, I won’t have to do nearly as much research, because I’ll have that new knowledge to draw from. I might even smile instead of cringe when I get the assignment.
So, what do you hate to draw? Is your sketchbook filled with cute little head portraits, but lacks full body poses? Do you avoid drawing hands by always posing your character with his hands behind his back? Do you like to draw cats, but not dogs? If you are uncomfortable with something, it indicates a lack of confidence. Don’t avoid it. Take the opportunity to learn something new and turn your uncertainty into a skill.
Have any other advice for your fellow DaniDraws.com readers? Leave comments and questions after this post.
Entries (RSS)
May 17th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Hey Dani,
I’m very glad to have found your site. You’ve given me the added humph I need to get my caboose into gear. You see, for years I’ve said how I’ve wanted to become a professional artist and Flash animator and now with your advice and encouragement I have the confidence to do so. You’ve got some serious skills. Since I’ve read, that pros like you have some of the same hang ups as the rest of us but, you press on through them where as I was stumped and discouraged. I can now do the same as you get the same results.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
~Eric
May 17th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Hands. Without a doubt. I’m no longer at the point where I try to hide them or anything, but I do know when I’m drawing hands and they don’t look quite right. It’s kinda funny; the last three illustrations that I’ve drawn prominently feature hands. I would love to find a really good collection of photos of hands in different positions and angles, rather than just randomly searching with Google. I have “book of a Hundred Hands” but I’ve always had a hard time learning from books.
They’re closely followed by feet in difficulty.
Third would be convincing folds and drapery.
May 17th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I use to can’t draw kids (people) very well and completely panic when I get an assignment with them. (I usually get alot of jobs with cute animals.) But I realized I was missing out on alot of jobs that required people, and so I aimed at doing more people pieces in my portfolio.
Now I am much more comfortable, and the more I draw them, the better they are. Great post.
May 17th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
Hey,
I just want to say thanks for this post. Encouraging for amatuers like me to hear that even pros struggle with the same things. ie: Avoidance of subjects/laziness. I struggle to get good colour into my work with out it becoming muddy. thats not really a subject issue. But it frustrates me no end.
I took your advice and have tried to impliment some movement into my work. if you had a spare mo, would appreciate the feedback. urbanscratchings.blogspot.com
Thanks again for being such a great resource!
May 21st, 2007 at 6:31 am
Thanks for all the lovely comments! Keep them coming…
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:53 am
I hate drawing ears. They usually end up looking like a clamshell…
May 31st, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Im A professional Illustrator/ comic artist. I get this all the time. Talking heads does it to me. Two people, in a normal room, having a normal conversation, yeeesh.
I think the solution to drawing something you dont know, when you draw most of your work out of your head, is to just trust yourself and draw it from your head anyway. People will look at your weird ‘head bike’ and (if youve done it right) think ‘No one other than you could have drawn this!’
June 8th, 2007 at 12:06 am
I’m working on a kids book right now featuring… you guessed it…bikes.
I’d have to say the hardest part about drawing bikes is probably getting the rider to fit properly and look natural.
For some reason it usually helps me to block out the bike first and then fit the rider. Even though it feels more natural to do it the other way around, it just seems to come out better if I draw the bike first.
As always, I find your site tremendously helpful and inspirational.
Thanks for putting it out there and
keep up the great work.
Bob
from
Answers for Freelancers.
June 8th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Thanks for the comment, Bob. I love your podcast.
June 10th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
What do I hate to draw? Anything with a straight line… straight lines freak me out. I love your illustration and I’m glad I found your site.
June 20th, 2007 at 12:35 am
I have the odd blessing/cruse of loveing to draw what I’m bad at, figures. Good advice though. I’m working on drawing every day after taking about a year off.
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Bikes! I hate to draw those! We had a recent assignment in my art class about perspective, it was annoying.
I hate to draw hands, though. Since I usually am drawing people, hands are really annoying, and profiles are terrible!
January 11th, 2008 at 6:47 am
like jared, i too like to draw what i’m bad at drawing, my problem in drawing though is keeping my interest to draw same stuffs over and over again, so i always look for something new. any advices?
January 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Mouth and feet, it’s very hard to me to draw both specially the mouth, I only draw it close!
January 26th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Hair! For some reason, I have the hardest time drawing hair. Mostly girl’s hair. I can draw boy’s hair OK, and even shortish-medium girls hair. But long girl’s hair gives me nightmares! That’s one reason I don’t draw girls that often.
I also have a big problem with inking my pictures. If there’s one thing I don’t look forward to while working on a picture, it’s inking. I happen to draw a lot of long, smooth, curved lines, so it’s not fun at all.