I bet that anyone who turns out to be good at art after some practice/focus was born with that ability anyway, they just had not discovered it yet.
if you are on polycount knocking out nice work then you are doing yourself a dis service if you think that just anyone can do that or that you don't have any kind of gift.
kind of like a false modesty. fact is that not everyone could do what most of the people here do even if they practised a lot.
Seriously nonsensical self defeatist nonsense.
How can you be born to do art? That does not make any sense.
Their is no evolutionary selection for art(as far as I can tell). Artists do not produce more offspring than everyone else. We havent had art nearly long enough for it to be selected for.
How can you be born to hold a pencil and be good at drawing lines and shapes, theirs no survival mechanism for that.
Docm30 - I stand by what I said , some people are more inclined to be good at creative type of work. but you can learn some technique , but those that are both gifted 'and' work hard are gonna do better.
Docm30 - I stand by what I said , some people are more inclined to be good at creative type of work. but you can learn some technique , but those that are both gifted 'and' work hard are gonna do better.
that's fine if you think you have proved your case, but you were just so quick to resort to insults.
I just know from experience at art college that out of the average class of say 30 only one or 2 end up being top notch.
It's the same with sport/maths anything really, and ironically I count myself as one who has a bit of natural ability perhaps 50/50 mix because I have worked insanely hard over the years.
still not as good as bobo or Nick Carver:/
Do you really think height directly correlates to basketball skill?
its not a direct correlation. but it definitely helps a lot, which is why majority of the players are tall if i am not mistaken.
if you have read any of the other posts i made u would know what i was talking about.
i just dont think everyone is born equal.
but can anyone push the limits by just being determined and working hard ? absolutely.
it just helps to get there faster for people who are born that way. that is just science and the way the world is. no need to get all bent out of shape for it or even get insulted.
because genetics doesn't only affect height, it also affects our cognitive abilities which affects any activity that requires our brain. art is one of them.
genetics can affect aptitude but it does not guaranty that you will be successful. you still have to keep at it or work hard. there are lot of people who waste their talent.
for example, someone born in Afghanistan with high aptitude might not get the chance to flex his/her capabilities due to the environment they grow up. on the other hand, someone born with not so high aptitude in a 1st world country and getting the benefits of higher education combined with the desire to succeed is much more likely to actually succeed.
i believe it is a combination of both nature and nurture. if you lack in one then you have to push for the other to balance it.
to the original poster:
like i already said in my first post, drawing is a skill and not something you are born with. you have to learn it and work hard to get better.
Ruz: if I focused on drawing for 5 years and end up being as good as your heroes would you shrug and say I just have some genetic advantage over you or would you come over to my side of thinking?
I find the current gen art pipeline tedious and boring so I may have to switch over to concept art if the "old school" diffuse only gravy train stops running.
My drawing class has 24 people in it. I went from spot 24 to spot 2 in 3 weeks. I also draw like 2-8 hours a day. I draw so much, I stopped doing any 3D work. =\
If you want something bad enough, you'll work for it.
So we all agree that there is need of little talent with work to do the job?
Agreed.:poly141:
Wake, eat/drink, work, eat/drink, work, eat/drink, work, sleep, repeat.
^Somewhere in their dump and don't for get to play games and let loose in other activities.
The funny thing with talent is. Every person who we claim has talent, will tell you they worked their ass off to get that good. So regardless if you believe in talent or not, working hard should be the best way to find out if you have it or not. I personally think talent does not exist, sure some activities might be easier for one person than the other, but 'being easier' says nothing about being successful.
The funny thing with talent is. Every person who we claim has talent, will tell you they worked their ass off to get that good. So regardless if you believe in talent or not, working hard should be the best way to find out if you have it or not. I personally think talent does not exist, sure some activities might be easier for one person than the other, but 'being easier' says nothing about being successful.
well obviously it gives people more credit to say that.
fact remains that some people are faster than other. if all other variables are constant then a task 'being easier' has a lot to do with success.
Yes, some people are naturally better at some things than other people (holy megafuck, mind = blown!, amirite?)
And while that might be enough to make someone the most bestest drawer in their high school drawing class, it doesn't really amount to anything beyond that. The not-so-secret secret lies in hard work and study.
I don't think it's realistic to say that everyone has the same potential. That being said, I do think that anyone - putting forth enough effort and given enough time, can get good enough to work professionally.
If I were qualified to give advice, I'd say focus less on how an artist got their apparent skillset, and focus more on painting pretty pictures.
Thanks guys, i know that i don't have passion for drawing and i don't want it. But how that will make me better character artist? I have read that drawing isn't require for this, but does helps -.-?
Drawing certainly helps when trying to pursue any artistic field. At the very least you should be able to sketch out the basic form of the character you're going to be sculpting (unless it's based on other references). Doing it straight from your head will be a huge time sink.
Thanks guys, i know that i don't have passion for drawing and i don't want it. But how that will make me better character artist? I have read that drawing isn't require for this, but does helps -.-?
Just relax man.
In a studio setting, concept artists usually provide the designs for you. Or an art director or your lead will provide the refs.
Can you model or sculpt from a model sheet (ortho), from a concept art, photo ref (say, if you work on a military shooter for example that requires accurate uniforms).
It's possible in a small company you'd be given an assignment where you have to figure out the design. As long as your employeers know you're not a drawer, don't worry about being assigned to do concept art all of a sudden.
Texturing...yeah, there's some drawing involved there if you're gonna do hand painted maps. But you should know what you're strengths are and don't take projects where you're not up to the task.
In a studio setting, concept artists usually provide the designs for you. Or an art director or your lead will provide the refs.
Can you model or sculpt from a model sheet (ortho), from a concept art, photo ref (say, if you work on a military shooter for example that requires accurate uniforms).
It's possible in a small company you'd be given an assignment where you have to figure out the design. As long as your employeers know you're not a drawer, don't worry about being assigned to do concept art all of a sudden.
Texturing...yeah, there's some drawing involved there if you're gonna do hand painted maps. But you should know what you're strengths are and don't take projects where you're not up to the task.
This is the same person over five years of hard draft, I have collected some to show you his development, notice the self portraits becoming stronger and stronger every year.
I think the only questions you need to ask yourself are:
1. Do you like drawing?
2. Can you think about things analytically?
3. Are you willing to work hard at it to get better?
This is the same for any skill that you acquire really. You have to want to get better, but just as importantly, you need to be able to work out HOW you are going to get better. Being able to break problems down into their component parts and solve them individually is the smartest way to tackle drawing, or any other difficult skill that takes a long time to master. Trying to do too much to soon and not meeting your own expectations is the easiest way to discourage yourself. Small incremental steps is the way to go.
If 'talent' does exist, I think it just means that someone develops those critical thinking faculties at an earlier age and advances more quickly as a result. But anyone can learn to think that way and become good at drawing or whatever else if they have the discipline and the persistence to keep at it. I was a late starter with drawing too as I didn't really work at improving at it until I was about 24. And although I'm not saying I'm great at it or anything, I've surprised myself in terms of how much hard work, particularly the right kind of work, can improve you as an artist.
So yeah, enjoy learning and know that you'll get where you want to go if you apply yourself correctly.
Very true.
I find drawing, in particularly from imagination (not technical copying), a combination of 50% math and 50% emotion, the latter cannot be broken down to numbers. This is, at least, the successful balance.
Anyone has emotion, and that's entirely unique. Some have grown to keep it reserved (parents psychology, enviromental effect, etc.) and some are more expressive and loose.
Math is best practiced from early age, of course, but can always be trained for. The brain is a muscle, after all (albeit a stubborn one, as age creeps in).
The bottom line is it's all mental.
Yes, genetics provide the foundation on which u build, and this is far too arbitrary for us to understand, but anyone correlation drawing ability to 'talent' is just plastering an empty word over what really happens
I think there are kids who have encouraging parents and they go on to be successful at just about anything they do. These parents don't endlessly shower their kids with praise but they do reward them when they do something exceptional. They encourage them and push them to try new things and keep expanding their skill sets. They basically teach the kid that it's ok to fail, the world doesn't end and that learning from failure can sometimes be more rewarding than hitting success. In fact you might even do something knowing you will fail just so you can find a way to succeed.
Then there are kids who have parents that laugh at their kindergartener drawings and don't invest much time in their kids... Sorry you're screwed.
It's not impossible but they've done some damage that is really hard to reverse and unless you come at it like a determined attack dog who latches on and never lets go, you will have trouble finding the skills (and permission that you need to give yourself) to fail, successfully and repeatedly...
Basically you have a lot of failure to catch up on and if you don't know how to handle it, its really hard to experience it and not have it crush you.
Either way go make art find out what you're made of and go do something else if art doesn't make you happy.
Thanks a lot. But i don't blame my parents for this. Actually they never said something like i am bad at art, i just didn't want to draw like now. My mom, drew all the art homework i have from the art class. My parents, are both dentist. THe problem i got from my childhood, were kids from school.
Most of them drew awesome, most of them didn't drew at all,but i was trying to be better than them. When they look at my drawing, they started to roll over the floor.
I will do anything or be character modeler for games or features movies. The only problem is drawing.
Can i develop the same level as someone who know to draw, but i do all that stuff in 3D, especially in Zbrush
My plan is to be use in Zbrush, to learn tools, brushes, anything. Then i want to get good tutorials for Human anatomy,
my two cents:
drawing is good. drawing is always good. if it's painful for you, just push through it and draw for a few minutes every day - if it's distressing for you then try not to take it too seriously.
if you can draw, though, being able to sculpt will come much more quickly.
so draw it. the more you do it, the more you'll start to enjoy it - as long as you take it lightly enough that it doesn't become a huge burden. accept that most of your drawings are fit for nothing but a trash bin - that's part of learning, like Mark said.
I've been drawing for at least 26 years. I used to have boxes and boxes full of my old drawings from when i was about 12 on. I'd pull them out every once in a while and GOOD GOD were they awful. and I had been practicing for 10 years by then. But it showed me how much better i had gotten since then - and even when i was disheartened and frustrated and felt like my work was awful that offered at least a little solace.
i've been keeping sketchbooks since i was 16 now. A little over 10 years later and i've got a great big stack of them. I can go through them and see my progress, even see non-skill related struggles i was going through at the time and reflect on that. they're a great tool just for building yourself as a person - i suppose like a journal.
my mother was supportive in my drawing to a point: she had been an artist til she had to raise 3 kids by herself and got a "real" job. later in my life she always tried to press me to keep drawing but to keep it as a hobby and not get my hopes up that i might be a professional artist. for YEARS she tried to push me to get into medecine (she's a Nurse). but i pressed on. drawing instead of doing homework. dropped out of school. worked crap jobs. still drawing. always drawing. I could do it on a bus, on a smoke break, i could do it if i was homeless. Even when i lived in the mountains with no decent computer to speak of, no internet, and a broken tablet I could still draw and work on my skills every single day.
so draw. you'll learn to like it and it will get you better at seeing as an artist - noticing all the minutia, committing it all to memory, pulling it out when you need it. sketchbooks are portable, they require no power source, and little space. Computers and Zbrush lack that benefit. Sculpt every day, too - but if you suppliment all your other practice and training with drawing in all the little spare pockets of time you have you'll get better that much faster.
TL;DR:
draw anyways. get and keep sketchbooks so you can see the progress. even if you just pull it out for 5 minutes at a time when you've got a few to spare - it helps and adds up.
and mark up there is usually right.
Heres an artist who doesn't draw http://kolbyjukes.me/#_ (or so I was told) and hes a titan sculptor.
No more questions Op only practice now.
If you don't want to draw then practice Sculpting what you see then sculpt what you know. Its just like drawing from observation then from memory both require reference and thinking.
I'm drawing whether I like it or not though, all my favorite artist draw and drawing helps my strokes in Zbrush
For those of you who don't have 40 minutes here's the short version:
Drawing is simply a hand eye coordination thing that comes with practice. You can learn to be awesome at drawing, but to be creative, that's something altogether different and takes years of observing and understanding the world around you.
So as far i listen Feng ZHu, he actually want to tell that, to start to draw or something else, you need to start at very young age, like any other professional, started to do what they want, at age 10.
That's the reason they work now any big studios and they are so good.
you don't have to start at a young age. it's just a matter of time spent practicing -> skill improvement.
Starting at a young age gives you a head-start. at the same time, though, the ratio of practice to skill level is (usually) much lower at a younger age. If you put in 10 years from the age of 20-30, you're progress will likely be significantly more than somebody who's been doing the same from 10-20.
and even if drawing isn't your primary discipline it's still exercising a lot of the same hand/eye coordination skills. more importantly it's exercising your ability to see and observe as an artist.
Quite frankly I think the biggest advantage to starting young is that no child sits around crying "OH GOD HOW 2 DO DIS? AM I TOO OLD? WILL I EVER BE GOOD? NO ITS IMPOSSIBLE I'M JUST NOT GOOD AT THIS. I SHOULD HAVE STARTED WHEN I WAS 2 YEARS OLD. NO. 1. IT'S THE ONLY WAY."
They just draw for fun and they get better over time. Adults are impatient. They're results driven rather than process driven and their perception and expectations of quality is significantly more well formed. Progress in art is slow and every shitty drawing they produce just sows another seed of doubt.
Starting early only means you get better quicker. Also learning is easier for a younger mind. Creative people are right side brain dominant also. People with left side dominance may find it harder to be creative.
either way, Just draw and enjoy it. Keep at it and even if you can't draw for shit, if you enjoy it, that's all that matters.
I've been drawing for as long as I remember (just not as much these last few months...). When it comes to talent vs. effort, I've always found myself on the "effort" side of the argument.
I find that the problem with people who have difficulty drawing is most often a matter of sight.
In my mind, when someone has told me that s/he "can't draw", it always sounds like s/he is saying "I can't see." Every time someone has said this to me, I ask them to indulge in a simple exercise. It starts with asking the person to draw a local object. Usually, the result is horrible. Then, I tell them to try again - this time, using rough shapes to define the object. Almost immediately, the drawing improves. I'd say that the act of drawing is just transcribing what you see onto paper or pixels or whatever.
If you just think about it differently, it becomes quite easy.
In my mind, when someone has told me that s/he "can't draw", it always sounds like s/he is saying "I can't see." Every time someone has said this to me, I ask them to indulge in a simple exercise. It starts with asking the person to draw a local object. Usually, the result is horrible. Then, I tell them to try again - this time, using rough shapes to define the object. Almost immediately, the drawing improves. I'd say that the act of drawing is just transcribing what you see onto paper or pixels or whatever.
If you just think about it differently, it becomes quite easy.
There's a lot of truth to this. "Drawing" is nothing but putting marks on something that receives those marks. If you can put a dot on a paper, you can draw. What makes you better at drawing is knowing where to put those dots (or lines, or shapes, or what have you). And that's really just a matter of improving your eye, which comes with time and practice.
Starting early only means you get better quicker. Also learning is easier for a younger mind. Creative people are right side brain dominant also. People with left side dominance may find it harder to be creative.
either way, Just draw and enjoy it. Keep at it and even if you can't draw for shit, if you enjoy it, that's all that matters.
anyhoo...
"What are you willing to give up" Brad Rigney
Right side left side brain dominance is a complete myth there is no scientific evidence to back that up at all.
Right side left side brain dominance is a complete myth there is no scientific evidence to back that up at all.
Thats a very "left brained" response. :P
Right side, left side, Myth or not. Peoples brains are dominated by certain functions from an early age. This can help some people be more creative than others.
People are breed to draw awesome, don't be fooled. Anytime you see someone who seem to be able to draw easy, it means they have been genetic engineered to do this and no matter how much hard work you put into it, you will never be as good, because you are natural...and those old fashion types...We will consider your future after evaluating your childrens potential.
Right side, left side, Myth or not. Peoples brains are dominated by certain functions from an early age. This can help some people be more creative than others.
Ok I concede that, but creativity can be analytical. I find it fun to create something using a logical process.
For those of you who don't have 40 minutes here's the short version:
Drawing is simply a hand eye coordination thing that comes with practice. You can learn to be awesome at drawing, but to be creative, that's something altogether different and takes years of observing and understanding the world around you.
Creativity drives more than just drawing.
I agree with Feng wholeheartedly but he is talking about the difference between being creative and being decent at drawing. They aren't the same thing.
Creativity can be applied to a lot of things not just art. Things like programing, music, scientific research, writing, marketing campaigns, engineering, problem solving, even fixing mechanical things or managing people can be improved with creativity. Creativity is a power source that drives a lot of people to success. It's sad that so many schools ignore it outright or play into the "creativity is only artistic".
Feng also touches on another aspect of learning, briefly but doesn't get too deep into it. The younger you are the easier it is for you to absorb knowledge and adapt to new things. The longer you wait to foster creativity or to start drawing the harder it will be later in life. It's a sad fact but it can be overcome it just takes some work.
Learning and creativity go hand in hand.
Learning often fuels creativity. Mind you creative learning is not BS memorization of facts and figures but actual learning, like how this stuff works, why people do things a certain way ect... Learning and creativity operate on similar principles, if you don't do either for a long period of time they are hard to get restarted, but it is easier to get them restarted rather than starting from scratch especially late in life.
If you are creative... ...and can't draw and don't find any joy in drawing or don't want to invest the time in learning to draw, then you might want to apply your creativity in another way to something else.
If you aren't creative... ...you will have trouble landing a job that is highly creative, accept that. But that doesn't mean you can't find a job bringing creations to life and by doing so foster and grow your own sense of creativity. You will need a rock solid skill set to pull that off but it can be done. There are a lot of "artists" who are technically capable of creating some jaw dropping stuff but have trouble cooking up their own creative ideas.
Studios can't bank on that creative growth so they will never hire you as a concept artist until you have both things, but they will appreciate your contributions as you add creative things to existing ideas. So get some skills, learn some apps and work on fostering creativity because it will turn your portfolio full of great looking everyday items into something much more creative that just clicks.
TLDR
Creativity is not artistic talent, it is a component that helps make artist successful, it drives a lot of things.
I started drawing when I was 15 im 23 now so ive been an artist for a while. no suprise, I was one of the best artists in my college. Also, no suprise, people who where better than me started drawing before I did.
this is the "talent" illusion.
however, this early talent begins to iron itself out when someone practices more that another. so talent is hard work.
Replies
Seriously nonsensical self defeatist nonsense.
How can you be born to do art? That does not make any sense.
Their is no evolutionary selection for art(as far as I can tell). Artists do not produce more offspring than everyone else. We havent had art nearly long enough for it to be selected for.
How can you be born to hold a pencil and be good at drawing lines and shapes, theirs no survival mechanism for that.
http://www.rps.psu.edu/probing/artist.html
interesting article which supports this notion. (see I can use google also:/)
I bet no one would dispute that there is a region in the brain that asks you constantly why your normal maps don't look right.
Calabi does that refer to what you wrote?
So can I use google.
An actual test an evidence case right here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3_Polg%C3%A1r
http://theinvisiblementor.com/tag/laszlo-polgar/
I just know from experience at art college that out of the average class of say 30 only one or 2 end up being top notch.
It's the same with sport/maths anything really, and ironically I count myself as one who has a bit of natural ability perhaps 50/50 mix because I have worked insanely hard over the years.
still not as good as bobo or Nick Carver:/
nice link. i like the video.
however, the basketball player example was kind of funny because i was thinking if he worked hard to become tall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5-yCv0BIhA
Everything he says is spot on. Do a huge volume of work and get through the wall.
Do you really think height directly correlates to basketball skill?
its not a direct correlation. but it definitely helps a lot, which is why majority of the players are tall if i am not mistaken.
if you have read any of the other posts i made u would know what i was talking about.
i just dont think everyone is born equal.
but can anyone push the limits by just being determined and working hard ? absolutely.
it just helps to get there faster for people who are born that way. that is just science and the way the world is. no need to get all bent out of shape for it or even get insulted.
genetics can affect aptitude but it does not guaranty that you will be successful. you still have to keep at it or work hard. there are lot of people who waste their talent.
for example, someone born in Afghanistan with high aptitude might not get the chance to flex his/her capabilities due to the environment they grow up. on the other hand, someone born with not so high aptitude in a 1st world country and getting the benefits of higher education combined with the desire to succeed is much more likely to actually succeed.
i believe it is a combination of both nature and nurture. if you lack in one then you have to push for the other to balance it.
to the original poster:
like i already said in my first post, drawing is a skill and not something you are born with. you have to learn it and work hard to get better.
I find the current gen art pipeline tedious and boring so I may have to switch over to concept art if the "old school" diffuse only gravy train stops running.
If you want something bad enough, you'll work for it.
Agreed.:poly141:
Wake, eat/drink, work, eat/drink, work, eat/drink, work, sleep, repeat.
^Somewhere in their dump and don't for get to play games and let loose in other activities.
well obviously it gives people more credit to say that.
fact remains that some people are faster than other. if all other variables are constant then a task 'being easier' has a lot to do with success.
And while that might be enough to make someone the most bestest drawer in their high school drawing class, it doesn't really amount to anything beyond that. The not-so-secret secret lies in hard work and study.
I don't think it's realistic to say that everyone has the same potential. That being said, I do think that anyone - putting forth enough effort and given enough time, can get good enough to work professionally.
If I were qualified to give advice, I'd say focus less on how an artist got their apparent skillset, and focus more on painting pretty pictures.
Just relax man.
In a studio setting, concept artists usually provide the designs for you. Or an art director or your lead will provide the refs.
Can you model or sculpt from a model sheet (ortho), from a concept art, photo ref (say, if you work on a military shooter for example that requires accurate uniforms).
It's possible in a small company you'd be given an assignment where you have to figure out the design. As long as your employeers know you're not a drawer, don't worry about being assigned to do concept art all of a sudden.
Texturing...yeah, there's some drawing involved there if you're gonna do hand painted maps. But you should know what you're strengths are and don't take projects where you're not up to the task.
+1
This is the same person over five years of hard draft, I have collected some to show you his development, notice the self portraits becoming stronger and stronger every year.
Very true.
I find drawing, in particularly from imagination (not technical copying), a combination of 50% math and 50% emotion, the latter cannot be broken down to numbers. This is, at least, the successful balance.
Anyone has emotion, and that's entirely unique. Some have grown to keep it reserved (parents psychology, enviromental effect, etc.) and some are more expressive and loose.
Math is best practiced from early age, of course, but can always be trained for. The brain is a muscle, after all (albeit a stubborn one, as age creeps in).
The bottom line is it's all mental.
Yes, genetics provide the foundation on which u build, and this is far too arbitrary for us to understand, but anyone correlation drawing ability to 'talent' is just plastering an empty word over what really happens
Then there are kids who have parents that laugh at their kindergartener drawings and don't invest much time in their kids... Sorry you're screwed.
It's not impossible but they've done some damage that is really hard to reverse and unless you come at it like a determined attack dog who latches on and never lets go, you will have trouble finding the skills (and permission that you need to give yourself) to fail, successfully and repeatedly...
Basically you have a lot of failure to catch up on and if you don't know how to handle it, its really hard to experience it and not have it crush you.
Either way go make art find out what you're made of and go do something else if art doesn't make you happy.
Most of them drew awesome, most of them didn't drew at all,but i was trying to be better than them. When they look at my drawing, they started to roll over the floor.
I will do anything or be character modeler for games or features movies. The only problem is drawing.
Can i develop the same level as someone who know to draw, but i do all that stuff in 3D, especially in Zbrush
My plan is to be use in Zbrush, to learn tools, brushes, anything. Then i want to get good tutorials for Human anatomy,
Like this from Visualarium, i hope Ryan will release new anatomy class.
I also found this course http://www.vanas.ca/home/index.php/courses/advanced-class-human-anatomy
My way from learning is to watch people, copy them repite and understand why they do that. Also i want to learn more about anatomy as well.
drawing is good. drawing is always good. if it's painful for you, just push through it and draw for a few minutes every day - if it's distressing for you then try not to take it too seriously.
if you can draw, though, being able to sculpt will come much more quickly.
so draw it. the more you do it, the more you'll start to enjoy it - as long as you take it lightly enough that it doesn't become a huge burden. accept that most of your drawings are fit for nothing but a trash bin - that's part of learning, like Mark said.
I've been drawing for at least 26 years. I used to have boxes and boxes full of my old drawings from when i was about 12 on. I'd pull them out every once in a while and GOOD GOD were they awful. and I had been practicing for 10 years by then. But it showed me how much better i had gotten since then - and even when i was disheartened and frustrated and felt like my work was awful that offered at least a little solace.
i've been keeping sketchbooks since i was 16 now. A little over 10 years later and i've got a great big stack of them. I can go through them and see my progress, even see non-skill related struggles i was going through at the time and reflect on that. they're a great tool just for building yourself as a person - i suppose like a journal.
my mother was supportive in my drawing to a point: she had been an artist til she had to raise 3 kids by herself and got a "real" job. later in my life she always tried to press me to keep drawing but to keep it as a hobby and not get my hopes up that i might be a professional artist. for YEARS she tried to push me to get into medecine (she's a Nurse). but i pressed on. drawing instead of doing homework. dropped out of school. worked crap jobs. still drawing. always drawing. I could do it on a bus, on a smoke break, i could do it if i was homeless. Even when i lived in the mountains with no decent computer to speak of, no internet, and a broken tablet I could still draw and work on my skills every single day.
so draw. you'll learn to like it and it will get you better at seeing as an artist - noticing all the minutia, committing it all to memory, pulling it out when you need it. sketchbooks are portable, they require no power source, and little space. Computers and Zbrush lack that benefit. Sculpt every day, too - but if you suppliment all your other practice and training with drawing in all the little spare pockets of time you have you'll get better that much faster.
TL;DR:
draw anyways. get and keep sketchbooks so you can see the progress. even if you just pull it out for 5 minutes at a time when you've got a few to spare - it helps and adds up.
and mark up there is usually right.
No more questions Op only practice now.
If you don't want to draw then practice Sculpting what you see then sculpt what you know. Its just like drawing from observation then from memory both require reference and thinking.
I'm drawing whether I like it or not though, all my favorite artist draw and drawing helps my strokes in Zbrush
For those of you who don't have 40 minutes here's the short version:
Drawing is simply a hand eye coordination thing that comes with practice. You can learn to be awesome at drawing, but to be creative, that's something altogether different and takes years of observing and understanding the world around you.
That's the reason they work now any big studios and they are so good.
Starting at a young age gives you a head-start. at the same time, though, the ratio of practice to skill level is (usually) much lower at a younger age. If you put in 10 years from the age of 20-30, you're progress will likely be significantly more than somebody who's been doing the same from 10-20.
and even if drawing isn't your primary discipline it's still exercising a lot of the same hand/eye coordination skills. more importantly it's exercising your ability to see and observe as an artist.
They just draw for fun and they get better over time. Adults are impatient. They're results driven rather than process driven and their perception and expectations of quality is significantly more well formed. Progress in art is slow and every shitty drawing they produce just sows another seed of doubt.
either way, Just draw and enjoy it. Keep at it and even if you can't draw for shit, if you enjoy it, that's all that matters.
anyhoo...
"What are you willing to give up" Brad Rigney
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I find that the problem with people who have difficulty drawing is most often a matter of sight.
In my mind, when someone has told me that s/he "can't draw", it always sounds like s/he is saying "I can't see." Every time someone has said this to me, I ask them to indulge in a simple exercise. It starts with asking the person to draw a local object. Usually, the result is horrible. Then, I tell them to try again - this time, using rough shapes to define the object. Almost immediately, the drawing improves. I'd say that the act of drawing is just transcribing what you see onto paper or pixels or whatever.
If you just think about it differently, it becomes quite easy.
There's a lot of truth to this. "Drawing" is nothing but putting marks on something that receives those marks. If you can put a dot on a paper, you can draw. What makes you better at drawing is knowing where to put those dots (or lines, or shapes, or what have you). And that's really just a matter of improving your eye, which comes with time and practice.
Right side left side brain dominance is a complete myth there is no scientific evidence to back that up at all.
Thats a very "left brained" response. :P
Right side, left side, Myth or not. Peoples brains are dominated by certain functions from an early age. This can help some people be more creative than others.
Yeah, I suck at drawing....
Ok I concede that, but creativity can be analytical. I find it fun to create something using a logical process.
I agree with Feng wholeheartedly but he is talking about the difference between being creative and being decent at drawing. They aren't the same thing.
Creativity can be applied to a lot of things not just art. Things like programing, music, scientific research, writing, marketing campaigns, engineering, problem solving, even fixing mechanical things or managing people can be improved with creativity. Creativity is a power source that drives a lot of people to success. It's sad that so many schools ignore it outright or play into the "creativity is only artistic".
Feng also touches on another aspect of learning, briefly but doesn't get too deep into it. The younger you are the easier it is for you to absorb knowledge and adapt to new things. The longer you wait to foster creativity or to start drawing the harder it will be later in life. It's a sad fact but it can be overcome it just takes some work.
Learning and creativity go hand in hand.
Learning often fuels creativity. Mind you creative learning is not BS memorization of facts and figures but actual learning, like how this stuff works, why people do things a certain way ect... Learning and creativity operate on similar principles, if you don't do either for a long period of time they are hard to get restarted, but it is easier to get them restarted rather than starting from scratch especially late in life.
If you are creative...
...and can't draw and don't find any joy in drawing or don't want to invest the time in learning to draw, then you might want to apply your creativity in another way to something else.
If you aren't creative...
...you will have trouble landing a job that is highly creative, accept that. But that doesn't mean you can't find a job bringing creations to life and by doing so foster and grow your own sense of creativity. You will need a rock solid skill set to pull that off but it can be done. There are a lot of "artists" who are technically capable of creating some jaw dropping stuff but have trouble cooking up their own creative ideas.
Studios can't bank on that creative growth so they will never hire you as a concept artist until you have both things, but they will appreciate your contributions as you add creative things to existing ideas. So get some skills, learn some apps and work on fostering creativity because it will turn your portfolio full of great looking everyday items into something much more creative that just clicks.
TLDR
Creativity is not artistic talent, it is a component that helps make artist successful, it drives a lot of things.
this is the "talent" illusion.
however, this early talent begins to iron itself out when someone practices more that another. so talent is hard work.