if you're trying to draw circles and straight lines freehand then using a ruler or compass is cheating. if you're trying to be a true artist then good luck, i have no idea what that means.
Yeah, the whole freehand thing, with circles and straight lines, is mainly to train yourself to get better at doing freehand. Using tools to achieve your goal isn't bad, you just might not train certain aspects with drawing.
This "perfect circle" idea stems from a thirteenth century artist named Giotto. http://100swallows.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/giottos-o/ Neat trick, but it's not bare minimum to be an artist. Also he did use a tool, his posture.
You don't have to draw perfect circles and ellipses, but you could pay attention to line quality, and avoid scribbled and feathery lines - every line you put down should be there on purpose. A sure, bold stroke pops up and just looks cooler :)
i wouldn't use the ellipse tools, those are no good at all. I used them during high school, and it made me afraid to draw without them. Just do entire pages of circles and lines, and you will eventually be able to do them perfectly. Worked for me at least.
I had a comparative amatomy teacher who had us do a minimum of 10 pages a week of nothing but curves elipses amd straight lines. It was an amazing class and i still do those pages on my own. The real purpose of the excercise is to train your brain and your hand/arm to work together - and to get your muscle memory built up.…
It's not cheating to use the tools available to you in order to achieve the desired result. When deadlines matter, people aren't going to give a shit how you did something (assuming you stay within legal boundaries, aren't stealing, etc), they just want it done. When you're painting digitally if you want a circle, the…
You do require to learn the foundations of Arts to make arts, so many artists enforce this rule of thumb regarding you drawing a straight line and a circle (does not really have to be perfect,) and not use eraser. They do that to help you easing up your hand from all the stiffness and build confidence. That being said; You…
heres a video by Scott Robertson that could help you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaZmwHU7vZo He's an incredible artist/designer and yet after decades of drawing even he can not draw perfect ellipses and circles freehand all the time. So don't be that hard on yourself. If you want to get better at freehand drawing…