Can you draw good?

Can you draw good? Well, that is what someone asked me the other day, when they saw me sketching in the street. And it made me think. Sometimes people don't draw because they think it has to be good.

Can you draw good? No.

Oh, I have been drawing regularly for the last few years, but when you come across really great drawings... like the ones in this hub... you jest know the truth is you can't draw good.

Very few people do these days.

Drawing well requires combining a lot of teaching with a lot of practice, and very few people these days get to anything like the pinnacle of drawing that some previous artists have managed.

Look at the Holbein drawing below... this is what great drawing looks like

Good drawing goes beyond the realistic. Given enough time, and the right methods, and a heck of a lot of practice anyone can draw realistically. Of course, that is far from saying I can do so;) Good drawing isn't drawing that just looks like the subject.

Really good drawing says something about how the world works, how I feel, and how I see. It is much more than skills. Skills is the start. If you look at the picture, you can see more than what he looked like... you get a sense of what he is feeling, his place in the world, and what the artist feels.

This famous Durer drawing looks nothing like what it is supposed to represent... and yet it is famous, and has been used by artists as inspiration for thousands of other images. And yet... well... it doesn't look like what it is meant to look like.

Durer had never even seen the subject before he drew this picture. He did it from descriptions. And, most humans know what he was drawing... even though it looks nothing like the real deal.

It is, in fact, one of the best drawings of all time.

Look at the Japanese print, if you know anything about art you have probably seen it before. Good art is beautiful, and I think this is to do with truth. If you look at art, it says something about the world. Even looking at this drawing says something very deep.

The drawing isn't just a wave, what you don't see - the negative shapes - are just as important in this drawing as what you do see. It is almost a ying-yang symbol, with all the elements of the drawing balanced against each other while subtly different.

This is practically a painting... and yet, a few years ago this style of art was looked down on. But I would love to have this on my wall. It says something about the real world, about how love is precious, about how great it is to be alive.

it is more than a drawing.

If you look at this and just see the artistic drawings, well, you are lost. You are not human. It isn't about the art. It is about the emotions it conveys.

Is this doodle a good bit of art?

I like the above doodle. I don't really know why, but there is something about the patterns it makes that gives it a human quality. It looks odd when you put it among the great and the good, but there is something about it that says...

this is me...

I am alive.

So we get back to the earlier question. Is my art good? Well, I try to get my drawings more realistic all the time. But I have so much to learn, and I find drawing difficult although fun. I don't think I draw good. I am not able yet to get the message across as clearly as I would like.

No, it does not matter to me. I love drawing. I am not as good at it as I hope. I will need to work hard to draw better. And I don't think I will ever make a living out of it...

but when I draw, I feel happy, and like it.

So the next time you are walking in the street, and see a rather fat man making an arthritic squiggle, say hello. It is likely to be me.

If you want to learn some easy things to draw check out that hub. Otherwise, why not check out my other interests? I really like to keep hebridean sheep to mow down the grass, and also encourage bats into my garden using bat houses.