Whenever I meet people for the first time and they ask what I do, I tell them I’m an artist. Which usually inspires them to say, “I can’t even draw stick figures.”
I say, “Well that’s silly, of course you can draw stick figures. You did it as a kid, right?”
Which usually brings a response like, “Well, I don’t draw good ones.”
As if there’s a genius stick figure artist out there who puts everyone else to shame.
My point being, we can all draw something. It’s our right as humans.
But it was only recently that I realized anyone can learn to draw. Why do I know that? Because I’ve experienced it firsthand.
Some of my portrait painting students
Recently, I took on a new student. He wants to learn to tattoo but doesn’t know how to draw. It soon became clear that my talk about lighting and perspective made no sense to him—so I slowed down. First, I showed him how to hold a pencil so the back and shoulder muscles keep the line steady. Then we started rendering simple shapes. If you can understand how circles turn into ellipses as the form turns, you’ve made a huge leap. Those lessons flowed into an understanding of perspective, and how shapes diminish in size as they recede. We built heads out of interlocking shapes. He’s been filling his sketchbook with drawings.
And last week, I showed him how sight-size rendering works—using observation and proportion to draw lines, angles, and shapes. I watched him get it, then lose it, then get it again. He ended up with a drawing of a real person. He was so excited! Not just about what he’d accomplished—but what he can do next. It’s like a whole new world opened up before him.
Brian's drawing
As I often say, we don’t just learn to draw—we learn to see. And that...well, that is something anyone can learn.
Brian's progress inspired me to teach a bigger workshop online. My students in that class taught me so much about how to guide them--and it was so much fun that I decided to teach another one! If you're interested, let m know and I'll save you a spot. I'll send out an announcement in the next week or two.
