Help I suck at drawing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ohnoaninfp]

People saw that my drawings are awesome. But, when it comes to drawing class I can't really draw the still lifes that are set up. I have a hard time getting the angles. perspective and the proportion right. I worked my ass off in Drawing I and II. I only managed to get a C for both semesters. I asked for help but there is no such thing as a drawing tutor, so I am royally screwed! :banghead: :mad: :( :rant: :angry:

[jittus rye]

I HATE drawing. I am terribly retarded at it.

[Spartan26]

I can't even draw stick figures consistantly. By the time I get to the forth one it'd look like one of those highway symbols for a roadside camping site. It's really frustrating because i have great images in my head to draw but can't get close to recreating them.

[jimkopelli]

Hmm... I have the curse of having most things I draw look like crap also... to me, anyway. For some reason, other people like some of my stuff... but I don't. When I get one that I do like, though... then other people are indifferent.

[int]

I'm with Spartan. Even my stick figures have curves. I can't really grab hold of the images enough to focus on details, let alone pass them on to paper.

[Avengardh]

I didn't know I could draw till I took a Drawing class. The exercises your teacher should have given you should help...perhaps you can try to do a grid? Some people find that useful. It really just takes practice though...

~*Aven*~

[ohnoaninfp]

I can draw from a photograph and from my imangination just fine. My paintings are cool. It is just that when it comes to drawing perfection, I suck. I just got finished with my drawing class today. I got a D on the homework I turned in last week. I try to do my best, but it is never enough. A D! Man this really sucks. I don't see why I have to take these drawing classes. I loved printshop, and I miss it like crazy. I printed a plate of mine last night, so I am happy that I got to do that. It seems that no matter what I do I can't do anything the right way. Every time I walk out of one of those drawing classes I feel like putting a pistol to my head. It is so depressing and frustrating. What I thought was a really cool picutre turns out to be a grade D piece of crap! I don't want to get D in this class, other wise I might be kicked out of my major, or have to take the damn thing over again. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME THESE DRAWING CLASSES ARE KILLING ME!!!!!

[file cabinet]

when I had to draw still lifes I just drew what I felt like.. I mean, it's only an exercise. don't worry about being "perfect" maybe look at it as a way to improve your drawing style... that's what I did..

[ohnoaninfp]

I am graded on these still lives so I have to draw perfect. The only freedom in drawing that I get is the work I do in my sketchbook. Even with that my instuctor is trying to tell me how to draw. God I hate those classes! I want to be an artist, but I want to be free as well.

[Avengardh]

Which is why I can't be an art major, as much as I wish I could be.

Wish I could help you out...but there's really nothing I can tell you other than just practice...perhaps just breaking things down in small parts even if it takes you longer...

~*Aven*~

[file cabinet]

If you want to get better at drawing still lifes then why don't you practice drawing still lifes at home? I don't mean spend hours drawing something but doing quick drawings that follow perspective...

[file cabinet]

Which is why I can't be an art major, as much as I wish I could be.

Wish I could help you out...but there's really nothing I can tell you other than just practice...perhaps just breaking things down in small parts even if it takes you longer...

~*Aven*~

yeah.. maybe seeing what is before you as a set of layers as opposed to something that may seem overwhelming.
layer 1: shapes in their simple form, boxes, lines.. the "wire frame"
layer 2: the more defined attributes of an object
layer 3: colors, and shading..

[Google Monster]

I can draw alright when looking at a picture but not just out of imagination.

[Jkrs]

You might try using a mirror and drawing the still life upside-down. If nothing else, it should be a change of pace.

[EternalCynic]

As far as still lifes go, the best advice that can be given is the boring old 'practice makes perfect.' But hey, it's true.

[Seraph]

This must be an INTP thing, because I have the same problem! I can draw awesome with just a pencil and my imagination, but when it comes to drawing a cube and shading some value into it, there's a lot left to be desired.

[Jezebel]

ohnoaninfp, if this is a decent class they should be giving you some sort of critique and not just slapping a low grade on your paper. What are they saying your problem areas are? Your teachers won't take the time to explain how you may improve? Have you tried going to the library and getting books on the subject? Sometimes books approach art with different methods than classes, and maybe you could get some ideas from that which may work for you. Have you talked with your peers and asked for help? How about posting your drawing at an online art critique forum and asking for tips to improve?

You say you can draw from photographs, so after you draw from life onto paper, when you look at the paper can you tell when what you've drawn looks "off" and unrealistic?

[flan2dave]

I take my time to think carefully how something appears, and get something down. I'll ask "ok, something looks off, what is it?" Once I think of an idea of what is off, I'll make a change and go through the process until its finished. It's different, sometimes lines don't go the way I expect them to because I'm not thinking how 3D objects are projected onto 2D.

You might try just carefully constructing simple geometric shapes in 3D, by drawing out the x, y, and z axis. Do they do this in art class? I find it helps me a lot to observe carefully how curves bend depending on how they are being viewed. For instance, a flat circle is an ellipse when viewed at an angle. Maybe this is just the basics. *shrugs*

[Melody]

Just draw what is in front of you. I keep talking about "right- and left-brained" perception. Your left brain hashes what you see into efficient internal symbols, so you can rationalize well. The problem is these symbols are not what is in front of you. For example, say you want to draw my eye.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/tocca/DSCF0701.png

Now, your left brain looks at it and turns it into

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/tocca/eyesymbol.png

So, when you try to draw my eye, what you draw is

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/tocca/eyesymboldrawn.png.

To draw better, you have to see what is straight in front of you. Do the wrinkles-of-your-hand exercise as well as upside down drawing. Also, you are using a viewfinder-ish thing, right? And/or you are closing one eye, right?

Finally, an adorable picture I found.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v259/tocca/36.png

[file cabinet]

cute!

and.. in the drawing class I had, we would eyeball areas by putting up our thumb.. or something.....

[ohnoaninfp]

cute!

and.. in the drawing class I had, we would eyeball areas by putting up our thumb.. or something.....

Thats what we would do. We would use the end of a pencil to measure objects and to find angles, Anyways I dropped that class. I don't want to deal with it this semester, besides I already have enough things in my life running me raggad. I am taking painting 1 instead. Hope fully the teacher will be a littel more helpful. Those damn classes give me seriuos doubts about be ing an artist. I love to paint, draw, print and any thing else creative. I WANT MY FUCKING FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!! Drawing still lives and trying to make them all so perfect is not very creative. How would you use your imagination for that. I am taking a 2D composition class, and I like it because even though we have to draw geometric shape, we are allowed to use our imanginations and creativity. For instance we can take the shapes and twist them, make them abstract. It is good practice for usinf your imagination. I loved print 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wub: I was so awesome. We got to draw what ever we wanted. For the final project in print1 we had to make 3 different plates using seven printing techniques, We had to go along with a theme, but even so we were still free to be creative.

[Salad]

distorting a recognizable shape doesn't make it abstract, just distorted.

in my opinion, being able to see the world crystal clear is the first step to being able to make something truly abstract. afterall, Piccaso had already mastered all the traditional styles of painting before he began to paint in an abstract manner.

or I guess you could take the other route and see the world through filter upon filter until what you see is no longer what anyone else could possibly see. then you could be a tortured artist that no one understands (I hope I can be a tortured artist some day)

either way you need to be able to paint or draw what you see to make anything meaningful. Otherwise it'll simply be another pretty picture hanging in someone's bathroom.

INFP's supposedly have a natural talent for art, so maybe just stop taking classes and go with it. Classes in art are only good for learning techniques, you need to dream up your own path.