Obstacles
Fears that Inhibit Drawing
Mona Brookes, internationally acclaimed art educator, author of two books, and founder of the Monart Drawing Schools, says many adults draw on a grade school level. At that age, young people develop critical skills . Ridicule or fear of humiliation often causes them to abandon drawing altogether. They are embarrassed that they 'draw like a kid'. Many who would really like to draw don't because they say that it makes them feel stupid or they don't have any talent.
IMPORTANT: It is fear that inhibits the ability to draw. Conquer the fear and drawing will become easy and fun.
Conquering fear is a matter of thoughtful understanding and simple steps that guarantee a safe experience. Each new experience gives hope which replaces fear of embarrassment. An ancient writer said, "experience brings hope and hope makes us unashamed."
Some fears come from bad experiences. Others are based on prejudice, tradition or myth. A few are just us imagining catastrophic outcomes. The simple solution is: There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear.
Art by its very nature must be as much inspiration as it is perspiration. Attitude, in art, is all powerful. As an artist thinks in his heart, so he will paint on his canvas.
Work on yourself, not just your drawing. Success is a journey, not just a goal. Inevitability every artist paints himself into his picture. Your attitude for that will determine your altitude as you draw.
There are several popular fears that can keep you from mastering the drawing process. If you fear what most people fear, you will not be an artist. Their expectations are unrealistic. Realistic expectations make realistic drawings. If you believe the opposite of what most fear about art work you will discover a master artist within in the image of the Master. Betty Edwards described this process in her book, Drawing on the Artist Within:*
"In order to gain access to the subdominant visual, perceptual R-mode of the brain, it is necessary to present the brain with a job that the verbal, analytic L-mode will turn down."
"The false is often the truth standing on its head." - Freud
If you want to draw you have got to stand on your head. In other words, look at drawing in the opposite way that others do, or turn their fears and false beliefs upside down. Fear has turned what God made upside down, so to fix it we must turn " the world upside down." - Acts 17:6
Conquered fear causes great confidence.
Take the following self exam and score yourself.
SELF EXAM
Fill in each blank with TRUE or FALSE
1. Some people are not born with any artistic talent.
2. Real artists can draw realistically with out making mistakes.
3. It is dangerous to learn with out a teacher. You might learn wrong.
4. Artists agree that there is a right and wrong way to draw.
5. Art is just for fun. It has little practical use beyond decoration.
6. Real artists don't copy a picture. They draw out of their imaginations.
7. It takes a lifetime to develop an artistic style.
8. If you can't draw it right the first time, then you are not an artist.
9. Each stage of a real artists' painting is beautiful.
10. Painting is easy if you have talent.
Overcome fears, build confidence, and free creativity!
Fear #1 I am afraid I wasn't born with any artistic talent.
All people are born with artistic talent. It may be dormant, starved, crippled, wounded, ignored, or stunted but we are all created in the image of God. Part of His image is that He is the CREATOR, the artistic creator of all the beauty of this universe. That part of His image is in YOU!
The ability to draw can be learned and enjoyed as easily as driving a car or baking a cake. You may fear merging in traffic with a car, but its not bad "merge genes". Experience and performance will build confidence in even the most timid driver with the proper safe instruction. Even paraplegics can learn to be artists provided they break the process down into small enough steps and do simple exercises along the way.
"Do not let what you can not do interfere with what you can do" - Wooden
Most frustration with drawing does not come from lack of talent but lack of good teaching. Lack of confidence, boredom, a bad experience, or ridicule can take the fun out of anything fast. It is human nature to avoid painful and embarrassing experiences. A few good experiences and others will say, I sure wish I had your talent.
Fear #2 I am afraid I would make too many mistakes. I just don't have the patience to draw.
Professional artists make mistakes constantly. They report that they like only one out of every five pictures they do! Some of the most wonderful masterpieces were created by trial and error. (Even though you may not know where the trial stops and the error begins.) So why not rush through the five "errors" in order to discover your masterpiece.
Give your self permission to explore and you will turn your mistakes into learning experiences. Sometimes all I see is mistakes in my pictures! Often the picture that I like the least is someone's favorite.60% of life is failure. 80% of art is failure. Style is just an artist organizing his failures.
"So paint as much as you can. Paint all that you can without fear of painting badly." - Monet
Fears #3 & 4 I am afraid to learn with out a teacher. I might learn to draw wrong. Artists agree that there is a right and wrong way to draw.
Art critics, collectors, museums, art teachers, and artists often disagree on what is right and wrong in art. Though there are art fundamentals, and formulae, there are more exceptions than rules.
"Bring your formula to nature, and nature knocks them flat." - Carot
Fear #5 Art might be fun, but I am afraid I would just be wasting my time. It has little practical use outside of its decorative value.
People remember only about 14% of what they hear. But they remember 86% of what they see. Last year over 700 trusted Christ in my meetings. Pastors and people have shared how the conceptual insights, creative visualization, and illustrative communication helped them develop many new attitudes and problem solving skills. Visualization is not only vital in communication of the gospel but it is a viable therapy used in many secular settings. It is essential to the video age, the information super highway, business and industry. It is already on the cutting edge of successful ministries everywhere.
Fear #6 Real artists don't have to copy a picture. They draw out of their imaginations. I'm afraid I can't do that.
No artist can draw an endless number of people, animals, landscapes, and other subjects. They all eventually have to work from research with photographs, sketches, models, formulas, or projections. They may not want to admit it, but they do!
But isn't that cheating to copy something? Almost everything we learn is learned by copying. Can you imagine a mother scolding a child learning how to speak for copying the word, "Mom". "Don't copy my words, make up your own! That's cheating.", she says.
Only the most conceited artist would claim instant perfection without any study. They have got to look at what they want to draw sometime.
"People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy" - Goldsmith
Art mediums by their very nature can never exactly reproduce any picture. That's what make it interesting. Tracing a picture forces the artist to immediately interpret the subject for his medium.
Recent studies show that artists taught to draw from photographs not only learn twice as fast; but are four times as skilled in technique when they draw without photographs! This is because tactile learning (tracing) focuses full attention on the duplication of the shapes that are there, with no preconceived bias. In this way tactile studies constrain the artist to trace the very finger of God.
No one cares how much you suffered as an artist. The great Masters used the technology available in their day to perfect their works. Modern photography and projection has made it possible for anyone to achieve wonderful results from the first attempt.
So you have a choice: You can trace the pride of those who dismiss modeling as 'not real art', or you can trace the finger of God.
Many contemporary artists at the top of their field learned this way. Their pictures sell in five and six figures. Some of them are hanging in the Smithsonian.
Fear #7 It takes a lifetime to develop an artistic style. I'm afraid I am not that creative. I don't have that much patience.
Frankly, an artist's style is just how the artist organizes mistakes! Isn't it wonderful to think that the first time you draw you began your own interpretive style. Remember: you don't have to like your style to learn from your style.
Fear #8 If you can't draw something right the first time, then you are not an artist. I'm afraid I can't do that. I just can't draw.
Some artists work on their pictures for years before they get them the way they want them. You always learn more by drawing something wrong than by drawing it right.
Fear #9 Each stage of a master artists' painting is beautiful. I'm afraid I would just make a mess.
Every masterpiece started out with a mess! Many struggling artists get discouraged because they do not realize that the difference between a mess and a masterpiece is just a few carefully planned and executed strokes.
Once the subject has been broken down into simple manageable problems that is can be gracefully dealt with. Mentally pry loose and sort out the simple steps of drawing so you can get a handle on them. Drawing is as simple as walking when your fears are gone.
Fear #10 Painting is easy if you have talent. I'm afraid I don't have much.
Talent is not just an endowment of genius from above. It is an aptitude that can be cultivated.
"People would not think I was such a genius if they knew how hard I have to work at mastery" - Michelangelo
Talent is a gift that grows from passion for art through effort and experience. I thought I had no talent for art when I started. If you saw my first pictures you would agree. There are hundreds of artists who used the 'no talent' excuse, who now draw professionally. Clue: They discovered talent was disguised as a passion for the work.
* Edwards, Dr. Betty. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Revised Edition. 1989. New York. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam Inc. P. xiii.
Modules
1. Challenge || 2. Essentials || 3. Obstacles || 4. Blindness || 5. Steps
6. Value || 7. Style || 8. Hidden Pictures || 9. Troubleshooting
Click here to purchase all 9 modules and basic exercises in the book
Fine Art Painting With Chalk