Don't try to improve yourself as an artist. Try instead to
improve the particular art work at hand.
When you start you have an idea in your head and a blank
page. After you have made the first attempt to put down the idea
you may fail miserably. But remember that now you have something
better than a blank page. You have some depiction of your idea,
plus a clear understanding of what is wrong with that
depiction.
When you improve a badly drawn picture, always draw the
improvement first before erasing the original. A visible mistake
is easier to rectify than an invisible one.
Remember that it is the final art work that counts, not how
many iterations you had to spend to arrive at it.
Wen you draw something by looking at the actual object (or a
photograph of it) you have two types of info: what-you-know and
what-you-see. It is a pity that often these two contend with each
other. When you draw what-you-see (or what you think you
see), the result may grossly contradict what-you-know. A typical
example being two nicely drawn eyes that look different. However,
if you rely too much on what-you-know, you risk producing
sterotyped artwork. Children often do this mistake. My daughter
always insists drawing two eyes while drawing a face even in
profile view. All her flowers have exactly 4 roundish petals.
Once way out of this problem is via gesture drawing. The idea is
best illustrated with an example. Consider the following numbers
Look at these numbers. Now I shall hide the third number (leaving
the others visible). You have to tell me that number. Can you do
this? Yes, quite easily, once you notice that all these numbers
differ only in the rightmost two digits. So remembering those two
are enough.
The common part is the structure and the variable part is the
gesture. This is useful while drawing. We all know the
structure of a human body. So when we want to draw a human figure
it is enough to jot down just the "extra features" or gesture. As
one artist once put it, gesture drawing means drawing what the
person is doing. The more you know your subject (need not be
human) the more sructural info you have, and so the less gesture
you need. Often a gesture drawing is as different from the final
art work as 54 is from the third number above. So don't feel bad
if an uninitiated onlooker is unimpressed with your gesture
drawings.
Many art teachers ask you to start with a rough structure and
then add details to it. While this is a great advice, remember
the following points.
Never use 2D structures for 3D objects.
You decide about the structure to use after
inspecting the object. Too many art teachers prescribe formulaic
models for popular subjects like human figures, heads, dogs,
horses. Avoid them as much as possible.
Structure is not so much about physical truth as it is about
visual perception. Thus, the shape of the skull may be less
important than an imaginary cone formed by a woman's hair. Look
for simple 3D shapes. Imagining such shapes in a real scene, if
done consciously, is
an area where a student is most likely to improve very fast.
The main reason why structures are useful, is because they
allow quick identification and correction of errors.
Complete the entire picture at the structural level before
adding details.
Being sloppy with details may be OK, but being sloppy with
structures is sure to lead to ugly pictures.
Practice is important, but often one attaches too much emphasis
on making too many drawing. Remember that a good drawing requires
subtle thinking, which is possible only with a fresh hopeful
mind. If you force yourself to draw too much, you will face too
many failures, and each failure will sap oit your enthusiasm. It
is like making a loss in a business venture. A failure is a pillar
of success ony when you carefully analyse it to rectify it.
"Keep on drawing without caring about how good the outcome is" is
a precept often given by art teachers. But this maxim produces
more frustrated art students than accomplished artists.
There are two types of mistakes: where you do not mind the
mistake, and where you do. It is the latter that saps out
enthusiasm. Every time this happens, stop drawing. Look at what
ou have done, and try to pin point the mistake. Don't remain
satisfied with a vague statement like "Something does not look
right". Seek a concrete statement like "This line is shorter than
it should be". Then think if you could have detected the mistake
earlier. If not, then you have reason to be happy, as you have
caught the mistake at the earliest. Next, try to rectify the mistake.
It is quite possible that you feel too angry, agitated or tired to
do these three steps in a composed manner. Then take rest, and
come back later. But never allow such failures to pile up. If you
do, then either you'll eventually get frustrated and stop drawing
or you'll become callous towards failures (which means the artist
inside you has died).