Sketches, Smetches

I've always been able to make a decent sketch of something, but as all unschooled sketchers (not the shoes, mind you), my drawings have always be askew, awry and a-missing the proper perspective.

Good thing I discovered Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less.

And yes, he's awesomely right when he says “drawing is a learned skill.”

There's some myth in the belief that you can't draw good if you're not born with the talent.

Of course, there are those who seem to have been born with their hand holding a pencil, able to sketch intricate, technically correct landscapes and portraits. I certainly had a classmate in grade school who seemed to have a knack of drawing faces and mixing colors attractibely. I remember he once drew a dog—which looked like how dogs looked like in real life—in kindergarten. Precocious, I tell you. Er, prodigious,  too.

Still, drawing is an acquired skill. Which is something Kistler capitalized on when he came up with his 30-day drawing tutorial.

I'm on Lesson 17 now, and I can truly say Mr. Kistler truly knows what he's doing with wannabe sketchers like me who just want to draw things that resembles something that really exists in real life, heh.

As you can see in the baseline pre-test, my sketching technique—and results—are elementary at best.

The Pre-Test. Elementary, my dear Watson. Very elementary.

But as I get from Lesson 1, which is drawing the basic sphere, down to the constructing houses with cubes, I've gone a long way, baby. I can honestly say, with all pride and confidence, that I can sketch something—to a fashion—and still have that thingie look as real as it is seen in the real world.

Lesson 1, The Sphere. What do you know, that ball is actually a ball!

Lesson 1 Bonus Challenge. When you look at it, you know that's an apple.
Admit it! I do, heh.

Lesson 2, Double Spheres. So this time, I learned about foreshadowing and
placement. Oh, and the nook and crannies. Let's not forget about them!

Lesson 3, Advanced-Level Spheres. There was a debate whether those were the
dinners rolls I usually make or ping-pong balls. I say them round thingamajigs
are just round thingamabobs and be done with it.

Lesson 3, Bonus Challenge. I had fun placing spheres all over.

Lesson 3, Another Bonus Challenge. This time, learning how to play around
with spheres and holes.

Lesson 4, The Cube. Again, placement, foreshadowing and nooks and crannies.

Lesson 4 Bonus Challenge. That's a UPS box if every there was one!

Lesson 5, Hollow Cubes. There is indeed a proper way to draw them open boxes.

Lesson 5 Bonus Challenge. A party treasure box!

Lesson 6, Stacking Tables. Drawing on the cube lesson.
This is how you draw a table, heh.

Lesson 6 Bonus Challenge. Now, I can mix and match spheres and cubes!

Lesson 7, Advanced-Level Cubes. I discovered in this lesson
that drawing castles are quite easy to do!

Lesson 7 Bonus Challenge. See, I told you. Castles are easy peasy.

Lesson 8, Cool Koalas. I loved this lesson the most.
Who knew I can draw faces and animals and still
not have them go awry or askew...or worse, become
something else entirely. (A monster, perhaps?)

Lesson 8 Bonus Challenge. Here's a bunch of curious koalas
that reminded me of Dr. Seuss.

Lesson 8 Bonus Challenge. I felt brave and drew a koala freestyle.
And no, that's not a mouth opened wide. That's the little cutie's nose, heh.

Lesson 9, The Rose. Again, there is a way to draw rose without sweating buckets.

Lesson 9 Bonus Challenge. Inspired by the yellow roses I saw at Walmart, heh.

Lesson 10, The Cylinder. Beginnings of a still life, eh?

Lesson 10 Bonus Challenge. Drawing Bush's Grillin'
Beans. Nice!

Lesson 11, Advanced-Level Cylinders. I enjoyed this.
Overlapping, placement, foreshadowing. Spheres, cubes,
stacking et cetera et cetera!

Testing my mettle with a still life from my Pinterest board. Like it.

Lesson 12, Constructing with Cubes. My first ever
house drawing that really looked like a house that
humans live in. Ha!

Like I always say, it's never too late to learn something new. And this season, sketching is my new learning experience.

So, where's this new skill going to take me? What do you know, I might earn some dollars from it one of these days! ;)

Want to learn how to draw? Get Mark's book today and start sketching with me!



Q4U: How about you, what new skill are you acquiring these days? Share it and the steps you're taking to get them in the comments section below. Thanks for dropping by!