Never Too Late

A common question I like to ask people once we’re starting to get to know each other is, “Do you like to draw?’ Answers vary a lot, but the answers that always to stick out to me are those who express interest, but are hesitant about starting.

Typical reasons include:

• “I liked drawing as a child, but stopped.”
• “I would love to, but there’s no time.”
• “I’m no good at it.”
• “I think it’s too late to get started.”

The last two responses always break my heart (the most)! Sure, drawing is not for everyone, but I firmly believe that if you want to, then you can.

The “I’m no good at it” response has to be my least favorite. No one is born with a golden paintbrush in their hand. While there are incredibly talented artists out there, they, too, have to hone and strengthen their skills. Art is a skill like any other, which will take time and dedication to get better at.

I totally understand the doubt and hesitance, because I’ve been there myself. Because sometimes I struggle with these thoughts too, as I’m nowhere near to what I think is a professional level. But there comes a point in time where you have to work past these fears. My current career aspirations don’t have anything to do with art, but I’d like to think that somewhere down the road if I wanted to become a comic book artist, I could do so.

Even celebrities that we know of hadn’t reached their dreams until adulthood.

• J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter in her mid-twenties while in poverty and faced multiple rejections.
• Samuel L. Jackson was 45 years old when his role in Pulp Fiction granted him fame.
  

I just think they are some good examples of not to give up if you want to start pursuing an interest later in life. This is just as easily applied to art. The important thing is to devote time to it often and keep at it.

Copying in a Safe Way

As an artist there are laws that protect your artwork, whether it’s a traditional piece, computer graphic, or a photograph. Also as an artist, you may want to use others’ work to incorporate into your own, but you don’t know how far one can go until you start infringing on someone else’s copyright protections. The line can be quite muddy, but there’s a simple method you can use to guarantee you are not breaking any laws.

Here is what you will need:

• A camera (phone cameras work fine)

• A friend (optional)

• Your imagination

That’s right, you’re going to take your own reference photos! This is a 100% guarantee that no one can accuse you of copying or cheating. Some people already mistakenly think that using reference material is cheating, but they’re doing themselves a huge disservice if they are artists themselves. Even seasoned professionals use references!

So grab your camera and photograph anything that might come in handy! I personally have a folder named “References” that I keep in Pictures. If you want human poses, this is where a friend comes in handy. You can ask them to take photos of you, or you can take photos of them! Try different poses such as leaning or walking, standing or sitting, or more dynamic moves like hitting or kicking. Experimenting with perspective will help a lot in the future when you’re making more complicated pieces.

Besides humans, you can try photographing;

• Textures (bricks, wood panels)

• Buildings

• Animals

• Vehicles

Usually, you don’t have to worry about referencing random photos in the privacy of your own sketchbook, and I highly recommend looking at references in order to practice! (Please do.) But in today’s digital age, a young and budding artist may want to share their work with the world, and that is a wonderful thing, though you have to be careful from handling others’ ideas.

My hands in various positions

Witnessing Your Artistic Growth

I have a fun idea to share for artists that have been drawing for years! Or even for artists who have only been drawing for six months. The point of the activity is to see your progress! The only requirement is that you need an old piece of artwork. The older, the better.

Ever since I saw the “Draw This Again” meme being passed around on deviantArt, a social media site for artists, I just had to give it a try on my own. Of course, the idea for the “Draw This Again” meme didn’t originate on dA; I’m sure people have redrawn their own art for ages. It became popular to post your images side-by-side on a set template (optional) to get a clear comparison of the old and the new artwork.

Screenshot of searching "Draw this again" on deviantArt

If you haven’t gotten it by now, I’m talking about simply finding an old piece of art you were fond of at the time, and redrawing it! It is a fun way to see how far you’ve come as an artist, and can be quite encouraging. Even if the time difference is only a few months (not recommended, though) and see tiny improvements, that’s still something to celebrate!

The first person to “create” this meme is unknown, but its origins trace back to deviantArt in 2010. That’s when it started to grow in popularity and many artists would join in on the fun.

Alright, alright, I’ll show you an example that I did. When I was a preteen, I absolutely adored anime and manga (and admittedly, I still do), so I attempted to draw my own manga, or comic. It was about a middle-schooler who had an incredible talent for singing, but would transform into a different persona so that her career wouldn’t get tangled up in her normal life. Like Hannah Montana... I swear I came up with it first! Anyway, I was fond of my characters and decided to redraw the protagonists of my silly series.

Keep in mind I haven't drawn consistently for the past ten years, and I've still kept my cartoon style, but... I don't know where I was going with this. Anyway, consider trying this yourself and see how far you've come on your artistic journey.