I also believe that drawing skills are one of the biggest assets to anyone in the creative field. Being a part illustrator myself, learning to draw got me far in a summer at fashion school, and now allow me to communicate visually effectively (in the conceptual stages especially) to clients, as well as being my usual next stop to visualizing my photo shoots frames as a photographer – especially if the effort involved is group work. It’s a cheap, easy, and fast form of effective visual communication.
Like most skills, consistently drawing is the only way to get better. I’ve come across some beautiful sketches by Wesley Burt which show beautiful realizations of some visuals he put together on paper – and all he needed was a graphite pencil, paper, obviously honed drawing skills and some vision. You can see where he’s taken from his surroundings and recreated people, locations, etc.. Some are more ‘set up’ than others, but the process is so clearly raw and inspirational; showing how the beginning steps in exploring a composition are dynamic and ever changing.
I’m putting some of my picks of Wesley’s work up in hope that it’ll inspire and remind everyone (including myself) to keep drawing. Enjoy, and you can view the rest by clicking here for more.
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2 comments:
With sufficient practice, anyone can draw – true. However, I think it is important to communicate that a well rendered drawing isn’t the only kind of drawing that people want to see. With enough vision, a crudely drawn picture can be more engaging than something indistinguishable from a photograph. Kids, for instance, have an impeccable sense of composition; I hung a show of prints done by kindergartners (in a public library) that made me jealous. I think it is important to prevent kids from becoming technique obsessed as they get older – to get them stop concerning themselves with shading, contrast and likeness and keep focusing on content. My roommate still draws like a kid, and I have her stuff hanging all over my apartment.
True, it's not the only type people want to see, and I was mostly emphasizing drawing practice and different styles are a given of course. I think however being a designer and working commercially, providing descriptive yet easily recognizable visuals is what we aim for in our work when it comes to process. In terms of childlike drawings, as inspiring as they are and a good reminder to loosen up, i'd find it hard presenting a childlike sketch to a client when pitching a concept. Designers and artists can live in different worlds sometimes when it comes to these details, as much as I believe that there's room for all sorts of drawing styles out there in other aspects. There's just a reason, for example, why storyboard artists don't have a portfolio filled with styles that are too abstract - esp talking from my region, which has a significantly more 'conservative' (in creative styles) client base than perhaps the United States. I suppose we're catching up..
That said, I'm glad you dropped by since I'm hoping to feature some of your work on the blog soon! Right after an industrial designer.. Random, i know. Sorry to haven't featured you sooner, especially that i'd mentioned that before. I just checked your website and read more about you and dude way to go, i had no idea you were so young. I would have loved to have featured you in one of my earlier posts about breaking the age and work maturity stereotype. All the best!
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