Interested in Photography and Drawing

[thenelli01 28]

Hello - I have been very interested in pursuing both of these, and now that I have some free time, I plan to start. I was hoping someone might have some suggestions on where to start (besides suggesting to take a class).

 

Thank you.

Edited December 17, 2013 by thenelli01

[JASKN 240]

For drawing beginners, it's hard to beat Andrew Loomis' two books Fun With A Pencil and Successful Drawing. These were just re-released in print, and for years before you may have been able to get a "preview" of them online, to hold you over until you buy them from Amazon. In addition, the forums at CGSocity.org have thousands of threads with thousands more posts on, among other things, figure drawing and art technique and theory. That should keep you busy for a really, really long time. Drawing is really a worthy lifelong pursuit, if you're interested.

 

I'm less knowing about photography resources, since I've never been as interested. However, 500px has MANY amazing photos, and I'm sure you could dig through the photographers for advice leads via Google searches, or for inspiration, or just trying to copy what they did for fun. Google searches for 500px and tutorials yields things, too.

[New Buddha 97]

My one suggestion would be to focus on drawing real-life objects, and not from photos.  Drawing from photos is convenient, but you develop bad habits.

[MaggieTee 0]

My personal favorite for beginning to draw is Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty White. This book opened the door to my journey in the world of art. I love to draw and have expanded my horizons to include watercolor painting.

 

Although I have no suggestions for learning photogaphy, I will say this: it is extremely helpful in giving you subject matter for your drawing projects, and it also helps to teach you about space, balance, etc.

 

Good luck, and above all have fun!

[theestevearnold 9]

For drawing:

 

Buy paper, pencils, an eraser, and a Rapidiograph pen (or a similar brand). 

 

Think.....what do you wanna see? [Note: the drawings on my website, listed below in grey, were commissions and don't necessarily represent my philosophy.] And decide on the essential details of your vision.

 

Sketch it out. If it's not right, discard your paper and start again (unless it only needs minor adjustments, in which case, erase and redraw).

 

Pen your lines with bravery (hesitation will slow improvement). It's okay to turn the paper in order to approach the lining from comfortable angles, but first find which angles are comfortable, e.g.: My verticle lines are better when I start at the top, and my horizontal lines are better when I start on the left (but even better when I turn the paper to treat horizontal lines like verticals).

 

Erase the pencil lines, but make sure your pen ink is dry first.

 

Shade and color it. This is where you have too many options for me to list, including scanning your outline and using a Photoshop type program.  

 

And draw another picture, and another picture, and another, etc., while reading all the great books mentioned in the posts above.

[Alfa 20]

I really like JASKN's advice. There are a few things I like to add to it though.

 

Regarding 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain', use that as a guide to help you develop your eye. The "science" is junk and there are other methods that will help you just as well. What it does though, is help you see things differently. That is really valuable and something that will always help you later on.

And in regards to train your eye I recommend Charles Barques drawing plates. Google them. They're meant to be copied as exactly as possible, and they really help. Aside from that I like to reommend Glen Vilppus drawing classes. They're available on video, which I think is great. Vilppu used to draw animations for Disney and his classes are oustanding.

Also check out (good, mind you) speed drawing videos on youtube. That's also something you'll find usefull when developing your eye.

 

When choosing what to draw, focus on what you think is fun and rewawrding. That's what keeps you motivated and what is important to YOU.

[Diane Comer 0]

Nice suggestions  "theestevearnold" .

I had started painting about an year ago from landscape real scene and i love that. If you are also a beginner then i suggest you to start same as i had, painting a real-landscape improve your capturing and imagination skills both at the same time.