We’ve all been wowed by a sketch of a familiar face or an animal that seems to jump off of the page with realism, even though we know it was done with a common pencil and paper. So how do they do it? Yes, some people are born with this gift, but it is something that anyone can learn.

What you see is what you get

The first thing for the beginning artist to learn is that artists use a different vocabulary than the rest of the population when they are working. The trick is that they never name the object they are looking at. Yes, it is that simple and it’s a big part of learning how to see. If you can see, you can draw.

Suppose you are trying to draw a face. You look at the eyes, the nose and the mouth and no matter how hard you try the image you produce does not look like the model standing before you. This is why. Artists don’t say to themselves ‘I am drawing a nose,’ because all noses are different. Instead they concentrate on the size, shape, and proportion unique to that nose. They look at the details, such as the line of the bridge of the nose. While they are looking at the details of line and shape, they continually look at the whole to determine how the line relates to the space and proportion of the rest of the face.

It’s All in Your Head

The difference, as taught to us by Betty Edwards in her exceptional book “Drawing on the Right side of the Brain,” is that in order to allow your drawing to flourish, you must put your right brain in control.

The human brain is made of two distinct sides, the right and left side of the brain. The left side is good at organizing and judging. It sees a nose and says ‘this is a nose.’ It’s the logical side that impresses the boss in a job interview and looks good in a business suit.

On the other hand, the right side of the brain doesn’t think in words. It sees shapes, space, distance…sound familiar? Yes. It sees with an artist’s eye. So how do you put you right brain in gear and start making art? Begin by looking at an object (a chair, a shoe, your hand) but don’t name it just stare for a while. Think of it in terms of lines that bend and curve. Look at where one line intersects another. Estimate the length of a line and its shape.

Keep Your Eye on the Model

Drawing requires you to look constantly at the object. You must find a line, and then capture that line on paper. In fact, many art instructors insist that it is more important to look at the object that you are drawing, than to look at your paper. Don’t worry about the details yet, just concentrate on the line. Once you have created a correctly proportioned image, you can add highlights and shade.

If this process is new to you, it may take a while until you feel comfortable seeing the world this way. Don’t give up. Make drawing a part of your life and you’ll be amazed at what you are able to do.

Enhance your understanding of art with these color mixing for artists resources. Artist color mixing is a facinating look at the work of color in paint and other media. Pick up a paint color mixing chart for ongoing reference.