More often than not I tend to not listen to people.
Come on, where is the fun in listening to what people say?
Of course, the result is a lot of mistakes, and the lessons learned remain stone carved in my memory.
So like every other person trying to learn something, I checked out the tips and tricks of drawing and like a teenage rebel, only heard those and learned to apply them only the hard way.
So here 3 things I learned through experience in spite of the advice being spoon-fed.
1. Make light strokes with your pencil.
This was perhaps the easiest one to follow but alas my stubborn head. I made dark lines. What more, I tried erasing them and the marks just won’t go. I ended up with a dirty smudgy drawing even before I made something nice.
Also, remember how they teach you to make that ‘rough sketch’ before you begin your actual piece. I took that quite literally and my drawing never looked like I wanted to.
What I learned was to make a more deliberate and intentional ‘rough sketch* which was supposed to be my guideline. If my guidelines were good, the chances of my output being well increased.
2. Know my art supplies.
Once my brother gifted me a box of 36 watercolor pencils. Ignorant me did not have any idea of how to use them, and then nor did I have any patience to learn. So like five years old with some pencils and a sharpener, I sharpened them and scribbled away like there was no tomorrow (It was an immense joy).
Now I know how watercolor pencils work and I no longer have my favorite colors. Now I wish to get a box again and plan on using it wisely.
When I began using poster colors, I thought all I would need was a dish and a brush. I was wrong. Water and normal paper is a bad combination. My paper wrinkled and got torn sometimes. It was agony. Luckily I had access to chart paper and old journals to work as a substitute to watercolor paper.
With the correct combination of tools, the endeavor becomes much easier.
3. Let that paper dry.
Whenever I used a water medium to paint, I made a huge mess. I started all well and good but the step where you have to WAIT to let the paper DRY, the demon of impatience took over my hands and you can imagine the colors go haywire.
So now I put on some music whenever I know I have to let the paper dry. The impatience demon plays with music while my hands do the waiting. And believe me, it’s worth waiting for the paper to dry. The end result is much better to look at.
That is all for now from my teeny tiny attempts at learning this art.
Tell me about your fails in the comment section.
Which lesson did you refuse to learn readily and later learned it with experience?