2 answers
AJ
Student
Richmond, California
3
Questions
Asked
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How long would it take to hone your drawing skills?
Hi! I'm a female 16-year-old 11th grader, and I have a big interest in character/concept designing for cartoons/videogames.
How long does it usually take to master and be confident in drawing human figures and landscapes? And how difficult is it to create a new and creative concept? What personally motivates you to draw?
Thank you for your time.
#character-design #concept-design #cartoons #video-games #drawing #art
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2 answers
Ellen Rosenthal
Retired Art Teacher
239
Answers
Woodbridge, Virginia
Updated
Ellen’s Answer
Hi AJC! Always nice to answer questions from young artists! This is one of those "it depends" answers, and, as such, they are sometimes hard to answer, but I'll give it a try.
It depends on where you are in your drawing skills. If you are naturally gifted in drawing and work really hard, I would say you should be competent enough by the end of high school to get into a good art school, where you could further improve your skills. Drawing the human form correctly and in proportion is a huge challenge. Becoming really good at drawing of any type takes time and effort, and there is no substitute for that. Keep on drawing and learning from others.
I'm hoping you are taking art in your high school? If you are, talk to your art teacher; you might want to do a side-by-side comparison of a professional character/concept drawing and one of your best. With your art teacher, you should be able to evaluate what you are doing right and what you need to improve on.
As an artist, I have always loved to draw, there is something about drawing that both challenges me and relaxes me. I draw still lifes, botanicals, and landscapes for paintings and prints. I'm now in my 60's, and I feel pretty confident in my drawing at this point, but it took a while. I did a lot of drawing in high school and in college, and when I look back on those artworks, they actually seem pretty good, but at the time, I was not happy with them at all. I think like all artists, I'm always looking to improve my art skills, even now. So, a lot is personal perception, and that this why it is important to have art teachers or other artists around you, who can give you feedback as you develop your skills.
Best wishes! I hope this helps.
It depends on where you are in your drawing skills. If you are naturally gifted in drawing and work really hard, I would say you should be competent enough by the end of high school to get into a good art school, where you could further improve your skills. Drawing the human form correctly and in proportion is a huge challenge. Becoming really good at drawing of any type takes time and effort, and there is no substitute for that. Keep on drawing and learning from others.
I'm hoping you are taking art in your high school? If you are, talk to your art teacher; you might want to do a side-by-side comparison of a professional character/concept drawing and one of your best. With your art teacher, you should be able to evaluate what you are doing right and what you need to improve on.
As an artist, I have always loved to draw, there is something about drawing that both challenges me and relaxes me. I draw still lifes, botanicals, and landscapes for paintings and prints. I'm now in my 60's, and I feel pretty confident in my drawing at this point, but it took a while. I did a lot of drawing in high school and in college, and when I look back on those artworks, they actually seem pretty good, but at the time, I was not happy with them at all. I think like all artists, I'm always looking to improve my art skills, even now. So, a lot is personal perception, and that this why it is important to have art teachers or other artists around you, who can give you feedback as you develop your skills.
Best wishes! I hope this helps.
Gwendolyn Mumford
Graphic Designer at AIG
40
Answers
Houston, Texas
Updated
Gwendolyn’s Answer
Hi AJ! It's great that you are practicing drawing before you get to college. Just for reference concerning the human figure, my art degree required 5 semesters of drawing class, with 3 of those being life-drawing classes. It takes a lot of work to get comfortable! That being said, daily practice makes a HUGE difference. Like many other skills, if you stop practicing for a while you'll lose some of your ability. Even if you aren't drawing the human figure daily, it would be a good practice to start drawing daily, even if it's stacking up some shapes or fruit and sketching that out really quickly. Pay attention to shapes and planes, not just what the object is. If you get comfortable with simple objects it will definitely help prepare you for drawing characters for cartoons, etc. Also, I would try different methods. Practice drawing with pencils, pens, new materials, etc, but then switch it up occasionally and try drawing digitally for a day. Then go back to pen and paper. Keep it fresh and fun.
I hope that helps! Good luck with your drawing.
I hope that helps! Good luck with your drawing.