| The Balloon Theory You need to remember that drawing is fun, but it can also become hard work and very frustrating. I’d like to leave you with this final analogy which I have found over the years to be very true both for me personally and for those that I teach; pretend for a moment that you are surrounded by a balloon (like a birthday balloon). This balloon represents your current level of knowledge of drawing. The inside is filled with all the stuff you’ve learned and observed over the years. Now every time you learn something new it’s like you’re putting this into your balloon which fills it up a bit more and makes it expand a bit. Like any balloon, it can only be blown up so far. The pressure inside the balloon is high and the outside of the balloon is very tight. When your knowledge intake gets to be too much for your balloon, you feel a sense of pressure which may show itself through your inability to draw something properly or up to the standard you feel it should be. You say to yourself, “Man! Why can’t I get this right?” The common response is to throw up your hands and say, “I can’t draw!!!” We (as in we as artists) all feel this from time to time. When you begin to feel this way, don’t say, “I can’t draw.”, because obviously you can draw. Instead, try to focus on what it is that is bothering you about your drawing. Don’t be general about it, instead be very specific; is it the way you draw the eyes of your characters? or any other specific feature? Is it the construction lines that form the cross contours? Is it your understanding of perspective? Ellipses? Maybe it’s the way you hold your pencil, or the way you think when you draw, or how you analyze the object you’re trying to draw. Be very specific about what you are having a problem with. Focus down to the exact thing it is, be it mental or physical or even psychological. Once you’ve narrowed it down to one specific point, you can then begin to do things to change the way you’re currently doing things. It’s like you’re applying the point of the problem to the surface of your balloon. If you approach it properly, you’ll end up popping the balloon and you’ll feel this sudden release of pressure like, “Whoah, yeah, that feels a lot better!” Now be warned, every time you pop one of these balloons, another one immediately forms to contain your knowledge, if it didn’t, everything you have learned would just drift away... then you’d be in trouble. This new balloon however, is much larger than the last and has room to expand and get filled up with new information and experience. Be assured that this cycle continues over and over and over, I would assume until you die or decide for yourself to stop learning. This is the neat and frustrating thing about drawing and art in general, you will always think that there is more to learn and you’re never as good as you want to be. That’s what keeps us trying harder every time we draw. Sure there will be times when you’ll become comfortable with where you are as an artist, but eventually someone, either yourself or a co worker, or your boss will expect more out of you than what you’re currently doing. That’s a form of a challenge that I try to give myself every time I sit down to draw. I’ll think, “How can I make this drawing better than the last drawing?” Then I try to do it. So, that’s the challenge that I’ll leave with you. Good luck, have fun, and remember, “THINK WHEN YOU DRAW!!” |
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