Teach Yourself to Draw with the Power of Positive Thinking

No one is born being able to draw. Drawing is a learnable skill that anyone can master if they have the desire, determination, and patience to learn. This is a true story of how I taught myself this difficult skill. I've written this article in the hope it will motivate and inspire other fledging artists who are struggling to master the art of drawing. All the drawings on this page are my own.

To Draw Well You Must Have a Strong Desire to Learn

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to learn to draw. My first recollection of having this desire was when I was at school. There was this girl in my school who drew very well indeed. She was able to draw people wearing all kinds of clothes, standing in all kinds of positions, and even draw the scenery around them. I was not even able to draw a stick figure that did not look like a three year old drew it. I longed to draw like this girl, and this is where my desire to draw began.

You Must Keep On Trying In Spite Of Your Doubts and Failures

My next memory of wanting to draw was whenever I looked at comics. I marvelled at how the artists were able to create fascinating movie-like scenes on a piece of paper. I tried in vain to copy their efforts and I failed miserably. But this did not dampen my ardour; the more I failed the more I wanted to succeed.

You Must Learn From Others - Either from a Book, Online, Or In a Class

I bought every book I could find on drawing and began to work on the lessons in those books. Even then my drawings were rubbish but I was learning. At the time though I did not see it that way; I thought I would always be useless at drawing and that my feeble attempts were proof of my ineptitude. One book I remember reading at the time which helped me very much indeed was a book called, 'Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain' by Dr Betty Edwards, it is in my opinion, one of the best how to draw books in the world today.

Spend Time on Each Drawing; a Good Drawing Can Take Hours

The real breakthrough in my drawing ability came the day I decided to spend a few hours on a drawing and not expect a great drawing after only just a few minutes. Before that day I had never spent more than a few minutes on any drawing. This time I decided to spend a few hours working on one image of Nelson Mandela. This was the day I realised I could draw.  It had taken me years of trial and error but finally something clicked and I achieved a breakthrough.

Remember There Is No Such Thing As An Overnight Success.

Over the years every so called failed attempt at drawing had actually been taking me one step closer to mastering the skills necessary to draw well. Every frustrated effort and despised result was my apprenticeship. But I was unable to see that at the time.

Desire and Persistence Will Get You There In End

This article was never intended to be a nuts and bolts tutorial about the rudiments of drawing. There are plenty of books and online tutorials that will teach you that. What is often missing in many of those books and tutorials is the human element documenting the psychological tug-of-war that takes place in a person's mind when they are learning how to draw. What goes on in your mind about your ability to learn to draw is an important part of the process of becoming an artist.

Think Positively About Your Ability to Learn To Draw Well

This last tip on teaching yourself how to draw may at first glance seem as though it has no place in a list of tips on drawing, but I believe it could be one of the most important drawing tips you will ever hear. Thinking positively about your ability to master the difficult task of learning to draw can be the soothing balm you will need to get you through the many days when your drawing ability does not live up to your expectations.

Believing you will one day draw as well as many of the artists you now admire is the fuel that could give you the mileage to keep on with your pursuit of drawing excellence. Keep at it, learn something new every week and within a relatively short space of time you too could be producing drawings that others will admire.

If you enjoyed this article you may also be interested in my other article on generating quick article ideas.

Can't Think Of Article Ideas - Here Is A Way To Generate Them Fast