Can you learn to draw?

[james_m246]

I've always wanted to be able to draw but always assumed that either your good at it or your not. So I wondered if you guys think its possible to learn to be a good drawer?

[jno]

I think so, though it may not be possible to become a great artist without some unusual degree of talent. Have a look at
http://www.doonesbury.com
- compare the recent strips with the ones in the archive that he was doing 30 years or more ago. His drawing was lousy then; it's pretty good now. So I guess practice makes perfect, or at least makes you better.

[andy-hughes]

I think if you have the basic talent, then it can be developed, and that applies to any artform, but if you lack even the basic skills to begin with, you are not going to be able to develop something which is just not there.

I tried my level best ar art all through school, and was consistently lousy at it, and I accept that my skill is not painting or drawing, but writing. I have always had a natural flair for telling stories, and observation, and I am a successful part-time freelance writer, having honed my talent.

[AJKULA77]

try this place
www.lavenderhillstudio.com

[Shaftmonde]

Yes, I am sure that anyone can learn to handle pen, pencil or paintbrush. It is a manipulative skill, and any skill will get better the more you practice.
BUT! Good art is not so much a question of dexterity. It is what is perceived in the mind's eye. You have to have an idea of what you want to achieve.
And that relies on a sense of imagination; the ability to visualise images.
But I believe that too can be cultivated.
It's all a question of application and desire.
Lots of people say "How I wish I could play a musical instrument". But they could if they had put the time in.
They just don't want it enough to do the work.

However, most of us will never aspire to the heights of the great masters. Remember that they spent a lifetime doing nothing else, and even then, we only remember those which caught the public's attention.