Many artists have struggled with pencil drawing and have not really gotten good at it. They then move on to paint with colors, and when they find that they face the same basic drawing problems, they choose to ignore them and make up some excuse so that they can avoid having to face those problems. If you’re facing the same problems, my advice to you is to meet those problems head on and overcome them once and for all. Artists who refuse to face and tackle drawing problems head on can only do so much. Their growth is stunted, and their drawing skills will not improve. Over time, their skills will be overtaken by those who took the trouble to examine the problems and actually solve them.

Once the drawing problems are solved, it’s then a question of consciously choosing how you want to draw. For example, many artists cannot draw realistic pictures using pencil. When the drawing didn’t turn out the way they wanted it to, they say it’s abstract art, or they’re trying to symbolise the subjects. But we all know the truth. There are times when drawing a realistic picture is much better than symbolic drawing, so we can’t run away forever. Sooner or later, we’re going to come face to face with the same set of problems.

But the good news is, once you undersand the basic problems of pencil drawing, you’ll learn that they’re not that difficult to overcome. And if you can learn to overcome these problems, you’ll also find it easier to overcome problems associated with color, since the problems are similar in nature. The number one problem to pencil drawing is control. Artists can’t draw what they want to draw because they don’t know how to control the drawing tools properly. But how difficult can it be to control a pencil? It’s easy if you know how.

For instance, you can vary the pressure of the pencil to shade with a whole range of different tones. You can choose to work with a blunt or sharp pencil, or decide to hold the pencil differently. These are all techniques related to pencil drawing. So don’t jump the gun, be patient, and learn to draw well with pencils before moving on. After all, part of drawing is about problem solving, and if you can’t solve your pencil problems, you won’t be able to solve your painting problems. That’s why pencil drawing is an essential skill to acquire.

Tags : Artists, Pencil Drawing, Symbolic Drawing

The children of our current generation, admittedly are more sophisticated than we were, we, being the baby boomer generation. We felt we were the most insightful generation ever. Of course every generation has its share of egotism. That was obviously prevalent in ours (the baby boomers)

Graduation is not the same as being “born again”. There is no bright light tunnel-to-heaven glowing light experience. It is a very long process of day in and day out learning of skills through books, socializing, and other experiences.

One might be surprised at the origins of education. It comes from the Greek word “educare” which means “to draw out”. The ancient Greeks felt that the child already had the seed of knowledge in them, and a good educator simply spent time drawing that knowledge out, rather than pushing it in. Many, but of course not all, of today’s educators are ego-driven and have forgotten the real meaning of education and use their teaching platform as a pulpit to share “their knowledge” and show it off. Of course that is a sad reality. Many know better and actually use educare. It’s a luck of the draw.

Kids are also a bit more cynical, question authority, aware of their environment, and more often than not, are on the same stage as the teacher. They do not look at the classroom as some kind of “mystical experience” as our generation did. Many of them look at it as a part of their day, and understand they are going through a process that helps them reach adulthood. Most of us, at least in my circle, hadn’t really a clue as to why we were there. The idea of “so we could go to college” was instilled in our minds, but we really didn’t understand the meaning of the value of that.

Distractions, often too many, take away from the focus of learning today They, like us, have shortcuts to knowledge, same as we (adults) do, such as the Internet. The Xerox television commercial of the teacher telling the students that getting a book published is tough because it takes money, and a student raising his hand and debating that due to the new print on demand process, exemplifies that.

Humor is the “great communicator”, however, between the more enlightened educator, and student. Teachers and professors, today are using educational cartoons to drive home an important point, Some major textbook publishers are utilizing such cartoons in their books. They know that kids tend to be more visually than verbally-oriented. A picture tells a thousand words, and educators are beginning to take that literally.

What has been proven to bond teacher and student is humor, especially in the form of cartoon. It can change a student, and even a teacher’s attitude about the learning process. It has a powerful bonding effect as well.

If you are a teacher or professor, it might be worthwhile to consider adding a few bright, witty, educational cartoons in your mix. It does not have to be overbearing, only a few per week or month to make a point. Many instructors and publisher who have licensed my cartoons have told me they make a tremendous difference in the spirit of learning.

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