It's always good advice to suggest studying objects and drawing as a way to learn to draw, but I always think this is akin to learning to play piano by starting with J.S. Bach. I too have received this advice, and I got no where with it. My most productive approach was to ask instead, "When I go to draw, what am I supposed to be learning?" "What does it mean for a drawing to look real?" "What do I have to give the viewer so that he says, 'That looks real?'" I figure that I have to achieve the following goals for the viewer:
<ul>[*]Indicate the components of the object. Eg for the hand say, indicate where all the digits and joints are located.[*] Indicate what is in front of what. It the case of the hand, you can use the edges of the joints to "go in front of" or "go behind" the other joints.[*] for each object, unambiguously indicate which sides of that object you are seeing, top left right....[*]Make certain that each object vanishes to the same horizon line.
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To me, the best way to
study for this is to develop a mental mannequin like model of whatever you are drawing-- I use little light ovals that indicate the sides-- and then draw over this. This is a layered approach. First indicate volumes, and relation to the horizon line, then indicate details, by drawing in the overlapping edges. Anatomy is a great way to learn about the details for human figure drawing, but you don't have to be a doctor. With anatomy, I found it best to learn about insertions, because that is what creates the lines that indicate that something is in front of or behind something else. Learning to draw for me was a treasure hunt, where you need to know what treasure you are looking for before you start looking!
[This message has been edited by dhenton (edited February 24, 2000).]
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