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Drawing · 2 February 2019



Drawing is not something that comes natural to me, but I have been having a lot of fun making pictures for my blog posts.


I am not an artist, but I do like to draw and do other forms of art. I have drawn from time to time just to see if I can get better. And believe it or not, I have. Gotten better that is. But I am still not an artist. At least not yet.


I am convinced that drawing (and art in general) is a skill. Drawing little things here and there are part of that skill, but there is much more to drawing than just doodling. I must admit though, doodling is good for the artist. And it is good for me. It helps me concentrate. Even when I am listening and taking notes. Really.


Artists will always tell you that whatever artistic medium you choose, you can get better at it. You can study. You can learn. And you can develop the skills necessary in whatever medium you choose.


For instance, photographers will always tell you that you just need to take pictures if you want to become a better photographer. It does not matter whether you have a good camera, a bad camera, or even a phone camera (which are much better than the first digital and many other cameras). Just shoot. And then, shoot some more. Your eye will get better. Your compositions and colors will pop. You will become a better photographer by taking pictures. Period. (But studying is good too.)


The same is true of drawing. You will get better at drawing by drawing. It seems so simple. And it is. That is because drawing and composition are skills. Skills require practice for the practitioner to get better. And so to become better at drawing, I have started drawing more.


Of course, I have gotten a couple pieces of software to help me draw. Or at least to help me practice drawing.


(While this is not a piece promoting software, I must admit that I like the software I use. Affinity Design by Serif is a great way to draw. I can use primitives to make shapes like rectangles and circles, but I can also just draw. I can place text or just scribble. And I can change the texture, size, and color of lines. I have done all of those things on the last few illustrations I made for my blog posts. A jar of blog jam. A 17 with splotches of color behind it. A footprint with words in front. They are all just simple drawings I made with the iPad software. And I just drew them on the screen. What fun!)


I agree with artists who say that drawing and painting and sculpting and photographing can all be learned. That you can get better at those things because there are skills you can learn and develop (no pun intended). In fact, I talk about those things with my art friends all the time. I can relate because writing is a skill that can be learned too. It is all about how much time you are willing to put toward developing your chosen skills.


I am sure I will not be able to come up with illustrations for all of my blog posts, but I will keep at it. After all, it may not come naturally to me, but I sure to have fun drawing.

© 2019 Michael T. Miyoshi

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