You can't carve if you can't draw

[EarlE]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

I can't draw worth a darn and I do think that influences my carving. I have read enough and talked to enough people to believe that drawing a figure will definitely help get the proper perspective in carving. Same as making a model in clay. I wish I could draw better and may well take a drawing class at some point. But at 74 I may just go ahead and muddle along. I know I'm not going to be a great renowned carver or a renowned sketch artist. But if I were younger I would definitely take some serious drawing classes.

[Keoma]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

eh. what a silly thing to say. The best thing about carving is that there are no rules to it. I was just noticing the other day how wow, it looks like I can finally draw! Thank you carving! I used to say I couldn't draw a straight line crooked, now I totally can!
Your indian drawing is a perfect sketch for a carving. You get the idea, you transfer it to paper and you go from there. A 3D thing in your hand will start to take shape much more than just a drawing. You will hold it and se the cheekbones look to big...maybe take them back or the eyes are to close...take them back...things you will never see on just a drawing. You will feel it with your hands and the shape will come about.
My first sketches were hysterical, the outcome hardly ever resembling the sketch-thank Gawd!
But, after carving for several years now, i have a more understanding for fluid lines and grave and arc and other such things and my hand just draws things better now. I find that the sketching process is one of my favorite things.
Dont ever let someone else stick rules on ya. His limitations are his own- you don't need that kinda nonsense!

[Overcut King]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Anyone can draw, carve or sculpt to some degree. That said, there are different degrees of talent. I think one goes with the other. I don't think a person can be extremely good at one without being good at the other. I think the difference is the amount of desire the person has to do it. Different types of drawing, sculpting or carving require different levels of talent. It requires less talent to draw a generic stick drawing of a face or a generic caricature than a detailed depiction of a particular person's face. I think certain people have "gifts" when it comes to art, but anybody can develop their level of expertise to a higher level with practice and desire. Whatever that level would happen to be can only be found with effort. I guess what I am saying is....just anybody can't be a Michael Angelo, but you can be better than you are in most cases.

[DiLeon]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Yes you can get tracing paper in bigger sizes, I have some about 18 inches by 28 inches? (approximate size) old purchased from an art store......I actually tape it together for the size needed. Take your drawing... to a copy place have it enlarged. Although, I draw that out to size on art paper taped together and did not copy a smaller drawing. That large drawing was taken to the commission owner to show them the basic idea, to see if we agreed on what they wanted. Then traced the outline onto pasted together tracing paper, then onto the log, one thing about this method your wood needs to be sanded down to receive the tracing. but....I did that with my last work...8 ft log... as I had to make sure the design looked right on paper, before attempting to carve. Doing that, I was able to move things around until I got the look I wanted, plus right placement of things. It was hard to move as it was an 8 ft, by 3 ft paper....but with the tracing paper..... I was able to take apart and trace it on the log ....or use it as a whole paper. I also made placement marks and number the paper so I could take them apart or put them together as needed. I have to believe this is way you have to do something complex....to carve. My carbon paper was also taped together in about three pieces for easy movement.

[Brian T]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Some communities offer drawing classes. Check into it. The real lesson is how to use the right side of your brain, the conceptual side. Then you make the shift from just looking at something to really seeing it. . . . and there is a profound difference.

Big paper? Banquet paper table cover, 36" x 100'. Cheap.
Enlarging drawings? Lee Valley Pantograph #07K06.01 about $20.

[Lazy Carver]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

I know, I know,.... 'Uh oh, here comes Lazy with his two cent's worth....' I will make this as palatable as possible, so that even your pets can understand it. When drawing, i believe that people try to convey what they have grown up with all their lives. which is tradition. I have been doing portraits alot longer than i have been carving. It's not all about portraits either, as much as it is about subject matter. If you can carve what you draw, and you can draw what you carve. Then you have a way of viewing 'perspective'. Come on every one.....'P-E-R-S-P-E-C-T-I-V-E'.... I have found that a good portion of tattoo artist can't even draw a stick figure, yet do beautiful work with depth, and coloration. Interpretation of perspective takes practice. If you do enough, you begin to pick up on other things you thought impossible at one time or another. In alot of ways, i liken it to riding a bike... You never really forget. Even after a long hiatus, you still ride as if you were riding all your life... Your mind and body coordination are accustomed to it. Like second nature like. When you are young, you can take in, and interpret a great amount of information. As we age, we see this progression slow. While we do slow down, we never really stop learning. We keep going until Saint Gabriel has said 'Enough!'. There are many ways to grasp the concept of perspective. I would however recommend as a starting point, to research your library, and seek out information regarding drawing. Other resources are (Youtube, The web, ask an artist, architect, etc...) A great and fun book that i find an invaluable resource for training and practicing perspective drawing, is 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' by Doctor Betty Edwards, another is 'The Natural Way to Draw' by Kimon Nicolaides.... These two books give an indepth look, at how to trick your mind/eye coordination into interpreting what is directly in front of you... These two books would probably be my 'to war and back' books... You have two hemispheres linked to your eye to hand coordination. In society we spend a whole life time excercising and training one side, while totally neglecting the other. One hemishpere, is considered the disciplinary side. This side is what i call the plumb, level, square side. This is where you train yourself the routine things in life... (Set the alarm, make your bed, brush your teeth, coordinate your daily activities, etc......) The other hemisphere, is considered the radical side. This is the creative side. This is where music, art, dance, as well as other non rational activities are developed. We seldom seem to use this side, on account of it being non complient with every day essential life. Yet this is the side of intangibles. The reactionary side. While we train one side, our reactionary side seems to tell us what to do in the event of an instantaneous emergency. The Reflex... These books offer the highest and up to date way to draw, or should i say interpret on impulse, what you view, or experience. When drawing and sculpting have been linked as inseparable interpretation, it is then when you have achieved, perspective. This interpretation does take practice, as you are training a side of your mind that has remained fairly untouched throughout most of your life... If we start from when we are young, or we train this 'other side', we will have mastered, not just perspective, but a whole new world in which the opportunities are endless, with out the use of a ruler. Go for it, and try it. Keep your mind right, and feed your soul... Good luck! Below, one is a portrait drawing, the other is a conceptual drawing...

[DiLeon]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Rob taught painting to those who said they had no talent....or never painted before. I find it a mind set....that people honestly believe it is not a taught thing, but a talent or a gift and if your not talented....you can not draw. To get someone to believe they can learn to draw is like squeezing an apple and trying to make lemonade. I agree with you, but when someone says they can not draw....we can talk all day and into the night, they can not hear one word we say....smile.

[ArtworksIII]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

All of my work is line drawings taken from the aircrafts weight and balance specifics.. I also have a background in engineering as well as schematic interpretation. Making wind tunnel models all the above was necessary. Back in the days when all you needed was a will to work and a company willing to train you to their liking....

[twoclones]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Polish artist’s chainsaw sculpture depicts the death of Super Mario << Click

Does anyone think this could have been equally awesome without drawing?

[ArtworksIII]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Polish artist’s chainsaw sculpture depicts the death of Super Mario << Click

Does anyone think this could have been equally awesome without drawing?

To be quite frank 'NO' I can tell by the grids you have some experience in sculpting. Since you live near Hanford it doesn't surprise me your discerning. LOL Which level is that from?

[twoclones]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Which level is that from?

Dunno. While I was a web developer and IT Manager, I've never played a video game.

[JimSawyer]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

Well all I can add is that I've always had an in for spacial acuity. I got an high IQ for it when I was 5. But I have a lot of difficulty when drawing, but I always seem to get it right when I pull an image out if space.

[JimSawyer]

Re: You can't carve if you can't draw

I have been training myself in drawing with charcoal...and paint...A lesson that goes on. And find that my carving has benefited from these exercises.