Can Anyone Learn To Draw?

I was painting a pet portrait the other day as part of a "live Art" demonstration inside a pet store. The photo I was using for reference was of a cute little puppy called "Cokey", a black mostly and white Maltese Shihtzu cross. We thought of the name on the way to the pet store when we bought him after we were brainstorming names. My daughter Hayley had a bottle of Coke so she suggested Cokey, as we knew he was black.

Anyway I am painting this portrait of our lovely little pet of him as a young pup and a man came by with his daughter and commented on the painting that I was doing. He said something very familiar to me, something that I hear quite often. "I am the worst drawer in the world"!

When I told him that he could learn to draw he laughed and said, "No there is no way you can teach me to draw". I begged to differ with him but he was adamant, he could not be taught to draw and that was it.

In a sense he was correct, he could not be taught to draw, if his attitude was that he couldn't. There would be no reason for even trying to teach someone like that, who would be determined to prove the point that they couldn't learn.

Now if the same man had decided that he currently could not draw but believed that it may be possible then he could be taught to draw.

Like all things in life there is a technique for doing things. There is a technique to drawing.

It all begins by learning to see. Learning to see correctly by questioning what you are looking at.

Then follows the process of learning to make a mark on paper, or canvas or timber or a cave wall.

How difficult is it learn to drive a car? Ask my daughter Hayley who has just gotten her learners permit and is struggling to learn how to coordinate the gears, the clutch, the indicators, the steering wheel and not to forget the traffic. On par with learning to draw driving is a whole lot harder.

The myth that some people can't draw to save themselves is just that a myth. Think about how many people learn to drive and consider the very small number who can't drive to save their lives. Ok there are some good and bad drivers out there but driving is no question a difficult thing to learn. Drawing on the other hand, by comparison is not.

Look, question and make your mark. Repeat. Keep looking, keep questioning and then you are ready to make another mark.

This is drawing at it's simplest.

Hope this helps in your quest to learn to draw!

PS. If you want to see how the painting turned out, you can click here to see the pet gallery portrait of "Cokey".

More next time, cu later.