How to See Like an Artist - A Superpower

Hello my Steemian friends!

Today I want to share with you this article I wrote about how artists see differently. We could say they use a different kind of vision to draw. It is a sort of superpower and one that you can develop.

Even more fundamental than mastering your tools and techniques is the ability to look at your subject accurately and efficiently.

Following are some strategies that will help you to better draw what you observe:

1 - See what you see.

Try to get rid of pre-conceived ideas and actually perceive what is in front of you. Students who are drawing a life portrait, often outline the eyes with an almond-shape, even if the eye of that particular person doesn’t look like it at all. Therefore, see what is there and draw what you see, rather than what you think you see.

As a note, probably the most fundamental error made by new students is that they do not look enough at what they are drawing. They just glance at it and then spend the majority of the time looking at the paper. What is advisable is that you look at the subject for at least 50% of the time. I know you want to draw, but take your time observing the subject for at least as much the time.

2 - Simplify things.

When you look at an object, there are thousands of pieces of data flowing through your eyes. An artist has the superpower to sieve information and only see what is essential. When drawing, at first you don’t look at the detail at all. You look for the big shapes and the overall masses. And then, when you get to do the detail, you still discriminate most of the information and simplify it enough to be able to put it on paper. A trick to more easily do this is to squint your eyes while looking at your subject. As it gets blurry, you will lose a lot of detail, and you will be able to see what is important. You will perceive simple shapes and values. You should be able to block them in easier, and you can do the detail afterward, as needed.

3 - Use angles and proportions.

When you are constructing your drawing, look at landmarks and find the angles between them. One will be a reference point for the other. You can lightly draw the lines forming the angles, or you may just visualize them without drawing them. Visualise as many angles as you want and this will help you draw the proportions and the shapes correctly.

As an example, in the picture below, if you trace a line from the wrist of the girl to her knee, you will know where the knee should be (by duplicating the slanted line on your paper). On the other hand, if you did not do this, it is very likely that the leg would end up being either too short or too long.

In the picture, you can find examples of different angles that you could use.

Of course, you can measure proportions directly too. This is usually done by extending your arm, closing one eye, and measuring the length of something by using your thumb and a pencil. (The arm is extended so that the pencil is always at the same distance from your eye and you have constant dimensions).

For example, if you are drawing a standing person, you may measure the height of the head and find that this measurement fits seven, or seven and a half times in the hole body. You may see that one size down from the head, are the nipples and that the width of the shoulders is one and a half heads.

You may keep using the same length (in this case the head) to measure where other parts are located, or you may have new guides, such as how many eyes fit across the face.

4 - Look at the negative space.

We call negative space the area outside and between the subject, and the shapes that it takes. Looking at these forms can be of great help to get your drawing right.

In the following picture, the shapes in blue are some examples of negative spaces.

You can both look at these shapes as you are drawing, or you can use them after the fact, to check whether what you have drawn is correct.

Of course, you may combine these techniques, for example by visualizing an angle and the negative space, which will help you draw the shapes better.

Being able to see what to other people is invisible, such as the negative space, is another artist superpower. This technique can help a great deal in getting your drawings right.

5 - Judging Values - Light and Dark.

Perceiving the values in an object is another great artistic ability. First, identify what the lightest value of the subject is. This can be a reflection, or if there are no reflections, it will probably be the area which is most directly getting light. Then look for the darkest spot or space in your drawing. This commonly is where an object touches the ground, within the cast shadow. If you identify these two extremes and indicate them on your drawing, you will know that all the rest of the values will be between them and it will help you more easily shade your drawing. Squinting the eyes can help you distinguish the main tonal values.

Training the eye is very important, and once you do this routinely, you will develop a supervision which will help you realize the drawings you want to achieve.

Have a great sighting.

Best,

Leonardo