Should i continue drawing or stop ?. i need your help

[Mexoz]

Hello all ,

Like all of you , i always wanted to draw and always believed that i can draw .

But it wasnt untill 2008 i started to draw and im 20 years old now
so i missed a lot of years that i could've improved in

I never tried or knew how to actully draw untill i came across a tutorial on the internet on how to draw an eye, i got very excited and thought " what the heck ! let's give it a try" so i picked up an HB-2 pencil and an A4 paper and did the Eye drawing from the tutorial. [sorry i lost the link to the tutorial]

Here's the result i got;



That was my first drawing ever

I learned from that lesson how to outline and how to shade and blend and how to use the eraser [ u can notice that in the iris ]

And based on what i've learn from that tutorial
A few days later i decided to test myself and try to draw a portrait without the help of any tutorial.

I wanted to see how far i can go by myself, so i chose a picture and with the same pencil and paper i tried to draw it ...

and boy do i suck!
im very very disappointed by it and i feel like i dont have it in me anymore.

here's my second -and last- drawing...




I know it look wrong and pale and nothing like the picture at all, here's the reference picture. [i turned it to black and white when i draw it ]


But since i dont know anyone who can draw , i thought maybe you all had an awful drawing your first time ?, i dont know , so i had to ask the talented artists here in zindy zone forums...

was your first drawing suck like mine does ?
Do you see hope for me ? Should i continue drawing ?

And please i'm not looking for encouragement or anything like that, i just need honesty, So please .. be honest

Your opinions means a lot to me,

Thank you,

[Corey]

Keep at it man. Dont give up! I think you have some raw talent.

More practice=more skill. Skill will refine your'e talent. That's what I'm working on as well.

[KLSADAKO]

Ur're to hard on urself, these are some of ur first drawings ever, u can't expect too much, and giving up is like a easy way out.

It's like if I tried playing Tennis for the first time, I would sux.

Just keep drawing, learn the basics, like proportions, shading, etc..

give urself a chance..

Good Luck

[J.J]

I just wanted to show you my own progress, to show you that you can improve even if you start out late. This was one of my first portrait I made in 06. You have to keep your head up and stay positive!


Around 15 portraits(1.5 years) later I drawed this.

[imcold]

Obviously you can't create a perfect drawing on the first try; you need to gain some experience first, as we all did. My first face drawings were crap too, I didn't use shading at all and I always drew small pictures, several per one sheet of paper, so keeping the right proportions of one face on the whole sheet was quite a problem.
If you like drawing, there's no reason to stop. The learning process is quite fun, I enjoy it despite of few frustrating moments :P I don't feel that my drawings would be perfect, there's still space for improvement - and even though I don't draw much, I don't wanna cease drawing ever
Have fun and good luck!

ps.: And I don't think it's ever late to start, if you can hold pencil in your hand; I started few months before I turned 20, too.

[imaginary]

well I have to tell you last year I haven't drawn for almost a year and when I started again I had to practice to find it in me again... I had to practice again drawing AND painting.. but now it comes back so I want you to know don't lose hope, you'll be alright

[Mexoz]

Thank you all for ur comments !
it really meant a lot to me !

to tell you the truth. i dont think i can leave drawing forever , i was really frustrated when i wrote this thread cuz i was just finished drawing that portrait.

Cory, Thanks for ur compliment. i dont think i have much talent its merely a skill and i'll try to improve it.
and i wont give up , at least not now :P

KLSADAKO , ur right , im being hard on myself cuz i always expect more. i was expecting something more like ur drawing of Maria. speaking of Masha, have u seen the match ? she totaly kicked Ivanovic's ass!

J.J , try to upload the pics again. it doesnt show. but im sure it wasnt as crap as my portrait is =P

imcold , im really glad to hear that ur first drawing was crap ! seriously , i am , it gives me confidence that im not the only one who suck at the beginning. and , boy ur really good at dealing with light and shading ! i can see that clearly in "My brother" portrait! good job!

imaginary , well u already "got it" . u know that u "can do it". but im still not sure if i "got it" or not , if i can do better than that portrait or not. but i wont stop here and live the rest of my life wondring what i could've done if i gave it a little bit more effort. by the way , i loved ur "woman at the bar" painting and "woman in the dark" . but ur missing one thing . u need to give ur painting and darwing special names , i mean more creative names cuz they totaly deserve so!


I have a question to you guys. im going to try to draw another portrait and this time i wont have high expectations so i dont get shocked. but i was wondring what kind of pencil do you guys use ? i know different types gives different level of shading. but what's the best type of them all ? cuz at this point i dont think i can draw with more then one pencil. so if im going to use only one pencil what should it be ? im using HB-2 now.

i'll show you my next drawing whenever i finish it. this time i think i'll go for an anime girl face , it seems alot easier then real human face. <--- i feel like im cheating!

[DivineRAiN]

your first drawings look a **** of a lot better than my first 3D model. This is really horrible...



that was in march 2003. I imagine my first drawing was worse.
A little improvement. This was probably my 5th or 6th attempt





what Robert Chang (Lunatique) said on his site is true

2)I get emails from people all the time, asking me why they couldn't reproduce the same result in their painting from following my online tutorials. It always surprised me that anyone would think a tutorial is all it takes to get the same results that it took me half my lifetime so far to learn. They would ask me, "What is it that you did between the step before the last and the finished work?" or "What brushes did you use? Why can't I get the same look you did?" My reply to them have always been the same:
"It's not the brushes or any other secrets that I've held back--it is simply experience, patience, and practice needed on your part."
If an experienced guitar player showed you how to finger a bunch of chords and showed you all the notes on a guitar solo, you wouldn't automatically think that you could play just like him, would you? Then why would you believe a painting tutorial can turn you into an experienced painter? The only thing that could get you there is lots of practice, and years of hardwork. The painting tutorials are just chords and notes that I showed you--you're the one that has to practice the until your fingers bleed.


that pretty much sums it up.

[Chart]

You know what, I didn't even have to read your little fic to give you an answer. Of course you shouldn't stop drawing! You like it? Then never quit! It's my own experience that with dedication to what we like, comes improvement.
You just have to be confident, be willing to learn and be willing to study

[imcold]

Originally Posted by Mexoz

im really glad to hear that ur first drawing was crap ! seriously , i am

heheh... I enjoy drawing crap, it's much easier and doesn't take much effort and time And thanks. On the pencils - there's not really a "best", depends on what you're going to do: dark/light portrait - overall lightness of the picture, skin color, hair color... I use HB and B or 3B most of the time, for example. Harder one for most of the skin and softer for hair / areas with low light. You'll find a style that will suit you, no worries.