The importance of good drawing skills can not be stressed enough. In every discipline of art, good drawing skills are needed to produce quality work. The materials that one chooses to draw with is secondary to how one draws. Whether you are drawing with pencil, pen and ink, charcoal, conte or pastels, the most important thing is accurate shape and form.
Many people have asked me how they can learn to draw. They are often asking for help with a specific subject, like how to draw cartoons, flowers, or people. The one bit of advice I can give everyone is to practice drawing. The more drawing you do the better your skills will become. When practicing, the main thing to work on is observation. Accurate observation of the subject is the key to an accurate representation.
What is drawing?
That is a very dry definition of drawing, which can be many things. Technically speaking, it is a process of applying pigment to a coarse or semi-coarse surface. Remember, paper is made of many fibers, giving it some degree of texture. Normally, the pigment is applied using a pencil, pen, charcoal stick, crayon or other common drawing tool. However a drawing can be made with a brush, stick, feather or any item you can think of that will leave a mark by applying a pigment to the surface.
