Slave of Karma

My path towards artism

Posted on June 7th, 2007 by KarmaSlave

I know lots of people and friends who are really good at drawing things. These are often left-handed of some reason, not all, but many are. Somehow, it’s almost even possible to see if someone is left-handed or right-handed. Those I know who draws with their right hand tend to do details well, but take a look at the whole picture and it’s often off in some way. Those who draw with their left hand tend to get all shapes and sizes to fit perfectly as a whole, but they tend to lack detail. Of course, this is a fat and perverted generalization.

When I was younger, ending when I quit the gymnasium (I really didn’t like that place), I used to draw a lot. I’m right handed, thus left-brained. I’m really into details, but I kind of suck when it comes to seeing the whole picture. To see relations between spaces and shapes. I’m more into technique and patterns, systems and mechanics, while the more artistic people seem to be more into feeling and relations and intuition.

What if I can learn to draw. Seeing some pictures on the web by some artists, it’s clear to me that they can’t just work on feeling and abstract systems alone – they have to know techniques, systems, hard and concrete rules. Otherwise, their images wouldn’t be so perfect as they are. Take some colorings and shadings for example; they can be so perfect and give an almost flawless sense of depth. Is that feeling, or a complete and “cold” understanding of objects and light and space?

Anyhow, I don’t doubt that I can with training become a good artist; I’m just wondering what path I must take. What should I begin with? Should I learn the techniques, the systems, the cold math behind drawing what I see with my inner eye, or should I learn the feeling and intuition, the fuzzy and abstract way of building a picture out of nothing, forming it as I go? Which way would be easier for me, as an analytical and detail driven mind?

I should go deeper into this subject, but I think I’ll save that for a future post. I’m new at blogging, and I feel just a little impaired by the English language. I realize that posting in forums and writing diaries/blogs are two quite different things. First, a blog isn’t primarily intended to be discussed. It’s my point of view. Thus, to avoid sounding completely stupid, I should be rather clear in what I think and what my point of view actually is. In forums, you can keep a more questioning state of mind. You don’t have to have answers, and you can change your mind depending on other peoples’ replies. A blog, unless you use and read comments to your entries, is more like a one-man forum.

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