How2 Draw or Paint What You See

Simply Look

Perhaps one of the best drawing tips is that you should devote a good proportion of your time to simply looking.

Just observe. Look at the landscape, or the object that you are drawing. Even go as far as putting your pen, pencil or brush down for a while. Simply look. Observe how the shadows fall, how the highlights pick out certain points of an otherwise dull or flat surface. Find the balance between light and dark. What is the lightest point, and what is the darkest area, and how dark, really, is that?

Look at the general shape of an area, and see how it rests in relation to neighbouring shapes. How do they affect each other?

Think about textures, and the feel of the scene that you are depicting. What does it say to you, and how can you express that? A picture may indeed paint a thousand words, but the thoughts that you might have, about what you are drawing, can also be many and varied. Can you express the essence of those endless thoughts in your artwork?