Can You Tell How Good a Drawing Will Be Before You Ever See It?

Sometimes I can.

Not by looking at the paper... but by watching the artist.

If you'd like to see the concentration I'm describing, you can watch the 11-second video from this lesson here: Watch the YouTube Short.

You've often seen me teaching on the beaches of Mawgan Porth, Cornwall. For this portrait lesson, however, we chose a quiet place where complete concentration could take over.

This student is studying Fashion at university and wanted to strengthen her observational drawing of the figure and face to enhance her degree portfolio. Her progress over a remarkably short period has been wonderful to watch.

People often think observational drawing begins with techniques such as cross hatching, shading or blending.

I believe it begins much earlier... with observation.

Long before I see the finished drawing, I can often tell how successful it will be. The posture, the concentration and the constant movement of the eyes between the subject and the paper all reveal a student who is truly learning to see.

At Visual Awareness, I encourage students to draw lightly, allowing the drawing to emerge naturally rather than forcing it onto the page.

I often say we're not drawing onto the paper... we're drawing the image out of it.

During this lesson we also explored how to bring movement and life into a sketch and how to entice the viewer into the image rather than shutting them out. Great art isn't simply about recording what we see... it's about creating an emotional connection with the person looking at it.

Observation before assumption remains one of the foundations of Visual Awareness.

Sometimes the most beautiful thing isn't the finished drawing... it's watching someone learn how to truly see.