Technique Mastery - Drawing or Otherwise

An idea I have been dwelling about over the last couple of days is the concept of technique mastery. More so than just trying to do something enough times to get better at it, what I am talking about is a concentrated focus on improving your skill in an area. Since I consider myself an artist I'll relate it to drawing techniques, however, I feel that this idea can be applied to any other aspect of life. This is mastery of the basics but it will cement the streaky foundation that many people have, myself included, with drawing.

Typically with an artist, he or she would usually be pretty good at one or more aspects of drawing but their handicap in other aspects of drawing limit their full creative potential. Many attempt to get by with the skills they have because they believe practicing on techniques out of their repertoire is tedious but I think it is far more effective to master every aspect of drawing you come across. It'll pay off big time in the long run. Besides you love to draw right?

I was thinking about the great masters of the human age when I thought of this concept. A Raphael or a Da Vinci had to have been practicing on their different techniques for years to get the great pieces of work that sit in museums and the like now. Their art was almost god-like in terms of detail and accuracy. Now while this can be discouraging to some people, I find this fascinating because the key distinction is that they were human so anything they could do, you or I could do better. This is when I came up with this concept of mastering techniques because we all have greatness inside each and every one of us. Right?

So how do you go about perfecting your skills and becoming a great like those masters, Bradley? Simple. Focused practice. I'd advise setting aside possibly either a day or a week to any particular technique that you feel you need work with or dividing a day you have to yourself for lets say perspective, shading, and human feet if that's what you are bad at. It will be time well spent because you are taking the initiative to make yourself a better artist overall. In the long haul, after you have spent a certain amount of time to tackle the techniques that cripple your talents instead of fearing and avoiding them, you will become a better rounded artist. There was and still are many aspects to my drawing that I feel needs to be fine tuned. Since my dream is to become a great myself, I told myself "Okay Bradley. You aren't going to be the greatest playing video games and lying around. Get to work!" All those hobbies are fine and dandy but is it helping you towards the type of skills you would like to have?

When you are done with the week or so you put towards practice, move onto the next thing but set up some type of review system so that you can go over what you have learned so far to keep the skills fresh. Maybe if you have just finished a week of perspective, take 10-20 minutes to draw a landscape or a city skyline. Even if the skills are still a little shaky, the week should have eliminated the fears of trying such a task. You should have even gotten a bit better at the task more so than before so how can you not be confident? In the end be proud of taking the time to better yourself as an artist. It shows you have discipline and drive.

This doesn't only have to be for the broad subject of drawing either. Many painters, sculpture artists, and writers have parts of their craft that they know needs improvement. It is just a matter of cracking down and handling your business. The greats probably never worried themselves over skills they weren't advanced in yet, they just got better. I just use drawing the most in this article because it is what I am most interested in for the time being and it is usually a preliminary for other fields of art. Get up and apply the pencil, paintbrush, or your fingers to the pad, the canvas, and the clay.

There are many aids to assist your technique as well. Check out your local bookstore and library for instructions on particular techniques that you aren't too savvy with. Look online for artist's websites and tutorials to help hone your technique. Look into art classes in your area or volunteer for one in your school. Ask a good artist friend of yours to help you. Get with a group of people who love art and grow on your techniques together. Just open your eyes because your path to greatness is right in front of you.