Since the onset of Wright's Wood, I have often been asked how
I learned to cartoon. People are surprized when I tell them that Wright's Wood is my first effort at cartooning, and
I am surprized in return that people actually like my drawings.
Some say that this is because we are all our own worst critic, but I think there's
more to it than that, and I'd like to share some thoughts on how I draw, and give you the most important tip I've ever learned.
Although I'm new to cartooning, I've drawn and painted for a long time. I primarily
do oil painting; not very good oil painting from a critical standpoint, but I enjoy it, and continue on with it
because it makes me happy.
It is important to learn to draw basic shapes; circles, squares, rectangles, then learn
to make them three dimentional, and then connect them together to help make more complex shapes. When I draw Wrights'
wood, a head starts out in the shape of a circle, or the shape of an egg.
It is also important to learn the basics of perspective, there are lots of books written
on the subject, which is too much to go into here, but the basics help make your shapes seem closer, or further away, and
also take on the correct angle to the viewer.
Color can also help with perspective; a simple explanation is that things look more
yellow as they get closer to you, and bluer as they fade into the distance.
The hardest thing about drawing and painting is that you will seldom see your own work
as a work of art. The drawings in Wright's Wood, for example, are meant to be simple, yet my eye sees them as nothing
more than stick drawings. I'm not sure why. I've learned to accept that what I do fits the humor I wish to explore,
but after that, it is hard for me to see what others point out to me when they look at a drawing.
My point is this, if you have a desire to draw, then do it! Because what you
have to offer to others may be more than what you are able to see in it yourself.
So finally, here is the most important drawing tip I've ever learned, and what keeps
me going. A person once told me;
'Remember; when you draw, say a tree, you are not really drawing a tree.
No matter how simple or complex, your drawing will never be a tree. What you are drawing is a representation
of a tree, and if you have communicated that to the viewer, then your task is achieved.'
Those words of wisdom have helped me learn that I don't have to be a perfect drawer
or painter. All I have to do is provide enough information to my viewer to move them in some way, then I've achieved
my goal. Those words, more than anything, have encouraged me to share my artwork with others.
