Answering this question will be guided by your motive for painting and what you are painting.
Suppose you intend to explore your creative self for leisure or come up with a piece for your wall, then, there is no need to learn how to draw first.
You can purchase a canvas and some colors and tap into your inner Picasso.
However, if what you are after is to make a career out of it, the answer is entirely different.
So should you learn to draw before painting? Yes, you should. Learning to draw is paramount to your journey as an artist. It not only provides a strong foundation as you identify your style but also enlightens you on critical aspects such as shape, form, light, and shadow.
Given that it will be your means of livelihood, it would be prudent to invest in yourself. Taking drawing lessons would be a step in the right direction.
Is It Essential to Know How to Draw?
The process of drawing before painting pushes you to think of the shape, form, light, shadow, color composition, texture, and material to use.
It opens you to more possibilities as you advance in your style rather than replicating another person’s work. By taking the time to sketch a scene, the medium ceases to exist with the strokes being and interpretation of the form and shape.
Painting is essentially an art of expression whose flow is easily identifiable from the result. By drawing continuously, your muscles are loosened, which is vital in achieving a seamless impression.
Does Knowing to Draw Make Me a Better Painter?
Drawing is a foundational tool for painting; hence an artist that knows to draw makes a better painter.
It is through drawing that one trains their eye to see the shape rather than drawing what your brain thinks it already knows. Doing so enables you to achieve balance in your strokes as you pay equal attention to every element of the painting.
In the end, you have a beautiful work of art that not only intrigues but also communicates.
Learning how to draw also increases your accuracy in painting. It enlightens you on how to render shapes, lines, forms, and shadows. From this knowledge, you understand what makes these shapes and thus paint within these constraints. Proportionality is also easily achieved since the forms advise the extent of the brush strokes.
The concept of coloring within the lines thus becomes one of the underlying objectives.
Why Should You Learn Both?
Drawing is a fundamental concept in painting, and thus, it is essential to learn how to draw.
The ability to draw often makes a better painter usually because it equips you with the basics. Understanding how to integrate and balance shape, texture, light, and tone improves your accuracy and eye for proportionality.
It is through drawing that you train your mind to look and see past the physical appearance of an object. Doing so enables you to interpret the item of interest with regards to texture, tone, and shade.
The benefits of learning to paint are dependant on factors such as age and purpose of painting. For children, learning to paint aids in improving their hand-eye coordination.
Such lessons present excellent opportunities for them to identify with shape and color. They get to choose which crayon to use on which part is thus developing their decision-making skills.
As an aspiring or practicing artist, enrolling for painting lessons is crucial in developing your style as well as mastery of different aspects. Bearing in mind the time and effort you will put into your work, it is only pragmatic to invest in a lesson or two.
Are The Fundamentals Generally The Same?
To a certain extent, the fundamentals for drawing are similar to those of painting. But they are not all the same.
However, the approach is different.
In drawing, the basics are shape, form, shading, and perspective. Shapes and form is the use of single motion lines to define edges and surface ridges of an object.
They can be arched or straight and seek to establish existing items in the environment.
Shading incorporates light and dark values to give the illusion of form and depth. Hatching, for example, is a shading technique used to create the illusion of value.
There are different ways of showcasing the various aspects of an object. Highlighting white areas of an object shows the brightest spots of the subject. Portray the actual color of the item using mid-tones.
Apply different shading to capture other angles, for example, the area of contact between the object and the surface and the shadowed side of the object.
In painting, the emphasis is on value and design achieved through relationship and harmony in the tone, light and texture of your palette.
Selecting the right color requires creating a seamless transition between the current and the previous choice. You need to understand the surrounding colors define what color appears to be. The choice of color should, therefore, seek to portray a genuine relationship within the painting in its entirety.
Incorporating contrast and opposition can aid in achieving harmony in your painting design. Opposing brilliant colors with dark hues, complementing warm tones with cool undertones, delivers a balanced vitality.
Adaptation of shape variation to create depth and complexity by employing large areas adjacent to tiny regions also helps achieve contrast and harmony.
Are There Similarities Between Drawing and Painting?
In as much as drawing offers the foundation upon which painting can continue and convey much more, there lie some similarities between the two concepts.
The primary difference is, however, the technique used. Drawing tends to be dry- the use of pencil, pen, chalk, and charcoal- while painting is wet- use of color and brush.
First, both drawing and painting can be used to depict shapes, forms, scenes, and people. Whether you choose to draw or paint, it is possible to develop a two or three- dimensional object.
You can achieve this by incorporating light, shadow, perspective, and value to indicate a direction, time, distance, and space.
What is Drawing?
Drawing is defined as the craft of making an impression on a surface by moving material from point to point. Whether using freehand or the computer, the movement involves the transfer of small amounts of content on a surface in a linear motion.
The final product may be a replication of an existing object or an expression of a creative idea. The standard tools for drawing are pencil, pen, crayon, chalk, charcoal, and the mouse for digital drawing.
Generally, drawing is exploratory, with emphasis on composition, observation, and problem-solving. It is undertaken both for fun and professionally.
Occupations such as architecture, are highly dependant on the drawing concept. It is the medium of transfer of one’s ideas on paper for sharing, review, and testing viability.
What is Painting?
Painting dates back to the history of the early man who made visible marks on the walls of their caves for different reasons. Painting is employing color, pigment, or another medium onto a solid surface using brushes, knives, or sponge.
Technically, painting is the consolidation of drawing, composition, narration, representation, symbolism, and or abstraction. It is the depiction of bibliographies, mythological figures of poetry, religious expectations, and scenes of the current day.
Painting is the expression of emotions and ideas through shapes, lines, colors, shades, tones, and texture. The combination of the elements aids in the creation of a real or supernatural image, which is either abstract or interpretative scene.
Is Drawing Different From Painting?
The difference between drawing and painting arises from the methodology and nature of the end product on completion.
Drawing is primarily the use of connective lines along a surface, while painting involves the use of stains and smudges. Due to this, drawings have distinct boundaries while the stains tend to disguise the edges making them difficult to discern.
Drawing naturally centers around the outline and form of an object. Hence, when drawing, attention will be on the shape, style, and length of the subject. Painting is, however, more than that. In painting, you give care to color, light, texture and tone as tools to communicate human expression.
Additionally, painting is a gradual process of layering color on top of another to achieve a multi-layered piece. This approach makes painting a complicated process; thus, it is difficult for most people to recognize what it is until completion.
Drawing, on the other hand, is a single layer process that builds up from the foreground. This simplistic approach makes it easy to identify the object during the process.
Hi, I am a passionate maker and professional prop maker for the entertainment industry. I use my woodworking, programming, electronics, and illustration know-how to create interactive props and puzzles for Escape Games and marketing agencies. And I share my knowledge and my experience on this blog with you so that you can become a maker yourself.
Great article.
Thanks.