A few weeks ago I started to go to an art club and being a beginner I was full of doubts about my ability to draw. Even though I’ve enjoyed the sessions, I felt as though I’d been dropped in the deep end with sketching then painting a view of Bamburgh Castle in watercolour. I got the proportions all wrong, but it didn’t look terrible even if it didn’t look like Bamburgh Castle.
So I decided to see what books we have that would help me to improve and found this little book which looks excellent.
It is The Right Way to Draw Landscapes by Mark Linley. He introduces the book by describing it as:
… a complete course for beginner artists who want to learn how to draw landscape pictures. Step-by-step instructions are given for most of the drawings used as examples within these pages. You will start with easy-to-do studies which have been created to boost your self-confidence, and to show you that anyone can learn this skill. If you have never drawn anything except breath, don’t worry. I have ways of teaching you! (page 7)
It seems that thinking success is the secret. We have to think ‘I can’ and we really can:
Where so many people go wrong is that they allow self doubt to interfere. They worry about whether they can draw something, more than how to do so. If you think you can’t draw a landscape, you will be right; you will fail. This wrong instruction (“I can’t”) will be acted upon by your subconscious mind – your “computer” – just as quickly and as powerfully as when you have “I can” working for you. Unfortunately, many of us seem to be brain-washed to think negatively. Perhaps lack of encouragement during our school-days has resulted in what has become a bad habit. Bad habits can be changed! You just have to know that we all have unlimited potential. (page 10)
So, I shall be testing this out and see just how much I can improve with the help of this little book – I may even post the results!
Teaser Tuesday is a weekly event hosted by MizB where you share €˜teasers’. I’ve adapted it a bit to include more information about the book and longer teasers.
BooksPlease 
Books like this can really be very useful. A few years ago I went through quite a few water colour books. Painting with water colours is difficult, but not impossible. :)
My teaser is here, if you want to take a look: http://abookblogofonesown.blogspot.com/2010/11/teaser-tuesday-23112010.html
LikeLike
Tiina, that is encouraging – I’ll keep on trying.
LikeLike
My father and my grandmother were both excellent amateur artists and I’ve always bemoaned the fact that I didn’t inherit their artistic ability. Perhaps, like your book has it, I’m infected with “I can’t” and that is self-fulfilling. Maybe I’ll try someday; for now I have entirely too much to do just trying to write.
LikeLike
My sister was a good amateur artist too and I always thought I was no good at it, so maybe the “I can’t” is self-fulfilling. I know what you mean about writing – all these things are time-consuming. Still, they say practice makes perfect. :)
LikeLike
Hi Margaret,
I think that I too, have just a bit of the can’t do attitude, when it comes to painting and drawing. Art was always my most dreaded subject at school, although it is something that I have always secretly yearned to be good at.
No one in my immediate family shows any ‘arty’ tenedencies either, so I can’t draw my inspiration from anyone close to me, sound like a good enough excuse? I thought not!!!!
Maybe one day, until then, I hope that you enjoy your book, but I think that given today’s weather, inside subjects might be best to start with!!!
LikeLike
Yvonne, art at school was a waste of time – if you didn’t have any or much talent for it the art teacher ignored you. Those of us who “couldn’t” do it just messed about. I think part of my “I can’t” attitude stems from those “lessons”.
The weather is awful here so inside is much the best place to be!
LikeLike