I found more about memory drawing on a website: Studio Rousar. Artist Darren Rousar has written a book called «Memory Drawing,» and he has several exercises and ideas at your disposal. His exercises are different from mine and besides, I thought I`d try some myself. Thank you! An artist`s visual memory is the product of constructive drawings of life. When it comes to drawing a memory model, an artist remembers the individual characteristics of that model and adds those characteristics to a generic model of a human body that he has in mind. In this way, an artist does not need a photographic memory to draw a realistic and recognizable portrait of this model. I opened this article with a suggestion that the way to make drawing easier might be to make it more difficult. You can experience it for yourself with another little experiment. Draw the triangle again, but this time, instead of going to another room, draw it right next to the original shape. It should be so simple that it almost looks like a scam.
Make it hard to make things easy. What else can you apply this idea to? For me, it was a great opportunity to develop my drawing skills. All I needed was a sketchbook, a pencil, a kneading eraser and off I went. OH yes, you can delete. I did it because it helps to push the drawing and shape it! And, another rule I applied for myself, don`t give up until you`ve seriously tried drawing! If you want to improve your accuracy, this is a series of memory sign exercises that I found very effective. Oh, and, yes, the first memory drawings I made are in memory with my book Nicolaides. But the process took time! I always do this kind of drawing when I start a series. In any case, here`s the heart of the exercise: draw something you see during the memory day; Not life. You may want to set aside 20 minutes a day for this type of drawing. Maybe you`re drawing a car door handle or a person opening the car door. Another idea could be to draw a picture of a person you meet on the street, in a café or on a bench at a bus stop. And the subject doesn`t have to be people.
It could be a cat crossing the road; A horse in a field or a plaster angel in your neighbor`s garden. Or it could be a still life that you find or furnish. You have a misconception that a photographic memory helps you draw. It`s like relying on drawing from photos stored in your head, which means copying, not drawing creatively. According to Graham Shaw, drawing is the key to a better memory. People who drew lists instead of writing or visualizing words remembered what was on the list better. Don`t you think it works? Take a pen and two sheets of paper and try it for yourself. Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire draws from memory an 18-foot image of New York City after a 20-minute helicopter flight over the city Since I mentioned the drawing of life, I thought I would speak for a paragraph on abstract drawing. Drawing from memory is a way of «abstracting» the essence of the subject. They simplify; They remember the main movement, gesture, color or shape.
The something you remember can become the starting point for stylized and abstract design. The memory of people, nature or things observed in life becomes a source of inspiration, improvisation and intuition. Let`s go back to my personal experience and perspective. My routine was to go out and jog almost every morning. I`ve been doing this for years. After reading Kimon Nicolaide`s book, I thought I could pay attention to the people I pass while jogging. I looked at someone and tried to remember an impression of the person. Then I took my time 20 minutes after breakfast and got to work drawing the person I had seen jogging. As you can imagine, the numbers were stiff at first.
The label «not very good» would have been appropriate. But what I learned was that over time, I got better at drawing from memory, especially when I saw the same person performing the same action – for example, walking on a beach. For example, when I draw a vase, I don`t want to become «intimate» with that vase. But I know that this object is cylindrical and therefore will draw a vertical line of symmetry to check if two contours on each side of the vase are symmetrical; And I will also use this vertical line to check if the axes of the ovals are perpendicular to this line and also if the right and left parts of these ovals have the same dimensions. OK, nice, all those words. But what about the results? I have attached some of the drawings and paintings from my «Still Life with Toy Pony» series. The series began with a drawing of life. When I started working on variations, I worked from memory, and then I moved on to imagination. One could say in this case that imagination is also a modified form of drawing from memory.
I dealt with what I remembered from the original still life, as well as all sorts of other ideas that came to mind while drawing. I think you`re confused about what it means to «draw what you know.» You don`t need «intimate knowledge of the subject.» Instead, you need to know the drawing rules that can be applied when drawing a subject. To know and apply these rules is to «draw what we know». The same example applies to everything else – knee joint, hand, skull shape, etc. If you make 500 constructive drawings of eyes of life, you don`t need a model the next time you want to sketch an eye. You can easily do it from memory. Other times, people love and like to see the drawings and paintings. In this case, the narrative about memory drawings may not be as relevant. Instead, I hope you find the works presented here interesting and enlightening. Your drawing doesn`t need to be detailed, and depending on your purpose, other people may not need to understand what it`s all about.
Simplicity is actually better for many reasons. Mickey Mouse basically consists of three circles. Sally Brown is a shorter version of Charlie Brown, but with hair. For those interested in graphic design, the Google search page is the Google doodle, a search bar, and a bunch of empty white space. If you remember to keep your drawing simple and not worry about perfection, it will be easier to draw. It is not about remembering a visual image of a particular person; It is about knowing how to draw a person and having a solid practical experience of drawing life. From time to time, other artists have asked me how I came up with my creations, especially for series like «Still Life with Toy Pony».