Why Pencil Drawing is an Essential Skill

Many artists have struggled with pencil drawing and have not really gotten good at it. They then move on to paint with colors, and when they find that they face the same basic drawing problems, they choose to ignore them and make up some excuse so that they can avoid having to face those problems.

If you're facing the same problems, my advice to you is to meet those problems head on and overcome them once and for all. Artists who refuse to face and tackle drawing problems head on can only do so much. Their growth is stunted, and their drawing skills will not improve. Over time, their skills will be overtaken by those who took the trouble to examine the problems and actually solve them.

Once the drawing problems are solved, it's then a question of consciously choosing how you want to draw. For example, many artists cannot draw realistic pictures using pencil. When the drawing didn't turn out the way they wanted it to, they say it's abstract art, or they're trying to symbolise the subjects. But we all know the truth. There are times when drawing a realistic picture is much better than symbolic drawing, so we can't run away forever. Sooner or later, we're going to come face to face with the same set of problems.

And you know what? If we can't overcome these obstacles, we'll have to face them again and again. That's the universe way of testing us.

But the good news is, once you undersand the basic problems of pencil drawing, you'll learn that they're not that difficult to overcome. And if you can learn to overcome these problems, you'll also find it easier to overcome problems associated with color, since the problems are similar in nature.

The number one problem to pencil drawing is control. Artists can't draw what they want to draw because they don't know how to control the drawing tools properly. But how difficult can it be to control a pencil? It's easy if you know how.

For instance, you can vary the pressure of the pencil to shade with a whole range of different tones. You can choose to work with a blunt or sharp pencil, or decide to hold the pencil differently. These are all techniques related to pencil drawing.

So don't jump the gun, be patient, and learn to draw well with pencils before moving on. After all, part of drawing is about problem solving, and if you can't solve your pencil problems, you won't be able to solve your painting problems. That's why pencil drawing is an essential skill to acquire.