This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

The Art Of Drawing

The importance of learning how to draw to art enthusiasts. The Drawing and art classes instructor Vian Borchert offers a the Arts Barn, Gaithersburg, MD.

How can we tell if an artist is good or not? I get asked this question very often. The answer is quite simple: can the artist draw and by drawing I mean can the artist draw well? As an art educator, I believe it is best for art students who are beginners and who are eager to learn to start their artistic pursue by taking a Drawing class. In the Drawing classes I give at The Arts Barn in Gaithersburg, MD, I make sure to go through all necessary exercises and visual observations to teach the students regardless of their skills how to create good compositions and help them master the art of drawing. Drawing is the base of Fine Arts, and more simply drawing is the “ABC” of art. One needs to learn their alphabetical letters before reading and writing, same thing goes to Fine Arts in all its forms. One should be proficient and capable of looking at objects or scenes and be able to first draw them well then later move on to Painting.

Taking a quick look at art history, one notices that all famous and accomplished artists started working rather traditional and made many drawings that paved their way into making better paintings. For instance, the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh did not start off drawing until later on in his twenties. His earlier drawings reflect and illustrate his earlier struggles in making lines and creating good proportional artwork. Thus, some of his earlier drawings were out of proportion and needed much improvement. Yet, Van Gogh kept at it by creating more drawings, and making art studies. Also, he was surrounded by his friends “The Impressionists” and was influenced by their art - this all helped. So, slowly but surely his art started becoming more recognizable and his drawings had more strength. During his very short lifetime, Van Gogh made around 1000 drawings before he died at the age of 37. So, if we look at Van Gogh's progress, we see that he made great leaps of growth within those drawings. And, this is exactly the point that I tell my students that one does not need to know art to start creating works of art. Yet, what one truly needs is the drive, enthusiasm and the desire to create art. So, with the correct eduction and practice one can only move froward and become a better draftsman/ draftswoman (a term given to a person who excels in drawing).

In my Drawing classes which are open to all skill levels and for ages 14 and up, I guide the students step by step to first look, observe and learn how to make lines and create shapes. Shading, negative space and perspective are some of the subjects we cover in class. Drawing mediums such as charcoal, graphite pencils, pen and ink and colored pencils are introduced and utilized in class.

Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I will be teaching evening and morning classes in Drawing and in Painting (Acrylic) starting Feb. 20 at The Arts Barn in Gaithersburg. Registration is open now. See link for further info:

www.vianborchert.com/classes

Find out what's happening in Gaithersburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Currently on display at the Arts Barn I have a number of my Acrylic Paintings at Studio 103 on permanent view.

To learn more about artist Vian Borchert visit:

www.vianborchert.com

Facebook: Vian Borchert Fine Arts

 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?