How Drawing is like Kung Fu

The reasons you don’t draw.

Brush Lee

“I can’t draw a straight line.”

“I can’t even draw a good stick figure.”

“Artists are so lucky that they’ve got the talent to draw.”

I’ve heard all the excuses in the book on why you can’t draw.

I’m here to tell you right now, that that’s all they are, EXCUSES.

The truth is, you’re afraid. Afraid to fail. Afraid of being laughed at. Afraid of being mocked. Afraid of WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW.

Well guess what? Here, you learn what you don’t know. Here, you will be shown the steps. Here, you will discard your fear.

“But I have no TALENT for drawing!”

I’m here to tell you that talent, TRUE natural drawing talent, is only good for one thing:

Making you WANT to draw more.

But a person with less talent or no talent, can usually end up drawing better than someone with natural talent simply by working at it. <=CLICK TO TWEET

The Problem with Talent

Since drawing comes easy for the talented, they often rely on it like a crutch. Talent can often be a fatal drawing flaw. I’ve seen talented artists become stagnant and never improve because they rely on their talent too much.

Some talented people when confronted with a need to improve their skills, quit when they realize that it’s difficult and requires work. They think they shouldn’t HAVE to work at it. After all, they’re talented.

Worse of all, some talented people think they’re the BEST draftsmen out there, and when they come face to face with draftsmen who are better, they simply quit, rather than work at improving.

This  is where a person with less talent or no talent has an advantage. They’ve never had it easy, so the work is part of the drawing experience. Something they take for granted.

The reasons you CAN draw

Drawing is a learnable skill. It’s a skill with teachable methods that work. All you have to do is learn those methods, practice them and that’s it.

Drawing is like writing, like playing an instrument, like learning to dance,…like Kung Fu.

Why Kung Fu is like drawing

Pen Grier

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Kung Fu as:

“any of various Chinese martial arts and related disciplines that are practiced especially for self-defense, exercise, and spiritual growth.”

This is NOT the definition that I want to use here. The definition that best fits what I was taught when I learned Kung Fu is much more like the following one I found in Wikipedia:

Kung fu, gongfu, or gung fu (功夫, Pinyin: gōngfu) is a Chinese term referring to any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, energy, and time to complete, often used in the West to refer to Chinese martial arts, also known as Wushu.^[1]

…In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any skill achieved through hard work and practice, not necessarily martial

THIS definition of Kung Fu sounds much more like drawing. Kung Fu can roughly be translated as “hard work”. This means, any skill that requires work in order to improve it, can be labeled Kung Fu.

You can learn all the principles of drawing very easily. To get good at it though, you need to practice them.  Just like you did when you learned to write.

Conditioning

Conditioning your body is the first thing you do when you’re preparing to learn Kung Fu (the martial art). You prepare your body slowly in order to handle the physical skills you’ll begin to learn.

It’s no different when learning to draw. The conditioning only looks different. You condition your arm, wrists, hands, and fingers to do what you want them to do. This results in good hand, eye coordination. Which results in making you capable of getting the drawing results you want.

A Kung Fu master doesn’t teach you the most complex moves right off the bat. He helps you learn them in small digestible steps so that they slowly become internalized and become automatic.

Drawing is the same way. You practice the small basic stuff and those things slowly become part of how you think.

Drawing is easy

Enough talk, let’s draw!

Drawing is easy. Drawing great is difficult and takes work. At this stage, you simply want to feel comfortable drawing. The lessons below will help you do just that. Never again will you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing when it comes to drawing.

How The Drawing Website is Structured

Following the Kung Fu example, I structured this site like a Kung fu class.  In other words, it goes in levels.  Starting from beginning level (Lvl 0) up to “THE FINAL LEVEL”. You can start where you feel most comfortable.

A word  of advice: ALL things in the beginning level are applicable in the most advanced stages of drawing.  It wouldn’t hurt,  if your more advanced, to take a look at the most basic lessons, as a refresher course.

Here’s how the levels are broken down. Click on the highlighted level to go to the page and get started:

Lvl 0 – You can’t draw a stick figure or a straight line and it’s darn embarrassing. The lessons here are especially designed for you.  By the time you’re done with these lessons, you’ll be the envy of all your other, non-drawing friends.(FREE digital book of this info is now available)

Lvl 1 (COMING SOON) – The lessons in this level are for you who are comfortable drawing already and want to draw better and cooler things.  Forget all that anatomy stuff and drawing realistic, lets have fun and draw cartoons!  By the time you finish this level, you will be able do draw some nice looking comic strips.

Lvl 2 (COMING SOON)- Time to get serious. The lessons here are for you who are serious about getting better. You want to make a living drawing? By the time you master this level, you will be able to do just that.

Lvl 3 (COMING SOON)- You’re a pro but now you want to leave the competition behind.  You want to be a MASTER. These are the lessons for you!

Lvl 4 (COMING SOON)- You are a Master artist, so you know that you’ve only JUST BEGUN. It’s taken you years to realize that all you know means you know nothing. You are more exited than ever to learn. Here you will find what you need.

THE FINAL LEVEL (COMING SOON-ish???) – Those who have achieved this level are said to have a mystical aura around them while they draw called, “The Glow.”

Questions?

I can’t help you if you don’t ask.

What’s your burning drawing questions?

Is there something you’ve always wanted to know about drawing? Ask.

I’ll give you my best answer and, who know,  probably write a post about it.

Leave any comments and questions in the comments below.

Or better yet, sign up to receive more information via e-mail. You’ll get extra tips and advice.  You can ask me questions that way also.