You are good at drawing and you think design is the right choice for you? Well, I don't know. There is a possibility, so let's discuss in detail.

Drawing is a language. It's a way of communicating ideas visually. It makes things easier to understand. So, of course if you have good drawing, whoever is looking at it, will be able to understand whatever you have wanted to say easily. 

Who decides though, whether your drawing is good or not? According to me, no individual has the right to judge that. The way to determine would be to see whether it has achieved it's purpose or not, which is to communicate the idea. 

Now coming to the part of whether design is the right field for you or not. Design is a field that caters to all other fields. To do that, you are required to be constantly on the look out. Anywhere and everywhere can be your inspiration. Design isn't only drawing. To put design into that threshold is a bad idea. 

It's so much more than that. You might have really great drawing skills, but that's not what makes a designer. You could be a really great artist though. To be a designer you need to have an amalgamation of various skills or rather traits. Like being curious about things around, being imaginative, observant and open to new perspectives and ideas.

Plus, there are various different types of design. Each one requires a different type of skill set. For example, fashion design would require someone with more hands on material based skills, and while drawing would still be essential, it won't be crucial. Whereas in something like animation, drawing is the fundamental aspect.

Drawing will enhance your ideas and give them life. So, if you are good at it, great! But if you are struggling a bit then do your best to practice and hone those skills. A few basic things you could do would be to start sketching the things and people around you. Do it live, take references, or maybe neither, draw directly from your head! It's all very helpful. Like in school exams, we never know when good handwriting can pay off.

If you are good at drawing, it doesn't mean you should stop there and leave all other means of preparation, there are quite a bit of things you can still do. Work on exercises that will make your brain think creatively. 

By the way, all this while we've been talking about drawing and not sketching. Those two are inter-related, but not the same things. Thought, I'd just step in and clarify things. Drawing is a more refined version of sketching. Or you could say sketching is the initial stage of drawing. the loose and free beginning. This is how drawing and sketching are generally interpreted.

Here are a few ways to get better at drawing:

1. Practice your basics: Make lines, circles, ellipses, cubes, cuboids everyday.

2. Draw Nature: Make animals, plants and landscapes. Study anatomy and movement of things. How the lines flow. It's all about getting the essence right. 

3. Humans: This is essential. Humans are all around you. Learn to draw them right and in interesting ways.

4. Products: Draw man made objects like bottles, dispensers, radios and who knows what else to get a grasp of how more structured and analytical things look.

5: Getting a style: While getting a style does give you an identity, it doesn't mean that's the only thing you should be focusing on. Styles come naturally. Just keep practicing and you'll get it!

6. Consistency: Do it everyday. It's necessary for you to make sure that sketching becomes a part of your daily routine. Do a little bit of it with good quality and full concentration to become a sketching genie!

To delve deeper into such topics, go check out our other blogs!

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Parinita Manchanda

Communication Design/NID Vijayawada

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