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Drawing is the simplest way to get better at drawing. Redrawing is the simplest way to refine a drawing. The traditional way to do this is with tracing paper

Drawing is the simplest way to get better at drawing. Redrawing is the simplest way to refine a drawing. The traditional way to do this is with tracing paper and overlaying sheets. And letting the first attempt suck…and the second..and the…well the next thing is always more drawing. Not that books aren’t good, it is that mostly you’ll be just nodding along instead of doing the hard work of drawing. Good luck.

tstrimple 4y ago
This may be true when you're drawing for artistic purposes, but lacks the feedback loop necessary when you're trying to diagram for the purpose of explaining things clearly to others. If I'm trying to draw a horse, I can compare my finished results to a photo of a horse and see how accurate it is. It's an easy feedback loop. But for you to learn if your diagram has adequately served its purpose, you have to ask other people for their feedback. Just doing something to get better at it only really works if you can evaluate where you're deviating from your goals and make corrections along the way to account for that and get better. You could draw diagrams for decades of your life in isolation and still not be able to convey meaning through them.
- brudgers 4y ago
  Sorry for not being clear. I intended not suggest anything about isolation or not showing in progress work or diagramming as bliss ninny pursuit. But rather as hard work and discipline mostly rewarded by more hard work and discipline. Probably over years. Over years because that’s the time scale of skills picked up in a career. On the other hand, there’s not much point in doing anything not to get better at it…or rather it is tragic when there is a point to doing something without hoping to be better at it. For reference my suggestion is drawn from professional architecture and conveying precise meaning through drawings and sketches with millions of dollars and some arbitrary number of lives at stake. It is not from photo realism horses drawing. My advice is drawn from exact graphic communication for money with the threat of lawsuits for ambiguity and error.

tstrimple 4y ago

This may be true when you're drawing for artistic purposes, but lacks the feedback loop necessary when you're trying to diagram for the purpose of explaining things clearly to others. If I'm trying to draw a horse, I can compare my finished results to a photo of a horse and see how accurate it is. It's an easy feedback loop. But for you to learn if your diagram has adequately served its purpose, you have to ask other people for their feedback. Just doing something to get better at it only really works if you can evaluate where you're deviating from your goals and make corrections along the way to account for that and get better. You could draw diagrams for decades of your life in isolation and still not be able to convey meaning through them.

brudgers 4y ago
Sorry for not being clear. I intended not suggest anything about isolation or not showing in progress work or diagramming as bliss ninny pursuit. But rather as hard work and discipline mostly rewarded by more hard work and discipline. Probably over years. Over years because that’s the time scale of skills picked up in a career. On the other hand, there’s not much point in doing anything not to get better at it…or rather it is tragic when there is a point to doing something without hoping to be better at it. For reference my suggestion is drawn from professional architecture and conveying precise meaning through drawings and sketches with millions of dollars and some arbitrary number of lives at stake. It is not from photo realism horses drawing. My advice is drawn from exact graphic communication for money with the threat of lawsuits for ambiguity and error.