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Being that Im sicker than a duck in the middle of a frozen pond, my mind is in the mood to rant.

(yes, the title is a trap)

Why do people assume that there is this big secret to drawing? I browse gaia quite often and there is not a day that goes by that someone doesn't ask some great artist, "Whats the secret to drawing so great!?!" As if those who went to art school were told a GREAT HUGE SUPER AWESOME EXPENSIVE secret to drawing. People often hear the same answer "PRACTICE!" but assume the artist is just being an a** and move on to a different artist. I'd like to know the what kind of answer they expect to get out of them? "DRAW BETTER!" would probably be the only advice I'd have to give.

The way I look at it is the mind pictures things extremely blurry, and as we practice the mind starts to grabs minor details, so eventually we start to see things clearly. Little by little of course, nothing happens over night. That is why after we're done drawing a picture, we can't see anything wrong with it, till years later when we've grown as an artist. Even if its something as minor as an uneven jaw or lopsided boobs.

Another question I'm sick of hearing is, "Where did you go to art school?" as if that certain school will shape you into an equally awesome artist. All art school is a place to practice. Every art school teaches you the same thing, you start by drawing basic things (like boxes and bottles), and you will SUCK at it. You will sit in 3-6 hour classes where they FORCE you to practice. Thats right, they dont sprinkle magic artist dust on you. I'm sorry, but they have no secret to becoming an awesome artist. All art school is a place for you to practice, you pay thousands of dollars to learn what you can learn out of school. You yourself will probably never see yourself as an awesome artist (at least you shouldn't), because there is always a need to improve!

So all I have to say is if you want to be an awesome artist, kudos, but don't wait for art school! If you want to learn to draw, start NOW! Go buy books, READ THEM! If you want to draw anime and manga, buy the books! If you want to draw from life, buy the books! READ AND PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE! Its like being on a diet, you CANT lose weight if the nutrition books just sit on the shelf. You need to read them religiously and do what they tell you to do!

Excuse me for the grammatical errors and if none of that made sense, I took something to help me sleep, so Im a little high on cough syrup right now.

Some Links:
100 Incredible Teen Artists
Unknown Teens