How long to spend on studies for optimal results?

[mairuku]

I'm feeling confused.
I get up each morning to draw, but I spend at least 20 minutes on a simple sketch of a pose. Should I be drawing faster? Slower?

My brain thinks that if I spend longer, it will retain more information from the picture and improve more.
But then I'm doomed to draw like a snail forever, I think.
And I feel like I might "doze off" while taking my time.

But then, I feel like if I focus on gestures and draw really fast, I'm going to be oblivious to the shape and form of things.

Is it an artist's goal to become quick and efficient at art? *should it be*? Or is there no time restraint?

AHHH...brain explosion.
The answer is probably simple, to keep a balance between both, but I am curious to know other people's thoughts. :\

[darkwolf29a]

I tend the go with the quick sketch theory for waking the creative juices. I have been trying to get faster at doing that, before starting on my artwork.

I'm glad I am not the only one who is not quick yet. But, I also think that as we perform the task more, and get used to seeing and drawing we will get faster...or, at least, I hope so. ;)

[Strela]

There are things you can only learn by drawing lots and lots of pictures. Like composition, the human form, etc etc. Let's be ridiculous and say that you spent one year on every drawing. You would have started a drawing once in that year. You would have finished a drawing once. It would be completely perfect in every detail though.

Meanwhile, in that time Gabriel Garza has started and finished 7000 small drawings. He's made numerous errors at every step of the process and learned how not to make errors.

Who has improved more in that time?

I think quick, accurate sketching is absolutely necessary. You will absolutely need the skill-- you will want to produce 20 test images, choose the one you like best, and then render that out. You will also need drawing skills that I think only quick sketching can produce. Also there is a component of speed if you're trying to make a living on your art and not starve. There's just no way around it. Speed comes with practice but speed is also something you have to cultivate too. If you're doing anything like manga or comic art, or art for the game or movie industry (we should all be so lucky) you won't have the luxury of spending time. You'll have to pump it out and it'll have to look good.

I'm just learning too, but I can tell you my ability has increased immensely recently and all I've done is quick sketches.

[Cthogua]

Hehehe...take a deep breath...exhale...and take it a step at a time. If you're studying something like form than sure take your time, in fact take some time before you even put pencil to paper (or whatever) to study what is really happening in your visual field..where are the lightest lights? where are the darkest darks?, what direction is the light coming from?, what color is the ambient light in the room? that sort of thing. If you're working on gestures and poses from imagination, then you might want to try speeding up. Not because you're doing it "wrong" but because speed often lends a graceful quality to those kinds of drawings, and if your figuring out a pose...ultimately it will lead to a more graceful line of action. (if thats what you want of course)

As far as your other worries about "if I focus on this one thing, will other things be lacking?" You're very unlikely to only study drawing gestures for the rest of your artistic life. Don't worry about it, you'll get around to those other things like form, or whatever when its time/you want to. Its cool to focus on one particular thing for a bit, but don't choke yourself off thinking you HAVE to ONLY do one thing at a time. You asked "Is it an artist's goal to become quick and efficient at art? *should it be*? Or is there no time restraint?" Efficiency and speed are things that naturally come with time, and are an extension of your comfort level with the medium your working in and the subject matter you're depicting. The goal of studies is to continually raise both technical savvy and knowledge. There is no final resting place for either of those qualities however, learning continues, as long as we pursue it, to the end. Also the "goal" of the artist is whatever that artist chooses it to be.

[mairuku]

Thanks for the responses! Definitely can see the importance behind quick sketching now...I do want to be efficient and quick I guess.
Something still tells me that I should at least spend a longer amount of time on a detailed study (not many), but support myself with more gestures and quick sketches. And thumbnails...I discovered how much thumbnail sketching helps this week.

[Strela]

You definitely should spend more time on some of your drawings. It's kind of the converse of my earlier point-- if you do only quick sketches you will never learn how to finish a piece and that is a serious problem too.

What I think Hurricane recommended was a bunch of sketching, one more finished piece per day, and one piece that is the best you can possibly do, every week.

I've been doing a bunch of sketches, 4-8 more finished quarter-page thumbnail drawings, and usually 1-3 digital speedpaintings per day. Adding one finished piece per week.

[armando]

Shortest I've done is 10 seconds, longest 12 hours. For retaining information I like to just go to a place and look at it for at least thirty minutes, and look at it's forms and shapes. At first I'll look for the overall proportions, the general shapes, then I'll focus in on tiny details. Always going back and forth, looking at details but staying aware of where it's located in relation to the whole. Sometimes I'll follow contours, sometimes I'll look at whole areas. Then I go home and draw what I can from memory. I've found that if at the place, if I've focused real hard, ignored the distractions in my mind, and allowed myself to experience the place just for brief moments, when I'm at home that experience will have more clarity than my usual lazy casual thoughts. I've only done this maybe 10 times, because of it's super high difficulty, but it really is a useful thing to do.

[Pezz]

You definitely should spend more time on some of your drawings. It's kind of the converse of my earlier point-- if you do only quick sketches you will never learn how to finish a piece and that is a serious problem too




Would just like to emphasize that point there. A lot. One of the biggest killers for me during my difficult time was learning how to finish a piece I started without looking on it with disdain.

[Psychotrope]

When you say you draw, I'd think time should be split into two parts. One is the conceptualization- thinking and drafting out how the image will look. The other time sink is polishing- will you ink it? Color it? Fill it with gravy? All these add time to the overall completion. You seem to be talking about the first, though, so I'll go with that.

Personally, whenever I try and draw a figure, going about drawing the circles and whatnot for form and pose usually never end well. I find that if I jump into a drawing with a dynamic limb or face, I can follow it with a solid drawing overall. This, you would say, can save some time due to lack of planning. But it doesn't always work. I can spend 5 minutes on a pose, or an hour and 4-5 sheets of paper. It all just happens with how your brain happens to work and how adept you are at putting together a scene for yourself. You seem to have the right ballpark, here, though :P