Ask HN: What made you abandon learning to draw?

2 points·jlelonm··3 comments

I'd love to hear more about any/all of

- what motivated you to learn to draw

- what you were interested in drawing

- what your biggest roadblock/weakness to getting better was

- how many times you've tried to learn

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I've always loved to draw. It's relaxing. I watch cartoons. I wanted to be an animator when I was a growing up.

People, scenes, animals. Both realistic and stylized.

Time. Art is as much a trade as anything else. It takes constant practice to get good and maintain it. Software paid better than art.

I have a bachelor's of arts, in art. I would draw, paint, or create for 20+ hours a week, every week, for a couple years. I also have an associate of arts in graphic design.

Ultimately, I do not practice anymore because I love programming too, it pays better, and there isn't enough time in the day to be great at both.

For me, personally:

> what motivated you to learn to draw

Half of me wanted to impress my friends. The other half of me wanted to make stories come to life.

> what you were interested in drawing

Mostly animated characters. Faces. Portraits.

> biggest roadblock/weakness

PROPORTIONS. I hated how I'd draw something and it would always look "slightly off" but I couldn't really put my finger on exactly why

> how many times you've tried to learn

Probably about 3 times..

I discovered that although I can draw very well I have no visual memory. (For this reason it is actually very difficult for me to know who I'm talking to, even if I know them quite well.)

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