Learning to Draw and seeing "like an artist"

I was going to write about how I am "learning to draw," but on second thought I realized the more accurate and important point is "I am drawing." This week I began taking an art class -- probably the first actual art class I have taken since elementary school. And it's been a lot of fun, and it's really cool, and I am happy to be taking a step toward living more artfully. The class is "Abstract Landscape Sketching" at the Curtis Arts Center in Greenwood Village, and the instructor is a fun and rather enthusiastic ("That's brilliant! Really, quite incredible!") artist named Christian Dore.

But that's not all.

The Fine Arts coordinator at my school (who loves to tell us "anyone can draw" and should), told me the first thing you need to do is "get a sketch book" and just start doodling. So, back in November I stopped in Meininger Art Supplies on Broadway and picked out a book. It sat in the basement (my future artist's studio) for over a month before I opened it on January 3 and just started drawing shapes. Of course, like many people, I felt like I didn't really know what or how to draw, so I sought some guidance in a few places. In this day and age, you can find tutorials on nearly anything online; so I did a cursory YouTube search and ran across this guy Branden Shaefer, an acrylic artist, who got me started:

And, I also started checking out books from the library and just started following the step-by-step lessons. Here are a few I have found helpful so far.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain -- Betty Edwards

Drawing for the Utter and Absolute Beginner -- Claire Watson Garcia

You Can Draw in just 30 Minutes - Mark Kistler

Honestly, it's so silly that I felt I didn't know what to draw or how to draw when I grew up drawing all the time. It's like they say: Go in to a kindergarten class and ask how many artists are in the room, and you will see thirty hands in the air. Go into a high school class, and no hands will go up. Or maybe two.

So, if you want to live more artfully, give it a shot.