· 

Drawing or painting?

Probably one of the most discussed topics in the art world.

I came across people who said "You can't be good at both, either drawing or painting." or "You can't be a good painter when you can't draw", also, "Concentrate on one and the other one will come naturally". 

 

My opinion and experience (I never did a scientific research on that), do what you like. Don't force yourself  to become a super drawer when you don't enjoy! Of course you need to practice what ever you do, and you will become better and better, but you need to have the passion for what ever you do.

 

Have you ever heard "Practice makes perfect" and you need 10000 hours of practice to become a pro? Well, I feel in art you might not need that many hours, but practice is important. When you love what you do it makes you happy anyway. And finishing your first masterpiece, and maybe even getting a positive feedback from others, is the best feeling in the world.

Here a little insight of my own journey:

 

I tried really hard to become good at drawing, as I've been told I need to be able to draw if I want to become an artist.

I bought all kind of pencils, studied the differences between B2 and H6, had all sorts of eraser (yes there are differences!) and worked really hard... but couldn't stand it.

While I was sketching and sketching someone told me that I can't be an oil painter because I'm not patient enough...  

Which hooked me... because when ever someone says: You can't! I want....

 

The next day I went shopping and found oil paints in a supermarket. With no clue, but a lot of passion I started painting. And I loved it... Mainly because oil is such a friendly medium. Even after weeks you can still make changes to your work. Anyway, of course, even here it took me some time to practice and I made a lot of paintings which I'm not super proud of.

 

But I enjoyed every minute. And after a few practicing hours I had my first finished master piece.

 

And I'm sure as soon as you have found your medium (which you probably have already in mind), you will enjoy the practice time and everything comes easy.

 

I discovered actually one strange thing lately, after hiding all my sketch books and pencils for a long time I had to make a sketch for a birthday card... And.... I was able to sketch....

 

My conclusion on this big topic:

Do what you like and you will have success!