How long does it take to get good at illustration / graphic design?

I currently draw and illustrate like a kindergartener.

Assuming, say, I make time for 4 or 5 hours of study/practice of self-teaching drawing and illustrating every day of the week, how long does it normally take someone to become decent and passable enough to render cohesive ideas as illustrations on paper (so not necessarily "expert world-renowned illustrator good", just good enough to sketch out ideas of things, architecture, people, etc without distorting the proportions and shit)?

dunno coz i was born a genius.

http://www.posemaniacs.com/ this site is good

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

ive never considered it possible to learn to be good at drawing, or develop a good compositional eye, you have to be born with it. but computer aided illustration removes the need to be able to use a pencil, and if youre interested in it, you can learn it. but you still need the eye for it which i personally dont think you can learn, at least not in an organic way. rule of thirds and all that aside

  Brian Tregaskin said:

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

lol

oh brian constructive as always

  mrcopyandpaste said:

you have to be born with it

I don't think so. I think this is a myth, the kind that also scares away "ordinary folk" from learning advanced math, especially here in the States where this widely-held idea of "I'm just not a math kind of person" impedes many peoples' academic potential.

I do think it's likely that age has a lot to do with how long it takes to learn something, but not something that completely prevents you either

this isn't to do with how long it would take but i've found in learning anything be ambitious try things you don't think you can do

yeah turns out i agree with you. but to review my argument, id say the true innovators in an area are born with things. the ones that learn empirically the rules of art or whatever will never do anything new. to do that, i think you have to have a natural gift. im not just talking about the geniuses who revolutionize a particular area of art or create a new movement, but just people who do their own thing. i know this isnt really what you want to do as such, im just elaborating on my point

Drawing is a practical skill, and you can learn how to do it just like you can learn how to play an instrument.

You need to learn how to draw straight lines, how to figure draw (copy something that you look at exactly), how to foreshorten, how to do perspective, and how to mix colours. These are all fairly simple things that get better with practice.

  mrcopyandpaste said:

the ones that learn empirically the rules of art or whatever will never do anything new

  mrcopyandpaste said:

ive never considered it possible to learn to be good at drawing, or develop a good compositional eye, you have to be born with it. but computer aided illustration removes the need to be able to use a pencil, and if youre interested in it, you can learn it. but you still need the eye for it which i personally dont think you can learn, at least not in an organic way. rule of thirds and all that aside

Someone please replace graphic design with musical composition and post this 100fold in EKT.

  mrcopyandpaste said:

ive never considered it possible to learn to be good at drawing, or develop a good compositional eye, you have to be born with it. but computer aided illustration removes the need to be able to use a pencil, and if youre interested in it, you can learn it. but you still need the eye for it which i personally dont think you can learn, at least not in an organic way. rule of thirds and all that aside

utter nonsense. you can be born with those skills, but you can also hone and develop whatever you have. there's a great thread on a concept art forum where a guy who can barely draw an apple posts for a year, practicing and getting feedback every day, and eventually has professional work in a gallery. not to sound trite, but you can do anything you put your mind to.

to answer planetoid's question, i would say you'd need to do a lot of drawing from life, for maybe a year, to develop basic rendering skills. read some books on figure drawing and just draw a lot. i don't know anything about graphic design, i'm sure that's just something where you have to familiarize yourself with the software and just work with it day in, day out.

now being creative, that i don't think you can learn.

thats what i actually meant. which is why i explained myself further. youre right i put my opinion across poorly the first time round.

Draw as much as possible,study anatomy and look at negative shapes and do lots of blind eye contour drawings.

ps im naked

I surprised myself a few weeks back doing basic pencil sketches. I just followed my instincts. They were correct. I am a super fucking rock star.

  Brian Tregaskin said:

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

agreed, there is more soul in illustration. Graphic design is a computer aided, advertising and ripping off everyone else, 'oh that font would look great with that one' shit ball. I do illustration and there is much more personality and character involved. You can get soulless illustration but i dont really want to that, but i guess it's the only way to make money from it nowadays. (Im not making money, im a student by the way) if theres one thing i've learnt after 3 years of an illustration course, it's that there is no money in it unless you are pretty talented.

to answer the first question, i'm not sure but im pretty sure anyone, like most things in life can get good at it so give it a go.

412 days

32 minutes

59 seconds.

  Brian Tregaskin said:

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

I totally agree with Mr. Tregaskin (except when it comes... to Asymmetrical Head!) This is the kind of job that you totally have to follow the last pretentious tendency, exhibit shiny Apple logos all over your workplace and wear a scarf.

  Enter a new display name said:

  Brian Tregaskin said:

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

I totally agree with Mr. Tregaskin (except when it comes... to Asymmetrical Head!) This is the kind of job that you totally have to follow the last pretentious tendency, exhibit shiny Apple logos all over your workplace and wear a scarf.

and masturbate over new fonts

  Pennywise said:

  Brian Tregaskin said:

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

 

agreed, there is more soul in illustration. Graphic design is a computer aided, advertising and ripping off everyone else, 'oh that font would look great with that one' shit ball. I do illustration and there is much more personality and character involved.

you are wrong

  KY said:

  Pennywise said:

  Brian Tregaskin said:

fuck graphic design. graphic designers are so gay and fucking stupid

 

agreed, there is more soul in illustration. Graphic design is a computer aided, advertising and ripping off everyone else, 'oh that font would look great with that one' shit ball. I do illustration and there is much more personality and character involved.

you are wrong

shit when i typed this, i forgot that there was gonna be graphic designers on here. most graphic design bores the shit out of me so i am perhaps unable to discuss it more.

i'm not really a graphic designer, but good statement rectification. B+

  my usernames always really suck said:

I currently draw and illustrate like a kindergartener.

 

Assuming, say, I make time for 4 or 5 hours of study/practice of self-teaching drawing and illustrating every day of the week, how long does it normally take someone to become decent and passable enough to render cohesive ideas as illustrations on paper (so not necessarily "expert world-renowned illustrator good", just good enough to sketch out ideas of things, architecture, people, etc without distorting the proportions and shit)?

Lots and lots and lots and lots of life drawing. 4-5 hours a day is definitely enough, just draw and draw and draw. In addition to pen, ink, charcoal, and graphite, to stay competitive you will also have to master photoshop and illustrator and probably a few other programs. Classes will be necessary at some point along the way, and just remember, illustration is a very precise art, there is very little room for expression and personal creativity. Design is also extremely competitive, to get work you will be competing with many born artists and graduates with 4-year fine arts degrees. If you plan not to go to art school i'd recommend freelancing whenever possible to build a resume and curriculum vitae.

With all that said, if you are prepared to commit, drawing will become one of the most rewarding parts of your life, its a rocky road, and you have to love doing it for both yourself and others at all times, but for those that love to do it, its utterly worth it.

  marian said:

dunno coz i was born a genius.

 

http://www.posemaniacs.com/ this site is good

i've been dying for something like this! thank you!!

also: if you practice for hours every day, it should take you about a year to go from kindergarten doodles to accurate or relatively accurate representations. Of course its different for everybody, it all depends on how you recognize and reproduce shapes on paper