Visual arts tend to go hand in hand. Whether sketching, painting, ceramics, sculpture, or photography, each art form can truly help you understand a new perspective in your journey. For instance, we highlighted valuable lessons photographers can learn from renowned painters in the past. Similarly, today, we are here to showcase how sketching can help beginners grasp photography in a new way. Before dismissing the idea, scroll down and see whether these ideas are significant to your journey.
Building Your Voice
The artworks of Pablo Picasso, Dali, Frida Kahlo, and Georgia O’Keeffe are a few works that have distinct styles and brushstrokes. However, this results from strong mark making, a process where one uses different patterns to create an artwork. While one does so, they also leave a part of them behind on the canvas. In your initial days, you will make errors as you move to create lines and shapes. However, one often finds ways to work around them rather than dismissing them. Similarly, in photography, one has to embrace elements like noise, blurs, and imperfect frames to create work that is different than those highly stylized images. When used correctly, imperfections can help you make your mark as a photographer and create work that deeply connects with the audience.
Be Observant
When one learns to sketch professionally, one tends to look at the real world from varied angles. However, their works can be very different when an amateur looks at a photograph and sketches. The reason is that photographs are captured from varied lenses, some wide and some telephoto, resulting in a skewed perception of reality. Similarly, those who are new to photography should have a closer look at the images they viewing and figure out how each frame and composition can add a whole new meaning to the picture. For instance, astrophotographers highly depend on ultra-wide-angle lenses but never fisheye, as it will impact the narrative. Similarly, a portrait photographer avoids wide angles and relies on a 50mm or an 80mm lens, depending on the purpose of the portrait.
How to See
The first rule of any visual art is to practice seeing. Many young artists and photographers tend to not look carefully and instead rush to capture what they think is a good picture. In reality, it could be another snapshot photograph, one of many floating on the internet. As a result, the true power of any visual art relies on observation skills. Some of the most renowned photographers, from Weegee to Yousuf Karsh to Dorothea Lange, all captured iconic images by simply being present and observing their surroundings.
KISS
Kiss, or Keep it Simple Stupid, is an easy rule any sketch artist can remember. When you begin your journey or are already making waves in the art world, everyone knows that sometimes, simple compositions are the best way to make a stellar sketch. Similarly, photographers must consider: will these additional or complex elements help my picture? As the great Elliot Erwitt once said: “The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”
Beauty of Negativity
Many complex artworks are out there where an image is simply jumbled with too many elements. However, if you look at olden Chinese sketches or paintings, you see how brilliantly they utilize negative space to create a zen atmosphere in the artwork. Similarly, composing images minimally can also wonders for your photographs. Many photographers aim to run after Cartier-Bresson-like, layered, and complex images from the beginning. However, when you look at the use of negative space in animalistic photographs like Eva Chupikova’s, you will begin to appreciate such photographs more. Consciously using negative space is challenging, so you must refocus your vision and see the results.
Photography, like sketching, is a matter of reasoning with yourself about what works best for your artwork. Deliberately adding necessary elements can only distract the viewers. Like every pencil stroke holds power, similarly, every click can take you closer or farther from your journey as a photographer.
