INTRODUCTION

So many times I have heard someone throw down the sword—make that the pencil—and issue this challenge to me: “Yeah, but you can’t teach ME to draw!” Yes, I can teach you to draw, even if you can’t draw a straight line—or draw blood with a knife. You’re reading this book, which means you’ve met the only criteria I have: a desire to learn.

Drawing is a very learnable skill. If you haven’t learned to draw, your drawings are weak or some art teacher told you to take up knitting instead, you just haven’t had the right instruction. I’m not promising that you’ll become Leonardo da Vinci by the end of this book, but I do believe you will draw better than you have ever hoped. All you must do is apply (and practice!) the drawing tools taught in this book. You’ll soon discover that learning to draw is less about talent and more about learning to perceive the world around you differently.

Getting There

My own artistic journey is just colorful enough to make for a good, and hopefully inspirational, story.

I’d always found certain types of art easy. That is, I could look at some things and somehow draw them fairly accurately. I grew up in a small mining town in northern Idaho where the public scho ol system could barely afford textbooks, let alone an arts curriculum. My parents did the best they could to encourage my talent, but when I announced that I was going to be a professional artist, they could barely mask their horror. Art was fine as a hobby, but a career? After much soul-searching, they bravely sent me off to a nearby community college to study commercial art.

APPLE BLOSSOMS

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14" x 17" (36cm x 43cm)

IRISH WOLFHOUND

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14" x 17" (36cm x 43cm)

I soon found myself floundering. Lessons consisted of the professors placing a mess of white shapes on a table and having us draw them. White balls, white shoes, white drapery and, well, more white stuff. I could never figure out the point. What is so special about white? Then we got to paint. We did paintings of the white stuff in the primary colors of red, blue and yellow. Egads! I just wanted to draw something that really looked like something.

After a year of not getting it, I changed majors and figured my art career was probably going to become a hobby after all. I envisioned myself as a gray-haired lady puttering with bad oil paints on Saturday mornings. For several years I drifted from college to college and major to major. I became the consummate professional student.

Then one day I attended a gallery opening of watercolor paintings. As I wandered around the room studying the paintings, it hit me: I can do this! I can paint at least this well. So what was the difference between this artist and me? How did she get her own art show and not me? My husband dryly provided the answer: “She did it.” She took the time and effort to actually create enough art for a one-woman show. I made up my mind then and there that I was going to be an artist, too, despite my collegiate setbacks.

The Story Continues

After some time as a watercolorist, I found myself developing a fascinating use for my drawing skills: I started working at a crime lab as a forensic artist. Part of my job was sketching crime scenes. I would love to tell you that I was originally hired to work there because I was a brilliant artist with the crime-solving ability of Sherlock Holmes, but that would be stretching it. In 1985, I attended a short course on composite drawing at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Composite drawings are the “Wanted” drawings you see of criminal suspects on the nightly news. They are usually created by combining separate facial features that the victim or witness of a crime selects from a book of faces. The composite is used to identify an unknown suspect. I was invited to the course only because the FBI wanted participants from a variety of regions throughout the United States. My face-drawing skills were still dreadful at this point, but I was inspired to improve.

I worked hard and paid attention to what it would take to do a good job. I became Carrie Parks, Pencil Sleuth. I loved drawing faces and became addicted to forensic art. I finally finished my college degree with a double major in social science and art—with honors, no less. My motto was, “I have a pencil, and I’m not afraid to use it!”

Now my husband and I travel across the nation teaching composite drawing and forensic art courses. We have taught all kinds of people of varying skill levels, from FBI and Secret Service agents to civilian adults and children. We have won awards for our teaching methods, and I’ve even written a book exclusively on drawing faces. And to think, at one point I thought art could only be a hobby!

So, the Point of This Is …

You, too, can realize your dream of becoming an artist if you set your mind to it. This book aims to teach you what it takes to do just that. I’m not going to set a bunch of stuff in front of you and expect miracles. Instead, I’ll cover all the essentials, teaching you the secrets of realistic drawing one step at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be turning out picturesque landscapes, stellar portraits—any subject that you like!

In my many years of teaching art, I’ve discovered that there are certain characteristics that define success as an artist. My short list is as follows:

SWORD

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14" x 17" (36cm x 43cm)

Desire. Desire doesn’t just mean wanting something, but wanting it badly enough that you’re willing to try a different approach to get it. At first, you might not like it, might not do well trying it, or might not find it useful, but still you are willing to try. This characteristic is what will allow you to grow and improve your artistic skills.

Interest. It’s hard to whip up a fascination for drawing Harley-Davidson motorcycles when you love to ride horses. You need to draw what interests you, and practice your drawing on the things that interest you.

Good instruction. This is my role. Good instruction is not up to the student, it is up to the teacher. If you’ve ever taken a class where you were told to draw something in a particular way but were never told why or how, you haven’t failed—your teacher has. If it’s meaningless to you, you’ll never learn. Art needs to be stepped out, explained and demonstrated. If it were as simple as just drawing something, you would already be doing it!

Focus. The artists who develop the best drawing skills usually have the best observational skills. This means having an eye for the details as well as the overall picture. This takes concentration and training but is well worth the effort.

Practice. To be good at anything, you need practice. One of my students was so thrilled by his new skills that he started drawing everybody, everywhere. I believe he had a sketchbook firmly in hand wherever he went. Of course, he is a fantastic artist now because he practiced his skill.

Talent. Some artists may have it, but you don’t have to have natural talent to draw well. In my opinion, it takes far more training and skill development than actual talent to become a successful artist. Anyone can learn to draw by applying her desire and interest. I’ll supply the good instruction if you focus on and practice what you’re learning. Everyone will then be convinced that you had talent all along!

A Group Effort

This drawing was created using a 6B pencil and paper stumps as well as several erasers, including a kneaded rubber eraser and a white plastic eraser.

BUILDING BLOCKS

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16" x 20" (41cm x 51cm)