So, someone recommended the lessons on http://drawabox.com as a good resource for improving drawing skills. The lessons are shorter and less involved than those in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, so I can do a bit every day, rather than wait until I can block out 3-4 hours to do a more involved lesson.  Now, drawing a box is apparently an upper-level task, so the first lesson focusses on drawing lines.

The first lesson has a couple of parts.  I spent about half an hour doing the very first part- lines (and connecting lines to make planes).  I’m pretty good at drawing lines and planes if they are only a couple of inches in size.  As they get larger and you shift to drawing from your shoulder, my lines get less good.  Not terrible, but clearly more wobbly than the shorter lines.  The most horrifying thing is that my shoulder is killing me!  I drew for roughly 30 minutes, and about half the drawings used a wrist pivot and half used a shoulder pivot.  And I was reading the instructions and self-grading my work.  Probably less than 10 minutes guiding a pencil across the page and my shoulder is exhausted.  I clearly need to cross train for drawing.  🙂  While the exercises were very simple, I did find them very useful in evaluating my motor skills.  And clearly, I have plenty of work to do with regards to drawing from the shoulder.

No scans/pictures, because, well, they are just lines and squares.  As the lessons progress, I will be drawing more interesting things, and those I will post.  I’m also getting back into Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain.  I mentioned that I got bored with it, but I did find it very helpful in terms of improving my skills, so I have scheduled time over the next few weeks to complete that course also.