Are drawing skills like "riding a bike", once you know how to do it you never forget? Or do you have to continue practicing to not lose your skill?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/xhiu6o/are_drawing_skills_like_riding_a_bike_once_you/
2022-09-18 14:57
HappyLittleDelusion_
Uncomfortable
2022-09-18 15:57
I actually have, once upon a time, forgotten how to ride a bike, and had to spend some time relearning it. It wasn't like learning it from scratch, but it wasn't second nature. That said, it was when I was a kid, and now-a-days I can go years without riding a bike and still be able to grab one and go.
As to your question though, you will get rusty - that's inevitable. How rusty you get depends on where you are in the process - if you're learning and have a few months under your belt and decide to stop for a few years, a lot of what you'd learned will probably fade and have to be relearned. Not like starting from scratch, but it'll take some doing still to get back to where you were.
If however you've been drawing for years and take a decade off, I'd say - admittedly based on nothing more than my own familiarity with the skill, though never having spent quite so much time away from it, so take it with a grain of salt - you're likely going to retain a lot of the core muscle memory. Will you need to sharpen those skills? Sure - but think of it more as repairing a dull, rusty knife, rather than needing to forge a new one from scratch.
talentpun
2022-09-18 17:37
Its more playing a sport regularly, but than stopping and letting yourself get out of shape.
You will have to ramp back up to get back to your peak performance; but it is possible.
Juleamun
2022-09-18 18:09
Depends on how long you stop. You won't forget the fundamentals, but you'll forget your methods, the touch you had with a pencil or brush, the way you created certain effects. But that's not so bad, either. You're a different person now. It makes sense for your art to be different.
Slabshaft
2022-09-18 18:11
I dont have the artistic drawing experience to say, but Peter Han mentions in his Dynamic Sketching 2 demo on YouTube that its not like riding a bike and that youll lose the mind/muscle connection without practice. My own judgment says that may be extreme, but probably mostly true. My experience with handwriting/technical drafting tells me that the skill does fall off, but can be re-learned much quicker than the first time.
OwieMustDie
2022-09-18 18:13
Bit of both.
My ability skyrockets within a few weeks of drawing regularly (at minimum a few hours a day). Conversely, it plummets just as fast.
Returnofthethom
2022-09-18 20:31
Do you really have to practice two hours a day?
OwieMustDie
2022-09-18 20:48
If I want to feel like I'm improving, then yes. But that's just my own thing. And I don't do it in one sitting. I'll typically break it into blocks of 15-20 minutes. But if I'm feeling it, I can comfortably sit there for an hour at a time.
rbcornhole
2022-09-18 19:00
It depends on how advanced your skills are.
The more advanced of an artist you are the more of an impact long breaks will have.
But if you're a beginner-intermediate level then there's less of an impact cause you aren't doing incredibly difficult art to begin with.
Art is absolutely a perishable skill, the bicycle analogy is horse shit because art really isn't that simple.
teastainednotebook
2022-09-18 19:43
Ever try to go back to riding a bike after a few years? Sure, once you remember how gears work, look like a woobly moron at stop signs, and figure out how not to pitch yourself forward by squeezing the front brake on a hill... It's LIKE you never forgot.
If you were very experienced at drawing, you'll probably jump right in with relative success... With a bit of practice to jog your memory.
cocobodraw
2022-09-18 20:16
I dont know how much this applies to other people but I find that when I spend time away from art, with time and life experiences, i come back an even better artist. Especially when it comes to making a judgement on style, what looks good, etc. I dont really forget how to handle a pencil and observe a reference and draw from it etc Im sure there are some things that suffer from a lack of practice but Ive never seriously regressed
Dark_Joels
2022-09-18 21:00
Its probably dependent on the individual but I get paid to draw, and so I get burned out, so I take a break for a while and itll take me months to get back to where I was, even after a break of a week or two
captaincrunched
2022-09-18 21:09
A bit of both. You can definitely accumulate rust, so to speak, but at the same time, drawing is as much an acquired set of sensibilities (knowledge of lighting, anatomy, and etc) as it is your physical skills.
LeafPankowski
2022-09-18 21:33
Youll be faster to get back to form, but there will be a few days where your butt hurts, and you cant do all your tricks anymore.
SilentStudy7631
2022-09-18 21:44
It's like playing an instrument or playing a sport. You may not forget the basic skills, but your ability to perform at a higher level will gradually dull over time. Consistent performance, or in this case drawing, is definitely necessary to stay the best you can be and continue bettering your skills!
Clionora
2022-09-19 00:58
Hmm. I sort of disagree with the instrument analogy, having both played an instrument and drawn for long period of time. I think musical performance requires much more practice with larger losses than drawing. I could give a more rambling longer response, but basically Ive seen where I lost piano skills much more than art. However Ive also always been more natural at art and thus, kept it up more! Hmm.
breakfastBiscuits
2022-09-19 03:06
I lose a bit with both art and music over time. Its just with my art, I have an a eraser. I can still have a perfect piece just takes more time. Music is less forgiving in that way. At least for me.
Also. Guitar tough for me to play for any time at all til the calluses come back.
Clionora
2022-09-19 04:09
Yes, the eraser part is true! And also ,performance is often tied into music much more, whereas art, there's often more focus on the finished project. Or even if you're seeing something 'in progress', you still see the after-effects, which often look much better than the shaky journey. Music - even a final recital - still kind of never loses the journey throughout. You always have to play it through and execute it perfectly. Honestly, don't know how concert pianists or bands do it!
And yes, I can only imagine coming back to play with un-calloused hands. Sounds ouch-tastic!
So yes, both skills can definitely be lost over time - and regained. I just find the return to art more forgiving. Thank god for erasers!
driftingfornow
2022-09-19 11:40
Ack I have to make sure to be in shape for a gig and Im not doing enough work to maintain calluses lol.
SilentStudy7631
2022-09-19 08:04
I also play the piano as well as the clarinet, in addition to drawing. I practice the piano regularly but have not played the clarinet in five or six years.
I haven't forgotten how to play the clarinet entirely, but my skill and familiarity with it has definitely diminished, especially my fingering and embouchre.
The same thing happened when I stopped drawing for about two years. My basic skills didn't completely disappear, but the lack of consistent practice definitely held me back when I resumed drawing. My gesture drawings are stiffer than they used to be and my sense of proportions has gotten sloppy.
It's been rough getting back into the habit of drawing regularly, and maybe one day I'll have time to pick up the clarinet again.
Clionora
2022-09-19 15:28
I think the different for me is, in playing an instrument, you're considering tempo. Speed often plays an element, which doesn't quite exist in creating art.
Of course in practice, you can play something as slowly as you like, but to play a piece quickly, your hands/mouth build up muscle (beyond muscle memory) so you're better equipped to land the notes within the time signature, in the right rhythm.
I do agree that I've had drawing skills get worse after not using them - same regarding stiff drawings and sloppy proportions. It's like retraining your eyes to take in volume again and transfer to paper/canvass.
KnightmareJester
2022-09-18 22:27
It's more like this. It's both the skill of riding a bike, but also the tool, the bike itself. You still have the basic muscles memory of drawing, but if didn't take care of the tool part it rusts and you have to build it back up.
ifearbears
2022-09-18 22:45
You retain the knowledge and ability, but sometimes the execution gets a little rusty.
I only have time to draw and get inspired once every couple of months. I use coloured pencils. Usually the first area that I start to colour goes wrong. I start with the wrong shade, or press too hard too early, etc. Then suddenly its like muscle memory takes over and it just flows from there.
ghostdate
2022-09-19 00:13
Yes, execution gets rusty, but I feel it comes back fairly quickly. After I finished grad school I didnt draw for a solid 6 months I was too busy desperately trying to find any sort of work. Once I got some teaching work I started drawing again. The first day or two I was making goofy mistakes all the time, and wasnt rendering as well as I knew I could. I also had a very embarrassing experience where I was trying to show my students 2-point perspective, and I kept confusing my perspective lines and ending up with weird cubes something that should be basic, but I just hadnt had to do it in a long time and was relying on my knowledge of how it should be done without having practiced it in a while. But continuously doing it for a couple of days built back the physical skill, and I was back to the same point I was 6 months earlier.
I dont know how quickly it would come back after years though. Id like to think I know the things Im supposed to do still, it would just be a matter of making my hands do the right thing.
Ashtrim
2022-09-19 00:04
From personal experience, you need to continue practicing. I use to think I was a decent illustrator but got busy with work and relationships that I was not drawing as much and now my artwork has suffered
somethingX
2022-09-19 00:18
Every skill gets rusty over time, even bike riding despite that old saying. That's one of the reasons why consistency is so important, if you're on off with drawing your skills get rusty during those off periods and progress gets much slower.
Cielnova
2022-09-19 00:40
I'd say it's most like writing. You learn it once and you have it forever, after you have it down you don't really need to practice unless you want it to look better.
Everyone's handwriting is pretty bad if they only practiced in preschool, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone's handwriting get worse at all.
Hope that makes sense.
lazys_world
2022-09-19 00:44
I forget all the time. I haven't been able to learn properly because I seem to forget everything I practice.
Clionora
2022-09-19 01:02
You don't ever really 'lose it', but you do get rusty. Riding a bike might not be the best analogy, as it's a rather simple, instinctive action that doesn't require extreme attention. Whereas I find drawing/practicing drawing to be pretty attention-demanding.
If you have a long space from drawing, what I've noticed is the first few attempts after coming back to it are a bit 'shaky'. The lines feel weaker and you need more warm-ups to feel a flow. But it's not lost - you're not 'worse' than you were permanently. And I don't think you go back to square one. Art is strangely a bit intellectual (although people dumb it down). There's lighting, shadow, perspective, proportions. Even if you're drawing a cartoon, you might be looking at a reference photo. Those parts of your brain that took all that knowledge in were probably bathed in lessons for many, many years. Vs. the simple bike ride tutorial.
Hayaidesu
2022-09-19 07:00
From watching Kim Jung gi draw and the fact that he finds it difficult to draw anime characters. I suspect drawing skill is really all about drawing reality and then playing with it.
So yes drawing can be like riding a bike if you understand that drawing is drawing what you see.
So you want the skill to draw, draw that tree in front of your house, draw your foot draw anything that you see.
And when you are good at that you can learn tricks and techniques
Just with a bike you can learn to just ride it or you can learn more and drift and jump with it
driftingfornow
2022-09-19 11:44
I think everyone else already contributed so I will add esoteric oblique information to your question but it seems somehow tangential.
Do take care of your eyes, especially your dominant eye. I would reckon you keep like 50% of your skill there and if you lost it, its like being a carpenter losing their dominant hand, or maybe a pianist and getting your fingers broken. We sort of vaguely know this but its not really talked about and the degree of damage to skill it imparts is pretty significant when it comes to realism because of how it effects sense of proportion, square, parallel, generally angles and alignment and thought to muscle control.
Source: lost my dominant eye ama
suddenly_ponies
2022-09-19 13:14
> ama
Ok, here's the obvious one: what do you mean? How do you "take care" of your eye and how do you lose it?
manu_facere
2022-09-18 18:22
I forgot how to ride a bike as well. I never heard of another case of it.
I learned to ride relatively young around 5. I crushed and got stitches when i was 6-7 and didn't go back on the bike until i was 9 years old. It felt like i was relearning from scratch
I don't think i rode a bike since i sold mine to save up money for better pc 12 years ago. Fingers crossed i didn't forget again
Uncomfortable
2022-09-18 18:24
I figured it has to do with getting hurt - in my case it wasn't so dire, but I did hurt my knee badly enough to not want to ride again for a while, so a few years passed before I decided to try again. By then I found I'd forgotten a lot of the base mechanics.
driftingfornow
2022-09-19 11:42
Had any neurological issues?
manu_facere
2022-09-19 12:28
Not that i know of. I did hit my head from my fall but i didn't show any symptoms of a concussion
It was probably psychological not neurological. I lost confidence that the bike won't fall down.
FiggNewton
2022-09-18 21:21
I also forgot how to ride a bike