This is how I taught myself to draw

[Rising Phoenix]

I copied the illustrations from Garth Williams in the Little House books

I found this paper in an old book I was giving away.

I think I was about 8 when I did these


notice the man in the middle....imagination takes over!

[AllenVanAllen]

1. That is a very cool find!

Any drawings I did when I was eight have probably gone back to the nothingness from where they began. :P
Lucky!!! :hi:

[Kind of Blue]

2. That is cool to see how talent shows itself early.

And cooler that you still have the drawings! I do particular like the man in the middle. Nice work, young Rising Phoenix.

I wonder if we all started by copying. I know I did. My parents got me an art pad when I was about 8 when my mom noticed that I was using the white cardboard that use to come with brand new pantyhose/stockings. She kept all of my drawings but unfortunately they were destroyed in a house fire.

I envy you having those to look back on :)

[Rising Phoenix]

3. what a shame

when I think of my home catching fire, of course I think about safety and such, but I always feel pain at the loss of those irreplacables, pictures, drawings, such.


Kind of weird that I even found it. It was a bookmark in the sequel to Gone With The Wind, I was giving the book away and found it when flipping through. I haven't read that book since I was young.

[Forkboy]

4. I started pretty much the same way, only copying comic book art instead.

It's a great way to learn lighting and form. Because of that though, to this day I still have to catch myself when a drawing women, as they always tend to have large breasts lol. They were no small chested super heroines, and it made an imprint on my young and fragile little mind. :)

Then the book Gray's Anatomy became my bible for a while, which really helped a lot in getting musculature down.

I moved a ton all my life, and in one of the moves I lost a box with every drawing I did from when I started until I was 19, and I'd love to go back and see that stuff again. I always wonder who, if anyone, ever found them and what they think of a box of drawings of superheroes and monsters.

[Rising Phoenix]

5. lol

I still have a tendency to draw old fashion hair and dress when doodling, I suppose from my Little House days.

I have no idea where the rest of my art ended up, some of it was in a folder, along with some pretty bad poetry, don't know where it is. Hope my name is not on it.

When i was a sophomore at umass, I had a masturbating at the window stalker, he broke in one day and stole my whole art portfolio for my drawing class. I still don't think the teacher believed me when I tried to explain why I would not be able to turn in half of the work at the end of term.