Hey all. So the time I put into learning how to draw was so I could become a modeler. Now that I am starting in on modeling should I drop drawing and put all my time into modeling? I’m asking because I only have an hour before work and an hour after work. I also have one full day on the weekend. I’m also asking because I know if I drop drawing entirely that skill will fade away painfully fast. But I don’t care if it does if my time is better spent modeling. Trying to move up in the world and time is super tight is all. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Hello @flufflepimp
If your primary goal is to become a 3d modeler, then you should definitely be focusing on that skillset. However, you should not view the time spent drawing as wasted, either. Modeling, sculpting, and drawing are all artistic skills that involve interpreting reality and rendering form. These skills inform each other. If you can accurately render the form of a subject when drawing, chances are you’ll be able to do it modelling as well, as long as you have the technical knowledge to use the tools.
Regardless of what medium you work in, there are still underlying realms of artistic knowledge that you must learn. For instance, it doesn’t matter if you want to draw figures, or sculpt them digitally–you still need to study anatomy. That knowledge will inform both disciplines.
While not strictly necessary, it certainly doesn’t hurt a modeler to also have drawing skill–especially if design work is also part of your interest. It’s much faster to draw out an idea quickly, than it is to model it. Drawing can also help you learn the form of a subject quickly before attempting to render it in 3 dimensions.
If your primary focus is modeling as a profession, and you don’t particularly enjoy the drawing, then I don’t see any reason to pursue one at the expense of the other. If you enjoy drawing, then it might be a good idea to make time for it, simply because it will make you happy, and allow you to develop a skill that may not be completely necessary, but can only help you.
Good luck!
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Although @Spyndel pretty much covered most of it I’d still like to comment as well…
It really depends on your goals, which is something only you can answer. However, I also think it’s fair to say that although most definitely useful the profession of drawing isn’t a strict necessity to get ahead with 3D modeling. Of course, and as always, it heavily depends on context though.
For example… myself. I can’t draw for the live of it. Give me a pen and paper and maybe something “artistic” comes out from it according to some, but in the end it’ll be nothing more but scribbles and such which won’t resemble much. Don’t ask me to draw figures such as a dog or a humanoid figure or sceneries because that’s going to become a disaster.
However… when I’m messing around with software (before ZBrush I’ve mostly used Hexagon) I can get some decent results. Sure, it’ll take me a while but it doesn’t take away from the fact that I can get things done using software but not so much using pen and paper.
There’s no doubt in my mind that if I was better with drawing then some of my designs probably took a lot less time to create, but that’s besides the point.
Hope this can also give you some ideas.
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