Can you draw whimsy?
 

I see all these adorable funky animals and houses and people that quilters have drawn and cut out and added as appliques on quilts, mug rugs, and wall hangings, and I am sitting here wondering if they've been drawing all their lives or is it something you can just do.

I picked up my gs's dry erase board and the picture in my head is so not what ends up on the board, lol.

I did print out a bunch of ideas from MS Word Clipart and others from googling so that should help.

Can you draw? It can't be that hard, right?

I WISH I could draw! I have tried many times but my hands don't produce what my brain thinks....some people have great talent. If you find a way for this to happen, let us know.

Get a child's coloring book and trace patterns from that and fill in with color.

Art of any kind takes practice. The art that you see is the end result.

No, I can't draw. I don't even trace all the well!

Both of my parents could draw and oil paint. I didn't get a bit of talent from either of them....and I wanted to draw in the worst way.

I modify clipart for my appliques. Sometimes drawing circles and rectangles helps me but altering found drawings in much simplier.

Investigate some children's drawing books. Check out what's available at your public library, or look at options on Amazon. Most such books show very simple steps, starting with circles, ovals and squares and adding simple details...many I would call "whimsical." You'll still need to practice, but it's amazing what you can make with a few simple shapes. I like to doodle. On faces (either animal or people) it's fun to experiment with the shape of eyes (wide open, squinting, etc.) and especially eyebrows to show emotions. Try it and have fun!

When I started embroidering and couldn't find any patterns I liked I used coloring books all the time. I tried drawing my own but it never came out even close to anything I liked. But the coloring books were fun.

Gee I cannot even draw a straight line.

At present I am "googling" ideas for a wall hanging with tree trunks, branches and owls that I can trace.

" ....and I wanted to draw in the worst way. "
i do draw in the worst way. just awful. but i can cut and paste and trace. really envy those with drawing talent.

I have been reading Mary Lou Weidman's books on how to make story quilts. I started a quilt for a friend, and thought it would be hard, as I am VERY challenged with drawing. I have many ideas in my head. I wen online, and googled coloring books. I was able to print pictures of things I want to add to the quilt. It is a quilt with a beach scene, a tree, the sun, and all kind of extra things that relate to my friend. I am putting different embellishments on it to make it exciting. There will be a bee on his foot, some lady bugs, birds, and all kinds of things that will get put on, as they pop into my head. The label will be a 1973 mustang convertible with all the info on it..
I thought it would be hard to do, but with the internet having all the pictures, it is becoming easier.

I'm a freelance artist, I've been a prolific drawer since I could hold a pencil. It was just 'in me'. Not that I don't have my off days, where brain and hand aren't working together. Hubby and I only had this conversation today. I was saying how I've always easily drawn 'cutsie' stuff yet real life depiction is hard for me (though I do good portraits). Yet others are the opposite. I think we all have the ability in us, but unless we try to draw everything possible we might never find our natural bent. Both of my parents were quite artistic though it didn't really interest them until later years. My daughter is the same, an amazing natural talent yet it doesn't interest her. I was surprised to hear she'd designed fine detail, complex Gothic tattoos for a few of her friends. I never knew, she just did them because they asked. My pride and joy is my 11yr old son, severely Autistic and didn't even touch a crayon until age 6. One day he just started to draw, and now draws for at least 5 hrs a day. He does miniature drawings, with 1mm pens, so very tiny and detailed I need my glasses to see what they are!!
Essentially we all have a talent for something, embrace it and share. I appreciate others talents more than my own :-)

I have always drawn, sketched and doodled, and started early early in life. My mother put me in art lessons from the age of about 8 or 9 where I learned to oil paint. I had a dozen or so ribbons by the time I started high school. I still sketch and doodle - especially in meetings or on conference calls at work. I haven't painted a picture in a few decades. I do believe tho that all those years of art lessons dramatically improved my understanding of colors, and goes without saying - the actual techniques used in oils.

With all that said, when I need or want to do applique, I tend to google xxx coloring pages and modify the most appealing images to my final vision - be it with a few embellishments or use of designs, fabrics, etc. With all the resources at our fingertips today, one doesn't have to have that natural ability :)

That's going to be my best option I think. I do love the clip art I got from Word, so I probably will manipulate that.
Just have to start somewhere and keep going. Thanks for the ideas!

Some people DO have a natural talent for drawing, but it's a skill that anybody can learn with perseverance. And like anything else in life, the more you practice the better you get. I've taken art classes and worked on my drawing ability - I still kind of suck at it but that's mostly because I don't practice like I should. If I really work at it (and do a LOT of erasing) I can draw "ok". My art teacher told us that if you want to get good at it, you need to invest about 10,000 drawings into it. He recommended keeping a sketchbook nearby and doing at least 2 drawings per day, every single day.

I don't draw nearly that much but I do doodle, which I think helps but not as much as a focused drawing would. Of course these days most of what I'm doodling is quilt designs, LOL.

Yes my first love was drawing and I only began to interpret fabric into designs well into my twenties. My suggestion is to pick up a basic drawing book and see how it is done. Any art section of a hobby store will have one. Perhaps a library check out book would be enough? It is a learning experience just like quilting.

I really think that natural ability is wonderful, but don't discount the fact that you can learn anything you put the interest and time into. My artistic eye spills into my home and garden designs. I love it. I see art in most everything.

My Dad is an artist, he can draw. Me, not so much. I have taken 2 beginner drawing classes and still can't draw. But that's ok. If you want it draw well, practice, practice, practice! just like anything else. Want to really blow your mind? Read/borrow/buy the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. In one of my beginner drawing classes we used the technique for a couple of the classes and I was stunned that what I drew actually looked like what I was looking at to draw. Totally amazing, jaw-dropping. I'm not sure why I didn't keep up with it. I'll have to dig out the book again. I get my whimsy designs from quilt books or patterns I purchase. This works for me.

Darn. Not me, can't draw a lick. I hated 7th grade art class, spent hours after class trying to draw a still-life display and still got a c- on the project. I passed the class--barely. But, I found quilting and for funky fun quilts I depend on kid's drawings, story books, (though copyright can be a problem here), clip art and even fabric cut-outs for inspiration, but favorite source is coloring books as mentioned above.

Those of you that think you can't draw probobly can draw whimsy stuff. The imperfections are what makes this style work. I would suggest drawing something twice as big as you want it, than outline your sketch in black and tape it to a window and trace changing any parts that annoy you. Repeat until you like it. Then use a copier to reduce it, which will often eliminate some unimportant details and simplify the design more.

If you can use a rotary cutter you can draw a straight line. It's almost the exact same process with a ruler and writing utinsel. I literally spent hours learning to draw a straight line in graphic design school and when I miscut I see its the exact same mistakes I make when drawing.

I can't draw at all but I play around in Photoshop with circles, squares, clouds and the photoshop warp tool. Its kind of like punch art. Here is a poodle I did with mainly cloud shapes.

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Ask a child to draw whatever it is you want. They turn out very whimsical and quite cute. My granddaughter drew me a picture of a mouse when she was about 5 or 6 that was just adorable and she named it "M O W S E". When she was grown I made her a pillow with her mouse on the front and labeled "M O W S E" just as she had.

I'm with you. I can not draw even a straight line! Lol!

I LOVE this idea!! I get drawings from my niece & nephew sometimes and they're so fun; I should reproduce some in applique' form as a gift for their mom.

I can draw but it is so much less painful to use clip art

When I was in 7th grade art class we had to paint a still life of an orange, an apple and a vase. The art teacher told me not to bother trying a second time, that it wouldn't help because I had no talent (she was really mean). I was crushed, since both my parents could draw and paint. I never tried again. To this day, over 50 years later, I cannot make my hand do what my mind "sees" with a pencil or paint brush, even though I started sewing garments when I was about 12, and have created many pieces of stained glass art over the years. I can follow a pattern but can't draw one! :-)

Art, drawing, etc. is in the eye of the beholder! When my DGD was in HS, the local Farmer's Market Org. asked the HS art teacher to have all of her art students do a poster for that summer's market. My DGD's poster was given a C and she was told it wasn't very good. She called me and asked if her art was that bad. I told her she may not have followed the criteria the teacher was looking for and I assured her that her art was very good. Well, after the judging by the Farmer's Market judges, guess who's poster was chosen? My DGD's! and she won the $100 prize also!

I can draw and paint. I bought a Cameo Silhouette for which you can purchase designs on their website for as little as $.50 and cut them out with the Cameo.

I have also used clip art. I have pulled up images on Goggle and just traced over the monitor screen of what I wanted and cut them out by hand. What ever works. Just don't use licensed designs. I think it's best to use something you come up with yourself if you can. I love the idea or having children draw for you!

it takes time and patience. start with bug first, they come out cute and you can make them up as you go a long.

when I draw every day, I can draw. when I let it slide, it will then take a week or more to get the skill going. I did a still life a day in hi school and by the end of the first month it would take 2-3 minutes to draw one, up til then it was a mess or lots of erasures. it takes practice for both your eye and you hand.

my avatar Is a mug hug. the mug sits in it as well as on it. I usually make them without drawing because I think "in the round". I sculpt better than I draw.

Almost any picture can be used to applique. Just trace around it, and add details. There are some newer machines that you can use to scan a picture, then it will cut the applique for you.

This past Sunday, we were reminded that we ALL have gifts, just not all the same. You obviously must have gifts that led you to quilting. My mom and sisters were all gifted with the ability to grow things. I kill anything I plant.
Rely on coloring books and kids' coloring pictures online to get your pictures. Have fun.

What a horrible monster!!! I hate that so much, I really really resent adults that squish creativity in children like that. Or in anybody for that matter. This really makes me mad!! I realize this was not recent but - arrgh! This person should NOT be an art teacher with an attitude like that. *little bit of steam comes out my ears*

I think you SHOULD try again! If you want to, anyway. That teacher flat out lied to you, there is no reason you can't draw or paint whatever the heck you want, and the more you draw and paint, the better you'll get at making your hands follow the creations in your mind.

Kind of how I'm trying to improve my FMQ-ing right now but my brain and my hands haven't yet come to an agreement on how that all goes together, LOL. I don't care if it's not perfect or even "right" in the meantime, and anybody who want to look at my work and tell me there's no point in trying to improve anymore deserves a slap. I'm not going to stop and if someone doesn't like it then they can just go look at something else. So there! ;)

I can't draw to save my life. I can't even do block lettering. Luckily for me all four of my best friends did at least a year of art school (one actually got an art degree) so if I am in need of something, I can almost always get them to draw something out for me. We actually do a lot of trading. The friend with the art degree wanted a quilt for her new home so I told her I would make it if she designed my Christmas cards for me this year.

My cards were the talk of the family and she loves her new quilt!

Graph paper, tracing paper and a ruler are my best friends. The paint brush artist gene missed me but I like to think I received a little extra in the creative gene department.

I was the cartoonist for the high school paper. I can draw and love to do it. My daughter is the same way. My father painted with oils. I love to doodle. I haven't used my ability in quilting yet, though. I took college art classes in high school. I still have all my cartoons from my high school paper. They were pretty good, not as good as I thought I was at that age, though. I am better now. I have drawing paper everywhere in the house. I am great at cartoons and still life. I don't like to oil paint. But I would love to incorporate my drawing into my quilting somehow. I love to applique, so maybe I'll try to use my own ideas and make a wall hanging.