What are the approaches to art?

[holland]

At its base level, how you approach something is simply the process you use to do it, filtered through your existential perspective. In visual art, we can imagine that there are all kinds of approaches to everything, from color to design to markmaking...

But in this particular context, I am referring to the approach used to illustrate or represent the subject you are drawing in terms of its structure. For example, when you go to draw a flower or character, what is the first step you take? Do you gather references? Of what type? Do you follow a tutorial? How precise are you?

There are as many approaches to doing this as there are artists. However, I find it helpful to group the most prevalent techniques into roughly six categories: symbolic art, observational art, constructive art, technical art, automatic art, and guided art.

Each of these approaches has a unique way of applying the fundamentals, emphasizes different stages of the creative process, and ultimately provides its own unique sources of satisfaction.

It's important to understand which approach you are learning or working towards at any particular time. This way, you can stay focused and filter out irrelevant resources or contextually bad advice.

In practice, you will likely combine these methodologies into your own unique approach, especially later on in your journey. Think of them as tools being added to your toolbox. Each has its uses, pros, and cons. But when we let them mush all together when studying, it's very confusing.

Imagine if you reached into your toolbox, picked up a hammer, and tried to follow instructions for using an axe: It would be frustrating, right? While some things may overlap, like how to grip the handle, they're ultimately very different tools, and trying to chop a tree down with a hammer or remove a nail with an axe would feel awkward and fruitless. The approaches to art are the same way.

I will define them in more detail in the replies below so they can be individually linked.

[holland]

Symbolic Approach

This approach is also called symbol drawing. If you've taken formal art classes, you might remember it as the first thing that was demonized and beaten out of you on day one. Artists who specialize in other approaches commonly speak of symbol drawing like it's some bad habit you need to break.

Put simply, the symbolic approach involves drawing things in the way that came naturally to you as a child or beginner. For example, an eye might be an almond with a circle inside. A milk box might be a rectangle with a triangle on top. A hammer might be a stick with a shorter stick perpendicular to it at the top.

A centuries old textbook I read once described it as "drawing by touch." Before we ever learn to identify things by sight, we feel them with our hands and come to understand them as various shapes of objects.

That then gives us a foundation to understand our vision (connecting physical and visual patterns to recognize objects),  as well as to recognize reality (touchable things) from fantasy (untouchable things).

Soon, we become able to develop trustworthy new symbols just by looking at the things around us without always fondling them.

When kids or beginners then try to remember what objects look like and draw them on the page, they're pulling from these simple old symbols.

The Cons

Up until now, the brain has only needed to identify objects, so that is all the information it has stored in its symbols. You can't really "stage" them much. An almond-shaped eye can never be turned to its side if it's always almond-shaped. A rectangle-shaped waterbottle symbol can't be tilted forward towards us in space.

So it's kind of like drawing by texting emojis to a friend. You can string symbols together to try and communicate a simple idea, but there's a limit to how complex of a scene you can develop on the page using symbols without training in other areas at some point.

However, you can learn new things and upgrade your symbol library with them.  For example, you can learn 2D expressions or side angles. You can also apply your symbols onto the surfaces of forms when using other approaches.

Symbol drawing is more difficult for some people than it is for others.

Depending on how your brain chooses to store information about the world for identification, you might not have simple 2D shapes accessible at a moment's notice. Your brain might also have a lot of vague or incorrect symbols, even of things you interact with daily.

In these cases, learning to symbol draw (such as to design communication-focused things like icons, signs, user interfaces, and so on) requires more intentional practice. But there are very few resources that address the topic, as it's considered an undesirable skill.

The Pros

Because symbol drawing is normally very quick and intuitive, it is a great tool to have when designing or planning things in art.

Developing places and characters in symbol form first is much easier than starting from a complex pose or camera angle, for example. While thumbnails and storyboards are easier to "read" at small sizes and quicker to draw if composed of symbols.

It also allows beginners to focus on building interesting compositions and finishing pieces without too much technical training early on. And more complex ideas can be built off it to lead beginners into other approaches more naturally.

When further technical training isn't desired, it also provides a branching-off point for those who'd prefer to pursue genres that prioritize composition (such as folk art and abstract art), or one of the many traditional artforms that were developed around symbol drawing over millennia.

How our brains store and interpret symbols is actually quite a deep topic and is the focus of much scientific research. As always, I am only discussing neurology in metaphorical terms here, as the details are too nuanced to be of practical use.

How to Improve

Simply doodling a lot in the way that comes naturally to you and trying to make things recognizable can go a long way in developing your symbols.

Think about what it would feel like to touch something and its physical proportions compared to whatever body part is interacting with it.

List out its most important features with words. What makes a teapot a teapot? Why is it that way? What would cause a teapot to no longer work as one?

What is something similar to a teapot, and why is it classified as something different? What would turn your teapot into an imposter like that?

These are the kinds of things you want to consider when drawing and aim to communicate or avoid communicating through your symbols.