作者：Becky Torbochkin

“我们每个人在小时候都是画家。问题是，随着成长，我们如何保持自己的绘画天赋。”——毕加索

如果你是一名普通的软件开发者，你并不指望成为另一位“毕加索”。但他说得对——年龄和后天教育有时候确实会抵制天赋。但不要因此放弃画图这么用实的技能。在写成代码以前，你可以通过画草图测试想法、发现问题等。习惯画草图只是一个时间问题。

在Radiant Wolf工作室，我们正在制作我们的第一款iPhone和iPad游戏，以下是我们画草图的工具和技巧。

你是画给自己看的，再难看也没关系。

严肃一点。如果不是你自己拿给别人看，没有人会看你的草图。如果不是必要，也没有人必须看它。所以不要管自己画得好看还是难看了。想法的草图无所谓美观—-能突出想法就行了。如果你真的嫌弃自己画得太难看，大不了画完了就烧掉，那样全世界就不会有其他人看到了。烧掉后继续画。失败是成功之母。如果有必要，你就把自己锁在房间里画吧。你画得越多，你就会越习惯。或者，和那些跟你一样不喜欢画画的人一起画，学会从彼此的草图中发现愚蠢和幽默之处。

不是所有人都会画画，不过你似乎会写……

随便找根笔，画一条。画歪了？再画一个盒子。你需要的50%的东西就是由这两种元素构成的！甚至你的线也不必画得非常直！

很多人都觉得自己不会画。天才毕竟是少数，大多数人还是不相信自己能画画的。但你会画线吧？箭头？圆？矩形？简笔画？你只要会画这些，那么画一个UI之类的东西，对你来说已经不成问题了。

用新工具使画画更有乐趣

尝试用不同的工具画出同样的东西。找找你身边有什么笔：钢笔、铅笔、马克笔、蜡笔……用你觉得用得最舒服的那种笔画草图。许多开发者习惯于先用铅笔，因为画错了可以用橡皮擦。不过，你也可以画错了就扔了，再画一张。铅笔也有很多种：木头铅笔、自动铅笔等，铅笔芯还分粗细软硬黑淡。混合使用不同类型的铅笔，可以让草图的层次更加分明。游戏设计师最爱的还有两种笔：记号笔和圆珠笔。无论你用什么笔，记住，你不可能画得难看！

画得难看真的没关系。如果你想，用粉笔在人行道上画图也是可以的！反正没人会看的。

寻找你觉得舒服的画纸

人们经常忘记选择画纸，而是手头上有什么纸就用什么纸。那当然是可以的，但当你觉得画不下去了或者无聊了，换一种画纸可能会再次激发你的灵感。

在选择画纸以前，你要考虑以下几点：

*你画画时不怕人看？害怕人看？

*你的个人风格是什么？

*你的家里或办公室里已经有什么？

*你的草图会可能让多少人看到？

*你在哪里画草图？

以下是我个人的最爱：

索引卡片

特别适合开发iPhone或其他手机游戏，因为大小都是接近的。这也是我们工作室的最爱，我们现在在开发的游戏的早期原型都是画在索引卡片上的。

打印纸

好找，便宜，所以你不必对草图太心疼。不要忘记有两种尺寸（8.5″ x 11″和11″ x 17）。前一种接近iPad大小，对折后接近Nexus 10大小。

便贴纸

这是设计师的最爱。不过我本人使用其他纸的时候更多。把便贴纸贴在墙上让人觉得太张扬了，而索引卡片却可以叠起来或者丢到一边。对于仍然处于早期阶段的大团队，便贴纸是表达想法的好办法，而且一看就让人热血沸腾。你还可以退后几步，看满满一墙的便贴纸，真是壮观！如果你敢把这么多草图都贴出来的话……

白板

白板适合那些没有错误“洁癖”的人。有错误“洁癖”的人往往画了什么东西，画错一点点就马上全部擦掉重画，就这样反反复复到觉得完美了为止。事实上，你应该首先一次性把想法画满整个白板，或者先画出几行，然后返回擦掉最糟糕的一半重画。

用白板画草图时，用好能用相机把你想留下来的部分拍成照片。另外，白板马克笔可能不好用，所以如果你画的时候感觉很笨拙，也许是因为笔太粗了，你可以换一支新笔或者细一点的笔；如果你觉得白板草图达不到你的要的效果，不妨多用几种颜色。

笔记本

笔记本有优点也有缺点。优点：可随身携带（这比白板强多了）。当你画画时有人经过，你可以迅速合上（如果你不打算让别人看到的话）。你可以在一页一页草稿中看到自己的进步。你可以在里面写下只言片语，不断充实整个想法。缺点：在这么厚实的笔记本上画草图，让人觉得像永远久性，不太可能随便揉成一团丢掉（舍得丢掉，新手通常非常看重这点）。所有纸都一样大小，有时候你会需要不同尺寸的纸。如果才刚开始学画草图不久且比较害羞，你如果打算用笔记本，那么我建议你用便宜一点的小笔记本。也许像学校小卖部卖的种作业笔记本就行了。或者如果你打算在“草图事业”上再接再厉，那么你可以用自己非常喜欢的笔记本，这样你就会更有决心在里面画满草图和写满笔记了。

其他：

以下东西我还没有尝试过，但也许你可以试试！

描图纸

餐巾纸

牛皮纸

大绘图板那么大的纸（超过11″x17″）

窗户（用白板马克笔画不错啊！）

黑板或者人行道

蒙上雾气的窗户或镜子

……

现在就去书房/书店/美术用品店找那些材料吧！

练习

你可能已经精通一边走路，一边嚼口香糖，但对于同时思考创意和学习画草图，如果你想把其中一件事做好，你只能选择一次专注于一件事。通常思考会赢。想一想把别人的网页、应用、图表或抽象创意画成草图。你可以用多少种不同的方式画出同样的东西？用不同的工具或者不同的纸会不会达到更好的效果？

你学会写代码、写字或走路不可能只用了一天，画图也是一样的。试一试每天画一次——午饭后，或早茶时，或睡前，或早上发完邮件时。找一个你觉得比较轻松、不太匆忙的时段画图。或者把画草图纳入你的工作时间表。每一次你开始做一件新的工作，总是保证先把它画成草图，无论它是一个页面、一个建筑图形、一张旧货出售的海报、一份你的仓鼠生日趴的邀请函……什么都行！你画得越多，你就会越上手。

如果我讨厌画草图怎么办？

那很好啊。并不是所有人都喜欢画画。不过如果你正在纠结的话，不妨试试以下方法：

1、找导师。有没有设计师或美工朋友？让他们看你的草图（如果你脸皮比较厚或者如果他们保证不嘲笑你的话），接受他们的批评和建议。设计师爱批评，这是他们的习惯。只是他们必须学会通知比较友好、客观的方式发表批评。问问他们怎么学习画画以及找谁学的。或者只问问他们进行头脑风暴或构思设计的技巧。能问得更详尽一点就更好了——用什么工具，什么时候，为什么。看看他们能不能传授给你一两点技巧。

2、找灵感。到书籍或网站上找你喜欢的绘画作品，不要觉得自愧不如。总有一天你会觉得那些也没什么。

3、找同伴。在你的团队或其他同事中找一个跟你一样正在学习画草图的人，一起学习，共同进步。

4、坚持就是胜利！越挫越勇。勤能补拙。我保证，只要你坚持画下去，你一定会觉得越来越容易。

那么，画起来吧！（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Getting Started with Sketching for Developers

by Becky Torbochkin

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” –Picasso

Okay, so if you’re the average software developer, you’re not looking to become Picasso here. But he’s right–with age and education sometimes comes inhibition. Don’t get in your own way. Sketching is a powerful tool for building software, saving time, testing ideas, and finding problems before they’re chiseled into code.  It’s about time you got more comfortable with it!

At Radiant Wolf, we’ve been working on our first game for iPhone and iPad, and here are some of the tools and techniques that work for us when sketching out and thinking of ideas.

First, You’re sketching for you! You can’t do it wrong.

Seriously. No one’s going to see your sketches unless you show them. No one needs to see it ever, if need be. So forget about if it will look good or bad. Sketching ideas isn’t about looking good—it’s about thinking. You can always incinerate the hideousness so that nobody in the world will be exposed to it, and try again. Fail again, fail better, as they say. If you must, hide yourself in a closet or cozy corner. Sketch with your door closed. The more you give it a try, the more comfortable you’ll start to feel. Or sketch with someone equally as uncomfortable as you are, and be sure to find the silliness and humor in it. Perhaps over a beer or two?  ;-] Or if you’re like me, margaritas.

Nobody can draw, and yet you seem to be able to write…

Look, grab the nearest writing instrument and draw a line. Was that so bad? Now draw a box. That’s more than half of what you need!  It doesn’t even need to be a straight line!

But more seriously, everyone feels like they can’t draw. And there are those few awesomely talented* people out there who know they can do it, but most people would not say that they can draw. But can you draw a line? An arrow? A circle, a square? What about a stick figure? Those kinds of shapes are all you really need to draw user interfaces, as well as many other subjects.

Playing with new tools can make sketching more fun.

You can sketch with anything. Try sketching the same idea multiple times with different writing implements. Anything you can find nearby will do: pens, pencils, markers, crayons. See what feels the best. Many developers feel most comfortable starting with pencil, so you can erase if you make a mistake. But remember, you can also just scribble over it, throw it away, or redraw it a second time. Pencils also come in many shapes and sizes: wood, mechanical, different thicknesses and darknesses. Combining more than one type will add dimension to your sketches. Two other classic tools to start with would be the designer’s favorite, the Sharpie, and the ever present and available ball point pen. Whatever you choose, remember you can’t go wrong!

It really doesn’t matter. Scratch it out in sidewalk chalk if you want to! Noone’s watching. Remember?

Explore different sketching surfaces to find what works for you.

People often forget all the different options they have for sketching surfaces, falling back on whatever’s close by. And that may work perfectly! But if you’re feeling stuck or inhibited (or just plain bored), it may help to get those creative juices flowing by trying out some different options.

What will work best for you will probably depend on a few things:

How bold or timid you feel while sketching

Your personal style

What you already have lying around your house or office

The size of the team you may (eventually) want to share the sketches with

Where you do your sketching

Here are a few personal favorites:

Index cards

Amazing for iPhone or mobile development in particular, because the size is so similar. This is a favorite of ours at Radiant Wolf and the tool we used to generate all of our early prototypes for our current game.

Printer paper

Readily accessible, cheap, and disposable means you won’t get too attached to those sketches, or too inhibited. Don’t forget there’s both Letter (8.5″ x 11″) and Tabloid (11″ x 17″) sizes. Letter is nicely close to an iPad size. Cut letter-size paper in half (or draw a line through the middle), and you’ll get a size similar to a 10″ tablet like the Nexus 10.

Stickie notes

Stickies are a favorite of designers the world round. But I often find myself using some of these other methods more. Something about sticking the sticky onto the wall can feel very bold, very permanent, while you can throw out a bunch of index cards and easily slide them around—or aside if necessary. For large teams that are still in the early stages of working together, stickies can be a great way to get ideas generated and blood pumping. You can also easily stand back and see many sketches at once on the wall! If you so dare. ;-]

Whiteboards

Whiteboards are ideal for someone who’s paralyzed by making a mistake. Don’t let yourself fall into an erasing loop, however, where you draw something and erase it again and again until you get it perfectly. As practice, try filling the whole whiteboard with ideas once first, or generating several in a row, and then going back to erase the worse half and redraw.

When working with whiteboards, a camera is essential for capturing any work you want to keep. Whiteboard markers can also kind of suck, so if you’re feeling awkward or clumsy, that fat imprecise whiteboard marker might not be helping the situation. (You can try a fresh one or buying thin ones in particular in a variety of colors, if you’re feeling your whiteboard sketches are falling flat.)

Notebooks

Notebooks have their good points and bad points. Pros: You can carry them with you anywhere. (Try that with a whiteboard.) You can shut them quickly if someone comes by and you’re not ready to share. You can see your progress over time. You can paste things inside, jot notes, and make it into something where all your ideas are kept. Cons: Sketching into a bound book can feel very permanent, and you’re less likely to crumple up a page and throw it away. (This is a huge con if you’re just starting out.) It’s a lot of pages of the same size, and you may want to vary the sizes more than that. If you’re a sketching newbie but a notebook sounds good to you, I’d recommend a cheap small one if you’re feeling pen-shy. Maybe even a ruled one from that back-to-school sale that’s on, like you had in high school. Or if you’re feeling committed to getting better at sketching, find one you’re absolutely so in love with that you’ll be crushed if you don’t fill it with notes and sketches. (A Barnes and Noble or your local bookstore can be a great place to look!)

Others:

I won’t go into them here just yet, but here are a few more awesome things you should try!

tracing paper

napkins

rolled kraft paper (like those paper bags at grocery stores)

paper larger than 11″x17″ such as large drawing pads

a window (use whiteboard markers – magical!)

chalkboard or sidewalk

a steamy window or mirror

something else you wouldn’t normally have drawn on before today

Try some of these sketching templates:

Smashing Magazine: Free Printable Sketching, Wireframing and Note-Taking PDF Templates

Now head to that supply closet / book store / art store, and get crackin’!

Pick a practice target

You may have mastered walking and chewing gum, but sometimes thinking of ideas and learning to sketch at the same time can be a recipe for only doing one of those things well. Usually ideas win. Consider practicing by sketching other people’s websites, apps, charts, or abstract ideas. How many different ways could you sketch the same thing? How would it be better or worse with a different tool, on a different paper?

Wash, rinse, repeat.

You didn’t learn to code in a day, or write, or walk, and the same is true for sketching. Try sketching once a day—after lunch, over morning coffee, right before bed, first thing after morning email. Pick a time that you’ll feel relaxed and not too rushed or hard on yourself. Or incorporate sketching into your process. Each time you start something new, be sure to sketch it out once first, whether it’s a screen, an architecture diagram, a poster for your yard sale, an invitation to your hamster’s birthday party…. Whatever! The more often you try sketching, the more comfortable you will be.

What If I Hate Sketching?

It’s cool. It’s not for everybody. Here are a few more ideas, though, to try if you’re struggling:

Get a mentor or a second set of eyes. Have any designer or artist friends? Get them to look at your sketches (if you’re feeling bold or if they promise not to tease you), and get their critique and suggestions. Designers love to critique; it’s in their blood. And they should be trained to do it kindly and objectively. Ask them about how they they learned to sketch and from whom. Or just ask for some tips on their process for brainstorming or designing. Try to get down to specifics—what tools do they use when and why. See if they can demonstrate a technique or two.

Get some inspiration. Search for books or websites with drawings you like, and don’t be intimidated. One day they were starting out too.

Get a partner. Find someone on your team or another colleague in your town that’s also interested in improving sketching, and try sketching together.

Keep going anyway! Push through it. With enough practice, you’ll get better, and it’ll get easier! I promise.

Happy sketching to you!(source:gamasutra)