I've found that anyone who has an interest in drawing can get the basics down in a few weeks to a month. 30min/day seems fine.
It's not so much becoming an artist as training your brain to make a thing on paper based on what you see or what you are imagining. Heck, draw the same thing every day – someone's ear is a good one – and watch when you get better and better.
It's very much like photography and cinematography and ties into what the author is trying to achieve by telling someone to draw.
You see differently when you have an objective. Just as you train yourself to see opportunities when becoming an entrepreneur (and realize ideas are 'worthless' because there are too many of them to chase them all down), you will train yourself to see that the world is not just lines, but degrees of shadow and reflection.
I was a professional artist (painting, sculpture, drawing) before my software career and when I've been out of practice for a while, I find that I lose this faculty. A little time over the table with pencils, some clay, or watercolors and my brain clicks back into seeing and not just glancing over things.
I agree that just drawing, design theory, writing, and ux are not guaranteed to make you a brilliant, original, designer. However, understanding typography, whitespace, color, and being able to apply that to a goal is a big lever.
I always encourage "back end" developers to work on design. Even if it's bog-standard bootstrap with some tweaks, it ends up being better for a client or an employer. Keep in mind that most web apps lack pulchritude.
Plus, I hate it when people refuse to do front-end work because they're "back-end" people.
I think you made the point beautifully when you said "can get the basics down in a few weeks to a month". The key word here is "basics". A professional level of skill goes beyond basics. As a web designer, one can get the basics down of CSS, for example in just a day's workshop at a conference. That said, to be of any real value as a professional, you really need more insight than what a basic understanding gives you.
As for your comment about wanting back-end people refusing to do front-end work - actually, I myself do not have a problem with this. I believe people should do what motivates them at work and not get strong armed into doing things that fall outside of their professional interests. There is a limit to this of course, but in this case, there are definitely front-end people who will do the job better and take it as their career passion.
Completely agreed. I would not assume that a person with a month of personal development in a skill would be a specialist in a general area. However, on a smaller team, I think this would be ample to take on the design duties.
As for specializing, I am uncomfortable with "that's not my job" in general. Whether it's front-end work, back-end work, operations, management, etc., I'll put that person on the slow track right away. If they try and it's just a hot mess no matter how much support they get, that's a different matter.
The thing is, there are brilliant, passionate, skilled, experienced people who can actually do it all. I want to find them before they realize this and grow them. I see it as pushing to excel, not strong-arming, but I can understand your perspective. I've had to do sales before. :-)
It's not so much becoming an artist as training your brain to make a thing on paper based on what you see or what you are imagining. Heck, draw the same thing every day – someone's ear is a good one – and watch when you get better and better.
It's very much like photography and cinematography and ties into what the author is trying to achieve by telling someone to draw.
You see differently when you have an objective. Just as you train yourself to see opportunities when becoming an entrepreneur (and realize ideas are 'worthless' because there are too many of them to chase them all down), you will train yourself to see that the world is not just lines, but degrees of shadow and reflection.
I was a professional artist (painting, sculpture, drawing) before my software career and when I've been out of practice for a while, I find that I lose this faculty. A little time over the table with pencils, some clay, or watercolors and my brain clicks back into seeing and not just glancing over things.
I agree that just drawing, design theory, writing, and ux are not guaranteed to make you a brilliant, original, designer. However, understanding typography, whitespace, color, and being able to apply that to a goal is a big lever.
I always encourage "back end" developers to work on design. Even if it's bog-standard bootstrap with some tweaks, it ends up being better for a client or an employer. Keep in mind that most web apps lack pulchritude.
Plus, I hate it when people refuse to do front-end work because they're "back-end" people.