Learn to draw

[Squirt]

Hey guys its been a while. Lately I've been trying to find a new hobby to take up some of my time.
I am interested in learning how to draw but have no idea where to start. I've done some research which all say to purchase books and follow every exercise which is understandable.

For those who know how to draw do you have any advice on a good starting point? Any websites you frequent with guides or helpful community?

Thank you

[poehalcho]

what kind of drawing? pen and paper? digital (with a drawing pad)?

[Squirt]

I want to learn how to draw traditonally so pen and paper.

If I do decide that I have improved vastly after a while and want to switch to digital pad is it much different than drawing traditionally?

[BuDo]

what kind of drawing? pen and paper? digital (with a drawing pad)?

Good question...Plus we just draw whatever inspire us and it just developed from there...I haven't drawn anything in a while but I got plans to revisit my pencil and drawing pad as well....

[poehalcho]

I want to learn how to draw traditonally so pen and paper.

If I do decide that I have improved vastly after a while and want to switch to digital pad is it much different than drawing traditionally?

Yeah, it's really different. Drawing pads serve as a medium to get the stuff on the screen, but basically you can't watch what your hands are doing :/. Not to mention severe lack of fine control. There's no paper-like texture and friction, so it's much harder to keep control of your movements. It's harder to get tints and line thickness right too
Right now I'm trying to slowly learn how to draw with a pad. It's a lot easier once I found found out R rotates the canvas in PS lol =_=.

Anyway... for traditional drawing:
Is there anything specific you want to draw (people/buildings/nature)? I find my best drawings so far have been my own interpretations of existing stuff (I didn't like Blizzard's artistic choices in regards to the Zerg in SC2, so I remade a couple in my own vision).

Spoiler!

Basically it's best to start off drawing things you are VERY familiar with. Something or somebody you're a fan of and have spent a decent amount of time observing. You'll be able to summon a clearer image of the thing in your mind and you'll know what to watch out for.

It's very important to look at your drawings critically, don't be like the deviantart circlejerkers that praise every piece of crap. If your drawing is not turning out as good as you had in mind grab the eraser and redo it. Always try to take your drawing as far as possible, till you feel from the bottom of your heart that adding anything more to it will start making it look worse.

[omier]

I don't even know how I learned it. Although, I only really draw stuff from a reference, not from my head, that's what I should learn myself. I Also want to get into this digital stuff and get a pad. Right now I can't draw shit in Photoshop.

[Squirt]

Anyway... for traditional drawing:


It's very important to look at your drawings critically, don't be like the deviantart circlejerkers that praise every piece of crap. If your drawing is not turning out as good as you had in mind grab the eraser and redo it. Always try to take your drawing as far as possible, till you feel from the bottom of your heart that adding anything more to it will start making it look worse.

Yes there are things that I am interested in drawing, mostly wildlife and people. How does someone start off though? Do I start with basic shapes? Perspective? Do I just free draw? Are there books I should read? Should I learn how to draw before I start playing around with colors?

[poehalcho]

Yes there are things that I am interested in drawing, mostly wildlife and people. How does someone start off though? Do I start with basic shapes? Perspective? Do I just free draw?

Personally I've always been a free drawing person :/.
My course of action:
- Draw an extremely crappy sketch. Fast strokes, don't get caught up in mistakes. DRAW LIKE YOU HAVE PARKINSONS
- Apply thicker more controlled lines over crappy sketch and clean up where needed.
- Apply details and shading.

Oh and a minor tip: don't move your hand too slow when you try to do detailed stuff. Surprisingly it's much harder to control your motions properly when you move slowly, you end up with a lot of squiggly lines :/

Are there books I should read?

I've got a 3 books that I think are worth a look, although I've always considered them more inspiring than educational.

- Drawing and Painting Fantasy Figures by Finlay Cowan
- Drawing and Painting the Undead by Keith Thompson
- 50 Robots to Draw and Paint by Keith Thompson

They were basically the only art books I've seen that actually had quality art in them :/

In addition here's a couple of short tutorials that I've deemed useful:
- http://www.silkroadforums.com/viewtopic ... 1&t=134630
- http://warrenlouw.deviantart.com/art/IF ... 36769&qo=1
- http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/art/Lacka ... 36769&qo=5
- http://tracyjb.deviantart.com/art/Lacka ... 36769&qo=4

Anyway though. Books aside, If you're gonna learn to draw It's best to just jump in. You'll realize what your missing as you go, and you can look into it when you need it. There's no point in hoarding a ton of stuff you might never use if it costs you something.

Should I learn how to draw before I start playing around with colors?

There's no need to wait before playing with colours. Like I said earlier, try to take your drawing as far as you can in every aspect, shading, colouring, details etc.
I have one thing to add though. It's a personal preference but colouring with pencils yields terrible results imo. If you're gonna colour it, use paint (We always usually used Acrylic paint at school) or scan it in and do the colouring with Photoshop.

Start off making a drawing and scanning so we can give you some pointers and see where you're at. Right now you're almost making it sound like you've never picked up a pencil before.
Don't be intimidated, it's only a drawing, not rocket science. Practice makes perfect.

If you're having trouble coming up with a subject to draw here's one of my favorite things to do:
- Pick a song you feel like listening (I'd say preferably instrumental, minimal vocals anyway)
- Set it on repeat
- Try to create a character or setting that's inspired by the vibe you get from the song.


Oh and don't forget to post in AC lol, that place has turned into a desert T_T. We need to make it flourish again...

[omier]

I have one thing to add though. It's a personal preference but colouring with pencils yields terrible results imo. If you're gonna colour it, use paint (We always usually used Acrylic paint at school) or scan it in and do the colouring with Photoshop.

Yeah, or pastels. Colored pencils are for children.

[poehalcho]

I have one thing to add though. It's a personal preference but colouring with pencils yields terrible results imo. If you're gonna colour it, use paint (We always usually used Acrylic paint at school) or scan it in and do the colouring with Photoshop.

Yeah, or pastels. Colored pencils are for children.

well... there are those pencil types that can dissolve in water. those are kinda like drawing in aquarelle, but most of all it's just a royal pain to color everything with pencils... you gotta press REALLY hard to fill the little white spaces and you're only covering like 2-3mm's with every stroke =_=.

[Ganja]

drawspace.com

[*BlackFox]

A nice find! ^

[ShaDeVi]

yea everything is there

[poehalcho]

Don't know if it interests you much, but one of my most favorite artists (Redjuice) is livestreaming at the moment. He's drawing a Kantai Collection fan piece.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shirumamire/pop-out