Learning to draw?

[Wesley]

I'm not really sure how to word anything I'm about to say, so bare with me. :/

 

How the heck do people draw? I just can't seem to get anything out of my stupid head and on to paper. I can copy pictures fine and when I was younger I was a pretty darn good drawer myself. But I'm just sturggling right now to draw anything. It almost feels like I'm embarrassed to draw.

[nightwolf]

Mostly you tend to either be a good drawer or you don't, but you can practise!

 

That's the only advice I can give, practise practise practise. Drawing from memory (my art teacher used to say this haha) is so much more difficult than using an image infront of you unless you have a photographic memory.

[Fruitgun]

I love drawing, personally, and I find it really fun to... Well sometimes copy other people's styles!

 

It really helps me to get a grasp of how things work and what goes where. Hehe. :P

Also, try drawing people in front of you, or your hand in a wierd position. I know it sounds kinda unusual, but it really helps to get a grasp of anatomy!

 

http://orange-rayquaza.deviantart.com

*Shameless plug of crappy deviantart*

[Guest Stefkov]

Draw from observation first. Get to know how depth and perspective make the transition from right infront of you in 3D to lead on paper. If you draw a dog from direct observation first, how the nose looks, the eyes, etc, then after practising you should be able to recite the aspects from the top of your head. Copying other peoples art is good aswell. You get a feel for their style of drawing then you can, if you copy a range of peoples, use certain parts from each of these peoples art and make your own style. I'm a shite drawer though.

[Klimop]

If you really want do draw, I would suggest taking some lessons...

Drawing IS difficult, but practice makes perfect, when taking lessons, you will learn the basics, a couple of tips, rules and tricks. After that, do as you please

 

I think the hardest part of drawing is drawing itself, just - keep - drawing

[Haver]

When I was 15 I wanted to teach myself to draw and now 5 years on I'm not half bad at cartoons (my anatomy is still way off).

 

I

 

-- Bought sketchbooks and doodled whenever I spared a moment

-- Tried to imitate and learned from artists I admired

-- Read about light and shadow

-- Bought/rented books on anatomy and physically drew bones and skulls

 

I started from a point where my Art teacher said I wasn't an Art Person and now I can draw a pretty good cartoon. Anyone can teach themselves to draw if they want to. It's just about putting the work in, because anything past a doodle requires careful study of form. Rewarding study though.

 

And everyone starts somewhere Wes. Fuck the haters!

[Paj!]

Mostly you tend to either be a good drawer or you don't, but you can practise!

 

That's the only advice I can give, practise practise practise. Drawing from memory (my art teacher used to say this haha) is so much more difficult than using an image infront of you unless you have a photographic memory.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

I do some good drawings when I observe first hand...not so much when I don't.

 

I have a jumbled thought process or something, so yeah, observation is pr0.

[Llama Juice]

Honestly?

 

Attitude is 80% of it.

 

If you think you can draw, you'll draw better (Which is why as a kid you weren't bad or whatever.) Somewhere along the line you got discouraged by seeing other people's work when really it should have inspired you.

 

A few tips?

 

Contour your lines to the surface of the drawing. What I mean is... immagine in real life that someone wrapped a ribbon around that object really tight. It won't appear to go in a straight line (unless if you're looking at it straight on... in which case making it not look flat is near impossible)

 

My point with that ribon thing is that... if you're drawing something... any details will follow the shape of the object.

 

Example?

 

 

It's a sphere basically... and if you were to bring the camera down a little bit you'd see all those horizontal lines that curve around it appear to be flat lines.

 

I know this is like extreme basics... but a LOT of people in my last art class I had struggled with this really hard.

 

Also...

 

Get a proper pencil set and sketch pad. Don't be afraid to shade in your drawings.. you can always erase. (that's half the point of the proper pencils...) if you use a softer lead like a 3B or 4B to shade in your dark spots... rather than using a hard HB or 2B and pressing hard to try to shade in those spots.. (ruining your paper)

[Haver]

I think a lot of it is confidence. You think to yourself 'People are going to ask 'Why are you drawing when you can't draw?''. But ignore those fools!

[Rick Dangerous]

Honestly?

Attitude is 80% of it.

 

I completely agree sometimes even during a drawing a 'bad' drawing can change into a good one pretty quickly.

 

If you are trying to draw something in a representational way like a portrait you have to learn to see as much as learn to draw (sounds kinda pretentious but it kinda true). People who say they cant draw generally seem not to look at what they are drawing and just rely upon what they think is there.

 

If you want to test this get a picture of someone and draw it. Then turn the picture upside down and draw it again. The second picture should turn out more representative as your brain does not see the picture as a person and you don't get all the preconceived symbols that are in your head that go with it. Try it out!

 

Hope that makes sense.

[Nami]

I'm not really sure how to word anything I'm about to say, so bare with me. :/

 

How the heck do people draw? I just can't seem to get anything out of my stupid head and on to paper. I can copy pictures fine and when I was younger I was a pretty darn good drawer myself. But I'm just sturggling right now to draw anything. It almost feels like I'm embarrassed to draw.

 

I use to paint a few years ago and I loved that so much, I got out of practice and have recently been thinking about drawing again! - but I know how you feel I went to draw a picture I love from a graphic novel Hush and I felt intimidated, just didn't know where to start! - Where's do you begin something like this?! I don't wanna start too high and struggle and then never try again!

[Grazza]

I'm not as good as I'd like to be, but I do enjoy drawing my own characters. My advice is to think of everything as a 3D wireframe. Draw the whole shape (in pencil) as if it's transparent. Don't worry about seeing lines you shouldn't be able to see from that angle.

 

The other important thing is to have a good grasp of anatomy and any object you're going to draw. I'm pretty good at people, but not at vehicles, backgrounds or anything else I'm not interested in!

 

Also, draw the whole form first of all, rather than doing any one bit in detail. Think of the shapes that make up the figure, how much of the page it should take up and in which pose. Don't worry about the small details.

[Emasher]

Has anyone seen any good tutorials for drawing hands and feet? Those are the main things I struggle with when drawing people.

[Paj!]

Has anyone seen any good tutorials for drawing hands and feet? Those are the main things I struggle with when drawing people.

 

Not that it answers your question, but they're my favourite thing to draw (or one of my favourite things to draw).

 

I'm midway through a painting of my foot actually. I might upload the work-in-progress into the gallery.

[blender]

try painting... you can make decent pictures using colour appreciation and absolutely no drawing skills.

[Paj!]

try painting... you can make decent pictures using colour appreciation and absolutely no drawing skills.

 

I disagree with "no drawing skills". Unless one is painting abstractly. But even then, it's often good to have an understanding of how to compose a figure and stuff.

 

I think it's just different to normal drawing. I consider them within very much the same bracket. (Though one can favour one or the other, excel at one or the other, etc)

[Nami]

I just bought a book which helps you understand how to draw with dimensions and stuff! - It's pretty kiddy but I'm looking forward to giving it a go and see if it does help to have a little guidance.

[Colin]

Wow............I'm slow to notice this thread.

 

Andrew Loomis books are regarded as some of the best drawing instruction books available. A few professionals I know swear by them, and because the books are part of the public domain now, then they are free to download.

 

Here is a page which has all 6 of the books for download. I've only recently got hold of them, and not had time to really study them. But from a quick glance through the 'Successful Drawing' book I can tell you that these books really are leagues ahead information wise than anything else, and they still hold up.

 

Click here to download

 

The other really good book I recommend is 'The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' by Betty Edwards.

 

Whether you feel you have little talent and you doubt you could ever learn, or you enjoy drawing, but have not been able to get much beyond a childlike level, this book aims to give you the skill you have always wanted. If you are already drawing as a professional artist or artist-in-training, it aims to give you greater confidence in your ability and deepen your artistic perception. This 20th-anniversary edition of "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" has been revised, with more than 50 per cent new material, including: recent developments in brain research that relate to drawing; new insights on the use of drawing techniques in the corporate world; and education instruction on self-expression through drawing; and ways to step beyond black-and-white drawing into colour; and detailed advice on applying the five basic skills of drawing to solve problems.

 

Has some great little exercises in this book and introduces the reader to perspective, form and progresses your drawing from start to the end of the book.

 

Buy that here at a great price, and again I've seen it recommended by quite a few pros.

 

 

Like a lot of people have already said........it all comes down to practice and perseverance. Life drawing I'd say is definitely the way to go if you really want to improve at drawing. Where I study we are provided with life drawing classes which are optional, and that's been the problem for me personally. This year I hope I really do turn up to more of those life drawing classes, as it really is stupid for me not to bother with them.

 

Hope those books help a few people in this thread.

[Rick Dangerous]

The other really good book I recommend is 'The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' by Betty Edwards.

 

Has some great little exercises in this book and introduces the reader to perspective, form and progresses your drawing from start to the end of the book.

 

Buy that here at a great price, and again I've seen it recommended by quite a few pros.

 

 

I second the drawing on the right side of the brain book it really is excellent. Thats where i learnt the drawing stuff upside trick

[Marcamillian]

Hoody!

 

I know exactly how you feel Wesley, its ok reproducing a picture but its so much harder to get an idea out of your head cause you've got nothing to compare it with to check its right.

 

The most important thing to do is to imagine the object in 3D space rather than just an outline. Building up from simple shapes helps alot to get something that looks right and helps you think about the anatomy. The first place that introduced me to all this was the tutorials at polykarbon.com (darn, havn't posted enough to post links)

There are probably better sources but I just put it forward cause it was the place that got me started.

 

As people have said, practice is the key and having a good set of people to give you constructive criticism and to keep you motivated to draw helps with that. People such as these exist at sketchtavern.com (again, my crippling lack of posts proves an inconvenience)

 

I really can't reccomend this place enough for people wanting to improve their drawing, i've not posted anything myself in a long long time due to my continued lacking of a scanner. Don't be intimidated by the quality of the drawing there, they are all cool people who take pride in helping people to improve.