Learning to draw

[Deleted]

So I have decided to learn to draw, more specifically I want to learn to draw animals using a pencil. Can anyone kindly suggest any websites or videos for a complete beginner? Please bear in mind that I am as close to a beginner as you can get, even my stick men look awful.

[serenka]

best i could do.

[Deleted]

best i could do.

Even step one is better than I can do currently.

[serenka]

Even step one is better than I can do currently.

wish i could actually help you, but my drawing skills are pathetic.

[Aristeus]

I wanted to learn to draw so I could eventually move onto painting... I kept failing and gave up.

[Deleted]

Draw things you like, or see on a day to day basis.
example, your in the military, Try drawing something simple to start off with. Like a bullet, or something off your desk, just keep practicing.
I would not start with something as complex as an animal straight away, start with simple easy to draw stuff. And work your way up to the more complex stuff.

[Deleted]

If you're new at drawing, I wouldn't stick to just animals. I'd probably stay away from animals and the human form actually.

Focus on simple things, like boxes, some species of flowers, buildings that aren't geometrically difficult. Basically, anything that isn't too complicated and isn't going to force you to make a buttload of lines.

So yeah, start with simple stuff for a couple of months then progress by drawing harder stuff.


As for guides, I have 0, only my advice. :/

[Deleted]

If you're new at drawing, I wouldn't stick to just animals. I'd probably stay away from animals and the human form actually.

Focus on simple things, like boxes, some species of flowers, buildings that aren't geometrically difficult. Basically, anything that isn't too complicated and isn't going to force you to make a buttload of lines.

So yeah, start with simple stuff for a couple of months then progress by drawing harder stuff.


As for guides, I have 0, only my advice. :/

My pets are my passion though, drawing flowers or fruit holds no appeal to me, but having a framed pic of my animals drawn by me would be great.

[Jackmoves]

I don't draw much anymore(pretty much never tbh lol), but when I did, I simply looked at drawings(mostly from various RP game books) done with a simple graphite pencil. I just started out by immitating what I saw. Eventually you get the hang on how to apply shadows etc and can then make your own original drawings. Thats my tip to you really. Patience and practise. Coal is another great way to make drawings. Easier to smudge out with your hands to create shadows etc.

There is lots of inspiration a google search away nowdays of course .

[Vanyali]

The circle thing sounds silly... but it really works.

You need to learn how to look at things. What shapes are in it? Is it a bunch of circles? Is it a square? It's okay to exaggerate - draw arms as rounded rectangles. a body as a big oval. a flower as a circle on a rectangle with more rectangles sticking out of it.

The point of the shapes is to get the proportions down, to figure out where things go and how they move with each other. You can get gestures or movements down without struggling wit hperfection. Once you have everything down the way you want it to be THEN you can start filling in the details.. separate a mitt of a hand into rectangles for fingers, then round them out a bit. shorten or lengthen the rectangles for a bent joint. remember to move from your general shapes to your details SLOWLY, don't look at it in disgust because it's not a perfect eye, or nose, or anything yet.. you're getting there, and it's a process.

while you can just look at something and draw it that (imo) takes a ton more time. i can sketch out people and animals in half a minute... the details could take hours (if i even do them, i like the look of sketches x) ). It also lets you experiment without being committed to "but i drew that SO GOOD!" if you decide on a position change because you're still working out the groundwork.

[Deleted]

Think of it like basic training.
in your profession did you start at your current rank, or did you start at a much lower rank, then over the years through hard work, determination and showing your capable get promoted to the rank your at now ?

Not saying you should have a goal of drawing your animals, but before you can run, you need to learn to walk

[serenka]

hey Jackmoves thats really good! love the dog one!

[Deleted]

My pets are my passion though, drawing flowers or fruit holds no appeal to me, but having a framed pic of my animals drawn by me would be great.

Yeah, if you don't want to draw stuff other than animals then that's okay as long as you have your own models, it's actually better if you have your own models.

Also, if you see your pets sleeping or just being still, don't take a picture to draw from it, draw the actual pet since that provides a more vivid colour, better understanding of shadows, lines, etc, and you'll be more used to drawing without the need of a picture since pictures can sometimes 'hurt' you.


Also, I have some blogs with drawings(a bit more of that actually) that you might find interesting and realize that you don't need to do a drawing as you see it in reality. Changing it to your own perception is always great.


http://shapesandspaces.com/

I only have one blog with some nice pencil drawings on my favourites but it's still good to get a gist out of it and see how another person does it.

As my art teacher said to me, something of the sort like "the internet has a lot of art a person can explore, go there and find it out".

[Jackmoves]

hey Jackmoves thats really good! love the dog one!

lol those are not mine mate, I can scan a few into the computer tommorow though, got a few stored away! I actually managed to become quite good.

[Deleted]

Also, don't try to make your drawings perfect. Just let your hand slide and do not use a rubber. If you want to restart just get another piece of paper and start all over again.

Sometimes, unfinished art looks better than a forced 'finished' art, even if you're a beginner. But I guess you'll find your own way with it, so you just have to try, really.

[Xiphan]

http://ctrlpaint.com/library/

This guy has a load of great videos that start by introducing the basics and slowly build up to more advanced techniques. They're a good starting point regardless of skill level. They're largely done using digital media but are equally applicable to traditional media, until the videos branch off into software tips (by which point everything you'll want to know will have been covered anyway).

Try to avoid step by step tutorials; they usually won't show/ teach you how to draw an animal, only how to recreate an image without providing any reusable information. If you learn and practise the basic/ general principles you'll be able to draw essentially anything and understand why and how you're doing it, which will give you a huge range to what poses, species etc. you can draw, and will let you draw from photo references rather than have to try and find guides or tutorials.

I know the "start with the basics" advice is pretty generic, and seems kind of patronising and unappealing since it's a lot of effort, but in the long run it's the best way to go; if you try shortcutting your way you'll pick up so many bad habits and there'll be holes in your knowledge that you'll only have to go back to basics to fix once you're skilled enough to notice you're making mistakes.

[serenka]

lol those are not mine mate, I can scan a few into the computer tommorow though, got a few stored away! I actually managed to become quite good.

guess thats what i get for only reading the first line of your post :P

[Jackmoves]

guess thats what i get for only reading the first line of your post :P

lol no worries bro.

Here is one example of something I actually made though, from 1999. I havn't been doing anything in ages.