I want to start drawing

[Pressure]

I really want to start drawing but I'm no good at it. I want to start learning. Someone said I should start drawing fruit or something oh that nature then move to drawing the nude human body so I could learn the anatomy of the human body. Can some please clarify what steps I should take to become atleast a decent drawer. I really am interested in drawing and see it as being a fun and interesting hobby.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Well, that is good advice you were given. The most important things to know (IMO) are anatomy, perspective and shading. Look up anatomy on the net, and other people's drawings of it. Practice replicating what you see. and then eventually move on to working with photo refs. You can find all sorts of shading tuts on the web too. Practice several styles like crosshatch or smudging, and stick with whichever ones you prefer. Perspective is fairly easy to learn the basics of, so check that out too.

I'll try to find some good links...

The main thing is to keep sketching, and not stop. The more you draw, the better you get.

Edit: I forgot a major point: Draw stuff that you enjoy drawing (Nutrigrian? :O), and switch it up every once and a while. That way, you won't get bored of it. But start simple too. Once you can get a plain sphere to look good, you can apply that to just about anything.

 

[Pressure]

So should I start off with the fruit by just drawing it? Should I like try to draw the shadows in and shade it and stuff? Can I use just a normal pencil or do I need special stuff?

 

[Mr.Reak]

Don't start from anatomy, start to draw simple objects first, trying to keep perspective. Draw a cube for example, look if perspective is right (of course I hope you have some cube like object at home, so you can control level of shadows it has, etc.) After that, try to shade, again from the reference. Look at the shadows, try to see that there are soft-shadows and hard-edge shadows, etc. Practice for the week drawing different object like that, placing them at your room. I know it sounds boring, but to get something good you always need a lot of shitty work.

Anyway, after you get concept, move to something bit complex. Make a composition of your favorite stuff, like a mp3 player, your cap or something. Put them under light and try to get everything right, from perspective to shadowing.

As for what medium to use, your choice really. Use pencil if you like

 

[Pressure]

I'm a bit embaressed to put these up . Well these are my first 3 attempts are drawing things I had sitting around my computer desk. I went to scan them but the scanner was broken :flame:. I guess someone dropped it because all the glass was shattered. Anyway I had to pull out the good old digital camera and took pictures of them in all their glory. They came out as 1600x1200 but I downsized them to 800x600. I hope they aren't too bad but I feel I did a bad job with the shadows! I drew them on top of each other and you kinda kinda see some of the drawing went through to the other paper. I won't do that again . Don't be too harsh these are my first 3 drawing .

 

[PunisherUSA]

Don't start from anatomy, start to draw simple objects first, trying to keep perspective. Draw a cube for example, look if perspective is right (of course I hope you have some cube like object at home, so you can control level of shadows it has, etc.) After that, try to shade, again from the reference. Look at the shadows, try to see that there are soft-shadows and hard-edge shadows, etc. Practice for the week drawing different object like that, placing them at your room. I know it sounds boring, but to get something good you always need a lot of shitty work.

Anyway, after you get concept, move to something bit complex. Make a composition of your favorite stuff, like a mp3 player, your cap or something. Put them under light and try to get everything right, from perspective to shadowing.

As for what medium to use, your choice really. Use pencil if you like

This is basically correct

In proffesional art courses, (so i am told [by an art major]) you begin by drawing basic shapes, cubes, cylinders, spheres, and eventually shading them. From there, you can move to the human body, which is essentially composed of distorted cylinders, spheres, etc. and with similar shading.

Another important aspect to drawing is proportions. Read up on the golden rule and phi, and drawing people will become at least twice as easy, no matter your drawing experience.
Basically, most proportions of the human body are approximitely 1:1.6. A perfect example is the head. The head is 1 [unit] across and almost exactly 1.6 [units] across.

From there, the rest depends on your imagination and disipline to learn.

 

[CptStern]

pick up a book called "Drawing on the right side of the brain" ...it can teach anyone how to draw

 

[Pressure]

Yea, cause my drawings are pathetic.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Learn perspective. Learn the human anatomy into each detail and learn how to simplify it for a sketch. Learn outlining and depth and how to emphasize it in a drawing.

Check tutorials, references and stuff, but don't learn "shortcuts" from tutorials like Polykarbon.

And yeah, stick with basic shapes and stuff before you do too advanced stuff when it comes to humans.

Oh and yeah, drawing will be the most frustrating thing you'll ever decide on embarking on. But it's so fun and so rewarding that nothing in the world will matter when you sit there with your pencil and sketch out your inner ideas and feelings in a way no one else can do.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Don't start from anatomy, start to draw simple objects first, trying to keep perspective. Draw a cube for example, look if perspective is right (of course I hope you have some cube like object at home, so you can control level of shadows it has, etc.) After that, try to shade, again from the reference. Look at the shadows, try to see that there are soft-shadows and hard-edge shadows, etc. Practice for the week drawing different object like that, placing them at your room. I know it sounds boring, but to get something good you always need a lot of shitty work.

Anyway, after you get concept, move to something bit complex. Make a composition of your favorite stuff, like a mp3 player, your cap or something. Put them under light and try to get everything right, from perspective to shadowing.

As for what medium to use, your choice really. Use pencil if you like

Okay, so Reak is the better advice-man. Do what he says
I really should have emphasised that anatomy is important, but not a good place to start. Cubes and such are where it's at.

Those pictures you've posted Are actually very good for someone who's not drawn before. That 'drawing on the right side' book gives some examples of first drawings by beginner adults, and these are much better.
The shadows look right on the ground, but the dark spots on the objects themseves could stand to be darker. The shadows on objects are generally slightly darker than those on the surface.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Here are some reasonably good reference pictures:

You'd be surprised how rare simple pictures of shadows are on the internet.

http://www.army-technology.com/projects/shadow/shadow10.html
Searching for shadows turned that up though. ^
Hawt.

 

[Vegeta897]

Well, perhaps you could start like I did. Back when I was 7 or 8, I drew stick figures. Havin' little battles and stuff. From a side view. Very simple. I got better at different poses and sizing of the limbs. When I got older I was into DBZ, and started drawing little anime heads. They looked really bad, but I kept drawing them. (In other words, try drawing a cartoon character you know really well) Worked for me. I moved onto the full body, and so on. Then I just got better at drawing straighter lines, smoothe curves, etc. Practice is all it takes. I never really used ANY learning material to help me... Now I am 15 and can draw real life objects pretty good. It's all about recognizing the simple shapes in them.

So start like a little kid would, start slow, and pickup speed.

Good luck, have fun.

 

[EVIL]

(In other words, try drawing a cartoon character you know really well)

This is one of the worst things you can do when you want to start drawing.
Its better to start fill your libary in your head with proportions, anatomy, perspective, light and shadow theory, color theory etc. Cartoon figures have bad proportions, so when you start drawing anime characters and stuff like that you are learning how to draw them and you will fill that liberary in your head with bad information.

This will be very hard to remove later on if you want to do draw more realistic images. If you decide to draw cartoon, then its better to learn all the stuff i said and try to experiment with symplifying the human body, This wil also give you your own style because you arent using existing cartoons as a refrence but figuring it out yourself, plus you stil have all the information about proportions, anatomy, perspective, light and shadow theory, color theory etc. in your head. And therefore still be able to draw realistic whenever you want to.

 

[Pressure]

So should I get that "Drawing on the right side of the brain" book?

 

[Pressure]

Okay, I want to go out to the book store today and buy a book or two on the basics of drawing. The "Drawing on the right side of the brain" book has gotten mixed reviews on how well the author helped the person learn to draw. I looked for other books that would teach the basics and a found a couple. The first is "Perspective Made Easy" by Ernest Norling and the second is "Keys to Drawing" by Bert Dodson. I would like to know your views on these books and which two I should buy. Hopefully if I can get some replies I can go get them today.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

The only drawing book I've ever read was that 'Right Side' one, but I read it after I had already learned the basics of art, so I don't know how useful it might be to you.

It doesn't really flat-out teach you to draw as much as it tells you how art works and what to be careful for when making your own drawings.

I can't say that I've heard of those other two but, judging from the titles, the second one would be best since it teaches drawing in general, while the other focusses only on perspective.

 

[CptStern]

the drawing on the right side of the brain book has an excercise that can teach anyone to draw...as a former art teacher I've used it a few times and it works.

this is what you do ...find some line art (a drawing in pen and ink that only has lines, no shading)

flip it around so that it is upside down to you ...on another piece of paper start copying exactly as you see it...start at the top and follow the lines exactly without turning to look at the image. If done right you'll be astonished at how close your image looks to the original.

the fastest easiest way to learn to draw is to take a life drawing course ...it forces you to see your subject in terms of lines and shapes

 

[Glo-Boy]

I didn't read all of these replies, but I'll tell you what I know.

First of all, those are good drawings for beginning!


Second...

crap i have to go get my food. I'll be back in 10 or 15 minutes and i'll explain some more stuff to you.

 

[Pressure]

the drawing on the right side of the brain book has an excercise that can teach anyone to draw...as a former art teacher I've used it a few times and it works.

this is what you do ...find some line art (a drawing in pen and ink that only has lines, no shading)

flip it around so that it is upside down to you ...on another piece of paper start copying exactly as you see it...start at the top and follow the lines exactly without turning to look at the image. If done right you'll be astonished at how close your image looks to the original.

the fastest easiest way to learn to draw is to take a life drawing course ...it forces you to see your subject in terms of lines and shapes

There are like five different versions of the Right Side of the Brain book. I don't know which one I should get.

 

[Mechagodzilla]

Five different versions? Can you describe the differences between them?

 

[Pressure]

I don't know the difference between them but here are the ones I can select from:

"The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards
"New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing" by Betty Edwards
"Drawing On the Right Side of the Brain " by Betty Edwards

 

[Mechagodzilla]

I'd guess "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is just an updated version of the old one.

And "New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook: Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing" is likely be a companion/expansion to it.

 

[EVIL]

Okay, I want to go out to the book store today and buy a book or two on the basics of drawing. The "Drawing on the right side of the brain" book has gotten mixed reviews on how well the author helped the person learn to draw. I looked for other books that would teach the basics and a found a couple. The first is "Perspective Made Easy" by Ernest Norling and the second is "Keys to Drawing" by Bert Dodson. I would like to know your views on these books and which two I should buy. Hopefully if I can get some replies I can go get them today.

Another thing you might want to check out are the loomis book scans on fineart.sk