Learning how to draw?

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

Well as of late I have been really interested in learning how to draw . I really don't know where to start off but I do know that I would love to begin practicing. When any of you guys started drawing what did you start off drawing? Anyways thanks for your input!

Edited August 5, 2012 by GoneAirbourne

[Titan Rising 2,156]

I think my first real drawings attempts were probably of dbz characters in like... 1st grade lol, they came out terrible but I tried. I stopped for a while, but later on I started drawings Naruto characters and Pokemon. I always did things the hard way though, without any circle to try to define the size of the head and stuff, and I'd end up working for hours on simple drawings.

 

Pro tip: draw lots of circles and squares and rectangles to define the size of different areas.

[Gone Airbourne 21,977]

I think my first real drawings attempts were probably of dbz characters in like... 1st grade lol, they came out terrible but I tried. I stopped for a while, but later on I started drawings Naruto characters and Pokemon. I always did things the hard way though, without any circle to try to define the size of the head and stuff, and I'd end up working for hours on simple drawings.

 

Pro tip: draw lots of circles and squares and rectangles to define the size of different areas.

 

I have never really "drew" anything well or have put any effort into trying but I have always loved lookin at others artwork. Seems that now I have been wanting to learn Edited August 5, 2012 by GoneAirbourne

[~Lawful Jordo~ 2,066]

Well, learning about proportion is key to learning how to draw. Practice drawing body parts to start off, study human anatomy.

 

Once you completely understand the human body, then drawing people is quite easy. It's all about repetition and practice, you won't be an artist after a day you know.

 

Never line draw. You need to break things down into shapes with light lines first, then slowly work your way up, much like this:

 

 

Online tutorials can really help too.

 

Hands and feet tend to be the most frustrating, even I still screw up on hands sometimes. But just like the body, just remember to break it down into shapes:

 

 

Use references. Different pictures can help you understand how to draw certain poses or shapes.

 

 

And above everything else: DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE YOUR ERASER! Every artist makes mistakes, especially ones learning.

 

 

 

 

I hope this helps a bit, i'll be here if you need any more advise.

Edited August 5, 2012 by Eljordo

[hana 217]

i satrted with humans ^^;

i know a good aplication on itunes, that helps to learn how to draw :3

i think its really helpfull (manga 101)

[Rainycakes 30]

 

I have tons of pony drawing references at hand. If you want to draw ponies, I suggest taking screenshots, fading them out until they're barely visible, making a layer over them, and tracing. Keep doing that until you can draw the shapes from memory alone.

[~Chaos~ 3,967]

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember, I would draw lots of anime and stuff like that, when I look at comparisons from then to now, I can see a huge difference, you just have to keep practicing.

 

When I became a brony, I wanted to start drawing ponies, so to start out I would suggest looking at how ponies are drawn for reference, then once you get the basic anatomy down, start to develop your own style, that's what I'm still trying to work on, as I know that with time and practice I will get better and have that signature style.

 

Overall just practice practice practice!

[AIMonkey 197]

(...edit: it's getting huge., if you want you can skip till the "ANYHOW", I'm kind of ranting here perhaps)

This is just my thoughts, by no means I want to put you on the wrong path. I just hope it could be of help, Sorry if my text is hard to digest.

 

I find it hard to pinpoint where I began with drawing. I know I was colouring from an early age, not within the lines but instead adding my own lines

 

Today drawing is actually what I inspire to do "professionally", but it wasn't like that until the end of high school.

I just began with things I like, or bend things I had to do for school into things I'd like to draw. experimenting and all.

 

It's good if you manage to take the first step into drawing, then you only need to keep on drawing to keep improving yourself.

There are plenty of things you could think about, some general tips in the ways you think, to the techniques you use or inspiration you seek/find or even the medium you want to use (pencil is probably the most general way, as opposed to watercolour for example.)

 

You can combine things like basic anatomy with specific styles or take them separately.

Like you can practice drawing just straight lines from your elbow. (uninterrupted lines) or practice drawing circles and use those to create complete works.

Or you can practice purely on getting proportions right. Or learning a specific animal or object, or even surface! (shiny metal is different than dirt)

 

Or just dive straight into a drawing to measure how "good" you are right now, and seek criticism about it to help you improve.

 

One big thing and one of my favourite thoughts we all should probably try to achieve is to "Kill your darlings".

It helps to prevent getting stuck with a "precious" drawing. Finding a balance in working it out too far, thinking it's never finished.

One day you have to say "this is good for what it is" but also use it as a guide to improve yourself and think about how you can do it better next time!

 

 

ANYHOW,

where should you start? It's hard for someone else to tell you that I think, but to give you something to work with or guide to the way you could think about it.

 

PS: A sketchbook is very useful, but remember it's not about having good drawings in it (always nice though), it's an extension to your brain, a place to save your ideas. (I admit I don't really use one myself though .....)

 

What do you like, is it everything between "( )" being a general idea behind it as it can go Very Very deep, but it can help to start very thinking very broad

• Architecture (buildings, bridges, cities?)
• Environments (landscapes, mountains, forests, nature?)
• Plants (trees, flowers)
• Animals [Mamals] (cats, dogs, elephants?)
• Animals [insects] (Beetles, Butterflies, bees)
• Animals [water] (Sharks, Whales, crabs, squid)
• Animals [Extinct] (Dinosaurs, mammoths, sabertooth cat)
• Humans (positions, faces, limbs, anatomy)
• Clothing (fashion, clothes, boots, hats)
• Instruments/tools/technology (weapons, contraptions, machines, robots)
• *Creatures (myths, fantasy, sci-fi, mutants)
• Ponies (because ponies)
• Interfaces (Sci-fi screen, computer interface, websites)

* it might be wise to combine "creatures" with existing animals, using those as reference. maybe even just stick to normal animals first before you Bend reality into fantasy.

 

Ok... this list can go on and on, there are plenty more I could add, but just to give you something

 

 

Then there's sub-sections where you can get into.

• Proportions (mostly for lifeforms that is important, what size is everything, like head and legs)
• Anatomy (What parts do they have? hooves, practice hooves, hands practice hands etc.)
• *Style (what kind of look do you want it to have? Cartoon, or realistic)
• Perspective (is your world flat? how can your portrait a 3D environment on a 2D surface)
• Emotion (how do you show certain emotions? when is someone happy or sad)
• **Pose (how can the body move/stand)
• **Scenes (Recreating scenes or events in a world. Like a battle, or simply shopping?)
• Silhouette
• Technique (Drawing steady lines, straight lines, perfect circles)

* Style is something you develop over time as well, But using very broad terms like Cartoon or realistic to start could help

** would probably need proportions and anatomy for this, but if you have an idea and want to sketch it to help you remember, GO for it. That's what sketchbooks should be, a collection of ideas you

 

Could go on with this one as well, but it's maybe best to start with the basics, the foundation of what you want to make.

Like proportions, anatomy, perspective. Basically everything you might use together to create more.

 

And then I could give you another list, the way you could actually start drawing.

• From mind (just a blank canvas, your pencil or anything and yourself)
• Doodling (Just putting bunch of lines on paper, little drawings, and see what comes out of it)
• *Photo reference (Very useful if you want proportions right but can be hard if you don't know how to look at it)
• Tutorials (probably a lot easier to follow if you start out. Choose something and see if there is a tutorial)
• Art analysing (Work in Progress art from others can be a great inspiration to try out their specific style to see if you like it. depending on how you approach it, you might need to control your techniques first)
• *Art Analysing/reference [fine arts] (Something you can do, similar to photos, is using Arts from old times. Like Leonardo Da Vinci!!! using them as reference or inspiration. Or maybe some sculptures?! which)

*Photos and traditional art works I see different as photos are exact representations of existing things, like animals, and art is the vision of another person based on the real world (not exact copy of the real world). But a fair representation of the human psychology and what we like. (they survived through time, so plenty of people liked it for some reason right?!) Edited August 6, 2012 by AIMonkey

[Cocodrillo 1,565]

I think I started to draw before nursery school (I could be about 2-3 years old), and I guess it were some colorful doodles. But as I remember, I drew dogs a lot (because I loved them).

When it comes to drawing, I don´t believe in some "learning". All you have to do is try, practice and practice. Just take a pen and draw whatever comes to your mind. I don´t know your drawing skills but it probably won´t look like how you want it to look, but don´t give up. I never finish a drawing as it was meant to be, because I probably screw something and it brings some new idea to my mind, and probably it ends up better than the first thought. And that´s the beauty of drawing.

And remember, in the art, the main thing is the idea, not performance.

[SrFrog 927]

Some of the better artist I've come across always tell me this on how they first developed their skills, "tracing or copying images". According to them, it thought them how to better keep a steady hand and proportions. From personal experience, that advice actually works!

[Heart's Desire 181]

I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil, but the first time I remember actually thinking about what I was drawing was when I was about six or seven. There was a line of toys out then called Fairy Tales. They were plastic birds with hair and tails, similar to My Little Ponies. (it's seriously a coincidence that this story is being written on this forum, haha). Anyway, I remember loving this new toy I had gotten and trying to draw it but failing miserably. It was then that my dad explained to me that I had to look at the toy and break it down into shapes and draw what I could see. I'm sure the picture still wasn't wonderful, but it changed the way I thought about drawing.

 

A lot of people here have given some great advice on how to start drawing. The most I can say is don't be afraid to suck at it. It takes a lot of practice and patience to get better.

 

I, unfortunately, was in a relationship for a while where my drawing was belittled and I felt ashamed to try. Because of that I am seriously out of practice now that I am picking it up again and my work sucks. I know, however, that it's only through drawing countless crappy images that I'll get the talent back again.

 

So, if you love it, no matter what, stick to it.

[SPLinux 380]

I think i started off with stick figures still draw them today...

 

I say just keep drawing, baby steps first, I think at first i would trace and then i would try to draw by just looking at the image or whatever i was trying to draw, i am not amazing at drawing, but i like it, if i take my time i can do a pretty good job

Edited August 6, 2012 by superponylinux