Doesn't have to be anything fancy, just like some instructions/examples of how to do things and some organized drawing exercises that build upon each other. I'm not really looking to draw portraits of people, I just want to be able to draw the world around me and to put the things in my head onto paper.
I've tried looking before but I usually end up with websites that give "free previews" then ask you to pay for the rest of the course, or lessons and exercises that jump too quickly for me to keep up.
Draw A Box has a series of free lessons that build on each other, and they all come with exercises you can do.
Proko might be the most popular website for lessons on anatomy drawing, but along the way, it has a bunch of lessons that apply to drawing other things as well. I think most of the lessons are free, with some more in-depth lessons for paid users.
Ctrl Paint focuses on digital painting, but with some foundations in drawing as well. Again, there are a whole bunch of free lessons as well as optional paid lessons.
Here's some Andrew Loomis ebooks I apparently downloaded ages ago
I never actually read them myself tbh, but glancing through them Fun With a Pencil seems neat. And a couple others look like more lifelike drawings
Comrade, the link is dead, i would be extremely thankful if you could share a copy of this book again
Huh, apparently this site is one-download-only or something, I'll send a link in a dm
I didnt know the save post button doesn't work until right now, I wonder what posts I've saved that I won't be able to find :deeper-sadness:
What happens if you try going to this URL? https://hexbear.net/u/seas_surround/view/saved/sort/new/page/1
When I go to my profile and click "Saved", I have to refresh the page in order to see the saved links.
Try a book called "Drawing on the right side of the Brain" it should be available in your local library.
Really helped me learn to draw. The key is learning how to "See" as an artist.
What are your goals as an artist? This is the most important starting point. From what you've described, it sounds like you want to learn to draw from imagination. Even if you want to draw from imagination, though, you should do some observational drawing. It will train your eye and help develop your mechanical skills with your pencil, leading to better line quality and control.
Learning to draw from imagination is hard. It will take a lot of discipline and drawing to get to a point where things look good - take this as an opportunity to go wild and draw whatever you want. It's going to look bad, but it will be a huge confidence booster later on when you look back at some of the stuff you drew (as well as a great source of redraw inspiration!). There's a lot of resources around the internet regarding learning how to draw from imagination, but the important thing to keep in mind is that drawing from imagination and drawing from observation are two different beasts altogether. If you want to learn how to draw from imagination, you need to study what artists call the fundamentals - perspective, anatomy, form, values & lighting, composition. They're hard. They can be boring. And you absolutely need to learn them if you want to improve.
You will likely want to start your studies with perspective and form. Drawabox and its exercises are great for developing these two fundamental skills. If you really want to master perspective, though, I highly recommend Scott Robertson's book, How to Draw (Though Drawabox also has a lot of the information from that book). Proko is a great free resource to study anatomy. Look at both his figure drawing and anatomy for artists playlists - they're both incredibly important if you want to improve. Look into New Masters Academy as well - they have free life modelling session videos on Youtube you can draw from for study. Learning values and lighting and composition is also important. You should create some still life compositions and draw them. Not only will this train your observational skills, it will improve your understanding of what works and what doesn't.
There are no shortcuts in drawing. Some people improve quickly and some people improve slowly. If you want to improve, draw. In that regard, it's the most honest skill in the world.
hmmm, i guess I haven't really thought about what exactly I want to do, I just want to be able to draw things so that they're recognizable. but you've given a lot to think on and practice, so thank you.
There are no shortcuts in drawing. Some people improve quickly and some people improve slowly. If you want to improve, draw. In that regard, it’s the most honest skill in the world.
:heart-sickle:
I've been working towards becoming a professional concept artist for years. Still a long ways away from professional, but if you ever need some help with learning art, I'll be happy to give you whatever advice I can.
not a resource but a few pointers
point 1: don't be afraid to draw literal dogshit, like scribble that shit out, make your art look as fucking terrible as possible while sketching shit. when making art, you generally want to take multiple passes at something, so when making a final product you'll make the scrappy sketch-layer, then draw a non-shit version over that in ink/photoshop, and then finally add in coloring/extra details
don't worry about making shit look good when you're learning, you'll learn much more from failing than you will from "succeeding"
point 2: abuse the shit out of references and tracing. Like a certain style? Literally copy the shit out of it until you learn the basics of that style. Don't fall into the capitalism-brain of not learning from masters, there's no reason to invent the same wheel thirty times for the sake of "originality" or copyright or some shit, you'll grow into your own style and even when straight up copying shit each person will have their own inherent quirks adapting it
point 3: free 3D programs like Blender can be pretty fuckin useful for throwing up a basic scene and sense of proportion. Blender has gotten a whole lot more accessible in terms of not having a shitty UI recently too. Make/import a model of your floating fantasy castle, shove a few generic people models you got off of the internet for free, and then draw them, adding new detail on the 2D pass over it
shit, it doesn't even have to be a 3d modelling program you can literally make shit in Minecraft and then draw an HD non-blocky remaster of it lmao
point 1: I understand it won't look good starting out, I'm pretty good at drawing shitty lol. I just want something to guide me so I'm working towards something instead of just freestyling it, if that makes sense.
point 2: i didn't really think about that because I didn't want to end up only being able to draw in someone else's style, but it makes a lot of sense as a way to practice. like classical painters learning a style and studying under a master.
point 3: I really want to try out blender and other 3d art programs but I don't think my laptop can handle it :/ I've been saving up to get a new one that can handle stuff like that.
this is all great, thank you
hell yeah, i didn't even think about looking for books on libgen. thank you
Upbeared because I'd like to try sketching, and not just end up looking at sad scribbles
I don't know why the site is unpinned, you should check out The Drawing Database - it has hours and hours of lectures on how to draw in the style of realism.
I am about to clock in for work but DM me and let's talk I have 7 years of drawing experience and I can share more resources.
Best regards MH
