Curious what advice I can get from HN on this. I've loved drawing since I was a little kid, but gave up in middle school because I just didn't know how to get better and didn't have access to improving (no money, nobody I could ask, etc). As an adult, how can I learn to draw? Ideally in a self-guided way
"Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Edwards is a good introduction to drawing. I think in particular it is a good explanation of how much of drawing is learning to look at the world, and exercises to improve your skills of looking at things. One of the big takeaways from this book and other drawing courses I have taken is that once you learn to draw what you see, nothing is particularly easier or harder to draw; in every case you are drawing what you see. The feeling of difficulty in drawing a particular object often comes from trying to parse it into visual symbols, then draw those symbols, rather than seeing the object as a pattern of light and reproducing that on the paper.
This does sort of beg the question though: how do you draw things that don't exist?
Everything (or, almost everything) I personally care about drawing is sci-fi or fantasy, and sort of the whole point of it is that it doesn't actually exist, and therefore I can "see" in a physical sense only my own drawings or those by other artists.
I generally make abstract or surrealist pieces. I don't know where ideas come from, but I do a certain amount of "making things up as I go along"
Realistically, though, sci-fi and fantasy objects are based on objects we have in everyday life. If you look at sci-fi through the years, they have the era's aesthetic: The lines of 50's sci-fi are different from the 80's appeal, for example. And this is where you start to draw the imaginary stuff.
Sci-fi ships? Based off of a combination of naval ships and planes. Get reference photos and use these to guide you, adding and taking away as you see fit. Plant life on another planet? Use plants and fungus from earth as your guide. Again, get reference photos and use these to guide you, changing what you like. Want an easy way to start something more surrealist? Find 3 unrelated reference photos and combine them into one image - use a digital art program to combine them if you'd like.
Note the heavy use of reference photos: I use them whenever I want something shaped in a specific way. If I want a goldfish in a space portal, well, I look up a picture of a goldfish. If I'd like koi instead, I look it up.
I also recommend the Betty Edwards book. It took me from stickmen to realistic drawings of chairs and hands :-)
It also makes you appreciate paintings.
Curiously the book from the TFA is doing almost the exact opposite of what DotRSotB recommends. The former is about parsing things into shapes while the latter is like tracing from an imaginary glass in front of you.
That book temporarily broke my brain. I had trouble turning off that mode of seeing. Possible that my undiagnosed-at-the-time ADHD was finding the shapes of people more interesting than what they were saying. 10/10 would recommend ;)
I've seen this recommended, then criticized, back and forth for ages. But your description makes it sound practical as a beginner, so I think I'll just finally check it out. thanks!
Plenty of good suggestions so I'll just add: draw every day. Guided resources are good but nothing beats just doing it a lot. Start with some simple still life. Get a big pad of paper, an easel if you like, and some charcoal. Each time you do a drawing, to begin with, just focus on one aspect of it. Try to just work on getting the perspective right, keeping in mind a vanishing point. Next just focus on light and shadow. Practice drawing circles. Lots of them. Over and over. Draw 100 vertical lines on a sheet as straight as you can. Drawing uses specific muscles and requires muscle memory to take the line you want to draw in your mind and translate it onto the page. The only way to build that is by just doing it a lot. Next take your still life objects and draw it from the perspective opposite where you're sitting, accounting for the light and perspective. Add in some more difficult things like fabrics or objects with fine texture. Your drawings will suck at first. They always do. Save some as you go as a sampling of your progress. From time to time compare your latest ones to your first ones. What's improved? What hasn't improved? Go outside on some lovely day and find a nice comfortable place to sit and just draw whatever you see. Doodle when you're on the phone. Draw in the margins of everything. Just keep drawing.
I see the value of drawing every day, and I did that as a kid, but the two main issues I faced were (1) I had no idea how to expand my technical skills and (2) I had no idea how to draw more 'realistically' (quotes because my real goal is to draw fantasy/sci-fi subjects).
For example, I actually have charcoal in my art supplies, but I have no idea what to do with it. In my hands it's basically the equivalent of a massive pencil. On top of that, even using it as a large pencil, whatever I draw just looks like a doodle rather than something with any kind of artistic quality
Yes, at a certain point you do need some expert guidance. But nonetheless, experiment.
> In my hands it's basically the equivalent of a massive pencil.
What else can you do with it? What if you turn it sideways? What if you rub your finger where you've already drawn with it? What happens if you crush a small piece of it? What can you do with that? Grab a dry paper towel and start smearing your drawing. Get curious, get crazy.
Drawing realistically begins with understanding light and shadow and form. A good teacher will absolutely speed up that understanding, and if you can find a teacher or class I also highly recommend that, but it can also be achieved through careful observation and experimentation.
> What else can you do with it? What if you turn it sideways? What if you rub your finger where you've already drawn with it? What happens if you crush a small piece of it? What can you do with that? Grab a dry paper towel and start smearing your drawing. Get curious, get crazy.
This is actually part of what has drawn me back to art after not doing it much since I was in school. After getting into my career and adult life, I've gotten so accustomed to following rules and best practices (HIPAA, coding styles, bills, etc etc) I eventually realized, with some shock, that I basically never did anything in life anymore that was purely random and experimental like the stuff you described. I want to balance that out with just having fun creating and being accountable to no one but myself like I did when I was younger. Discussing this further bolsters my resolve to get into this
If I were going to teach myself to draw today, I'd turn to youtube. There are a variety of tutorials: I usually suggest Alphonso Dunn upfront. He also sells books if that is your preference. The youtube content is free, however, and covers a variety of topics.
Books are great, though its been a while since I've bought one: I think my last was portraits and the human body - these were great reference books and honestly, I still miss them sometimes. If I drew more portraits or city scenes, I'd probably get another set.
And realistically, once you get going for a bit, the main thing is practice. Seriously: The main difference between the experienced artist and the beginner is practice. If you can do 10 minutes most days, you'll start seeing a lot of improvement. Some of these practice pieces should be quick (and sloppy), some take more time.
I'd try a variety of subjects because it'll help you later on, but I'd suggest mostly doing pictures that you personally enjoy.
I would definitely suggest starting with more "traditional" art, mostly realism. While I personally do a lot of abstract or surrealist pieces now, I'm really happy my art instruction as a child (through high school) focused more on tradition because it makes me so much more flexible now. (I'm over 40, by the way). This said, if you really enjoy abstract work, start doing some once you feel you are getting some decent control over the pencil, pen, or brush.
And don't be afraid to go into more permanent media or to more sloppy media: You might find charcoal or pastels to be nice and expressive in ways that graphite won't. Similarity, you might have an affinity for ink. And don't forget trying out dip pens! The only way to get over that hump - and many others - is to just try things.
Thanks a lot for such an in-depth response. Read over your suggestions/points and will keep your advice in mind. After the responses I've gotten to my question I feel encouraged to give drawing/art a second chance and your help is much appreciated
Drawabox seems pretty popular on Reddit. It's pretty strict in the "this is the only correct way to learn" sense. If you're into that, it may be an option. It's self-guided, but you can post to get "graded" along the way so you know where to improve.
I'd love to tell you that I went through all this in 2020 during lockdown and now I'm an amazing artist after having a story very similar to yours. However, after buying a full box (12... 20... I don't know) of the fineliners, the first one stopped working almost immediately. The second one was DOA. I pretty much quit out of frustration after that. I recently just bought a 2 pack of a differnt brand (Sharpie), thinking something from a local store may have better luck than whatever Amazon decides to send me. So I'm going to give it another go.
I have seen enough drawing progression posts to accept that drawing is a learned skill and not something you're just born with. I also think patience is a big part of it. When I was in high school, the best thing in my sketch book for art class took me several hours. I was meticulous. Usually I just want to go from nothing to something good in 5 minutes. I've seen posts from people who made amazing stuff who say they spend 50 hours on a drawing. So I guess you get out of it what you put into it.
I have aphantasia and I found the drawabox approach especially appealing and quite similar to how I go about learning a new language, a musical instrument, grasping new math concepts etc.
So, in a sense I wasn't at all surprised to find out that the creator of drawabox Uncomfortable (Irshad) has aphantasia, too.[0]
For people who (have to) rely on a lot abstract thinking, I would highly recommend drawabox.
I got pretty good at drawing, then watercolor, and now oil portraits by starting with the lessons on figure drawing by Stan Prokopenko on YouTube. He's a former instructor at Watt's Atelier (and is an excellent painter), but he is very down to earth and funny. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtG4P3lq8RHGuMuprDarMz_Y9...
He's got affordable courses you can buy as well. The figure drawing course is excellent and a great place to start. He does a great job of teaching foundations so you'll be able to branch from just drawing into draftsmanship, painting, or digital art if you want.
The recommendation to go to weekly figure drawing is excellent. I've been doing that now for years and it's changed the game for me. Highly recommend doing the same if you can. It really helps the mind to see things in 3D then draw them, vs drawing from reference photos (which I do too, but it's not the same).
Interesting; so aside from the cost of supplies, do you think it's reasonable to achieve some level of skill just by self-studying with those videos? By skill here I mean drawing/painting something that suggests some level of artistic skill, rather than the usual results from somebody (like myself) who obviously has no artistic experience lol
I think so. I spent maybe 30-90 minutes a day on art for a year or two and got pretty satisfied with my results. Here's a few pieces I did I was pleased with (some NSFW):
The ticket for me was just to grind it every day. I made art just all the time. I'd copy paintings, do figure drawing, practice from still life, make comics, just anything and everything to get better. If I hated a drawing I'd just photograph and it move on, vs get hung up on disliking it.
do you think it's reasonable to achieve some level of skill just by self-studying with those videos?
Not the person you replied to: But yes. Definitely yes. I've seen adults, in the course of a couple years, go from a complete beginner to selling works that are interesting and fairly original in style. It took work and practice, of course, and most folks are fairly happy well before that. (this was in facebook groups).
Look at it this way: If you set off to do woodworking and followed tutorials, do you think you would develop woodworking skills enough to work with them? The answer is probably yes. Art is the same way.
Very helpful and encouraging point, thanks for sharing that. My interest is just improving, even if it's little by little, so I'm not too daunted by the process taking a long time if I go at it slowly. Definitely gonna give it a try
If you had trouble finding a fun topic for drawing, try something you've never tried. Some ideas: Fantasy maps, landscape concepts, items from your table, building plans, character faces, character bodys, ..
Another idea: Check out open source games (github, etc.) who are looking for artists.
I actually have tons of things I'd love to draw, including some of the things you mentioned. Hence my frustration as a kid at not being able to get better and draw all those things :)
"How to See, How to Draw" by Claudia Nice is a good book for learning to draw in a self-guided way. Doesn't take much money -- $20 at any art supply store can get you a decent drawing book and a decent set of pencils.
I'd take an art class. There's nothing like having a talented teacher (if you can find one) and lots of people around you interested in and working with you towards the same goal.
It's hard for most people to stay motivated without that.. and getting good at art just isn't something you can achieve over the weekend. It's for long distance runners, not sprinters.
Apart from that, draw every day. Quantity beats quality, and ultimately results in quality. Overcoming self-criticism and excuses not to just create more art is half of what being an artist is all about.
I've always found finding things like this difficult. Red Ed classes are generally geared for young kids, to expose them to some new hobby, or for old retired people looking for something to do. I've tried a couple and felt very out of place.
There are community colleges, but that seems like a more involved sign up than I'd like (although I did it once in my mid-20s after graducating from university).
Other than that, I struggle to find in-person places to learn things. Art, cooking, gymnastics, etc. There seems to be a big gap in the market for adults looking to learn things without doing it all on their own. Is there something else out there I'm not aware of?
Search around for an atelier. They are geared towards learning to draw realistically, using classical techniques. Searching for "atelier training", "atelier drawing" on youtube will show you some results of the kind of thing you can expect. Some are online, some are in person. In person, in my opinion, is best.
I just checked out a video and a lady said she spent 40 hours drawing a small sphere. That might be slightly more intense than what I'm after, but probably what I need with my impossible standards.
I do see there is a school just about a mile from me. They have various summer workshops, but many require I take a week off work; they have a couple weekend options too. It looks like they occasionally have some night classes, but they are full. A 10 month long class that doesn't start for 4 months and costs over $2,400 is full... that kind of blows my mind. It seems like doing one of these fundamentals classes would be the way to go before showing up for a 24 hour over 4 day deep dive, live drawing, workshop.
I guess I'll bookmark it and come back to it occasionally to see if something works out for my schedule and current skill level.
"A 10 month long class that doesn't start for 4 months and costs over $2,400 is full... that kind of blows my mind."
Yeah, they've kind of become trendy in recent years.
If you are motivated, while you wait for a class to open up you can definitely use some of the stuff they teach you on your own, like drawing from Bargue plates and casts. Draw from life as much as you can, too. Every little bit of drawing helps. You just have to keep at it.
There are also online artist communities where you can get feedback on your art. Again, a talented teacher is best, but peer critique can be helpful too... and being part of an online community works for a lot of people who can't find/attend an in-person class. So I'd see if I could find some of those. I don't have specific recommendations, unfortunately, but I know they're out there. Searching on youtube or social media sites might yield some results.
I've had luck in finding life drawing groups (where you draw from a live model) through meetup.com. They were pretty cheap. They offered no instruction, but at least you were drawing from life and were among other artists.
