# Advice for anyone learning to draw - add your own here



## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

Does anyone have any advice for people who are learning to draw?

*BACKGROUND*

I have been drawing for four months now and I have got a long way to go until I reach where I hope to be, and I just wanted to gather your thoughts and I'll share some of what I have learnt along the way.

_*ADVICE*_

- I'd recommend buying Betty Edwards Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, this book has taught me a lot more than any other 'how to' book out there. Covers so much more as well than just drawing ellipses etc.

- Keep going. Drawing for me has often come in peaks in troughs, in other words I allow myself the space to do some crap drawings and then keep going because another good one will come and it is only a piece of paper at the end of the day, no one has to like it but me.

- When you do a good drawing, that is the time to do more. After creating a drawing which is really awesome the best way to learn and grow is to draw another one straight after, I often do this to get me 'in the zone' and I am sure it trains my eye in some way. If I draw something I don't like then I allow myself the time to let it go and come back later and when I draw something well, that is when I draw another.


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## windex (Dec 24, 2009)

DK Ching Design Drawing is fantastic also. It's very analytical and synthesizes some of the Edwards ideas. 

I had a friend who raved about Andrew Loomis

Can I see some of your pictures? 

I haven't in a long time. A good friend of mind believes a straight line steady hand has something to it... Architecture drawing books are really good for posture... 

Drawing is friggin amazing. Oh, had a friend who said he would sit on a park bench somewhere busy(said something like this) and do gesture drawings. 

Drawing into space in motion is friggin amazing. 

I love the perspective drawings. I should go draw now. 

People who draw well are amazing. There is some pissed off dude on youtube who likes to make fun of the guys who post us drawings like they did it all fast like since they are merely pretending to be sweet. His drawings were very detailed. 

Have you drawn Igor Stravinsky obsessively? Do you still use a viewfinder?


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## seraphiel (Dec 26, 2009)

I think drawing is mostly about training your brain to understand illusions, personally (understanding perception and perspective, e.g. making something look 3D in 2D)

It's also about learning technique and proper habits, I don't think there's one correct way to draw but there ways which produce better results than others, like knowing how to defeat or use optical illusions and eliminate cumulative errors.

One good practice is learning how to rough a drawing and scale proportions correctly, a roughed in sketch with scale guidelines will help eliminate cumulative error: like if you don't use a rough sketch and you go for detail right away, and you draw a left eye first, then a right eye based on the left eye, then a nose based on both, and you had slight errors in proportion or orientation each time, it may turn out looking 'wrong' even if you thought the placement looked 'right' when you were drawing it.


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## addle1618 (Oct 31, 2008)

NOTE: Can be harsh but ultimately honest....
NOTE 2: Self-taught, so this isn't coming down the lines of professionals, though I have taken tips from professionals.
NOTE 3: This is very sporadic and might not be too helpful, but I will try.

NOW:::

What are you aiming to draw might help. I will aim at some general rules I have found and aim at portraits because of your picture. 

Drawing is easy. Just fall in to it. aim to match exact values. There is very little dark very little white and 99% of the middle. If your paper is still more than 20% white you generally have failed. You might like to try vine charcoal, and a BIG sketch pad.

objects don't have outlines they have a separate value than whatever is behind/in front. Your self-portrait looks like a preliminary sketch of what you actually want to get done. It is like all outlines. We are not made out of lines. Look at your arm right now, that isn't a line, that is a seperation of value behind it. Try sketches where you only draw the value without any lines what-so-ever. Might look a bit sloppy, but trust me it will be a lot of help.

Composition wise: I won't put too much here cuz I like to keep some secrets. Use negative space efficiently and interesting. Don't do head on and profile pictures often. They are boring as hell. This might be opinion BUT it is generally a sign of an amateur. Now you might want to do plenty of them at first. For values. Repeatedly doing self-portraits is good too because you can watch yourself improve. Eventually it is better to learn more perspectives and forms of foreshortening. There is sooo much to learn.

Advice wise: You said something about allowing some drawings to be bad. Every drawing will suck in some way. Indulge in your art but realize there are INFINITE ways to improve. Always improve. Finish a drawing and if it sucks accept it and learn something new. For me, every painting/drawing is a learning experience. If you love everything you make then there is no need for improvement. Don't be scared to be self-critical; it is a requirement and the fact that one can criticize themselves shows the ability to see areas that need to be improved. Now that you know the problem, it is a lot easier to fix right?:tongue: Just try to not attach emotions to the self-critic. :wink: If you become sad of your lack of improvement and decide not to continue that is VERY bad. That isn't efficiently being self-critical. Good luck.:laughing:


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## Deja Vu (Dec 26, 2009)

Draw.
All the time.
*All the time!*

As was said - if you fall for it, it will fall for you. Drawing loves you back. Just put time into it.


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## barbalootSuits (Sep 19, 2009)

I had this one great art teacher who told her students to "close your eyes and visualize for a moment, a tiny parachute dropping onto your subject matter". We were drawing people so we were supposed to see this parachute drop onto their bodies and then kindof become the parachute and draw what we touched. Without looking at the paper. It was pretty tricky and the drawings looked like crap for the most part but it really helped you to SEE what you are drawing. What was said about creating with values instead of lines is VERY great advice. Bold lines tend to make the drawing look cartooney...which isn't so bad if you mean to draw a cartoon. Also, sometimes to get the proportions right, it helps to fiddle around with circles and blocks to create a figure...work them all together when you finally get them situated, and just sketch lightly. Blah blah, hoped that hepled


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## addle1618 (Oct 31, 2008)

idris said:


> Draw.
> All the time.
> *All the time!*
> 
> As was said - if you fall for it, it will fall for you. Drawing loves you back. Just put time into it.


wow. this is the best piece of advice to be honest lol.


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## Outcode (Nov 28, 2009)

cardinalfire said:


> Does anyone have any advice for people who are learning to draw?
> 
> 
> 
> - When you do a good drawing, that is the time to do more. After creating a drawing which is really awesome the best way to learn and grow is to draw another one straight after, I often do this to get me 'in the zone' and I am sure it trains my eye in some way. If I draw something I don't like then I allow myself the time to let it go and come back later and when I draw something well, that is when I draw another.


Hmmm interesting, I'll have to do that more 

Well the only advice I have is to draw *a lot* but that's already obvious isn't it? I started drawing when I was about 4 years old so I've been drawing for quite some time now. I'm not anywhere near professional level though, I'm very impatient and don't finish my drawings up or add much detail . I never really had a teacher teach me how to draw, I've been in some art classes for school and they taught me some basic things like shading though. When I see an artist's style that I really like, I imitate it and doing that helps me improve my own style of drawing.

Good luck improving your drawing skills  Draw every day if you aren't already; I don't create as much art as much as I used to, these days I find myself drawing when I'm very stressed/anxious or procrastinating on homework :|


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## Hocking (Jan 2, 2010)

I was going to recommend Drawing for the Right Side of the Brain, but I see you posted it first thing! Knowing how to look at things is important, practice is very important. Try to look at a lot of other artists (both contemporary and past masters) and do studies/copies often. The more you do and look at, the better you'll get.

I can't post links, but for people suffering from writer's/artist's block:

Youtube "warren ellis writer's block".


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## Haruhi Suzumiya (Dec 24, 2009)

addle1618 said:


> wow. this is the best piece of advice to be honest lol.


Agreed.


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## cardinalfire (Dec 10, 2009)

windex said:


> DK Ching Design Drawing is fantastic also. It's very analytical and synthesizes some of the Edwards ideas.
> 
> I had a friend who raved about Andrew Loomis
> 
> ...


If you want to see some of my drawings go to:

conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=172529

I haven't updated it recently I may do at the end of the month.

I only drew Igor once, I was happy with what I did so I went on to the next thing. I only use the view finder when I am following the advice in Edwards book, mostly I try with my eye, because I know what to look for.

What was Design Drawing and Andrew Loomis like?



addle1618 said:


> Drawing is easy. Just fall in to it. aim to match exact values. There is very little dark very little white and 99% of the middle. If your paper is still more than 20% white you generally have failed. You might like to try vine charcoal, and a BIG sketch pad.
> 
> objects don't have outlines they have a separate value than whatever is behind/in front. Your self-portrait looks like a preliminary sketch of what you actually want to get done. It is like all outlines. We are not made out of lines. Look at your arm right now, that isn't a line, that is a seperation of value behind it. Try sketches where you only draw the value without any lines what-so-ever. Might look a bit sloppy, but trust me it will be a lot of help.
> 
> Composition wise: I won't put too much here cuz I like to keep some secrets. Use negative space efficiently and interesting. Don't do head on and profile pictures often. They are boring as hell. This might be opinion BUT it is generally a sign of an amateur. Now you might want to do plenty of them at first. For values. Repeatedly doing self-portraits is good too because you can watch yourself improve. Eventually it is better to learn more perspectives and forms of foreshortening. There is sooo much to learn.


I get what you mean about values, I have recently started charcoaling my paper before I start, so that highlights can be drawn without being the same value as the 'white' of the paper I am drawing on. I got a copy of William Maughans Drawing the Human Head book and he goes into detail of value a lot more then Edwards, though I feel these books can be great to use alongside each other.

What do you suggest for composition? What do you mean by 'head on' and 'profile pictures'? Could you copy and paste some pictures into a post to show what is good and what isn't good in terms of composition.

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Also recently I have been drawing a copy of the old masters everyday. I got a sketchbook where I am keeping them all in. Maybe I might post up the original and my copy after I am done. Perhaps. I really don't like scanning them because it takes so long. Who knows I may treat you.


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## Litchi (Dec 2, 2009)

thank you friend for ur information


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