THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => MAKE => Topic started by: Phase on 14 Oct 2006, 14:48
-
I'm not much of a drawer, but I would seriously like to get into it. Is there any online step-by-step guides that you guys know of that would help me get started? Or even books found at a bookstore or library..
Thanks
-
Seriously I recommend finding a comic or something that you like the style of and start copying bits freehand and pay close attention to styilistic bits and bobs with shading and whatnot. Don't worry about copying someone else work blahblah. When you get to a point where you feel comfortable your own style will come out. All art books basically tell you what you need to know in the first couple of chapters and everything else you have to do yourself though a fuckton of practice. Good luck!
-
Thats not quite what I meant, but I do appreciate the advice.
A long time ago, years, there was this show where some guy would draw various different things. He would draw a couple lines, and pause and wait for those watching to catch up. I figure this would be the easiest way for me to start since I was good at it then with that show.
Edit: I don't mean a video, but "step by step" like that, to at least get me started.
-
i have no idea which books are good, as i've always had a teacher telling me stuff but i'm sure if you go to an art/arts and crafts store or a book store, they will be able to point you in the right direction. i work at michaels arts and crafts and there are classes, so maybe there might be a community class somewhere near you if you have time to go to one. (learning from a person is a bit better than learning from a book because they can help you improve.) that and copy master drawings. if you're going for a more realistic approach, masters are your friends.
-
Books suck, just draw everything and anything you see and eventually you'll see not only develop your own style but it'll be good(hopefully). :wink:
-
Books suck, just draw everything and anything you see and eventually you'll see not only develop your own style but it'll be good(hopefully).? :wink:
the only book you should buy is that of the sketch variety. then FILL IT UP. do this to about 8 books and you'll have developed so much that you won't recognize the stuff from the first book.
PS PAY CLOSE ATTN. TO PERPORTIONS.
-
hey. books are helpful. yes, drawing is most of it, but seeing as how you're doing this on your own, there are some helpful tips to be found in books. especially if you want to draw people (or anything) in color.
but in otherwise, start with the basics, line drawings of basic shapes and whatnot, then move to more complex shapes, add shading, when you feel you're doing well wih that, mix it up and do it in color, then move onto people and nature. i wouldn't recommend starting with people, because people can be rediculously hard. it all helps with drawing what you see in your head.
-
Books can be useful, especially for things like anatomy and proportion. Best advice is to draw from life though.
-
Oh I know! *waves hand* When drawing people do that sketchy thing first:
circle=head
oval=upper arm, lower arm, fingers, upper leg, lower leg, toes(if that detailed), joints(wrists, ankles)
triangles/polygon/pentagon=upper torso(upside down one), lower torso, hands, feet
just connect everything and work from there
-
From personal experience, I suggest drawing every day from the age of 10, pursuing art through GCSE and A-Level, with additional evening classes in life drawing, and then going on to study foundation art and design at a reputable art college.
...
Seriously though, life classes and observation drawing are literally the only way to really learn how to draw properly. Even if you're drawing night elves riding unicorn on mars.
-
Give me some time, say tomorrow when I'm going truly insane trying to finish my math work and I will post a picture like that(the night elf/unicorn/mars thingie)
-
When I was first starting to try and draw people and such, one place that I visited a lot was this site (http://www.bakaneko.com). It's, like, mostly manga tutorials, but I found that most of what she teaches is pretty universal. She even has entire tutorials just on hands/eyes/muscles, and she presents all tutorials in a step-by-step system.
Most drawing books I've found seem to try to teach very specific styles rather than general guidelines (probably because the artists who make them have very specific styles they use), so I've never really seen a lot of point in buying a lot of books.
One thing I did when I first started drawing was to take pictures of my friends and then try to draw them, translating the small pictures into 9x11 sketchpad pages. It helps you get used to proportion and studying different facial structures, and gives you a chance to work on a subject that you know well enough that you'll notice if you're drawing's a bit off.
One thing I've always found useful to remember when drawing, at least when you're starting out: don't try to draw the person you see. Instead, try to draw the shapes of what you see. Most artists eventually teach themselves to do this unconciously, but many beginners will try to draw the person rather than the shapes the person's made of, and the former is much, much harder than the latter. My HS art teacher told us to draw images upside down, to learn to associate with shapes and lines rather than objects.
-
I came across Rasufelle's site as well, but it didn't really help me much when I was a beginner.
Instead, I learned my basics from this: http://www.howtodrawmanga.com/tutorial.html
Probably not what you're looking for if you don't want to draw manga, but I've since moved away from the manga style as well while still utilizing a lot of these basics.