How can I learn to draw better?

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pandaa

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I've always had a desire to learn to draw better. It's something I really enjoy doing, despite how horrible I am at it. Is there a good way that I can learn to improve my skills?
 
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Jordan

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I've always had a desire to learn to draw better. It's something I really enjoy doing, despite how horrible I am at it. Is there a good way that I can learn to improve my skills?
Feel your pain.
I wish I could draw too. I use to be semi-decent back when I was a young kid but no idea what happened xD
My sister, when I sometimes visit her house to see the niece and nephew and to hang out with the brother in law, she can be drawing and just wow. I don't know how she does it. Just amazing.

It mostly comes down to practice. But using some basic tools such as a ruler and drafting compass helps. Remember that tracing something is not "cheating" artists have done that for hundreds of years.
I don't know if you have taken any classes but learning perspective helps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perspective_(graphical).
I suppose this is just where to start. Just keep drawing and get the feel of how to apply your pencil to the paper.
I bet you if you trace something over and over again, you will be able to draw that without the trace. So I suppose the same thing goes for free drawing.
 

AstriaPorta

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I guess like everything needs a lot of practice ...but it is importan to like it ..the more you enjoy it the better chance you got to learn faster.. maybe i am wrong but that is what i think .. i ma bad at this if i draw something will look like a five year old done it :eek:
 

Jordan

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I guess like everything needs a lot of practice ...but it is importan to like it ..the more you enjoy it the better chance you got to learn faster.. maybe i am wrong but that is what i think .. i ma bad at this if i draw something will look like a five year old done it :eek:
hey, there are lots of pictures out there that look like 5 years done it and they sell for hundreds of thousands. Art is still art... Apparently xD
 

AstriaPorta

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hey, there are lots of pictures out there that look like 5 years done it and they sell for hundreds of thousands. Art is still art... Apparently xD
Hmm maybe i should do some and get money j/k

I know what you mean and very true what you said but i know my self
 

darkcgi

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Get some books
usually you can find them on sale at the book store in the clearance section
you can find a lot of stuff online to
www.gimp.org free paint program
I learned to draw with notebook paper and no2 pencils
trace trace trace and soon you will gain skills to keep you from having to trace things
get or make a tracing light board
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oyRcV0F615s
 

The Man

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The shorter the barrel the easier. ..also keep the holster slung low.

Sent using Tapatalk 2
 

OhioTom76

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I would say pick up some large tablets of newsprint paper, and a bunch of vine charcoal and kneadable erasers. It would also help to have a tablet or a drafting table, so you can work at an upright angle.

Perspective is obviously important for you to get a grip on and a sense of when drawing. But it's also better to just draw live subjects you are viewing with your own eyes, vs trying to draw from a photograph.

One of the most important things you need to get good at is establishing proportions and overall abstract shapes of your subject matter. Once you get that down properly, then you can start working in the details and shading. Often times people try to jump right into drawing the details and lose sight of the overall proportions and shapes of everything. A good example of this is when people who are not artists try to draw human figures, especially kids, but also adults. They often draw the head much larger than the rest of the body, but on top of that, the overall proportions are usually way off. Similarly their facial features may be all messed up because they are making their eyes too big, or their forehead too big and their mouth too small. Psychologists speculate that we do this because we place more importance on a persons face than the rest of their body, so we subconsciously start drawing it larger than it really is.

This is why you see artists start off with a very rough and crude sketch of the overall shape and proportions of their subject matter first. The other thing you need to establish is the volume of your subject. You will do this through line quality and shading. Thicker and thinner lines help give a sense of "weight" and volume to an object, along with the proper use of perspective.

Once you get the skeleton of your subject matter nailed down so to speak, then you are in a good spot to start working in the finer details and textures that will bring the drawing to life. The kneadable eraser is a fantastic tool, in conjunction with the vine charcoal since it's very easy to erase things with it and you can shape it into any type of tip - narrow or fat, that you need. You can even "draw" with it by cutting through areas of dense charcoal with clear erased lines.
 

Lushlala

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I didn't know you could learn to draw! I've always thought it was a God given gift that you either have or don't. It's very interesting to know!
 

Mockingbird

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Invest in a good light box and just start by tracing the outlines, then go back and fill in the texture and the shading. With time and practice you will be able to do much more free handed. In the beginning though almost all pieces are traced. I think that surprised me the most when I went to school to be a graphic artist, Now a days a lot of art is done on the computer. There is so very much more that can be done compared to before. If there is an image in my head I want to draw or paint, I clip out ideas that fit the vision and then just re-assemble them to get the idea I was going for. Eventually it jells, occasionally it looks good.
 

Shimus

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I suggest involving yourself in an art class (extracurricular or not) and developing talents for a field of study you want. Like buildings? Be an architectural design major. Like painting? Maybe acryllics is better for you. For drawing, I find pastels/chalks/graphite on canvas'y material to be the best medium. Sometimes notebook paper works, but thats more to jot ideas down.

Learning better however? I suggest youtube channels, online books about tips on shading, etching, backgrounds, etc. There are so many more materials available now, with the internet, then there was like ten years ago when I started and all I had was my imagination and free hand techniques. All you have to do is find where you fall, what you'd like to draw to start out with, and google guides or stuff.
 

sidney

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I used to draw when I was a kid. I drew cartoon characters and I would copy them thru the cards and stickers that I used to collect. I drew Street Fighter characters and Dragon Ball Z characters. My advice would be to draw the easy ones, like the Powerpuff Girls for example. After you have perfected it, move to a harder character to draw, like Son Goku for example, you get the drift. If you do that regularly, you would be surprised that one day you can easily draw other people's faces already.
 

Shimus

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Also, find the drawing style that suits you the most. By this, I mean is it comics? Anime? Regular life? Still life? Objects? Buildings?

Find something you can latch on to, learn tutorials, and branch out. People can get overwhelmed too easily at the prospect of trying everything too fast, I find. Slow it down, find a rhythm.
 
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