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Help, any good resource on drawing?
So I've been trying to get started on drawing, mostly about characters I wanted to draw, sometimes a bit of scenery.
Thing is, besides the very basics of exercises, like shapes / line control / hand-eye coordination, I really struggle to find any other resource, like anatomy, movement, and such.
Do you have any book or online resource to recommend?
I only did a little bit of this myself but I think drawabox might be of interest. I saw it on Reddit a few times. I’ve been keen to learn it, too but I never really got around to it. It starts with lines and then covers more advanced topics
https://drawabox.com/
Gonna check that out once I get out of work. Thanks a lot!
Not exactly what youre looking for, but I recommend the book "How to draw with the right side of the brain" by Betty Edwards, specially the workbook, it focuses on drawing from real life rather than character drawing but it can give you a quickstart if you use references for your characters.
For anatomy in general, I usually just search for "muscle name anatomy" and scrub through google images til I find what I need, and throw it all on a PureRef board. I mostly just sculpt weird creatures, so I search for different types of animal skulls, skeletons, anatomy diagrams, skin textures, etc. Once I have a decent reference board I just start making stuff.
I help mod an art discord. Decent little community. If you're interested in an invite, shoot me a message.
Alongside DrawABox l can also highly recommend CtrlPaint it's generally dedicated to digital art but it contains a large amount of info geared towards 'analog' drawing as well.
It's all in short videos, which is a format l really like for this topic. l usually prefer text, but for visual arts you generally just need to see things instead.
The whole thing with both sites is: you have to practise often. Preferably daily. Sit down, do a few warmup exercises for 15-30 mins(important!) and then actually do your drawing.
The mistake l made was starting drawing right away, and if you're not fluid yet, you'll just suck for the first 20 mins or so. So do a warmup to get the arm muscles calibrated, and you'll find that actually drawing/painting goes a little easier afterwards.
Another tip; if you're out in public or generally anywhere else and bored or have to wait for things, look around you and look at how light interacts with various objects. Try to memorize that and find patterns/common situations. It's not direct drawing, but it'll help you build a "visual library" which you can utilize when drawing.
That said, don't be afraid to use reference! Some people brag about stuff like "l drew this without using reference" which is kinda cool l guess, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with using reference, especially if you want details/realistic lighting in your artworks.
And finally: do not see this drawing thing as an excuse for getting expensive pens/paper/drawing tablets. After years of drawing l just prefer a cheap BIC ballpoint pen and printer paper(preferably from someone else's printer :p). The only thing l use extra is a paper towel, since the ballpoint pen tips pick up dust which might stain your drawings.
Sometimes l also use my old LAMY ABC fountain pen, which is a fountain pen made for kids who're learning to write for the first time.
Here I'm just trying to say that it's not the tools and media that matter, it's your skill. Use whatever you have available, especially if you're just starting out.
In any case, if you have questions, feel free to ask or DM.
I'm mostly experienced with digital art and oil paint(mainly plein air painting, which is really fun by the way!)
Check out Proko on youtube for anatomy and basic stuff - he is pretty good. Noah Bradley is also good but his brand has less free tutorials than Proko.
For learning how to make finished pieces and refining your craft, I'd just recommend looking up artists on youtube and trying to imitate their techniques. James Gurney is a personal fav.
I don't have much advice on how to get ideas and be creative. Creativity is fostered by being curious, imaginative, and exploring life. You don't need to be creative to do stuff like still-lives, but you'll get no joy from it if you don't love your subjects.
If you want to do traditional painting, know that there is a physical and chemical component to learning how to use paint. Knowing how to shade forms does not mean you know how to mix paint to make it behave how you want it to.
I work as a medical illustrator/animator, have been making art for years, and did the whole art-school stuff. Feel free to ask more specific stuff if you need. I could recommend a million things but would rather just give some easily digestible things.
Edit: Also, don't take it too seriously. Other people aren't as smart as they seem, and there is no correct way to do anything. On any project, 10% of your effort should be on improving, and the other 90% should be naturally doing it for fun, without worry if its good or better. Discipline is necessary, but will kill any joy if you spend more than 10% of effort on "getting it right".
Figure Drawing by Michael Hampton, if you care to draw the human form (I took a class with this guy. He's great). And if there are any figure drawing workshops/meetups around you, attend!
Oh, also just learned Michael Hampton has a Youtube channel, which ought to be a great resource.