anybody who draws or sketches on here, looking for how to get started

[50 mission cap]

i want to do pencil drawing, color and also shading but need to know what materials i needed for a beginner and some good resources to help with techniques, if available.


thanks

[Heksubah]

I don't personally have a lot of know how, but I do recommend the How to Art series from Mary Doodles. I love her time-lapse artwork. I've watched most of her tutorials. She's great at breaking down what to look for, what's a good price, what's best for quality, where not to skimp on price vs quality for supplies, how to shade and colour, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...mJekqS8KZfECor

[Seshat]

Go to any newsagent and buy a set of sketchpads. A small one that fits neatly into a handbag or messenger bag, and a larger one you can keep at home.

Also buy two pencil cases, one small and one larger. The small one, buy a 'normal' pencil, and a range of softer ones. (In Australia: HB, 2B, 4B, 6B.) Also buy three sharpeners - preferably metal frame as well as blade - and some small containers you can sharpen into.

Buy soft erasers: don't buy gimmicky children's erasers, and nothing with any colour in it. See https://keetonsonline.wordpress.com/...ld-know-about/
To start with, any of the erasers she mentions should be fine.

And that's the basic toolkit. You don't actually NEED anything else to get started. It won't allow you to do colour work, but you can do any and all line or shaded pencil work with these tools.

Find some book, internet tutorials, or other source of guidance, to give you a guided tour of drawing techniques.
This is not essential; but any of these will let you know which techniques are beginner ones, which intermediate, which advanced. Which ones build on the others, so you can learn them in order. And so on.


So. In addition to the above - both in equipment and in practice advice:

For a greater black-and-white contrast, you'll eventually move onto graphite. At that point, you'll want to go to an art supply store.

I always ask for recommendations for 'student grade' tools at art supply stores: they're good enough that my equipment isn't going to make the job harder, but cheap enough that I can afford it!

When you're ready for colour pencils, hit an art supply store. Ask for student grade, and be prepared to pay what seems like an exorbitant amount for pencils. You're paying for pigment saturation: a kid's set of pencils only has enough pigment to make the colour, and uses the cheapest (safe) available pigment in the appropriate shade.
Student grade coloured pencils use more expensive pigments, and in greater amounts. Professional grade sometimes use incredibly expensive pigments, and (ideally) should be in really strong saturation.

Paints are the same as pencils: you pay for saturation, and you also pay for the quality of the (words fail me) base stuff that the pigment is being held in.

Anyway: start with simple, ordinary pencils in varied softnesses, a good eraser, and some sketchbooks.


To learn faster and better: Doodle.

Get into the habit of doodling whenever you're waiting. Doodle when you're waiting for your food at McDonald's. Doodle when you're in line at the bank. Doodle at lunchtime, doodle during commercials if you watch TV that has them.

What will you doodle? I've doodled the sneaker of the person in line in front of me. Doodled my own hand, or my own thumb. Done a charicature of the person talking to the loan officer. Tried to draw hair. Done the exercise where you're trying to draw a circle then used shading to make it look like a sphere.

There are a lot of drawing exercises you can pick up off the 'net, or from drawing books. Make a list of them, and stick the list into the back of your sketchbook. That will mean you have something to do whenever inspiration fails you.

But you can always draw something near you. Pick the nearest red thing and draw it. Pick the nearest thing with a blade (probably scissors). Pick the nearest grooming item. The nearest thing smaller than a loaf of bread. The nearest thing larger than a loaf of bread. Something vaguely rectangular. Or spherical. Or kinda trapezoid.

While doodling, stick mostly with techniques you've already learned. BUT feel free to experiment with techniques you've heard of, or the next technique in your book/youtube course/whatever. Just be prepared for the doodle to displease you; especially if you're trying new techniques. And ideally, only try one new-to-you technique at a time.

Also, it never matters if the doodle is unfinished: the process of doodling is what improves your skill.

[Chromatix]

There are many different styles to choose from in art. Potentially you could make your own, rather than slavishly following someone else's style. This is generally considered a good thing, unless you intend to get a job where matching a particular style is important (eg. sub-artist for animation, comics).

Sketching and drawing differ mostly in how much mistakes are tolerable. Sketches are very tolerant of mistakes, and generally even expected to contain them. Usually you make a sketch to find the composition and major features before you start on a proper drawing.

So learn to sketch first. Later, learn to draw.

A major divide between styles and techniques is line-art versus shading. Shading refers to the light, shadow and colours on large parts of the subject; line-art refers to the edges and major texture elements. The techniques required for each are very different; I can do line-art fairly well, but shading is still difficult for me. I have previously had some success using brush-pens for colour, but these can also be costly for good ones.

Most drawings include both line-art and shading. Sketches are generally one or the other. One advantage of a purely line-art drawing, however, is that it's relatively easy to print.

As an aside, for line-art you only need one pencil and a sheet of paper. It's *really* cheap to get started.

If I decided to start drawing seriously, I'd probably sketch line-art on paper, then find a way to transfer it into the computer for refinement. Computer art is another skill set all it's own, but it can get you more consistent results once you've worked out the basic techniques required.

[50 mission cap]

great info guys thanks. i find it relaxing, which speaks to your point to not make it perfect. like the idea of drawing while waiting. off the get some notebooks!

[50 mission cap]

How long have you guys been drawing. I just started a few Weeks ago. Definitely going to do some tutorials and books

[Chromatix]

In my case, since I was a child. That was quite a long time ago.

However, after leaving school I never took it up seriously. Instead, the background skills I picked up simply make it easy to set up technical illustrations and diagrams, which are more useful in my line of work.

It's also occasionally useful as a form of communication, to be able to pull out a biro and quickly make a picture of what you're trying to talk about, when you can't remember the translation of the name of the thing.

[Seshat]

My parents started me as soon as I could hold a crayon in my chubby little fist. I've never stopped.

The only times I draw 'seriously' is when I'm modifying patterns for sewing clothes; but the same skills that let me doodle a sneaker also let me make a smooth curve in a clothing pattern.