10 things I have learned from trying to teach myself how to draw.

[fireheart]

1) Pastels does not necessarily mean "oil" pastels. Also, they are messy as hell.

2) Hard black pastels are still messy.

3) I still cannot draw good circles.

4) Drawing Pokemon is quite amusing.

5) until you get to adding shadows and trying to create depth.

6) It is incredibly hard to create a packet to take your kit with you. (I ended up getting a pencil case, put my pencils in it and 2 mini sketch pads in there. I have 12 mini sketch pads of different types to experiment with different papers and get a feel for what I prefer to use. At the moment i have an A5 and an A6 diary as well. The A7 (mini) are being used to practice drawing specific features in detail ie eyes, ears, toes etc.)

7) When drawing using a visual diary, do NOT put drawings back-to-back.

8) I currently can only seem to draw Pokemon. My coffee cups look bizarre.

9) I really need to take a class.

10) Using anything softer than a 6B pencil is just as messy as pastels.

and

11) I am nowhere NEAR ready to try and draw with charcoal, willow or compressed.

[AccountingDrone]

How fun =)

You should hit up a library, I can remember all sorts of 'how to draw ___' books when I was growing up, I even had a bunch of them from various times I was stuck in hospital. Dover Publications is a good source of stuff like this, as is secondhand book stores and rummage sales.

Also, strange suggestion is a how to calligraphy book - I can remember doing row after row of circles-as-loops which helped me immensely.

[fireheart]

How fun =)

You should hit up a library, I can remember all sorts of 'how to draw ___' books when I was growing up, I even had a bunch of them from various times I was stuck in hospital. Dover Publications is a good source of stuff like this, as is secondhand book stores and rummage sales.

Also, strange suggestion is a how to calligraphy book - I can remember doing row after row of circles-as-loops which helped me immensely.

Hmmm I might give that a shot. I need to go hunting through my room for all my overdues first.

I have a fairly basic kit at this stage, although I also purchased a pastel kit to give it a shot. BIG mistake.

My kit at the moment is a set of sketching pencils, 2 erasers and sharpeners plus a TON of sketchbooks. The idea behind the mini sketch pads I have is so I have something to do when I'm out and about and bored outta my brain. The bigger ones are going to be my actual drawing books. At the moment it's all in a very cheap pencil case I picked up from Big W (think Walmart without the food ) but I plan on upgrading to something that means I don't have to take the sketchbooks out whenever I want to get to my pencils.

And the reason why I mentioned #7 is because I currently use the sketching pencils to practice tone drawings. Because the ones I use for the darker shadings are quite soft, my Jigglypuff now has Poliwag markings.

ETA: I am also considering a class, there is one that's run by this adult education group in the city centre. The course is very affordable, but is short-term. Hopefully from there, I might have the confidence (and perhaps the money!) to try something a little more long-term.

[Argabarga]

I'm far too shy for art classes, performance anxiety. I can't draw a circle to save my life either, that's the whole reason for computers

But, isn't it great when you set out to draw something and, after a couple of HORRIBLE failures, you learn enough to succeed and think, man, did I draw that?

[Gravekeeper]

Use a compass. Seriously. -.-

[Kittish]

Use a compass. Seriously. -.-

QFT. And a compass can be as simple as a piece of string tied around your pencil and you hold the other end down on the paper with a finger.

[bhskittykatt]

I can barely draw stick figures.

I did just sign up for an art appreciation class on coursera.org that is going to involves some art projects to be photographed/scanned and shared with the class (class starts on the 27th). I somehow did alright in art classes in high school, but on my own I'm hopeless.

[fireheart]

I somehow did alright in art classes in high school, but on my own I'm hopeless.

Funnily enough, I had mixed results in my high school art classes. (I was the band geek who attempted mixed media ) I did general art in Year 10 since it was the only class that was on offer that didn't involve too many bitches, while I took clay sculpture in Year 11 because it was fun.

My results...my drawing wasn't TOO bad, but it definitely needed improvement. Ironically, I did somewhat BETTER with the charcoal despite the gigantic mess it creates. As for printing, I sucked.
Clay was my forte. I managed to make a decorative teapot that was put into the yearbook (and is still on my parents living room mantlepiece). It was based around Memoirs of a Geisha, as the film had come out at the time and I was reading the book as well. So I made a Geisha teapot.

Then when we go to uni, I HAD to do an "arts" class. My drawing....sucked. My proportions were all WAY off. Painting I did better on, clay I LOVED and I managed to silkscreen a t-shirt While I was on my first prac (the failed one), I had to bring back my art skills. Needless to say, the recommendation was that I seriously consider specialising as an art teacher.

At the moment, drawing is very therapeutic for me. I WANT to progress into using colour, but I figured it's better for me to start with the fundamentals first.

[Severen13]

I draw with a grid. It helps keep my proportions in check. (Click the link below to see my art. Yes, it's a different name but it's me, I swear!)

[fireheart]

I draw with a grid. It helps keep my proportions in check. (Click the link below to see my art. Yes, it's a different name but it's me, I swear!)

Very nice.

I LOVE the Minchin drawings.

I'd love to try something like that eventually, even in colour

[Severen13]

I LOVE the Minchin drawings.

Tim Minchin is awesome.

[Zapper]

At the moment, drawing is very therapeutic for me. I WANT to progress into using colour, but I figured it's better for me to start with the fundamentals first.

I'm colorblind, and your number 5 - drawing Pokemon - has been a fantastic transition into working with color. I posted my Pokeart online, and was quickly recruited by Smogon, the competitive Pokemon website.

Don't fall into some common art traps. Don't worry about rendering a figure until it's properly laid out. Work simple until you get a stronger sense of anatomy and proportion, and then build up from there.

[Seshat]

Circles and smooth curves are hard. Be patient with yourself, and don't be afraid to turn the paper around: for a right hander, the top left arc is the easiest. For a left hander, the top right. So turn the page so you're always drawing in your best arc.

When I need an accurate circle, I use a compass. When I need an accurate curve, I make small dots or tiny lines at each of the measured key points along the curve, then join them together. As I approach each mark, I look past it to the next mark and make sure my line is aiming for it - and sort of 'crossing the current mark by accident'. This keeps me from having jaggedy 'mark to mark' pseudo-curves.

A 6H (if you can see it) or 4H pencil is a godsend. Use that, a ruler and a compass to lay out your proportions; and make line-and-circle sketches that show where the bones and joints of your figure are. Or, if not drawing something with bones and joints, the major shapes.

The faint lines of a 6H or 4H are very easily covered over, or can be erased.

[Argabarga]

I've always been jealous of people who can do pencil work, I didn't have any decent success at drawing until I was able to digitally scan in my pencils and forever hide them under some competent airbrushed color.

[Seshat]

Adding: if anyone wants to see a sketch-in-stages, I don't currently own a scanner but I can do a representation of one in the Gimp and post it someplace for folks to see.

... Y'know, I don't think I've ever shown any of you my art. Even my avatar is a clipping from an Egyptian carving of the goddess Seshat.