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Author Topic: How do I start drawing?  (Read 2289 times)

Mindmaker

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How do I start drawing?
« on: June 17, 2010, 12:01:36 pm »

So I graduated a day ago and finally can do something useful with my life.

Besides deciding to lean the guitar, I'd like to practice my drawing.
A short time ago I managed to draw a dwarf in chainmail, being "quite content", with a ballpoint pen, which actually looked good.
But most of the time my drawings are horrible.

Do any of you maybe know some kind of drawing tutorial, which you could recommennd to me?
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Realmfighter

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2010, 12:04:34 pm »

All you need is your IMAGINATION.

I got nothing.
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Itnetlolor

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2010, 12:10:54 pm »

I usually just wing it when I start drawing. But I need a sufficiently good enough idea for me to care enough about to make it look good.

That's at least how one of my sketchbooks managed to breach a 75-drawing mark, with most of them at least being +quality+. Mostly sci-fi stuff though, and maybe a very DF-looking location. I might upload that to show an example of my skill why not?
« Last Edit: June 17, 2010, 12:12:57 pm by Itnetlolor »
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zchris13

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2010, 12:14:39 pm »

Get a pencil and paper. Lots of paper. Try drawing different things.
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Mindmaker

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2010, 12:18:08 pm »

I usually just wing it when I start drawing. But I need a sufficiently good enough idea for me to care enough about to make it look good.

That's at least how one of my sketchbooks managed to breach a 75-drawing mark, with most of them at least being +quality+. Mostly sci-fi stuff though, and maybe a very DF-looking location. I might upload that to show an example of my skill why not?

Sure, I'd like to see it.
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Jopax

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2010, 12:21:01 pm »

A good book for begginers is Fun with a Pencil from Andrew Loomis, plus it's free so it shouldn't bee a problem to find it on the internet.And as a general tip you should just draw, any time you can, draw, just about anthing that comes to mind, it might be slower than if you focused on different stuff like faces, hands and the like but i find it much more fun when i'm drawing random stuff than drawing something i "have" to draw to be better
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ChairmanPoo

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2010, 12:23:19 pm »

I agree, practice is the way to go.

I had a simmilar impulse last easter, and began to practice drawing things. In particular, I was (and am) interested in making more or less accurate drawings of things around me.  I look at objects and try to delineate them from my current POV.
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Askot Bokbondeler

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #7 on: June 17, 2010, 12:30:49 pm »

yes, i can give you some pointers, if you're really serious about drawing. drawing is hard and requires commitment, tough.

here's a good exercise to start drawing:
  take a sketchbook with 150 pages, in a week do 30 quick drawings of your hands, do each drawing in less than five minutes, 2-3 minutes is preferable. at the end of the week pick the best 3 and show them on the engravers guild.
  the second week draw 30 images of piles of clothes, again, spend no more than 5 minutes in each drawing, 2-3 being optimal, don't bother showing these up on the engravers guild, we wont know your reference and wont be able to criticize them.
  in the third week, do the same exercise, but with people. draw people you see on the bus or ask your family to pose for you. try to be really quick now, for people will move, show us your stuff at the engravers guild
  on the fourth week get back to hands to see how much you improved, one week, 30 drawings, 3 minutes each, you know the drill.

feel free to do it faster, if you took less than a week to do 30 drawings, great! infact, if you take a whole week to make 30 drawings, you're being lazy
« Last Edit: June 17, 2010, 12:32:42 pm by Askot Bokbondeler »
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Itnetlolor

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #8 on: June 17, 2010, 12:33:45 pm »

Here it is. I had to do a bit of touching up in PS to make it look consistent; sharping up areas blurred a tad out-of-focus, remove the ugly binding from the sketchpad, and remove anything else that'll get in the way (anything else I drew in there, including signatures and such).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Megaproject idea for anyone up to the task. Can anyone replicate this place? BTW, it's on a beach, and a couple of those legs are submerged underwater a bit.

And in case you're wondering, I made this 3 years ago.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2010, 12:40:04 pm by Itnetlolor »
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nenjin

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #9 on: June 17, 2010, 12:57:09 pm »

I spent many years in school practicing my style :P

I did a lot of studies too. For example, back in the day, I was a huge DBZ fan. Still am, in some ways. I'd go find stills from the show, and sit down with a large art pad and just try to recreate it. Took me a very long time to get right, but it taught me a lot about perspective, style and use of lines.
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runiq

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #10 on: June 17, 2010, 01:11:15 pm »

I've been drawing since I was five, and somehow managed to never copy something straightaway. Because of that, my style is kinda… off.

Really, get some reference and use that, at least in the beginning it's incredibly helpful.
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Mindmaker

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2010, 01:33:44 pm »

I think I'll go with the idea, of drawing whatever pops into my mind.
Some anime stuff I thought about recently, might prove useful...

Hopefully I'll get a scanner soon, so I can upload it for constructive criticism.

@Itnetlolor:
Great work.
How long did it took you to draw it.
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Mindmaker

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #12 on: June 17, 2010, 03:54:09 pm »

Does it matte which pen I use at the beginning?

And what type should I get for serious drawing?
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runiq

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #13 on: June 17, 2010, 06:26:52 pm »

Does it matte which pen I use at the beginning?

And what type should I get for serious drawing?

If you want, you can draw with your blood. Or by peeing in the snow. Doesn't matter really. You'll encounter more serious problems than that at the beginning. :)
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DeKaFu

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Re: How do I start drawing?
« Reply #14 on: June 17, 2010, 06:40:32 pm »

If you're serious you could always get a small USB tablet (mine looks like this) and draw on the computer. With a half-decent program it means you can experiment with different tools and colours without having to buy a lot of quality art supplies. Plus you can undo. :D

They can be pretty expensive but I've been using mine for 8+ years or so, so you get your money's worth.
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