Barebones Beginner Basics?

[BillTheSetite]

I've literally only been drawing for a little over a month now; For the past fourteen years of my life I never attempted art because when I was ten I was diagnosed with Spatial Dysgraphia, and was told I would never be able to learn to draw. Then one day I decided that there was no point in letting anything beat me and decided to try and overcome it. I've been drawing almost every day for the past month, and have been told that I've been making very rapid progress. You can see the art I've put out here.

I've looked at tutorials and references and I know the best way to improve is to just keep practicing and never stop drawing, but I can't help but feel like there are some basics I haven't really grasped that I could. So I was wondering if anyone knew of absolute beginner tutorials? Anything I can do to improve would be great.

[Meii]

Don't ever give up just because you think you'll never be good enough, and always have fun with your art. That's probably the most important advice I can give you in terms of improving.

Also of course, don't be afraid to ask for critique c:

[Morphology]

Pretty much what Meii said.

As far as technical things go, a good fundamental set of elements to focus on are lines and shapes. Everything is made of lines and shapes. A tree can be a triangle with a line through it. A building is a series of boxes. You are spheres, cylinders, lines, and a whole bunch of other shapes. I find it extremely helpful if I draw the series of shapes that make up something, then go from there. Here's a good tutorial on Basic Shapes and Forms.

Another useful thing is drawing from life. I find this aspect of my artistic journey kinda irritating, as I like to draw fantastical things, but drawing from life not only helps improve your skills, but it also helps you break out of an art block, as you don't have to imagine up the subject/scene. They don't have to be full pieces, just objects on your desk or your reflection or your roommate or anything, really.

[Oly]

Huge second to drawing from life.

And doing quick studies and gesture drawings helps too, from life or from your head. Just trying to make a few strokes that roughly imply the shape of whatever you're drawing. They help a lot with getting better at expressing form. Do things like try to use as few lines as you can, or use only basic shapes like triangles circles and boxes... Also! Practicing drawing shapes in 3D and connecting them together can help a LOT. like draw two spheres and connect them with a cylinder or a rectangle... stuff like that.

[BillTheSetite]

I'll definitely keep all that in mind; thank you! I have been asking for critique but rarely if ever seem to get any, so it's not a matter of being afraid to - I just never get responses haha. One of the things I have taken to doing for practice is picking certain animals and getting a bunch of pictures of them and spending a day tracing over those pictures and then trying to recreate what I traced freehand to try and figure out the shapes, then doing a complete freehand drawing of the animal at the end. In between my doodles of various headshots and stuff, I do try to draw random objects in my room to try and learn their shapes.

Thank you for the shapes and forms tutorial; I'll definitely check that out. Sometimes figuring out the shapes is a bit hard because of the whole spatial dysgraphia thing - for a while I wasn't able to figure out how to draw a snake's muzzle from a 3/4 angle view because I couldn't figure out the space within the shapes involved and it drove me up the wall until someone sketched out a little tutorial to show me. I will definitely keep on practicing and I won't ever stop, because now that I know how much fun drawing is I don't see myself ever giving up, haha.

[Morphology]

That's good! I can't wait to see what you draw.

Over time as you practice, you'll be able to critique yourself as well. Oftentimes after I finish a pic, I think to myself, "what parts of this look good? Which parts look weird, and how can I improve them?" It's especially helpful when everyone's busy and you need a critique, and self-evaluation is an excellent skill overall.

[Meii]

I think we have a critique thread on here, it's worth giving a shot, you'll probably get quicker responses there

[BillTheSetite]

95% of my drawing is gonna go on my tumblr for the time being; and most of it is just sketches and practicing headshots/excuses to doodle friends. On my weasyl I'll mostly be posting anything completed that I do, and my "progress canvases", which are just big 5000x4000 Sai canvases that I try to fill up with doodles; though I don't actually organize it so it's a bit hard to tell when I've done what I've done.

And I don't think I should post my doodles in the critique thread, that's for people who are actually good, instead of just beginners like me I shouldn't clog it up with my doodles. Maybe in a few months, though!

[BillTheSetite]

Thank you, and thank you VERY much for that link. I'll be sure to use it! <3

[Unburnt Daenerys]

Guys, all of the Andrew Loomis books have been reprinted and are widely available. Don't link to illegal downloads.