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Teaching oneself to draw

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Chesscub

WTF is this rank?

Postby Chesscub » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:08 pm

I would like to teach myself a little bit about how to draw better. I doodle and it looks like shit so I want to get better. Any recommendations of books too look at for advice?
User avatar

Apache Chef

Expert Post Whore

Postby Apache Chef » Thu Sep 30, 2010 2:17 pm

I'd recommend a real life figure drawing class if there's something like that available in your area. If not a class, draw real people, people from photographs, animals, still-life, etc.

As far as books go, I don't really know.
User avatar

Timbales

Fisty McDigger

Postby Timbales » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:21 pm

Drawing On The Right Side of the Brain is a classic.
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Zenguru

Staff Writer

Postby Zenguru » Fri Jan 21, 2011 3:18 am

Burne Hogarth's anatomy books are recommended by artists in the industry. Stan Lee & John Buscema's How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Look at some of the collections of older strips by people like Al Capp and Milton Caniff.
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Rikk Odinson

Society Member

Postby Rikk Odinson » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:28 am

Zenguru wrote:Burne Hogarth's anatomy books are recommended by artists in the industry. Stan Lee & John Buscema's How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way. Look at some of the collections of older strips by people like Al Capp and Milton Caniff.



Exactly what I was gonna say.
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Muppetesque

Cunning Linguist

Postby Muppetesque » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:31 am

Practice basic geometric shapes.

blah

rubber spoon

Postby blah » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:38 am

timberoo wrote:Drawing On The Right Side of the Brain is a classic.


I recommend this book too. It's not hard, and it focuses on one key element of drawing: how to see things.
You'll learn how to see; how to really experience an object in front of you and how not to cloud your experience with your thinking. Seeing is something that is surprisingly hard to do, as you'll find out for yourself.

blah

rubber spoon

Postby blah » Fri Jan 21, 2011 9:43 am

nerdygirl wrote:Practice basic geometric shapes.


Why?

blah

rubber spoon

Postby blah » Fri Jan 21, 2011 10:01 am

Before learning how to draw a specific type of objects, you need to learn how to draw. And that's what Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain teaches you, I think. Classes on figure drawing don't have to teach you how to draw, they just have to teach how to draw figures. So you might not get the idea of how to draw, just the idea of how to draw figures, unless they have within them a focus on how to draw (in which case they shouldn't call the class only, "Figure Drawing," I think).
I think if you learn how to see things, you won't really need classes to learn how to draw those things, but you might need them in order to study those particular things; you'll draw them easily as long as the images of them are stuck in your head, be they figures, bones, cats, clouds, muscles, faces, hair, plants, buildings, etc...

One key element to drawing is seeing. Another is definitely getting a good memory. Both of which, unfortunately, require a ton of practice. But they can be done, and you will be excellent if you work.
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Zenguru

Staff Writer

Postby Zenguru » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:16 am

Rikk Odinson wrote:

Exactly what I was gonna say.

Wow! It's like we're the same person! :o
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dairydead

Humuhumunukunukuapuaa

Postby dairydead » Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:32 am

the only way to get good at drawing is just to practice.
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eltopo

Twenty-Something

Postby eltopo » Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:38 pm

dairydead wrote:the only way to get good at drawing is just to practice.

or murder 60 babies
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Herald

Not a Kardashian

Postby Herald » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:19 pm

fahd wrote:
Why?


Ultimately, everything can be broken down into basic geometric shapes. When you break difficult-to-draw things down that way, they become easier to draw.
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LoganRSA

FROGMAN

Postby LoganRSA » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:28 pm

Some of the all-time greatest drawing instruction books can be found here for free download.

http://processjunkie.blogspot.com/2007/ ... -ever.html
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prozacman

Expert Post Whore

Postby prozacman » Tue Jan 25, 2011 7:00 pm

Chesscub wrote:I would like to teach myself a little bit about how to draw better. I doodle and it looks like shit so I want to get better. Any recommendations of books too look at for advice?

Youtube is a good place to start for free. You can find lessons on how to do almost any thing that's not illegal. Even than you might still get lucky.

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