How To Draw #1: The Very First Step

[Ryan Dave Jimenez]

Disclosure:

I am not a professional artist. I can draw, but not as good as I want to. I am a just a person who wants to get better at drawing. I started this series to share what I've learned so far in hopes of helping aspiring artists like me. 

 

There are a lot of drawing tutorials, videos, and courses out there. I'm pretty sure you've seen your share of them. And they are all amazing But I feel like most of these tutorials do not start with the basic step of learning to draw. The very first step you should do in your journey to become an artist. And that is to copy.

 

Quote

"Good artists copy. Great artists steal."

- Pablo Picasso

 

I'm sure you want to be a great artist. But to be great, you have to be good first. It's a requirement. You can't skip going from bad to great. So don't worry about the "Great artists steal." part yet. (I might discuss that in a future tutorial). For now focus on, "Good artists copy".

Now what do I mean by copy? I don't mean plagiarize. That's different. Plagiarism is copying someone else's work and pretending it's you who made it. That is bad and frowned upon. I'm talking about copying so you can learn.

No artist is born with an already-defined style. You actually have to find your art style. And to find that style you copy from others. You look at artists before you and copy their style. This goes on and on until you stop copying and eventually mix everything together and generate your own unique art style.

So the very first step in learning how to draw, is to copy the drawings from your favorite artist, art style, or anime. Find images online, bring out a pencil and paper, and copy that image the best you can. But as you do, try to observe certain things. Why are the eyebrows drawn this way? Why are the eyes like this? Why is the hair this way? And so on. Copy so you can learn.

As a kid I started out by copying Goku from Dragon Ball. I copied him so many times that I can draw him from memory. I also noticed things along the way. How Akira Toriyama drew eyebrows. How he drew eyes. And even how he drew muscular male bodies. Have you ever noticed how almost every muscular male character in Dragon Ball has the same body? 

 

 

In closing, don't worry about anything else if you're a newbie at drawing. Don't worry about what art supplies to buy or what software to use. Just focus first on copying. And no! don't trace it. (You won't learn hand and eye coordination by tracing)

What was the first thing you did to learn how to draw? This is just from my experience. And there is more than one way to do something.

Edited May 27, 2019 by Ryan Dave Jimenez
reworded a phrase

[XII360]

2 hours ago, Ryan Dave Jimenez said:

Disclosure:

I am not a professional artist. I can draw, but not as good as I want to. I am a just a person who wants to get better at drawing. I started this series to share what I've learned so far in hopes of helping aspiring artists like me. 

 

There are a lot of drawing tutorials, videos, and courses out there. I'm pretty sure you've seen your share of them. And they are all amazing But I feel like most of these tutorials do not start with the basic step of learning to draw. The very first step you should do in your journey to become an artist. And that is to copy.

 

 

I'm sure you want to be a great artist. But to be great, you have to be good first. It's a requirement. You can't skip going from bad to great. So don't worry about the "Great artists steal." part yet. (I might discuss that in a future tutorial). For now focus on, "Good artists copy".

Now what do I mean by copy? I don't mean plagiarize. That's different. Plagiarism is copying someone else's work and pretending it's you who made it. That is bad and frowned upon. I'm talking about copying so you can learn.

No artist is born with an already-defined style. You actually have to find your art style. And to find that style you copy from others. You look at artists before you and copy their style. This goes on and on until you stop copying and eventually mix everything together and generate your own unique art style.

So the very first step in learning how to draw, is to copy the drawings from your favorite artist, art style, or anime. Find images online, bring out a pencil and paper, and copy that image the best you can. But as you do, try to observe certain things. Why are the eyebrows drawn this way? Why are the eyes like this? Why is the hair this way? And so on. Copy so you can learn.

As a kid I started out by copying Goku from Dragon Ball. I copied him so many times that I can draw him from memory. I also noticed things along the way. How Akira Toriyama drew eyebrows. How he drew eyes. And even how he drew muscular male bodies. Have you ever noticed how almost every muscular male character in Dragon Ball has the same body? 

 

 

In closing, don't worry about anything else if you're a newbie at drawing. Don't worry about what art supplies to buy or what software to use. Just focus first on copying. And no! don't trace it. (You won't learn hand and eye coordination by tracing)

What was the first thing you did to learn how to draw? This is just from my experience. And there is more than one way to do something.

pretty much, just copy at your first baby steps, once you get bored, try drawing your own art (it may or may not fail)

doesn't matter if its a "character sheet", just draw something

 

 

 

here's some of my drawings, when i was just starting out (louise one was traced)

comparing it to how i draw now, (which take note, has been 6 years), i say i've come pretty damn long and gotten better at making OC

atleast, compared to before, i could not make any OC characters (e.g, character's i've drawn, being recent are mi-chan and the fairy)

 

as for hand drawing/feets....lets just say i just can't get the right angle for them, i can imagine how i wanna draw them...but....

sh*t just doesn't work yo'

[Ryan Dave Jimenez]

On 5/27/2019 at 5:17 PM, XII360 said:

as for hand drawing/feets....lets just say i just can't get the right angle for them, i can imagine how i wanna draw them...but....

sh*t just doesn't work yo'

 

Yeah I'm not proficient in drawing hands or feet just yet too. 

And even professional artists have a tough time drawing them. 

[Nyxnine]

Love this as inspiration to get you started. 

I will add on some more to your tutorial (if that's alright). I agree, find the artists you love, replicate their work draw their character as many times as you feel natural and comfortable drawing them. BUT, work smart. While you're replicating, watch how they are drawing their lines, why they choose to make certain lines, thick/thin, try to look up other tutorials (there are so many sources online that teach proportions) and keep your work so you can see how you progress. It will make you feel so much stronger and more enthusiastic when you can look back at your progress.

I'm a part time painter/pastel artist, and hobby artist. When I am taking commissions to draw people, animals or large scenery from a picture I choose to grid the original out and redraw on a larger grid. It saves time and allows you to view the image in parts. 

When you are drawing and copying, keep in mind you don't have to think of the whole picture, heads/hands/torsos all make up individual parts which have unique shapes and curves. Flip your picture sideways or upside down if you need to. Once you are comfortable with the shapes, then move on to more difficult techniques.

 

AS FOR THE HANDS AND FEET

Practice makes perfect. I have many pages dedicated to different poses in my sketch book to go back to when needing a reference....draw my own hands, have pinterest boards, use deviant art, asks friends. 

Copy copy copy

oh quick edit - give yourself an impartial view of your picture you're working on by taking a picture of it and looking at the pic....I know that sounds weird, but it will help you view it another way.

 

   

Edited March 5, 2020 by Nyxnine