Tips for the Beginner.....

[SirRon]

Draw something everyday? YES! That's a great habit for any artist, beginning or professional.

Linda Bergkvist (http://www.furiae.com/index.php?view=gallery) has some good tutorials.
Niklas Jansson (http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/) also known as Prometheus in concepart.org has a good general tutorial too.

It's really easy to find tutorials, just search. I don't know why I keep on buying books when there's so much free stuff here and the rest of the net. I suppose a book is easier to handle as bathroom material than a laptop LOL :)

[Dark Prince]

Thanks....I have been trying little bits whenever I get the chance. Anyone else that would like ot help me out here? 119 views and only one reply?

[SpeccySteve]

I'd suggest getting hold of all the Andrew Loomis books and reading them thoroughly.

They're out of print but can be found floating around various websites, there were links in the "Art Tutorials, Theories and Book Recommendations" sticky at the top of the board but they may be dead, if so the P2P networks are your best bet.

-Steve

[CtrlAltDel]

119 views and only one reply?
I guess most of the viewers are beginners like me :P

My advice would be (if you haven't already): start observing what you're seeing everyday, not just looking, observe for detail, ie. how the shadow falls during certain times of the day, is it blur or sharp, how the skin under one's chin cought color from the shirt, and so on.
my 2cents

[thondal]

i don't know how to beginn.. i have this problem myself, but a good thing to start with if you want to draw alot every day, is to get the basic shapes right and the shadows right... it might sound booring, but i went to drawing school for a year... we didn't learn much other drawing there, but i can still do the right shadows and the basic ovals and so on an dso on...(almost at least:P)

so if you try this, draw a circles with one movement, without lifting your hand, draw that everyday, in different shapes and then try to make a sylinder and try shading it different each day.... don't use too much time... do that for a time;) (if you haven't allready or if you weren't talking about drawing just on the computer....

-thondal-

[Rebeccak]

Dark Prince,

There are a ton of resources here on CGTalk to help you. :)

I recommend starting here with the Sticky at the top of the forum:

Art Tutorials, Theories, and Book Recommendations (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=226083)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=226083

Check out our very own:

Artistic Anatomy and Figurative Art Forum on CGTalk (http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=177)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/forumdisplay.php?f=177

Below are threads on the Anatomy Forum which are great for both beginner, intermediate, and advanced artists of all stripes:

Beginners' Lounge (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=297229)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=297229
In this thread, there are Gesture Drawing exercises for beginners. Get feedback from myself and other beginners.

I5 Minute Sketchathon - Thread 2: Sketches (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=295498)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=295498
The perfect thread for daily drawing ~ there are links in the first post to the Reference thread which has a ton of figurative reference to use to do quick, 15 minute drawings, which reinforces your ability to do Gesture Drawings.

Open Figure Drawing Workshop - Caravaggio Master Copy / Reference - with Rebeccak 015 (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=336825)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=336825
The latest installment in an ongoing series of Workshops where people draw and paint from provided Reference. Lately we have been doing Master Copies.

Open Figure Drawing Workshops with Hong Ly and Rebecca Kimmel (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=2602753&postcount=3)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=2602753&postcount=3
All OFDWs can be found listed here. The latest is OFDW 015 (linked above).

Tutorials, Workshops, Anatomy Reviews & More ... [links within] (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=273525)
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=273525
This is one of the Sticky threads in the Anatomy Forum which will help you find Tutorials and Resources on the Anatomy Forum.

Anyone is welcome to join on any thread. :)

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

[RobertoOrtiz]

Before you do ANYTHING..

Buy this book:

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874774241/sr=8-1/qid=1143822926/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8389533-2012764?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Betty Edwards

It helped me a lot to learn how to SEE.

-R

[Lybra]

Before you do ANYTHING..

Buy this book:

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874774241/sr=8-1/qid=1143822926/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8389533-2012764?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Betty Edwards

It helped me a lot to learn how to SEE.

-R


Well don't only buy it, read it ;)

But I have to fully agree, this is the best way to get started.

[my tom]

I'm just learning myself .. a few things I can share (all my opinion of course but I see Improvemnts)

1) Betty Edwards.. Right Side - yes! should be your first book, not for the technique but to make you believe that you can learn how to draw well

2) Stay away from Loomis - those $200 books aren't what you need now

3) Bill Martin - The Joy of Drawing.. just to get a crash course on theory of light, shade, form, how to calc. the shadow length.. things like that... you can explore more afterwards

[thondal]

Before you do ANYTHING..

Buy this book:

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0874774241/sr=8-1/qid=1143822926/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8389533-2012764?%5Fencoding=UTF8) by Betty Edwards

It helped me a lot to learn how to SEE.

-R

true true... read that first, and then see what you need;)

-thondal-

[DonaldKasper]

Getting back into art..

1. Draw Complex images as often as you can
2. Doodle at school or work without getting caught.
3. When you are on a break from school or work sit down and watch how your freinds, coworkers, and complete strangers interact with each other, the world, things like that
4. stare endlessly at buildings... admire the amount of work it took to put these things up, look at the details even crude, ugly buildings have in them.
5. Draw
6. Play with photoshop and get a tablet =]
7. If you have a digital camera start taking pictures or persons/places/things and try recreate them with a tradtional pencil an paper.
8. Keep telling yourself that you are an artist.
9. Keep telling everyone around you that you are an artist.

[SirRon]

2) Stay away from Loomis - those $200 books aren't what you need now

I wouldn't say stay away from Loomis, but do stay away from the $200 books :)

Something I'd also like to add is to look at your art and believe you can do better.

[Dark Prince]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will surely read through any links provided and tips provided. Thanks guys.

I believe I should set myself a time limit around 2 to 3 hours of sole drawing time because of my schedule. This of course would be taken over the course of every day. Any more tips are greatly appreciated.

[gaiXyn]

hey, sup Dark Prince, well I could go on with what you should get, but you haven't said what you're interested in drawing. An example would be that me being a beginner myself, love to draw chararaters, humanoid and alien alike, so I'll recommend based on my interest.

Andrew Loomis books without any doubt whats so ever are a must have, I would start with "Having Fun with a Pencil" This guy makes drawing characters very easy with shapes and forms you're already familiar with. He even gives a story on how at his first week at art school, that his teacher told him to go home b/c he had no talent for drawing. That lil story alone helped me alot b/c it showed me that even tho I think I suck, it's only b/c "I think I suck" and I shouldn't think that way.

other great books are from Jack Hamm, tho not as good as Loomis, he does give a great spin on how to draw the human figure, animals, scenerys, and I like his books b/c he too also breaks it down into simple shapes you already use everyday.

more books to look for are from Burne Hogarth, again not as good as loomis, or Jack, mostly b/c he doesn't take the time to cater for beginners, but his talent for drawing anatamy is very, very good, so as you get better and wonna know what the muscles actually look like, then you would check his books out, just copy the names of the authers I've listed and find the books on amazon, there you'll be able to see the reviews and make a decison that way.

peaCe::

[gaiXyn]

oh, btw, draw everyday, Even if you don't have 3 - 4 str8 hours to draw, 2 hours in the morning and another cuople at night is just as good. That's what I do, just be sure to do it everyday. It's not going to be easy, but with every month, you'll see your rewards, try to keep yours drawings so that you can look back and see how much you've improved.

peaCe::

[Dark Prince]

I guess I did kind of forget to tell you guys what I'm interested in drawing.

Well...I would like to improve my skills in still life drawing as I took a Basic Drawing class one semester ago and did alright. I got through it with a B even though I was considered, at the bottom of the class, skill wise. I want to eventually move on into the digital world after I get Photoshop and or Painter and start doing landscapes/characters...etc.

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.