How to start drawing for beginners
This blog post How to start drawing for beginners will give you the roadmap to get started with drawing if you are a beginner.
Ever wanted to draw but didn’t pursue it because of Xyz.. excuse me too and I’m back. I always wanted to draw and did for a while but I quit shortly thereafter.
The problem with me was I set too lofty goals and when I failed to achieve them I beat myself up too much and I eventually quit.
I just recently got back my desire to draw when I came across Kesharts Youtube videos and I’ll be sharing with you my learnings on how to start drawing for beginners.
This guide on how to start drawing for beginners is a compilation of my binge-watching session from Keshart videos on Youtube I hope you stick along till the end it’s a long read.
The best advice you can get as an artist is to have patience and finish things. Don’t beat yourself too much getting started is the hardest part and you just by doing this are miles ahead of the rest.
There’s no magic formula that you’ll learn from this post. It’s what you already know but I’m assuming you’re here for a reason and I assure by the end of the post you’ll get your answer.
Just be yourself and you’ll be different. Now let’s get started.
What is drawing?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty let us first learn what is drawing.
Drawing is seeing, observing. Art is not about drawing it’s about learning how to see.
You can draw anything and everything with just these 3 basic shapes.
Square, Circle, and a cone. Think of these 5 forms as clay you can morph them into anything you want. You need to be able to draw these things in multiple shapes and sizes.
Art is the expression of the invisible through the means of the visible. That is art/drawing. It’s your interpretation in your unique way.
Here’s the 2 step process to draw everything
1) Seeing
2) Drawing
Seeing is observing. What’s happening and what does it signify? It’s all about asking questions here.
Draw from your imagination that’s creativity. Try drawing a castle all you have to do is imagine and connect the dots. You might have a castle in books, movies, or in real life.
Take that image out of your head and put it on the paper that’s it.
How to learn drawing
Like I said in the introduction take it easy in the beginning. Allow yourself to fail and look stupid that’s the only way you are going to learn.
Initially, as a beginner artist, it’s all about getting the miles in aka laying the foundation. It’s sounds cliche but the only way to get better at anything is by doing it time and again repeated deliberate practice.
See the end goal and keep it in mind and break it down into easy reachable steps here’s Kesh’s framework.
The aspect of learning has a very simple process.
1) Decide why and what you want to learn. Don’t pick too lofty goals. Break it down into small achievable tasks.
2) Feedback is very important. This is where teachers and mentors come into place.
3) Deliberate focused practice. Practice with intent and Repeat.
4) Learn the different skills. Perspective, imaginative drawing, light, and shade, color theory, shapes and forms, flow, character design principles, prop design, anatomy.
Here’s the framework Pick a goal, break it down, go niche and figure it out.
Say you want to draw people.
Break it down into head, body, hands.
Pick one and practice deliberately. It’s the Bottom down approach.
Anyone can draw like in the movie ratatouille anyone can cook similarly anyone can draw. You don’t have to be born with an innate talent to draw.
How to get drawing ideas
To get drawing ideas get inspiration from artists you admire or just around you there’s inspiration everywhere. Sometimes if you think that you are stuck in a rut then change your medium.
There are many aspects and mediums to drawing. There’s Pencil drawing, pastel drawing, charcoal drawing, graphite drawing, and so on.
I’ve written an in-depth article on pencil drawing and charcoal drawing you can click on the links to know more.
See, observe, ask questions and get answers. Look for the shapes and answers get these clues and then draw.
See things as they are instead of what you think they are.
The seeing part starts and the drawing part ends with the hand.
How to learn drawing online
If you want to learn to draw online Youtube channels have to be your go-to. Keshart and Let’s draw are highly recommended to get you started.
If you ever asked yourself How do I improve my drawing as a beginner here’s the answer from Kesh himself.
Maintain a sketchbook and fill one up every single month. The act of drawing will get you more motivation to keep going.
Draw every single day it’s the most important thing to do as an artist.
Draw every day or draw most days like say 5–6 days. If you miss a single day it doesn’t matter.
Learn the big 5 shapes. Those are the square the cuboid the cylinder the cone and the pyramid. Learn to draw these shapes from different perspectives.
Focus on the big stuff and the small stuff will come later. It’s okay to copy other artists.
Like Wilson Mizner says “If You Steal From One Author, It’s Plagiarism; If You Steal From Many, It’s Research”.
Learn how to see. Art is about seeing. Understand the technique and philosophy behind it.
Creativity is like an in and out machine. What you put in is what you get out. The quality content you consume the quality output you get.
How to start drawing for beginners
So How to start drawing for beginners is the big question. Here’s your answer:-)
Things to keep in mind as a beginner artist.
What to do as a beginner artist.
1) You don’t have to have it all figured out. It’s completely okay to not have a 5 year or 10-year plan. Don’t play the game how most people go about it.
It’s good to have a vision but it’s okay to feel lost. We can come in nothing and we leave with nothing just enjoy the ride.
2) Passion is something you develop over time. Give it a time limit and see if it works or not.
Stop trying to find your passion build your passion.
3) Take up drawing challenges or try mixing up the routine. Don’t get stale keep moving and if something doesn’t work change it.
4) Comparison is the killer. Stop comparing yourself to people on the internet. Don’t compare yourself to someone’s highlight reel.
You get to see the finished product but not the years of work they put behind the scenes. It’s good to compete but don’t be negative.
5) Expectations kill creativity
We don’t rise to the level of our expectations we fall to the level of our standards. I think James Clear stole this for his book Atomic Habits. Anyways
Just go with the flow and put your best foot forward. Wishful thinking is not going to work if you haven’t put in the work.
1) Draw from life or photographs.
2) Your sketchbook is to brainstorm and get your creative stuff out.
3) Get some mindful doodles in.
4) Test all the ideas that you have in your head.
5) Copy other artists but don’t pass their work as your own. Your copying to learn and replicate. All masters once copied from others.
6) Draw every day and show up consistently. Repetition is the mother of skill. It doesn’t have to be perfect but it has to be done. Allow yourself to fail.
Don’t be scattered don’t lay a single brick of a million different houses and don’t expect a mansion. Don’t spread yourself thin.
Give yourself a time period maybe 6 months to a year and then reassess. Just start and you’ll find the thing you’re looking for.
A blank page is very intimidating.
Why you’re not motivated to draw. Motivation is a result of an action. You have to actually work for it.
Don’t have the entitlement mindset. I’m going to work for it once it comes you have to work first for it to come. Like Iron Mike Tyson says in his podcast you have to be the guy before you become the guy.
You don’t become the champion and then develop the champion lifestyle. You follow a champion’s lifestyle to become the champion if that makes sense.
Some days are going to suck. Just show up and do it anyway. Practice makes progress. Don’t make too much of a change all at once. Drop your ego it seems like it’s insignificant and nothing but on the compounds and the snowball effect happens.
Take baby steps. Make it easy for yourself check out my review on Atomic Habits. Small habits lead to massive change.
Originally published at https://muthusart.com.
