Getting Started Drawing

Everyone that decides to learn to draw quickly realizes that they should be practicing something. When you look online for advice, you’ll often see this “tip”: Just Draw! But that tip is often unhelpful to beginners. What am I supposed to just draw? Trees? People? Dogs? And while you do need to draw to actually learn, if you’re like me then you need a little more guidance. So I am going to give you very specific advice, right now, because you’re probably eager to start. None of the recommendations I’m making in this video are sponsored. They are all things I have personally used and recommend.

First! A very popular free resource is Draw a Box. If you want exact directions on how to draw and what to practice, down to how you hold a pen, this is it. There are some fantastic videos and descriptions here. BUT. Do NOT only do this course, because it will quickly get unfun. You must also draw for fun, with another course, silly side doodles, or anything enjoyable. Because Draw a Box teaches the technique, but not how to enjoy it. Seriously, this is very important, even if you think the course itself is fun you must also do something else.

Next! If you’re interested in drawing the figure, aka a person, I can recommend Kenzo’s Love Life Drawing content. There’s a small free course there, and some more paid options, and Kenzo also runs a fantastic YouTube channel with tons of wonderful advice. Check it out!

Another great course on figure drawing is Mike Mattesi’s FORCE Drawing. There’s a lot of focus on the idea of gesture, force, and rhythm of a drawing, which can really help make your art look more alive. This is primarily paid, but there is a large array of free content on YouTube too.

Proko is a site with a nice selection of courses you can sample and buy if you want to continue further. Some great fun content covering a wide variety of material, from beginner to advanced.

Lastly, if you’re looking for something more structured, New Masters Academy has very high quality courses and structured curriculum to follow, with options to have your work critiqued. It’s entirely subscription based, but there are often sales for new artists and this has been my favorite resource lately.

So that’s it! No bullshit here – I’m not holding anything back. If you want to use those resources and get drawing right now, please do! These will teach you the technical aspects of art, and I’ll keep giving you motivational tips along the way.