Getting better at drawing?

~Jakeyjake1OO Jun 29, 2012

I have always been interested in drawing. It's been more or less doodling on papers for the past few years (teachers have gotten sick of this already!). I really would try improving this way, trying to make things look more realistic without going into the world of realism.

When I bought a sketchbook, I pretty much just do the same thing, doodle. Its usually me trying to figure out how a body works and how hands work and what way a head should be facing and etc. I just don't improve! People will always say to practice to get better. How can I get better if I practice badly?

I don't really understand where to start, and really bumms me out when I see my brother doing the same exact thing, but getting it. He gets that a hand should look a certain way, or how the body should be formed, and which direction things should be facing. I've never really seen him do anything different then what i've done (his artbook is just doodles, but more pleasant to the eyes).

How do I practice drawing correctly?

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=nelchee Jun 30, 2012 Professional General Artist

"I really would try improving this way, trying to make things look more realistic without going into the world of realism."
"When I bought a sketchbook, I pretty much just do the same thing, doodle. Its usually me trying to figure out how a body works and how hands work and what way a head should be facing and etc. I just don't improve!"

How did you expect to improve and make things more realistic, if you aren't doing any realism study? How did you imagine you will magically "just know" how things are supposed to look without observing the real thing?

Of course you're not improving, you're doing it all wrong. There is no "making things realistic" without realism. You have to know what realism looks like in order to make things from your mind look more realistic.
Quit doodling and start drawing some real stuff from observation.
- sketch people around you
- draw people from nude reference photos
- get an anatomy book and study it, copy the diagrams to memorize them etc
- improve your knowledge of form and value by drawing things from life, like still life, architecture, landscape etc.

Yes it does sound quite boring to a kid who only wants to draw comics, but you know... just random doodling doesn't get you very far. But this does, guaranteed!

~hiyoi Jun 30, 2012

Drawing 10 billion pages of stuff won't help you improve if you don't learn anything. The important thing is understanding how and why something looks the way it does, and there's no better way to do that than studying from an anatomy book and drawing from life. Asking feedback from others is often helpful, too.

Your brother is probably carefully observing the people around him, and that's why he 'gets it.' Getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new(like realism) can be very helpful and can give you new persepective on things. Keep trying and your drawing will definitely improve.

*Heyriel Jun 30, 2012 Student Digital Artist

Learn anatomy (skeleton structure/muscles etc). Without knowing what makes your drawing look like it should you'll mostlikely never figure it out. Copying others (like a person before has suggested) won't get you far if you don't know the basics :/

~Silver-Mercy Jun 29, 2012

Go back over your older drawings and note what you dont like about them and what you want to improve on. Pay attention to one or two of those things in each new drawing you do until you see an improvement. For example, i found a lot of my graphite drawings, despite being several shades of grey, were all looking one toned, so now i make an effort to get my shadows really black, and my highlights really white (where appropriate), and my drawings are starting to look far more dynamic.

*G-Sketch Jun 29, 2012 Student General Artist

Looking at professional drawings or just the style of art you like the most and just doing some sighted redrawing. DO NOT TRACE EVER! I've been teaching someone to draw and I got them started doing that, then doing things out of their head. Watching drawing videos helped me a lot. I've still working VERY hard at getting better.

Try posting your doodles to DA and see what people say. Ask for reviews! I'm sure you'll be on your way to being great in no time

~Jakeyjake1OO Jun 29, 2012

alright, thanks for the advice!

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