Suggestions on drawing tutorials and just tips in general

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

I want to draw with my boyfriend, but he keeps pressing that he has no talent. I really think he does though, he just needs to feel relaxed about his abilities and practice. Plus I think drawing together would be a great bonding experience. Are there any websites or youtube tutorials that anyone would suggest for beginning artists? I figured we should start out with concept drawing, but it is easier said than done so visual aids would be awesome.

[Psychonautic]

This blog has tons of tutorials/art challenges/Inspiration good for artists at any level.
And this one will be helpful for your concept drawing.

[Absinthe and Ink]

First of all, there is no such thing as "talent". The word talent implies that humans are born with an inherent gift, unique to their individual souls. This is not the case. We are all born as a blank slate, pure and simple. Good artists are good because they've spent years practicing, even as a child. People labeled as "talented" were often encouraged to draw when they were kids, but that does not mean they did not work hard to get there.

What your boyfriend is experiencing is frustration in thinking that he is too old to be as good as the artists around him. "If these people have been drawing for years, how am I supposed to catch up?" he might be thinking to himself.

This is all bullshit. The older you are, the quicker you can pick things up and the faster you can "catch up" to better artists. All you need is practice and dedication. You show him this image and you tell him he can be as awesome as he ******** wants to be.



As for resources, I literally cannot recommend Ctrl+Paint enough. It's not just a digital art resource, but Matt Kohr (the creator of this website) does an excellent job starting at the absolute bare bone foundations of drawing.

Ctrl+Paint Drawing Resource

Good luck!

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

Psychonautic

This blog has tons of tutorials/art challenges/Inspiration good for artists at any level.
And this one will be helpful for your concept drawing.

Thank you!

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

Absinthe and Ink

Thank you! You are very encouraging. I have to say I do believe in talent just because each person is made differently therefore each person has a different feel or gift at different things, but I do believe everyone can achieve what they put their mind and heart to. It really just comes down to how well and fast you can learn something. As for learning things faster as you get older, I believe learning slows at the age of 25 since that is when the typical brain is fully grown and the neurons stop connecting as fast and as much. I still think determination can conquer all though. The only reason why I am trying to get him to draw is because I know he would have fun if it was viewed as fun and not just something for school projects.

[Absinthe and Ink]

Sithis the Dread Lord

Absinthe and Ink

I do believe in talent just because each person is made differently

I don't necessarily wanted to get into a great debate about this, but I think a few things are worth pointing out. In psychology there is a notion called tabula rasa which states that humans are a product of their environment rather than their nature (nature vs. nurture). That is to say, humans truly are born equal and are shaped almost entirely by their upbringing (which is determined by their society).

The only thing that differs from one child to another is genetics. I have brown eyes, you have blue eyes, and maybe my body is shaped in such a way that I could swim a couple seconds faster than you in a race. When it comes to art or music, however, this is completely irrelevant. Artistic skill is entirely based on your upbringing. To assume that children are born with the ability to draw or play the guitar well is ludicrous. There are just too many studies on society, culture, and individuals that prove the case that we are products of our environment.

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

Absinthe and Ink

Ahhhh so you believe that the environment affects the child more than biology? There was so many debates on this in Psych class and personally I believe in the mix of both. I can not argue with you as of now on that topic though because my class was only an introduction to Psych and I think I am not as well versed as you.

[Absinthe and Ink]

Sithis the Dread Lord

Absinthe and Ink

Ahhhh so you believe that the environment affects the child more than biology? There was so many debates on this in Psych class and personally I believe in the mix of both. I can not argue with you as of now on that topic though because my class was only an introduction to Psych and I think I am not as well versed as you.

Well I don't speak english with a particular accent living a lower middle class lifestyle with a particular level of education because of my biology. There is a reason that children in third world countries don't produce master paintings or compose renown symphonies. If our skills were truly left to biology, then there would be a wider range of skilled individuals throughout the world. Rather, certain countries produce certain types of people because of the societies they were born in.

If biology were a factor in artistic development, then would there be a gene that governs how well you can put a pencil on paper? Or how well you can draw anime faces? When an artist struggles to draw hands, are they missing the "knows how to draw hands" gene? Did a person in the eighteenth century fail in life because they had the "knows how to create digital art" gene but they were just born in the wrong time period? Genetics simply doesn't make sense when it comes to creative development.

If environment wasn't the sole factor to an individual's development, then that would suggest that there is a core to our being which is impermanent. That would mean that we are all inherently set in stone with no way to change. It would mean that art schools are meaningless.

It just doesn't make sense when applied to the real world.

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

Absinthe and Ink

Though I believe your examples are just a bit wide, I will take you up on this. I said I believe determination conquers all, but environment and genetics still come hand in hand. Take addicts for example. There is such a thing as having a biological difference that makes some people more prone to becoming addicts. That does not mean that they will become addicts, but it does push them that way. There is also the environment, like you said, where a human being learns behavior seen. So both are present and both could play a part. And you can take this into account or not, but I am a fourth generation artist. None of us were superb where we made a living off of it, but each generation, women no less, have had a higher artistic talent then most of the group or people they have been around.

[Absinthe and Ink]

Sithis the Dread Lord

Absinthe and Ink

Though I believe your examples are just a bit wide, I will take you up on this. I said I believe determination conquers all, but environment and genetics still come hand in hand. Take addicts for example. There is such a thing as having a biological difference that makes some people more prone to becoming addicts. That does not mean that they will become addicts, but it does push them that way. There is also the environment, like you said, where a human being learns behavior seen. So both are present and both could play a part. And you can take this into account or not, but I am a fourth generation artist. None of us were superb where we made a living off of it, but each generation, women no less, have had a higher artistic talent then most of the group or people they have been around.

I can't deny that genetics plays some small role in daily life. It could be the case that one individual's eyes can perceive color in a more stimulating way that would encourage them to look at things more and therefore engage with it more often. However, this type of biological factor is marginal when discussing the development of skills. I would say that genetics contributes perhaps 3% to skill development while environment plays 97%. In your addict example, someone wouldn't become an addict in a society that discourages drug use. Even if they did, it would be through environmental factors (poor upbringing, poor friends, etc).

My problem is when people assume that artistic talent is somehow latent in a person from birth, which is to say that they are "born" with the ability to draw well. This deflects the dedication of the artist and assigns the success to a divine being or random chance rather than the artist's own efforts. To say "Wow this looks really great, you are so talented!" is to say "Wow you are lucky you were born with this skill at no effort to you". It also contributes to incredibly inaccurate beliefs like "I can't draw because I'm not talented", which is to say "I can't draw because I wasn't born with a particular set of skills therefore I shouldn't try".

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

Absinthe and Ink

This is a valid point, but 3% seems rather low. I wish there was an experiment/s that provided quantitative along with qualitative that would explain environment vs. biology. That seems far away though.

And yes I can see where you come from on your view on the word and use of "talent". It does put down artist work because I know I did not just start drawing pretty good from day one. I remember my ducks looking like hot dogs. I just know that some people can learn and do things better than most even with training and prep.

[Nikit Iume]

Sithis the Dread Lord

I want to draw with my boyfriend, but he keeps pressing that he has no talent. I really think he does though, he just needs to feel relaxed about his abilities and practice. Plus I think drawing together would be a great bonding experience. Are there any websites or youtube tutorials that anyone would suggest for beginning artists? I figured we should start out with concept drawing, but it is easier said than done so visual aids would be awesome.

These sites might help your Boyfriend.

An Art Tip Jar There's a lot of great tutorials on this website.

Griz and Norm ~ I recommend beginners to check there tutorials.

Drawing Tutorials Online's Youtube account has a lot of helpful anatomy tutorials. I also recommend watching the student sketch book videos as well. They're pretty inspiring.

If you need any pose reference SenshiStock has a ton of photo reference of people wearing leotards.

And also, practice a lot . I wish both of you luck on drawing and have fun. biggrin

[Sithis the Dread Lord]

Nikit Iume

Yes, these all will do fine. Thank you cat_3nodding

[Nikit Iume]

You're welcome. biggrin

[Hamcubes]

Posemaniacs is a pretty good site for learning how to draw bodies doing things. They have a 30 second drawing challenge that flips through various poses at a steady pace, which can be frustrating for some, but it really teaches you how to quickly capture the essence of an object rather than getting caught up in minor details. It's great for getting a handle on human anatomy, perspective, and speed. Even if you have a bunch of unfinished sketches at the end, doing 5 or 6 of these a day (literally 2 minutes of drawing) can really help you after a while.

For some more basic stuff, I'd look at doing timed drawings in another way; instead of trying to draw something a quickly as possible, force yourself to spend 5 solid minutes drawing your partner. Then again in 10 minutes. 20. Etc. Forcing yourself to slow down and really look at what's in front of you really helps you learn what sorts of things are important in sketching and developing a drawing. You start paying attention to spatial stuff (like how far apart eyes are, how wide someone's face looks from straight ahead, etc)

Blind Line drawings are also really good at this. These are where you draw something without looking down at your paper. Just keep your pen/pencil/marker on the paper and spend 5 minutes trying to draw an object or person. It'll look terrible, but again, you'll focus on space and details and you'd be surprised how well some of them can turn out with a bit of practice (and how hilarious some of them can be).

Most of all though, you gotta support each other and not be afraid to give and receive constructive criticism. If every time someone gives you a suggestion, you decide your art is crap and that you should quit, you'll never improve. Art takes time. It takes many many hours of sitting down and forcing yourself to draw even when it's the last thing you want to do. You're going to be unsatisfied with some works (hell, I can barely go a week without wanting to purge everything in my portfolio). Take what things you like about them and what things you need to improve as a lesson, not an attack. Someone rattling off a large list of things that need to be fixed isn't trying to make you feel bad, they're trying to give you advice on how you can grow, and actually listening to these criticisms can be nice because you might not even realize what they're saying before they mention it.

So encourage each other to keep going, teach each other how to give and receive critique, and force each other to work work work, because art is a learned skill, so you can get better and better as long as you keep working on it.