Drawing Tips - How I Learned to Draw

These drawing tips are specifically for anyone who has ever said - I need help learning how to draw.

The best advice that I can give you for learning how to draw is to stick with it. Here is the process that I used when I started to draw.

Very Beginner Drawing
When I was 6 or 7 I took lessons in drawing to help me learn basic shapes and simple hand-eye co-ordination. I was also very interested in drawing airplanes and cartoon characters from my favourite television shows. Find something that is interesting to you and use that to start drawing.

By drawing something that is interesting to you, your chances of sticking with it and continuing to practice will be much higher. Don't worry so much about the quality of the drawings if you are starting out - just get used to holding the pencil and moving it over the page in a controlled way.

Also - experiment with crayons and coloured pencils to make your drawings more interesting. All of this helps to practice your skill of holding a drawing tool and your hand-eye abilities.

Beginner Drawing
When I was 8-12 I continued to draw characters from my favourite cartoons. I really enjoyed drawing Ninja Turtles the most. I would take comic books or print outs and try to copy them as closely as possible without tracing. The drawings that I was copying were not very detailed or overly complex. Usually if you use images from cartoons on television they will be much easier to copy than if you use images from comic books because comics are usually more detailed. One of the drawing tips I can tell you about learning to draw at this age is to keep it simple. You need to learn to walk before you can run, so don't discourage yourself by trying to draw things that are too detailed and will be frustrating for you.

Again, at this stage, find something that you really enjoy drawing and draw that. Even if you draw the same character over and over again in many different positions that is fine - the key is to enjoy it.

Intermediate Drawing
From 12-15 I became obsessed with comic books and really enjoyed the stories of characters such as Iron Man and Dark Hawk. There was something about the designs of their suits that I really liked, so I started drawing those characters especially.

At this stage I started to trace exactly the drawings from the books. This helped me to learn the shapes of the human body as well as create really cool images on my own. Don't be ashamed if you need to trace - I did it, and it helped me gain a lot of confidence in my drawing.

At first I would trace the entire character, but then I started to trace only the major features or the outline of the character and then remove the paper so that I could fill in all of the details on my own. This is another good learning technique because you will start with a good foundation for your drawing by tracing, and then really start to use your own skills to draw in all of the other details.

Around this age I would often spend my days in the summer drawing in sketchbooks. I spent a lot of time drawing anything I found interesting, and looked through many books in the library for interesting pictures that I could try to copy. Scanning the library books for drawing tips is a good idea, and remember to practice what you learn so that it will stay with you in your mind.

Advanced Drawing
At age 16-18 I had a drawing teacher again, and also started to study more in books about proper anatomy and human proportion. I found the studying part really boring, but it really does help a lot and you will have a much better understanding of the human form once you do that. Once you are at this stage the drawing tips that you can pickup from your teacher and from books will really help you accelerate your learning.

At this time I started to explore other mediums like pen and ink which I have grown to love, and also different techniques such as perspective drawing which is also very interesting for me.

From 19 - 22 I attended art school where I was able to interact with many other beginner artists and learn to incorporate many different styles into my work. At university the most important thing that I learned was how to talk about my work and also about the history of art which exposed me to many different kinds of art and artists.

From 22 until today I continue to work in art, but now most of it is on the computer. I learn by working with great people who help me to improve. I also study drawing more seriously these days so that I can help you learn more advanced techniques in a fun and easy way.

The most important piece of advice or drawing tips that I can give you is just to never give up. If you want to learn how to draw just keep at it - anyone can learn this great skill, it just takes time.

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