Practicing...

[MainEvent]

How exactly do you guys/girls practice drawing? Once you pick up the pencil what is the first thing that you do, just start drawing something out of your head or what? Im trying to improve my drawing ability but am just a little unsure about how to go about it.

[sour]

i things things i never did before or things i tend to avoid drawing. right now i am working on bones. and once i have got those down to where i dont need reference and i understand what they look like and their names i will go to muscles and shtuff. i know that will take a long time and probably be pretty tedious, but it's worth it if i can improve myself.

[Koen]

I tried that too sour, what really worked for me was just print out pictures you like and copy them with a pencil, when i'd finnish my graphical design education i hope to learn anatomy at an art school.

[MainEvent]

What about everyone else?

[Blue]

How exactly do you guys/girls practice drawing? Once you pick up the pencil what is the first thing that you do, just start drawing something out of your head or what? Im trying to improve my drawing ability but am just a little unsure about how to go about it.
I am a stick figure junky. All my characters start as sticks and i gradually build anatomy on top. :)

It also allows me to set up a scene quick and easy with the right perspective and composition long before anything is set in stone.

[dogfood]

It all depends on what gets you going. There are some fantastic artists who just picked up a book on anatomy reference and painstakingly went through until they had it mastered. That may be too extreme for some folks. Drawing from life can be very rewarding and quite interesting (anything: shoes, glasses, the neighbor mowing the lawn, you hand). Observation is one of the best drawing teachers (and it leads to some nice observational skills as you get better).

There are also some good books on drawing with exercises you can follow, as well as several community activities you can follow here (whether to post or just shadow box).

[styler]

I draw a variety of things.. I got really into it a few weeks ago...i'm studying anatomy right now but I switch on and off from using life, pictures, and imagination.

[Steinmetz]

the very best thing you can do is to draw pictures out of the newspaper, hey, it got me to where I am now!

[Dizon]

How exactly do you guys/girls practice drawing? Once you pick up the pencil what is the first thing that you do, just start drawing something out of your head or what? Im trying to improve my drawing ability but am just a little unsure about how to go about it.


Practice different aspects of your craft, like anatomy, perspective, shading, etc. It's that simple if you put your mind into it.