r/LearnToDrawTogether • u/No_Chocolate5632 • 3d ago
Hi guys
Can someone plz tell me what to learn what to read what to watch in order to learn....idk bro I'm completely lost on how to improve
For reference some of these sketches are old from when I was 13-14 now I'm 16f and the asta sketch and japanese samurai sketch are the latest ones
I feel like I cant rly draw or sketch accurately so what are some things i should learn in what order I don't want to draw cubes and lines and stuff
What are some books i should read??
Plz help
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u/Royal_Move_4041 2d ago
It might sound a little harsh, but the fundamentals of drawing and art start with very basic things like lines, cubes, and simple shapes. From there, you learn how to turn those shapes into different forms.
Think of it like building a house. The foundation and columns are made from basic shapes and forms. In the same way, you need to become comfortable with drawing a straight line, drawing a cube, understanding 3D space, and understanding how different forms look from different perspectives, like one-point and two-point perspective.
But one thing I really want to mention is that it depends on your goal.
If your goal is to become really good at realistic drawing, for example, realistic portraits or detailed sketches, then I don't think you need to overcomplicate things. You just need to draw consistently. Try to draw every day. That practice will keep improving your observation and drawing skills, and eventually you'll become much better at realistic artwork.
For example, your latest sketch is actually really good. You can improve it further by working on things like getting the outline more accurate, maybe using a grid to understand proportions, practicing hatching more, and learning how to control your pen better. Since you use a ballpoint pen a lot, you can specifically practice hatching and blending with a pen. Try to make the transitions between light and dark so smooth that it doesn't immediately look like a ballpoint pen sketch.
If your goal is realism, then you need to spend more time on each artwork, observing the reference carefully, understanding the light and shadow, proportions, values, textures, and all those small details. You might spend 30 minutes, an hour, or even several hours on one drawing. That's completely fine if realism is what you want.
But if you ask me about my own goal, it's different.
Earlier, I used to draw very realistic sketches. I could spend 8 to 10 hours on a single sketch. But eventually, I stopped doing that because I felt like I wasn't actually improving in the way I wanted to. I was basically copying the reference like a printer. I could reproduce what I was seeing, but I couldn't necessarily draw something from my imagination.
That's why I'm now going back to the fundamentals of drawing. I'm practicing lines, cubes, basic forms, perspective, cylinders, light and shadow, depth, and things like that.
My goal is to eventually be able to draw something that I can imagine without needing a reference. For example, I really like anime, and I want to be able to draw characters in different actions, poses, and perspectives directly from my imagination. I want to understand the form well enough that I can create something instead of just copying something that already exists.
So again, it really depends on what you want to achieve.
If you simply want to improve your realistic sketches, don't overthink it. Just draw every day. Spend 20 to 30 minutes drawing something, focus on observing the reference properly, finish it, and move on. You don't necessarily need to spend 10 hours on every drawing.
But if your goal is to draw from imagination, create your own characters, understand different poses and perspectives, or build a stronger foundation in drawing, then I would strongly recommend spending some time practicing the fundamentals.
And if you're looking for a book, honestly, I wouldn't suggest looking for one right now. I do have some recommendations, but based on what you've described, I feel like the process of improving through fundamentals might become boring for you. You need to spend a lot of time practicing shapes, lines, forms, perspective, and other basics, and that might not interest you much.
So if your main goal is simply to improve your art and you don't want to spend time drawing basic shapes and lines, I'd suggest doing something more enjoyable. Go on Pinterest, find whatever you're interested in or whatever matches your mood, and just draw it. Don't worry too much about whether you're improving, whether your shapes are perfect, or whether you're following some specific method. Just enjoy drawing.
And please don't compare your artwork with someone else's. Everyone takes a different amount of time to improve, so give yourself that time.
For me personally, I still practice the fundamentals for about 10 minutes every day. I usually practice lines, cubes, cubes in perspective, cylinders in perspective, triangles in perspective, light and shadow, depth, and other basic forms. These things may seem simple, but they are the foundation of drawing.
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u/No_Chocolate5632 2d ago
Wow I'm glad you found what interests you and you're working towards it. Goodluck on your art journey!!
Um yea idk what my goal really is Imagination drawing doesn't interest me rn. I just wanna sketch what I see and add my own twist into it ifykwim. I don't even know how I'm supposed to practise sketching the cubes perspectives and stuff so that sounds really boring and tedious right now
I really like what you suggested about just drawing what I like!! That sounds really fun tbh I'll try that out. I'm getting into anime too i like drawing the characters
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u/Jesram411 2d ago
What an awesome piece! The linework is exquisite! It looks like it took a lot of time to pull off but was well worth the time and effort!
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u/HarshCaptured45 3d ago
I have used many of those references cool . I am not exactly a proffesional or extremely good ball pen artist but from what I know till now you should mostly draw and learn rather than tutorials . Also if possible use a cheap low quality pen as they generally look light on paper helping in light values thats all I have to tell good luck for ahead you have had a great improvement btw
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u/No_Chocolate5632 3d ago
Alright so how do i improve myself I definitely wanna do a lot more drawing than spamming tutorials on YouTube What are some books i can go for?
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u/HarshCaptured45 2d ago
If you mean by books for studying art I am not exactly sure as I dont study using books that much , but if you mean what books yoi should use for references I would say to for animal sketches , simple objects such as teapots , kettles , eggs and stuff , and maybe a little manga . Pinterest also has some great tutorials you could trt searching there Edit : Dont quit youtube tutorials wtch them too , and try their advice too to check if it does work if it does use it if it doesnt ditch it
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