Face My Shame

I've always thought that tablets seemed pretty useless. Why would I want something similar to a computer/laptop when I already have a computer/laptop?

Long story short, I now have a Google Nexus 7, and this is the first thing I drew on a sketch app.

I actually don't think it's that bad, although hair was out of the question, apparently. Unfortunately I have a couple more sketches to upload and they go downhill from here. Enjoy.

Feeling Wired

The first few pointers on the website mention the kind of pencils and paper you need for different effects, such as shading or drawing darker lines, but as I'm a complete beginner - and want other complete beginners to be able to join in - I'll be using whatever pencils I find to draw on whatever paper I have lying around.

Let's begin!

The first exercise is simple. So simple, in fact, that I couldn't help but think 'What's the point?' as I was doing it. But there is a point; to get your mind and your hand working together to create what you see in front of you.

All you have to do is take a piece of wire and twist it into any sort of shape. Then, without drawing anything else around it, draw the shape of the wire on a piece of paper. That's it.

 My 'wire'. I didn't happen to be in a workshop at that second, so I used my iPod cable.

The result. A disembodied line on a piece of paper. Impressive, right?

That was pretty much it for the first exercise. 

Don't focus too much on it. Don't try to add detail. Draw.

The First Step

So, almost two months ago, when I first started this blog (and also when my last post was, but we'll ignore that), I searched for some source of online help for aspiring artists.

This is what I found: http://drawsketch.about.com/od/learntodraw/u/learn-to-draw.htm#s2

It is essentially a website that takes you from the very basics of drawing, including the tools of an artists and general drawing techniques, to the complexities of shading and the human form. My plan is to go through each lesson, exercise and tip and share each one with you right here - along with my own progress, of course!

With that in mind, get ready for the start of my journey with my next post, showing the first few exercises!

Erase the Last Couple of Months

Wow, I did it again.

I committed myself to learning to draw, even set up a fancy-schmancy blog to force myself to keep going (on the off-chance that anyone started paying attention), and it's been almost TWO MONTHS since my last post.

Does that make you feel a little bit sick? It does for me!

Yes, I'm on a new internship that keeps me pretty busy, and yes, I'm looking for a job, and yes, there's even a girl I like, but none of that is any kind of excuse for not posting regularly about learning to draw. What's even worse is that I stopped learning to draw...

No matter. Erase all that, blow the little bits of the paper that it leaves behind (you know what I'm talking about), and let's start again. I still have some drawings from before that I will post later tonight, both of me learning to draw and a couple random sketches too.

Then, I will be posting at least once or twice a week, every week. Stick around, because I'm back, learning not to suck at art, and this time, it's happening.

Random Eye Sketches

There will also be a section crammed full of any random sketches that I happen to draw alongside learning to draw, and will hopefully show my progress with things that I actually want to draw. For now though, they're pretty awful so you may want to avert your eyes...

Speaking of eyes, what did I tell you? I draw them all the damn time. Again, apologies for the picture quality. Until I can find my camera they will all be painfully blurry.

Pretty creepy, right?

Look at them.

LOOK AT THEM.

Ahem - sorry. If you want to see why I draw so many eyes, check out the Why I Draw Eyes post!

I have a few more sketches to upload, and believe it or not, they're not actually all eyes!

Other Artists

I will dedicate a category to anyone who is learning to draw, or can already draw, and feels like sharing something that they have created. Together we can create a blog full of doodles, sketches, drawings or outright art that may inspire others (including me!) to carry on drawing when they feel they aren't getting any better.

If you've got something to share, don't be shy, either let me know or post it in a comment!

Why I Draw Eyes

There's a very good explanation to why I only ever seem to draw eyes, as I mentioned in my first post, but if you didn't see it, it is this. When I first decided I wanted to be able to draw - a few years back - I found a website that taught people how to draw anime. The website, which I've managed to find again, is called Manga University.

It teaches people how to draw anime characters, the Japanese language and even how to cook Japanese food! Though the drawing lessons were free when I found it a few years ago, there are now only a select number of free tutorials, so any plans I had of returning to this website have been destroyed. I'm trying to learn how to draw for FREE so that anyone else could do it too.

Anyway, here's the 4 pages worth of eyes that I began and ended my first attempt at drawing with. Let's hope I do better this time!

My favourite is the 2nd eye in 'Trapezoid'.

 

I hate how this guy looks from the side, but that's what tutorial said to do. Honest!

More damn eyes.

I guess I was told to draw half a woman's face... I don't remember why.

It's like they're all looking at each other. CRAZY.

I like the sleepy eye here, but I hate that guy. Could he be more smug?

Bottom left eyes are my favourite here. The rest don't have much detail.

I personally don't see that much difference between them, but they know best!

I like the top-right eyes here. They're some cool eyes.

And here is the last thing I drew before I gave up on trying to learn!

Shame that you kind of want to punch the person in the face.

Starting tomorrow I will be uploading new drawings as I start my long, painful and probably embarrassing journey to learn to draw. Stick around!