Rules of Drawing for Complete Noobs (A.k.a. Beginners)

I am a writer.  Stick around here any amount of time, and you'll probably notice that.

I am not a draw-er.  (What's the proper word for someone who draws, anyway?)  There are many writers out there who can draw beautifully, and use this skill to put their stories on paper visually.  I have never been one of those people.  I have always envied those people.

This year, despite my better judgement, I've decided to attempt to become one of those people.  I chose a drawing book (Line Upon Line: An Incremental Approach to Drawing) for my senior year art class.  If all goes well, I'll at least know drawing terms and how to tell pencils apart at Hobby Lobby, even if my lack of talent is still torturing my poor new sketchpad.

To get started, I decided something: I would draw a picture before I ever looked at my art book, and mark it as my first drawing of the year.  That way, I could compare it to the drawings I make during/after this class, and hopefully see improvement.  Since my main reason for wanting to draw is to draw characters, it seemed natural for this first "compare drawing" to be of characters.  Of course I would choose Rykel and myself as the test subjects...

I guess you could say Rykel looks okay... better than I expected, anyway.  (That shows you just what I mean when I refer to my lack of talent.)  I'm not sure whom I resemble more: Flat Stanley or the Wicked Witch of the West.  I think I'm leaning more towards Witch, with that nose and those ears and you-call-those-things-freckles?! *shudder*  (I'm a spotted elf, for all I can tell.)  Not to mention I really have no idea what happened to that shirt.  Those were supposed to be ruffles, I promise, not blades or fins or who knows what else.  Clearly I know nothing about human biology, either.

I could go on all day about that horrifying thing I call a drawing, but I have other things to share with you.  See, I decided to ask my writer/draw-er friends at Go Teen Writers what advice they might impart on a brand-new attempting draw-er.  I present to you the results:

Rules of Drawing for Complete Noobs

(aka beginners)

1. Practice makes perfect.  At least, closer to perfect than before.

2. Don't compare your work to others'.

3. Practice.

4. Tracing is a great exercise and helpful for beginners.

5. Practice.

6. Anyone can draw, and draw well, if they practice enough.  Anyone.

7. Practice.

8. Don't give up.

9. Practice.

10. Don't set your standards too high.  Learning a new skill takes time.

11. Practice.

12. Don't press too hard with the pencil - light strokes.

13. Practice.

14. Copying is good for learning to get shapes, perspectives, and shading right - especially copying black and white images.

14. Practice 24/7, on every available surface, until your arm aches and your eyes are watering.

15.  Don't rely on copying and tracing, though.  They're great tools, but the goal is to learn to draw so you can draw what you see and what you imagine - not just what others have already put to paper.

16. Practice some more.

17. Basically, just draw and you will learn how to draw.  Keep practicing.