Lack of drawing skills, what should I do?

Neus

Hey Polycount, I’m a long time lurker of these forums as I’m always interested in seeing what everyone is working on. But it’s only until recently that I decided to get involved in game art & design and start producing work myself. So I picked up a cheap Wacom tablet a few weeks ago that I’m still getting used to, and set off.

When it comes to drawing, whether that’s digital or on paper, I’m seriously lacking drawing skills. It gets to the point where I’m never happy with my results and end up changing activity due to frustration… However I always end up going back though because it’s something that I’m determined to progress in so that one day I can show something that I'm happy with. What would those of you who once suffered from this problem recommend doing?

Should I take a drawing class?
What books or online series related to game design or just drawing in general should I look into?

I understand that practice is key, but as I said right now I'm getting frustrated so anything that would make progression easier would be great!

Thank you.

stevston89

How are you going about things? Are you trying to concept or are you drawing from life? The best way to learn drawing is to draw actual things around you. It's really not as helpful to draw stuff you imagine until you can actually draw. Classes are good, but personally I would just go outside and draw, do some master copies, or find some life drawing sessions in your area ( those are generally pretty cheap).

EmAr

I'd suggest getting a copy of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It's the most straightforward book about drawing that I came across.

ExcessiveZero

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/library/

Best resource there is.

Neus

stevston89 wrote: »

How are you going about things? Are you trying to concept or are you drawing from life? The best way to learn drawing is to draw actual things around you. It's really not as helpful to draw stuff you imagine until you can actually draw. Classes are good, but personally I would just go outside and draw, do some master copies, or find some life drawing sessions in your area ( those are generally pretty cheap).

Thanks for the reply! I'm attempting to draw from references online, I definitely would struggle to draw from concept as I find it hard to draw something from my mind if I've never seen before if you understand what I mean.

Even when attempting to draw on paper from references I just can't seem to draw the finer line details such as facial features or muscle definition on characters without everything looking very flat.

EDIT: EmAr & ExcessiveZero - Thank you, I'll have a look at those!

JakeZetter

just set aside like ten minutes a day and draw. Seriously if you want to get good at anything you just have to do it everyday for a bit. eventually as you get comfortable start focusing on problem areas.

Eric Chadwick

Yep, draw every day.

Get a sketchbook, a pencil, and a little sharpener. Carry it with you always. Pull it out during any free moments... waiting for the bus, waiting for a coffee, etc. Pick any subject and draw.

I highly recommend drawing from live subjects, instead of drawing off a screen or photo. Two eyes give you depth perception, which improves your ability to convert shapes into drawings. No joke.

Also, post your work online for critique. Use those comments as ideas to help you improve.

Good luck! Drawing is a life-long hobby, even for the "pros". And a life-long pleasure. You never reach a plateau, you just get a little better each day.

katana

And the problem with drawing from pics is that you are looking at distortion caused by the two dimensional process. By drawing a still life or outdoors, it forces your eye to see depth.

As for classes, they give you direct feedback in the form of critiques and will help you to get past all the beginner issues that all artists face when starting out. Critiques also help to develop a thick skin.

As for time, expect it to take 3-4 years of drawing everyday, with all of the resources you can use, to see any sort of real development. Even then you'll only be scratching the surface of what professional work is supposed to look like.

Color theory will also be needed but not before and understanding of value and how it relates to form and volume.

But I digress, we get this same question here about once a week. You should try to do some further searching of like threads, you'll find many. Good luck.