AMA - How to Learn to Draw

Q: “what would you recommend to people who want to learn how to draw? Any approaches or specific resources?”

A: learn how to look at things so you understand them.

People will often tell me “I can’t draw” or “I wish I could draw” or “I can only draw stick figures.” And inevitably I’ll tell them that they can change that with practice. And most will nod and brush it off, because it’s not really worth their time or effort to practice. Drawing isn’t that important to them, which is totally fine. It’s not worth my time to learn guitar, though it’d be cool to know how to play. But some people will turn around and tell me that they have practiced! That they draw every day and that they’re not getting better!

The difficult truth is that they’re probably not practicing. They’re drawing, sure. But doing a thing and practicing a thing are not the same. And I think, to really practice, to get the most out of your time and effort, you need to develop a critical and studious eye.

Now, I don’t mean you need to be hard on yourself. You can be critical but still be kind. But you need to be able to look at a thing or a work of art or a tutorial and really see it. See how the lines are formed. See the technique. See the brush strokes (even when there are none!). See how light falls across a surface. See how shadows build. See how colors harmonize. See how the thickness of a line changes the depth of the form. Train that critical eye to pick apart something you want to replicate. If you can—not just see a thing but—see how to replicate it, you’re already halfway there.

There’s a reason that so much of classic art training is still lifes, life drawing, and studies.

Still lifes and life drawings are drawing what you see. That thing is right there. Look at it. Put it on paper. It’s training you to look and understand what you see well enough to recreate it.

Studies, if you’ve never done one, is basically taking an existing work of art and trying to replicate it. It teaches you technique. You can learn a ton by trying to reverse engineer an existing work of art.

Training your critical eye is something you’ll do your whole career. It’s hard and takes practice, but I think it is the most important tool you can have to get better. A critical eye will teach you how things look the way they do, how other artists accomplish the magic they create, AND will show you where you can improve in your own work.

Because it’s not just enough to look at your art and know it could be better. You need to know how it could be better: is your lineart monotonous? Is it too light? Too heavy? Are your colors too saturated or too dull? Are they disharmonious or mudddled? Are your highlights too bright? Your shadows too dim? Is your anatomy correct? Is your style consistent? Is your composition unclear? To get better you need to know the answers. And your critical eye will tell you not only what needs improvement but also how to do it.

So study. Study art real life. Look at the world and really see it. And then draw it again and again until your hands express what you see in your mind.

Also, if you know what your weakness is, you can always google it. There’s so many tutorials out there and available online. Find the ones that make sense to you and keep practicing!

If you have a question for me, message me or leave it in the comments below and it may show up in another AMA!