Help a newbie learn how to draw

[wolfponies]

Hello art specialists and fans!

I've been meaning to start learning how to draw for quite a while and finally my lifestyle now allows me to start progressing. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to art...I'd describe myself as a left-brainer who wanna resurrect the right half :)

What I wish to draw is my main pet (a female darigan lupe) and wolves in general. I see my lupe as a wolf with purple shades so in the end my wish is to draw wolves.

Today I bought myself a few pens in an art store, graphite pencils in the colours white, black, purple and different shades of gray.

I've heard it's very hard to draw fur so I don't expect myself to be able to create masterpieces in the near future.

Now I understand that learning how to draw wolves is something that requires lots of patience. Because of the slow procedure I was wondering, can any of you more experienced artists give me a piece of advice how to start and how to progress? It feels wrong to start progressing on a whole wolf. Maybe start off with smaller parts like a paw, a tail, a head etc?

 

Any advice is much appreciated! :)

[Shelley]

Drawing is such a great hobby! I'm a drawing/painting major myself :)

 

I don't really draw animals much but I do a lot of figure drawing. I did do a drawing of my cat the other day and I found the fur wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I would start out with charcoal maybe? I think it's the easiest drawing medium as it's really forgiving, you can create a wide range of tones, it's more pliable, and you can use your eraser as a pretty effective drawing tool as well.

 

When I draw the figure, and this would work with animals too, I always imagine the skeleton first. Imagine where all the bones would be, then picture where the muscles are. Then just draw the skin or fur as drapery on top.

 

I always do a bunch of sketches before working on a drawing. Quick gesture drawings can help get the feel of the space. Also something that helps me is doing some drawings of just filling in the shadows. Or if you color in a space you can use the eraser to wipe away highlighted areas. Maybe you have a dog or something you can use as a real life model? That would be neat for some practice :p

 

I'm really lost when it comes to drawing in a cartoon style so I couldn't help a bit in that department haha

 

I hope you have fun drawing! post us some pictures when you'e done :)

[Screaming_Peasants]

I myself am a furry artist (I draw anthropomorphic animals and the like) and I recommend starting with pencil as it is the most forgiving medium.

I buy Sakura lining markers to go over my pencil drawings and erase so I have line art to color in.

The easiest way for me to draw is to use reference, but don't rely on only reference. You need to give the art your own touches and do it in your own style.

If you're drawing realistic practice on drawing anatomy, toony is more forgiving in the anatomy area.

Drawing fur isn't as hard as you might think though it does come with practice. SHADING FUR IS THE DEVIL'S SPAWN

I recommend drawing various parts of animals then once you feel they look nice attempt a full body wolf.

[wolfponies]

Hi Shelley and thanks for your answer!

I know charcoal but I've always thought the pictures get all blurry which would be far from ideal when drawing fur. It may not be true and probably isn't, my knowledge is...umm...nonexistent :P

The pencils I bought are these: http://www.jacksonsart.com/images/category/GDTS.JPG Are they bad for newbies like me?

I feared your answer about anatomy but I love your advice about using a dog as a model. I have a labrador and his shapes are easy to see. I don't understand what you mean with shadows though. You mean like using a camera picture and add shadows?

I'm not interested in cartoon pictures. I want to draw real wolves and use my pet as a source of unique attributes.

I'll see about posting pictures hehe :P

 

 

Screaming_Peasants, wow I'm a huge anthro fan! My avatar is the head of an anthro fox :) I'd love to be able to draw anthro but for starters I avoid that area.

I'm thinking, shall I look up a draw-wolf-anatomy guide to get a hang of the basics?

 

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[Aquamentis12]

You definitely wanna start with Pencil, and look for some books perhaps that explain the basic fundamentals, especially for humans if you want to jump into Anthro. I've got a number of art books, but there is some redundant info in them. I trying but can't come up witha good title. If I do later when I can look for them, I'll post again.

 

I use a mechanical pencil that uses 0.5mm lead(graphite), And I go with the hardness factor of "H" Which is a bit harder than HB (#2) pencil. It won't smudge quite as much though the lines are lighter. I also prefer the Magic Rub brand eraser, though a kneaded eraser is also a good thing to have on hand for detailed erasings.

 

As for paper, any type is ok, but I really like Mead's Academie. I completely recommend this sketchbook!
http://www.mead.com/meadstore/mwv/product/Academie%26trade%3B-Wire-Bound-Sketch-Diary-with-SpiralGuard%26trade%3B/54206?searchClickId=&catId=&prodId=54206

 

I should, after all I'm using 2 of them right now (17 and 18) and I even wrote one of the reviews. LOL

 

There is a smaller version, that would be the one I found for Sketchbook about 9 years ago. lol

http://www.mead.com/meadstore/mwv/product/Academie%26trade%3B-Wire-Bound-Sketch-Diary-with-SpiralGuard%26trade%3B/54208?searchClickId=&catId=&prodId=54208

 

Good for starting out, or taking with you to places to sketch where a full-sized book might be too big.

 

Those books are spiral bound, but have that mesh cover over the spiral binding to protect it and you, there's a loop in the fabric covering the binding that's big enough for a pencil to slide in, and hold it pretty well. There is a plastic sheet inside that is translucent and has a pocket on both sides. Ideal for reference print outs, erasers, etc.

 

Of course you'll need something to draw. Try whatever inspires you. Take a photograph or something and print it out. Then try to redraw it.

 

When you get going, you should totally post some of your attempts/experiments here, in this thread, or you could start a new one. The only hitch really is the no-double posting rule. ;) You can edit pics into your previous post though. And you'll need a place to host your works. Like Photobucket or something that you can link to in your posts.

 

I hope this helps, good luck! :D

[Screaming_Peasants]

Yeah look at as many tutorials and stuff as you can. It helps A LOT!

Also I find it easier to draw toonier anthro than feral :D

[Iceberg2323]

I wholeheartedly agree with you posting your Works In Progress here! I always find that some help from a new point of view is never a bad thing.
And if you have the money, investing in a graphics tablet wouldn't be the worst idea. The learning curve can be kinda of wicked, but the end results can be amazing!

[Shelley]

Hi Shelley and thanks for your answer!

I know charcoal but I've always thought the pictures get all blurry which would be far from ideal when drawing fur. It may not be true and probably isn't, my knowledge is...umm...nonexistent :P

The pencils I bought are these: http://www.jacksonsart.com/images/category/GDTS.JPG Are they bad for newbies like me?

I feared your answer about anatomy but I love your advice about using a dog as a model. I have a labrador and his shapes are easy to see. I don't understand what you mean with shadows though. You mean like using a camera picture and add shadows?

I'm not interested in cartoon pictures. I want to draw real wolves and use my pet as a source of unique attributes.

I'll see about posting pictures hehe :P

 

Oh my gosh you have a lab?? That is absolutely perfect! You could use him (her?) as your base model even and just give him some wolf-like features (I'm sure he would be complimented :p ) haha

There’s no such thing as an art medium for a “newbie” ;) well I guess unless you’re buying something like the most expensive brand of oil paints…but I guess that would only hurt your bank account lol. Those pencils look awesome, I love those colors! Now I kind of want my own set XD you might have sparked my interest. I have some variations of red-ish tan pencils I like to draw with from time to time.

 

And yes charcoal smudges a lot lol..but I use a set of pencils that range from extra soft to hard. The hard being more like graphite. I like to put a light layer down and smudge it, mold it with the eraser and then use the harder charcoal pencil to put in detail. I always keep my hard charcoal pencil sharpened well. Oh and yeah, kneaded erases are my life, I have like 20 lol. I like the wide range of values charcoal can give but I see in your pencil set there’s like a dark purple and blue colors? That seems like it can make some awesome shaded areas

 

Oh! And what I mean by the quick sketches of getting a feeling where the shadows.

What I do is just kind of look at the object, say your dog, and don’t focus on an outline or anything..just find areas that look darker and kind of block it in on your paper. It helps me avoid outlining or imagining a 3D form with an edge. Just something that helps me personally make things look more realistic. here's an example I found on the internet...

 

 

like how they quickly filled in all the space on the paper in which there were darker areas..that's what I do...except mine doesn't usually look that neat and pretty lol. You can smudge it and use it as an under-drawing and keep working on top of it if you're using charcoal. But if not it's just kind of nice to get a feel for your subject. 30 second gesture drawings are great practice though. Just quick sketches where you're not over thinking anything. That;s just what helps me prepare though...everyone does something different :)

 

and now you have to post pictures because I need to see what those pencils look like on paper. I need to know whether to buy some or not haha ;)

also, there's no such thing as bad art or wrong ways of doing things so have fun and experiment!! :)

[wolfponies]

I like the smell of fresh posts in the morning!

Aquamentis12, now that was a technically detailed answer. My mum has plenty of sketch papers I intend to borrow. They are all A4 I think but I intend to use only a part of the paper for a picture, maybe draw 10 paws on one paper.

I have been thinking about using a photo as a reference. I haven't tried so I shouldn't be negative but it feels like I might not learn the basics by doing this. I guess even if I have a photo in front of me, I still need to draw those circle and oval shapes representing body parts and/or reference points. I must be careful not to begin drawing details too early!

 

Shelley, my lab is a male :) He would be an awesome model. His fur isn't long, he's mixed with German Shepherd and, although being black, he has the Shepherd's fur.

That shadow painting look so umm artistic! It's a pity my dog happens to be black...kinda hard to see the shadows :P But I guess those 30 second drawings is a good idea. I can hide a sketch paper on the loo at work and make quick drawings while in there haha :P

And yes, I promise to post pictures. I need lots of practice first though so umm give me a couple of days!

 

And btw, thanks to all of you for such kind and informative posts!

[Aquamentis12]

I like the smell of fresh posts in the morning!

Aquamentis12, now that was a technically detailed answer. My mum has plenty of sketch papers I intend to borrow. They are all A4 I think but I intend to use only a part of the paper for a picture, maybe draw 10 paws on one paper.

I have been thinking about using a photo as a reference. I haven't tried so I shouldn't be negative but it feels like I might not learn the basics by doing this. I guess even if I have a photo in front of me, I still need to draw those circle and oval shapes representing body parts and/or reference points. I must be careful not to begin drawing details too early!

 

Honestly? I usually suck at drawing from Geometric shapes. lol I never was fully able to get a firm grasp on that. Maybe I've got a screw loose or maybe it was because outside of the public school system's lax art classes I haven't had any formal teaching, or something? lol Anyhoo, yes, I think you should look into drawing with the geometric shapes, as that seems like the tried and true method for the pro-work I've seen. Get a strong grip on the fundamentals. Instead of attempting to learn them after you get set in your ways. ;) It's easier that way I think. I STILL rarely go with geometric shapes, but when I find some classes, I'm sure they'll get drilled into my head. lol I just hope they stick. ;)

 

If you use a photo as reference, I call that, good practice. ;) If it's something from RL then that's even better because it's probably got a lot of little details and will keep you thinking. If it's from an existing art-source, such as a cartoon or anime, it can also be good practice. Since you're reproducing someone else's work, it's only right to give them (at least the show) due credit. ;)

 

This is, what I've termed a "redraw" from an anime. This example is from the opening to Romeo x Juliet. Cielo, the dragonsteed. The reference pic is shrunken and in the upper right.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/a71d9950eafb7fe4f8cf3e07fc20ee45/tumblr_mxu5zxFQVc1sh1duso1_1280.png

This is one of my favorites, and the only redraw I've done that I've fully colored. Personally, I like it, though I can spot a few mistakes right off the bat. Mistakes happen, especially if you're going to blindly experiment and attempt drawing as I've had to. ;)

It's also a scan of the photopaper printout I made, because for SOME reason, I cannot find ANY of my digital files for it anywhere on the computer. Hence some of the grainy looking bits in the color. ^^;

 

I typically do redraws when I am stuck on an original, or if I've run out of ideas for the originals sketchbook(s), after so many original sketches, it's easy to run out of ideas at times. lol But I do the redraws also just to keep drawing while I work out the problem I'm having or waiting for new inspiration to hit. ;)

 

There's no rule I'm aware of where you can't shelve an idea for a bit when you're stuck, forcing it imho, usually leads to problems with the piece, so sometimes it's best to move to something else and come back to the troublesome piece with refreshed eyes. ;)

 

Hope this helps a bit. :) Best of luck!

[kaybee92]

If you're looking to draw something that looks like a real life wolf, I recommend the following "method" which a friend once told me about and I've found pretty useful.

 

1. Go ahead and draw the thing you think you want to draw. No peeking at reference pictures.

2. Find a picture of the thing more or less in the pose you drew it in. If you drew a wolf from the side, find pics of wolves from the side.

3. Laugh at how bad it is/the details you forgot/things you didn't even think to include in the drawing.

4. Make a folder in your computer called "Wolf Pics" or whatever. Find interesting pictures of wolves from different sides and store them there.

5. Pull up a picture at a time and concentrate on drawing certain details over and over - tails, snouts, noses, eyes, paws. Don't try to make a whole wolf yet, REALLY work on getting the detail in their nails or teeth right.

6. Eventually, start trying to draw the whole wolf (still looking at reference pics if you need to, but try to come up with your own pose), keeping in mind everything you learned from drawing wolf-pieces.

 

And if you want me to draw your pet like I drew that other one just let me know!! A few friends IRL asked for drawings of their horses which is why I never got around to drawing the other things you wanted, sorryy!!

 

ETA... videos like this

might be useful

[wolfponies]

Ok, so time for a little art update for you all to see me progress :)

The first thing I did was to watch videos related to the one kaybee posted. I found those too hard to start with, they were all pretty amazing artist. Instead, I did my first drawing based on a step by step guide. The guide was showing how to draw a nice but simple full body wolf in a typical wolf position. I was very unhappy with the result but I wanna show you anyway.

 

http://imgur.com/GUgMohv

 

I showed the drawing to a friend who said shading was what made the drawing look bad. That was a very sweet response because I think there is more aspects than just shading :P

Anyway, I thought step by step guides was nothing for me, at least not for a full body wolf. I decided to let my own dog be a model and I took a picture of him and used it as a reference. The only problem is that my dog is all black. It was impossible to see shadows and I soon had to stop drawing because I simply had no clue what I was doing :(

I thought maybe I should use an already existing wolf drawing as reference. I looked up a few drawings at work and found a nice and big drawing of a wolf's head. I tried to mark geometric shapes to make it easier to start drawing and printed out the edited picture. This weekend I spent approximately 10 hours drawing the head and reached a result I'm very proud of. I think this was a perfect way of practicing shading. Here's my drawing:

 

http://imgur.com/XdkbP14

 

I think it was you Shelley who wanted to see the pencils in action. I only used the colour called "midnight black" in this drawing, I didn't dare to colour it. I'm planning to add colour (purple and gray) in my next drawing.

 

Now tell me what you think about the drawings and how you think I should progress.

 

PS: I now completely understand the impact of shading when it comes to drawing fur :)

 

[Aquamentis12]

Hold it hold it hold it!

 

You ARE a rookie right? lol Dude, both pics are neat, but that 2nd pic especially is EPICALLY awesome! :D

 

Just for some comparison, This is about the best I could do with a photo of my late dog. Granted this was some years ago...

I did about half a dozen sketches of her between the month before and the months after she died. This is one of my favorites. ;)

 

But STILL! You certainly have a heaping helping of natural talent! Especially with the detail around the eyes and the fur! I see you also varied the line thicknesses in the fur, giving it a really nice look. I gotta say man, my mind, is blown! lol It's been awhile since I've seen someone with so much seemingly natural talent! How are you at drawing people (Or humanoids/anthros) or other subjects?

 

Excellent work!

[wolfponies]

Wow thanks Aquamentis for those kind words :) Makes me super happy!

I think me being a newbie is perfectly displayed in the first picture haha...eew!

 

I laughed a bit when you said I gave the face a nice look by varying line thickness. If I did that it was absolutely NOT on purpose but rather me being too lazy to sharpen the pencil :D:D

I so wish wish wish to be able to draw anthro in the future but at the moment it's just a dream. I may be able to draw the anatomy based on a ref pic but that would be character stealing. I need waaaay more practice before I can create my own unique character :)

 

Also, I forgot to ask. Drawing from reference pictures is one thing and I plan to continue doing that for a while...different poses etc. A question for you awesome artists, is it a nightmare to move from reference pictures to personal creativity?

[kaybee92]

The second drawing in particular is VERY good...I smell talent.

[wolfponies]

Awww thank you so much for those kind words Karla! :)

[Aquamentis12]

You're welcome Wolfponies! The first pic honestly was good for a first attempt, only a few things you could probably change easily. I know I'd have trouble with a wolf at that viewing angle. lol

 

For me it can be a nightmare to transition from a redraw to an original. Redraws you see all the lines and can get a decent grasp on where things go. Provided the printout is decent. lol I usually have to sharpen images I print out due to the printer softening the image, just the nature of it I guess. As far as drawing from refs being stealing. If you give credit to the original, it's not really plagiarism in my opinion anyway. I never redraw something and claim it as my own. I always have the reference available, or say where the image came from. Redraws for me is practice on my weak points in art, and helps with learning various styles. Not just seeing it, but experiencing it. Also, in my world (lol) NO TRACING ALLOWED. LOL That'd totally be plagiarizing. My high school art teacher was very specific about what was ok and what was not. ;)

 

I have trouble deciding on things for my original characters, so drawing humans is a pain for me most of the time. Animals, like in the animated music video I'm working on, are easier. lol Of course I do need reference material to learn how to draw animals. So I look for stock pics or take the photos myself if possible. My thread here, Arts and Animations, has a number of animated pieces from my current project. If you're curious at seeing what I mean.

 

For people poses, If it's something I can use myself to get the pose or the gesture I want, such as hands, I totally just model it myself, take a pic if needed and use that. Faces are a pain, always are imho. They usually are not perfectly symmetrical, but it's good to get close, unless there's a distinguishing mark on the face, such as a scar, eyepatch, etc.

 

One thing you COULD do, if you have access to sculpting material, is sculpt the character so you can see it from all angles. I saw an old Walt Disney Presents that went behind-the-scenes and that was one of the things I learned that they did, not sure if they still DO it with 3D modeling now, but I'd bet they still do it some at least.

 

Good luck with your future pieces, I look forward to seeing more of your creations. :)