Hi all!

I’m more interested in the opinion of 2D artists, but I think the problem is common and I will be grateful for any answer :)

Introductory part: Lately I really like the idea of drawing - the ability to transfer the real world or your thoughts into a drawing - something akin to magic.

But since childhood, this was not given to me, there was no talent or attraction, and until recently even the idea of drawing did not attract me in any way, except perhaps “it’s funny, it wouldn’t be bad to be able to do it,” but there was no thought of learning.

I am a rather lazy person, and besides, most of my energy goes to work with an unstable schedule. The last working day started at 8 am and ended at 10 pm and this is not an uncommon situation. After work, there is little energy left to do something other than quickly scroll social media or play a little a RPG or a visual novel.

The last couple of attempts to start learning ended quite quickly either due to difficulties in finding good courses in 2D drawing or an unexpected rush at work or some other situation that drains energy.

But the idea of learning how to draw still doesn’t leave me, even though I haven’t been able to start learning and practicing.

Main part: I’m interested in the experience of people with a situation similar to mine, but who were able to overcome this barrier and start learning on an ongoing basis and achieved significant results.

What was your source of inspiration? What was the magic kick in the ass that made it possible to overcome laziness, fatigue and the feeling that all this is useless and force yourself to study? Maybe it was a successful course or a film, book, music or painting? Or for those who like a more structured approach, did you manage to create a convenient plan or strategy for practice and learning that fits well into your daily schedule?

I understand that each situation is a personal experience and it may not be suitable for anyone else, but it is still interesting to know and there is a small hope that some part of your experience may be suitable for me or someone else who sees this post.

Thanks to everyone who read all this to the end :)

  •  Mothra   ( @Mothra@mander.xyz ) 
    4•10 months ago

    Ok. Gotcha. My background: I’ve been drawing since an early age, and transitioned to 3D about 6 ish years ago. I have studied fine arts formally and my illustrations got published once by a big name publisher.

    I understand you are looking for late starters, but I can still answer some of your points:

    • Drawing is mentally draining. It’s not something you learn when you are exhausted. If you are serious, you will have to carve out time in which you are fresh, not tired, to practice. Morning commute perhaps? .

    • It’s a skill that you can keep on improving until infinity, since achieving mastery of every possible subject, style and medium isn’t possible over a lifetime. .

    • To begin, pick a subject you find interesting, and a medium you like. I would recommend pencil, but you may find digital on a tablet more convenient. But it could be anything else really. For me, my subject has always been animals and fantasy creatures, as I’ve been fascinated with them since always. Later I learned to draw other things, and so can you.

    .

    • If you want to improve your skill, I recommend drawing from life. You don’t need to take a YouTube course for this, but you can. You can also pick up solid techniques and principles from books, Andrew Loomis and James Gurney have excellent material I can recommend. Just pick a subject and practice.

    .

    • You mentioned wanting to draw from imagination. I love that more than life drawing, and by all means give it a go. There is no right way to go about it, but having a solid understanding of what you are trying to draw helps. If you want to draw dragons, study real life reptiles; if you want to do anime, study real life humans AND any master mangaka of your choice. You will progress the most when you study real life stuff. You will find out trying to copy an object in front of you is the hardest, copying photos are slightly easier. Those two exercises yield the most “exp points” respectively, so don’t skip them.

    .

    • Structure: this depends on you. For me, counting the amount of hours helps me keep track of my own progress. I know the first hour will be garbage when learning something new, but I see a great improvement after the 8th hour and then the curve starts slowing down after 30hrs. I can guarantee you will make significant progress in 30 hrs, I haven’t seen anyone who didn’t ( and I’ve seen a fair amount of students).

    .

    • Life drawing timing recommendation: pick tour subject, ie. a chair, a person, a photo etc., and make two or three rough sketches in less than a minute each. Use a stopwatch. Then move on to a two minute one, then five, then 15. If you really like the subject you can then dedicate hours to the piece. But the fast roughs are extremely helpful in developing your sense of what’s important visually, and what needs to be nailed down first, especially for a beginner.

    That’s the basic advice I can give off the bat- feel free to ask any other questions if you like. Cheers

    (Edit: sorry the formatting is all over the place… Also wall of text :/ )

    •  WolfsTail   ( @WolfsTail@beehaw.org ) OP
      2•10 months ago

      Oh wow! This is a great piece of information!

      I understand you are looking for late starters

      Yes, very late. If my memory serves me right, I’m already 36 :)

      If you are serious, you will have to carve out time in which you are fresh, not tired, to practice. Morning commute perhaps?

      I work from home, so no morning commute for me, but the morning study idea sounds interesting. Your head is not yet full of work and you won’t have to be distracted during the work day and you can spend the evening on something more relaxing.

      To begin, pick a subject you find interesting, and a medium you like.

      This is a very difficult part, as they say in one song: ‘I Want It All, and I Want It Now’ :) I really like this artist, they know how to draw animals and landscapes and characters with clothes and paraphernalia. But I completely understand that you are right. I think animals and/or inanimate things would be a great start. https://www.artstation.com/asur-misoa

      You mentioned wanting to draw from imagination

      I said that in my opinion it looks like magic :) It seems to me that I have aphantasia to some extent (I can’t imagine anything in my head except very basic objects and for less than a second, then the object dissolves), so I think at first I’ll focus on drawing from references with an abstract idea in my head that I want to get in the finals.

      For me, counting the amount of hours helps me keep track of my own progress

      This is a very interesting proposal. The idea of tracking progress not only by work but also by hour sounds intriguing.

      I can guarantee you will make significant progress in 30 hrs, I haven’t seen anyone who didn’t ( and I’ve seen a fair amount of students)

      This sounds very inspiring! :)

      Life drawing timing recommendation: pick tour subject, ie. a chair, a person, a photo etc., and make two or three rough sketches in less than a minute each. Use a stopwatch. Then move on to a two minute one, then five, then 15.

      Such challenges have always seemed somewhat terrifying to me :) I usually can’t believe my eyes when people casually draw something in a minute and at the same time manage to comment on it. Magic! But yes, I have to try and push myself.

      Thank you very much for your detailed answer. There’s a lot to digest and I need to start putting the advice into practice!

      •  Mothra   ( @Mothra@mander.xyz ) 
        3•10 months ago

        More power to you if you want everything- you won’t get bored. You can practice with a plate of fruits today, cars tomorrow, people the day after, and so on. Eventually you will find a thing you get a knack for, or that you enjoy most.

        I would recommend leave landscape for later, but if you must include it now, do research on composition. Really, do check out at least Loomis. You can do reading later before bed, it’s the drawing you need to be fresh for. Your drawing sessions can be 30min, they don’t necessarily have to be a full hour. But do log the time and track it ;)

        And since you are also open to a wide of variety of topics, remember, those fast drawings are meant to look like garbage, they are not showoff pieces. At least not until you have several years practice under your belt.

        Keep browsing Artstation and pin stuff you like. Try to figure out why you like it. It’s the colors, subjects, the movement, composition? This will help you understand what you want to do, too.

        Good luck with your journey. Have fun!

        •  WolfsTail   ( @WolfsTail@beehaw.org ) OP
          3•10 months ago

          And thanks again :)

          Really, do check out at least Loomis.

          I’ll definitely watch him and James Gurney

          Try to figure out why you like it. It’s the colors, subjects, the movement, composition?

          I never thought about it that way, thanks for the tip. I will try to make this kind of analysis a habit. This is a useful skill even outside of drawing.

          But do log the time and track it ;)

          I think that as an initial stage, today I will make myself a project in ClickUp or similar software for tracking time and progress, because… you can add files there. I hope it will help you better track your progress and control yourself.