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How to Draw - An Introduction
11 years ago
Seeing that more and more people keep asking me how to draw furries lately, I`ve decided to write this tutorial about drawing. Well, you might ask "Pav, How can you describe how to draw something?" and "Havent you already done this at some point?" and you would be right about both points - I cant teach you how to draw with written word and I`ve done this once years ago (there is even a youtube video). But, seeing that might art has imrpoved since then made me think about doing a new tutorial, much deeper than the old one. Also, in this journal, i want to discuss some misconceptions about drawing.
Since this is a furry site and im an Artist that draws furries, most people come to me with wish to learn how to draw furries. What i hear mostly is, that they already bought bunch of books and worked with bunch of tutorials, to no avail. There is also two kind of people - the ones that want to start out with drawing and those that have already worked in different style, so I will adress both groups. In the end, i will give some tips for the aspiring artists and also some concepts about art you have to get in your ehad before you head on on the long way to become an active artist. So, without further ado...
People that are just starting out
Working on sumthing and having no success is quite a bummer - art is no difference here. Trying to follow all the tutorials there are out there, with bunch of ideas that go through your head that you finally want to bring down to the paper, will leave most new artists dissapointed and sad/broken, since they spend hours and hours just trying to get the head right. The reason is simple - you cant draw! Not right now, but you will in the future :3 Dont start out trying to bring your best ideas to paper - start doodling! All the time! It doeasnt matter what you doodle - i started with big titted ducks and swords, thousand of those, until my room was looking like downtown of new york with all the paper towers. See, the reason why those tutorials doesnt seem to work is since people who write/film them make them for people that are already into drawing for a while - they dont make them that way specifically, they just end up that way. You need to start out practising your hand. If your art outpur was limited to the stuff ya did in the art class, your hand is not ready for this task, thats way - doodle. All the time! As said, they shouldnt be finished art and nothing you aspire to show online - the goal is simply to get your hand used to holding a pen and soften your wrist. And trust me, this might take a while - just think of the times ya held the guitar hero controller for the first time and your wrist hurt like hell the next day? You were unprepeared, but with doodling all the time, you will be prepeared for the art :3 As soon as your wrist has soften up (you will notice this when drawing certain forms and objects like circles and lines become easier and no minder), you can draw. You now only need to widen your knowledge and fill it with the things you can draw - this will also take a long while, so be prepeared for that. At this point, you can start consulting tutorials and keep doodling stuff, but now stuff like eyes, hands, muzzles - things you want to end up drawing sumday, furries. Before i head on to the other topic, let me recap and add sum tipps...
- Forgett about the tutorials for a moment
- Doodle all the time, it doesnt matter what
- Keep doing it all the time - you can actually hurt your progress by taking long breaks
- Everyone can draw - the only thing that matters is if you want to invest time into it
- Never give up after a setback - keep doodling and look forward to days when you can draw all dem cool stuff!
- Important Rule!!! If you just started out drawing, DONT BUY A TABLET!!! Just dont!!! Tablets are nice and fine, but you need to learn how to draw in the first place, and you need to have your eye and hand coordination at work at all time in the beginning. When using the tablet, you dont look at your hand, you look at the screen - even artists that are drawing for years will have a setback until they get used to this.
People who already have a style and look to get into furries
So, you are drawing for a while, but just cant manage to get into furry art? It is quite easy, if you a) want to invest the time and b) find the entrance point. What do I mean with the entrance point? With that I mean an furry art style that is similar to yours. Like, if you draw anime and want to move on to furries, i would suggest looking into sum furry art styles that are mixed with the anime (
MARIAN0 springs to my mind) and use that as starting point. Now, most people would object that this is just copying a style and not art at all, to which i say - no. You dont have to pick that style and stick to it - you just need the "crutches" to get started - as the time progresses, you will not need those crutches any longer and can start personalyzing the style. I started with copying the style from 
driprat , best known for the Jack comic, which you can clearly see in my old pictures ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/968287/ ). You can choose to upload art before you started with personalyzing or after you are done, that is yours to choose - just never forgett those artists :3. At this point, you are fitt for tutorials and such, so you can either use those or work yourself up with sheer muscle power and bunch of time you have free - that is yours to choose. The time you need to assimmilate to new art style will vary, depending of how much you drawed before, but it will mostly take you not long - you will be drawing your furries in bout a half a year/year (min/max, depending on the time you invest) and can start personalising your art. Ill say just this one thing - if you enjoy the style of another artist, chances are good that you can work along that style. Dont be ashamed about it, since every artist, new or old, are working towards a goal set up by an artist that is more skilled than them at their current point of learning. Just dont go copy-pasting the art and call it your own - it doesnt help you at all, aside of few nice comments before fanboys get the wind of it and insult ya to the ground ;3
Good things to know about art
- EVERYONE CAN DRAW!!! And i mean it! The only difference is the level of skill, and skill comes with time and practice, so get on with it!
- Talent is optional! Art talent is same as Music talent - the later lets you hear the fine tone differences and learn languages quicker thanks to that while the first one lets you see the nuances in the things you draw like shape, size, anatomy and so on. It makes your progress faster, but a talented artist that doodles once a week will be on lower lever of skill than an Talent-less person that doodles every day. So, again - PRACTICE!!!
- There is no good or bad - this is an art, not a competition! You can look up to an artist, aspire to mimick the style of your favorite artist, but you should never see them as better or others as worse - its just the question of skill. Many people have called me out on this view, but i remain firm - grading how good/bad a person is can either make you sad, loose interest in art cause you just cant seem to reach your goal or turn you into elitist that forgott how they started out. If you dont like the style, dont look at it! It just means there is nothing to learn there.
- You cant compare art styles! Eeach and everyone is as different as the people who practice them - different art style doesnt mean good or bad, there is only the level of skill as mentioned above. But you cant compare apple and oranges, and thats why you cant compare the art styles. Also good to remember and make community a better place ;3
- Once again: DOODLE ALL THE TIME!!! Keep yourself in shape, draw ten circles for example a day as if they are sit ups for your drawing hand. As the time progresses, you will get your standard pose, but i will talk about that some other time.
- Art is an perpetum mobile of ideas - the more you draw, the more ideas you will get!
- Learn new stuff! You can only draw what you know, so get to reading :D Find out how guns work, Look into inner workings of a Vehicle, understand how plants grow etc etc. The more informed you are, the better you get at drawing and the better will the stories be that you put your characters in. For the projects ive been working on, ive read several books on Psychology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Weapons and so on. You have ideas - give these ideas a stable fundament ;3
- If you arent in mood to draw - DONT DO IT!!! Never push yourself to draw - art has to come out and cant be forced out. If you are having a bad day and need to unvind and you REALLY want to drav, doodle instead. Lineart a Pic you made at sum point or color it. Finishing touches are easy thing to do, requiring only time, while creating art itself is a process, so dont ruin your day even further with unseccesfull art tryout :3 Leave it for now, unvind and try again later/tomorrow.
- Again and again - keep doodling! If there is an art block, dont fret - just keep doodling to keep yourself in art shape. When ideas pour in again, you can continue drawing without having to go back into drawing again for few days. Art is a bitch - ignore it for a while and you need to work yourself back into shape again!
- Allow yourself to be influenced! You arent ripping off anyone if you see that an artist is drawing ears the way you like them more and you decide to start drawing them that way. In the end, that detail will look much different than in the style you saw it in first time as you keep fitting it in into your style.
- There is a beginning to your journey to become an artist - but there isnt an end! You will never stop improving, unless you decide to do it :3 You will always find a better way to draw something, keep adding new ideas that come with your growing knowledge - Art itself is an adventure, so enjoy every second of it!
- And last (but not least) - have fun! Enjoy art and the feeling of being able to put your ideas forth not only in written word, but also visually! The road will not be easy and will require lots of work and dedication, but trust me - there is nothing more enjoyable than to see yourself progress and see people enjoy your work ;3
And those are the main things I wanted to say and that i kept saying to anyone that asked me about art. I will work on some tutorials in the future - How to draw Male/Female, How tod raw Heads and Muzzle (most people seem to having most difficulities with them), Standard pose, Anatomy, Stances, Movement and such. Ill just note here that im not a teacher - im just giving some tipps on how to draw certain thing. I never went to art school, never did an course and have never read a tutorial in my life - i kept working until i reached the current level, doing the good old trial and error method. I was influenced by bunch of sources, like artists (
MadPolar as the most important of the bunch, since his art got me into furries to beginn with ^^), but also movie, litterature, games and such. The career was full of up and downs, but in the end, i remain happy :3
Also, If you have any questions, dont be afraid to PM me - i will try to help you as best as i can ^^ Also, if there is any topic you guys would like me to cover, write it in the comments! If its something i can, i will do it, if its something i cant do yet, i will learn it - just dont ask for sexuall or heavily-fetish things, since i want these tutorials to be viewed from as many people as possible, in hope i can help sum aspiring artist out there ;3
With that said, I wish ya all to have sum fun and enjoy your Hollidays ;D
Pav
P.S:: AND KEEP DOODLING!!!!
Since this is a furry site and im an Artist that draws furries, most people come to me with wish to learn how to draw furries. What i hear mostly is, that they already bought bunch of books and worked with bunch of tutorials, to no avail. There is also two kind of people - the ones that want to start out with drawing and those that have already worked in different style, so I will adress both groups. In the end, i will give some tips for the aspiring artists and also some concepts about art you have to get in your ehad before you head on on the long way to become an active artist. So, without further ado...
People that are just starting out
Working on sumthing and having no success is quite a bummer - art is no difference here. Trying to follow all the tutorials there are out there, with bunch of ideas that go through your head that you finally want to bring down to the paper, will leave most new artists dissapointed and sad/broken, since they spend hours and hours just trying to get the head right. The reason is simple - you cant draw! Not right now, but you will in the future :3 Dont start out trying to bring your best ideas to paper - start doodling! All the time! It doeasnt matter what you doodle - i started with big titted ducks and swords, thousand of those, until my room was looking like downtown of new york with all the paper towers. See, the reason why those tutorials doesnt seem to work is since people who write/film them make them for people that are already into drawing for a while - they dont make them that way specifically, they just end up that way. You need to start out practising your hand. If your art outpur was limited to the stuff ya did in the art class, your hand is not ready for this task, thats way - doodle. All the time! As said, they shouldnt be finished art and nothing you aspire to show online - the goal is simply to get your hand used to holding a pen and soften your wrist. And trust me, this might take a while - just think of the times ya held the guitar hero controller for the first time and your wrist hurt like hell the next day? You were unprepeared, but with doodling all the time, you will be prepeared for the art :3 As soon as your wrist has soften up (you will notice this when drawing certain forms and objects like circles and lines become easier and no minder), you can draw. You now only need to widen your knowledge and fill it with the things you can draw - this will also take a long while, so be prepeared for that. At this point, you can start consulting tutorials and keep doodling stuff, but now stuff like eyes, hands, muzzles - things you want to end up drawing sumday, furries. Before i head on to the other topic, let me recap and add sum tipps...
- Forgett about the tutorials for a moment
- Doodle all the time, it doesnt matter what
- Keep doing it all the time - you can actually hurt your progress by taking long breaks
- Everyone can draw - the only thing that matters is if you want to invest time into it
- Never give up after a setback - keep doodling and look forward to days when you can draw all dem cool stuff!
- Important Rule!!! If you just started out drawing, DONT BUY A TABLET!!! Just dont!!! Tablets are nice and fine, but you need to learn how to draw in the first place, and you need to have your eye and hand coordination at work at all time in the beginning. When using the tablet, you dont look at your hand, you look at the screen - even artists that are drawing for years will have a setback until they get used to this.
People who already have a style and look to get into furries
So, you are drawing for a while, but just cant manage to get into furry art? It is quite easy, if you a) want to invest the time and b) find the entrance point. What do I mean with the entrance point? With that I mean an furry art style that is similar to yours. Like, if you draw anime and want to move on to furries, i would suggest looking into sum furry art styles that are mixed with the anime (
MARIAN0 springs to my mind) and use that as starting point. Now, most people would object that this is just copying a style and not art at all, to which i say - no. You dont have to pick that style and stick to it - you just need the "crutches" to get started - as the time progresses, you will not need those crutches any longer and can start personalyzing the style. I started with copying the style from 
driprat , best known for the Jack comic, which you can clearly see in my old pictures ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/968287/ ). You can choose to upload art before you started with personalyzing or after you are done, that is yours to choose - just never forgett those artists :3. At this point, you are fitt for tutorials and such, so you can either use those or work yourself up with sheer muscle power and bunch of time you have free - that is yours to choose. The time you need to assimmilate to new art style will vary, depending of how much you drawed before, but it will mostly take you not long - you will be drawing your furries in bout a half a year/year (min/max, depending on the time you invest) and can start personalising your art. Ill say just this one thing - if you enjoy the style of another artist, chances are good that you can work along that style. Dont be ashamed about it, since every artist, new or old, are working towards a goal set up by an artist that is more skilled than them at their current point of learning. Just dont go copy-pasting the art and call it your own - it doesnt help you at all, aside of few nice comments before fanboys get the wind of it and insult ya to the ground ;3Good things to know about art
- EVERYONE CAN DRAW!!! And i mean it! The only difference is the level of skill, and skill comes with time and practice, so get on with it!
- Talent is optional! Art talent is same as Music talent - the later lets you hear the fine tone differences and learn languages quicker thanks to that while the first one lets you see the nuances in the things you draw like shape, size, anatomy and so on. It makes your progress faster, but a talented artist that doodles once a week will be on lower lever of skill than an Talent-less person that doodles every day. So, again - PRACTICE!!!
- There is no good or bad - this is an art, not a competition! You can look up to an artist, aspire to mimick the style of your favorite artist, but you should never see them as better or others as worse - its just the question of skill. Many people have called me out on this view, but i remain firm - grading how good/bad a person is can either make you sad, loose interest in art cause you just cant seem to reach your goal or turn you into elitist that forgott how they started out. If you dont like the style, dont look at it! It just means there is nothing to learn there.
- You cant compare art styles! Eeach and everyone is as different as the people who practice them - different art style doesnt mean good or bad, there is only the level of skill as mentioned above. But you cant compare apple and oranges, and thats why you cant compare the art styles. Also good to remember and make community a better place ;3
- Once again: DOODLE ALL THE TIME!!! Keep yourself in shape, draw ten circles for example a day as if they are sit ups for your drawing hand. As the time progresses, you will get your standard pose, but i will talk about that some other time.
- Art is an perpetum mobile of ideas - the more you draw, the more ideas you will get!
- Learn new stuff! You can only draw what you know, so get to reading :D Find out how guns work, Look into inner workings of a Vehicle, understand how plants grow etc etc. The more informed you are, the better you get at drawing and the better will the stories be that you put your characters in. For the projects ive been working on, ive read several books on Psychology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Weapons and so on. You have ideas - give these ideas a stable fundament ;3
- If you arent in mood to draw - DONT DO IT!!! Never push yourself to draw - art has to come out and cant be forced out. If you are having a bad day and need to unvind and you REALLY want to drav, doodle instead. Lineart a Pic you made at sum point or color it. Finishing touches are easy thing to do, requiring only time, while creating art itself is a process, so dont ruin your day even further with unseccesfull art tryout :3 Leave it for now, unvind and try again later/tomorrow.
- Again and again - keep doodling! If there is an art block, dont fret - just keep doodling to keep yourself in art shape. When ideas pour in again, you can continue drawing without having to go back into drawing again for few days. Art is a bitch - ignore it for a while and you need to work yourself back into shape again!
- Allow yourself to be influenced! You arent ripping off anyone if you see that an artist is drawing ears the way you like them more and you decide to start drawing them that way. In the end, that detail will look much different than in the style you saw it in first time as you keep fitting it in into your style.
- There is a beginning to your journey to become an artist - but there isnt an end! You will never stop improving, unless you decide to do it :3 You will always find a better way to draw something, keep adding new ideas that come with your growing knowledge - Art itself is an adventure, so enjoy every second of it!
- And last (but not least) - have fun! Enjoy art and the feeling of being able to put your ideas forth not only in written word, but also visually! The road will not be easy and will require lots of work and dedication, but trust me - there is nothing more enjoyable than to see yourself progress and see people enjoy your work ;3
And those are the main things I wanted to say and that i kept saying to anyone that asked me about art. I will work on some tutorials in the future - How to draw Male/Female, How tod raw Heads and Muzzle (most people seem to having most difficulities with them), Standard pose, Anatomy, Stances, Movement and such. Ill just note here that im not a teacher - im just giving some tipps on how to draw certain thing. I never went to art school, never did an course and have never read a tutorial in my life - i kept working until i reached the current level, doing the good old trial and error method. I was influenced by bunch of sources, like artists (
MadPolar as the most important of the bunch, since his art got me into furries to beginn with ^^), but also movie, litterature, games and such. The career was full of up and downs, but in the end, i remain happy :3Also, If you have any questions, dont be afraid to PM me - i will try to help you as best as i can ^^ Also, if there is any topic you guys would like me to cover, write it in the comments! If its something i can, i will do it, if its something i cant do yet, i will learn it - just dont ask for sexuall or heavily-fetish things, since i want these tutorials to be viewed from as many people as possible, in hope i can help sum aspiring artist out there ;3
With that said, I wish ya all to have sum fun and enjoy your Hollidays ;D
Pav
P.S:: AND KEEP DOODLING!!!!
Could kiss your for that.
1. Draw a circle.
2. Draw the rest of the damn owl.
And on top of that, everything I've read in this journal is quite practical. o.o
Though I have to ask, with the doodling thing, should we care if it gets past a certain point or not? Cause I just need to know what I should do to get myself to actually -finish- something I started drawing. Haven't been able to finish a drawing in forever. o.o
My rule of thumb has always been - is this enough to carry out the basic message im trying to convey? Meaning, if you draw a sword, is the form just enough or should you add the details? Would cleaning it up and doing the line art show it off better? Or how about colors?You decide when the doodle is done, even if its half a head - if you are satisfied with what it is, keep it that way, the practice itself is important.
As to your problem with not finishing the picture - as said, you shouldnt push it. Keep doing as you do, but try thinking about ideas that would require a finished pic to convey the message of that idea. Maybe you are having hard time at the moment and just cant finish a picture? Art is really connected to your current mood too, so that could be it too.
An idea for picture that would require to be finished is one with moody lights. Like drawing a character that sits in a corner, pondering life and stuff while a lamp is bathing half of a table and his face in light. You would need the drawing and the light itself, so its half-colored picture. One thing i also do is armor design - you need the whole body to fit the armor on, so you also have a finished pic ^^ Hope these ideas help ya :3
Also, thanks :3 Im glad you found the way and topics adressed in this journal helpful ^^
Is it a bad thing that those are the only things I've been using up till now?