/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

oh honey, you can pick any of them, because you're not gonna make it

>>6887821
What's your level of drawing? If drawing an actual human figure seems to high of a hurdle for you at the moment, that knocks of most of the list and leaves you
>Keys to Drawing - Bert Dodson
>Fun With A Pencil - Andrew Loomis
>The Art and Science of Drawing - Brent Eviston

Personally I'm against Keys to drawing as a beginner's book, as it made me form quite a few nasty drawing habits that I had to de-learn, and I can't comment on 'The art and science of Drawing', so that only leaves FWAP.
I will say while FWAP is a fine starters book, the cartoon characters he uses to teach you to draw are mostly hideous, and I think there's a bit of a skill jump as he goes from the cartoony figures to realistic figures.

So I always personally recommend Preston Blair's Cartoon Animation, but if you want a more 'serious' drawing book with realistic figures, then try Jack Hamm's Drawing the Head and Figure, though if you really are an absolute beginner, cartoon characters are the way to go.

>>6887821
Read Brent Eviston for learning observation drawing, after that read Steve Huston if you want to draw realistic figure, TACO book if you want to draw in anime style

>>6887821
Honestly TACO, just copy all the drawings in there until you can reproduce them from memory

>>6887832
/thread

>>6887821

>>6887821
>Keys to Drawing
If you're not autistic and actually do the exercises without getting salty about the fact that you suck. I think the only problem with this book is that it requires actually giving things the good old try and doing one's best, even when they're beg. If you do that, this is by far the fastest way to improve though.
>The Art and Science of Drawing
If you are autistic and need someone to literally hold your hand step by step. Be careful, if your autism level isn't high enough, mere exposure to how boring Eviston is as a person - even through the book - will cause you brain damage.

>>6887821
just fuck off already

>>6887832
I will try again anyways.

>>6887821
>books
ngmi
Nobody born in this era has the attention span for a book and I am not exaggerating. I don't know why we haven't adapted art teaching for this

>>6887821
The secret to making it is being able to do your own research and only ask questions to others when you can't figure something out. You'll find out what books and teachers work best for you once you start drawing and learning. You have to teach yourself anon.

You have one mission for now: learn and become proficient in the fundamentals.

Now make it happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcs2En6tGRw

>>6887821
This is has all the best advice found on this board and is held up as the greatest artist course of all time. If it can't help you, nothing will.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8VO-JQCy3HgelpRajdPY3RSXzg?resourcekey=0-7iamq2WLg5aaDd3T3I8e1w

>>6888791
I don't think that course has trained a single notable artist

Art and science of drawing,easy and fun.

>>6887821
I feel the same way OP. I'm extremely depressed. I'm getting too old, and I can't even grasp the basics of perspective.

At this point it's so upsetting to me that all I really want to do is just to be able to draw cubes and perspective correctly.

Please don't get discouraged by the fucking sadistic incels here though. They have nothing else but a desire to hurt others when they are at their lowest.

I understand how fucking soul crushing this stuff is. Do not for one second believe these >>6887832 dickheads who put on a fake face of invulnerability because they're secretly so fragile and even one bit of criticism would break them, a deathly fear of ever being honest

>>6887857
>made me form quite a few nasty drawing habits
Like what? I'm less than halfway through, but it's hard to imagine any "bad habits" you could get from the book

My thoughts:

I liked the course The art and science of drawing from Brent. I found it to be better than the book; it's systematic and tells you everything step by step, and it doesn't assume you already know anything, which can be very useful if you're clueless.

I didn't like keys to drawing as much. The projects often require some creativity on your own part, which can, if you're very indifferent about a lot of things, like me, leave you wondering what you actually want to draw for the project. That resulted in a slower pace and less enthusiasm on my part.
It was very good at teaching me to observe my subjects, it was decent at teaching me how to copy them, but it wasn't that good at teaching me how to draw drawings that actually look good.

I think that ultimately there is no silver bullet and you have to find what works best for you. I had to find an enjoyment in drawing, and if you can't find that, no book will help you

>>6887857
What were some of the bad habits you needed to unlearn?

>>6889021
>>6889104
I went through it quite a few years ago, and I actually want to go through it again some time, but one thing I picked up that I know was specifically from the book that was a bad habit was the "reiterated line" (as I think the book called it). This just led me to having VERY chicken scratchy, scribbly, ugly drawings - there may have been something great in them, but fuck if anyone other than me could see them.

I seem to recall the book also pushes a more... "silhouette style" of drawing, where you don't put down any construction or simple shapes etc and just go for it - I'm of the mind this would be better for some people, but it's poison for me, as I am very much a constructoid and throwing down simple shapes and refining them, rather than just going for it. However, I used to reject such drawing methods, which is my own dumbass fault, but I think that's an opinion I got from 'Keys to Drawing'.
So like I said, for me personally, it was a bad book, but I don't think it's actually a bad book.

So I had to learn how to draw with more confident clean lines, and I had to learn to appreciate differing construction methods rather than just thinking they were lame.

>>6887821
unironically keys to drawing but you need to get over the fact you're terrible and you'll be terrible until you've practiced enough

>>6889149
yeah fuck the guy who wrote that book. who is he trying to fool?? telling me to to draw a flower vase by drawing the entire silhouette of the flowers AND the vase and then work the inside. that's the og NGMI book

>>6887821
If you haven't completed the entirety of drawabox you're ngmi. The only artists who mi are the ones who have done it.

>>6889149
good post. It's a good but incomplete book, which can be more dangerous than having a totally bad book. Matessi's force falls under this too.

>>6887821
>>6888276
Keys to drawing. It's the most important one because it teaches you how to think and how to approach drawing