https://drawabox.com/lesson/1 This is the main resource I used to teach myself the basics. Lesson 1 I consider essential to all aspiring artists. Lesson 2 is good too, but it's a significant jump in difficulty and I feel there should have been another lesson between 1 and 2. At the very least, attempt but don't fuss too hard about the texture lesson. It's borderline impossible to do well without more lessons in light and shadow, which the lesson plan skipped entirely. I didn't pursue anything beyond that. I don't encourage paying for it. Having your "homework" graded can be done just by comparing your worksheets with other students and reading what he said about them.
Keep in mind drawabox isn't fun, but it is damn effective. Take breaks between chapters to do fun things or you'll probably burn out.
After that you'll want to learn from artists who do what you want to do. If realistic portraits are your main concern I would look into a Youtuber called Proko. If you want something more cartoonish or anime-like, Akihiko Yoshitomi has some excellent tutorials. I don't currently have resources for backgrounds or object drawing. I'll need to find them soon, but my current focus is animation.
Thanks so much. I'll start on this tonight after drawing a picture.
bnui_ransder posted...
One short piece of advice that was given to me...
Learn realistic anatomy first and then work on deforming natural shapes for more cartoon or anime like proportions because learning odd proportions first can actually set you back in the long run
I heard about this too. This is why Im trying to draw real people, but I do dabble in anime/manga pictures too. Maybe ill hold off on those for now.
