6 tips to get better at drawing
I can’t say that I’m the best artist out there, but I’m certainly a better artist than I was when I started this blog. I’ve read a lot of advice about getting better at drawing over the years. Some advice has been very helpful and some advice just hasn’t worked for me. I want to share just a couple of things that have helped me improve, particularly over the last four or five years.
1. Draw a lot. How much is a lot? Malcom Gladwell says its takes about 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert at it. (I recently did a back-of-the-napkin calculation with my father and we figured he had done over 80,000 hours of surgery!) So the more you do every day, the faster you’ll get good. In 2004, I attended my first San Diego Comic Con, where I nervously showed around my sketchbook to artists I admired. One of these artists was Paul Davies, who recommended that I fill up one sketchbook a month, at minimum. I did just that, several months over, and was amazed at how quickly I progressed over that time. I also recommend that if you have the means, to get a job where you draw. It’s much easier to get in a lot of hours of practice when 8 or more of them are guaranteed everyday.
This is your best friend
2. Slow and Steady. Especially when learning to do cleanup, whether it be with pencil, brush or crow quill, go slowly. It’s just like practicing a musical instrument. You start as slowly as you can without making mistakes, then you speed up. Go as slowly as necessary to have control over what you’re doing on the page. This is particularly important when trying to ink ellipses and other curves freehand. While it’s best to sketch an ellipse in a single quick stroke, I’ve never seen an artist I admire ink an ellipse that way. Most will carefully and deliberately chunk out the ellipse with smaller controlled ink strokes.
Watch how Jake Parker does it:
Inking Missile Mouse from jakeparker on Vimeo.
3. Learn from the best. Another musical analogy. I met a guy once who played the violin in high school. His music teacher gave him this piece of advice: If you want to be first chair, don’t set your sights on first chair, set your sights on the best violinists in the world. Particularly with the ubiquity of information on artists available on the internet, there’s no reason you can’t learn from the best. Find the artists you admire through google or twitter. Start a correspondence with them. Ask them questions. You’ll find many are generous and willing to help. Read what they have to say on their blogs, and watch their video tutorials. The recently launched ArtCast Network is a great place to do this. If you can’t get in touch with an artist you like, then copy their work. Download, or buy high resolution images of their art and practice making exact replicas. When I started learning how to ink, I would download hi-res images of Frank Cho’s art, convert it to blue-line, print it out on Bristol and ink over it trying to copy his line quality. The same can apply to any artist you want to replicate. Look at their art, study it closely and figure out how to replicate it. Just one caution: make sure and give the original artist credit if you show your studies to anyone else.
One of the Frank Cho images I would practice my inking on.
4. Fix it until it’s right. When working on a difficult piece, redraw it until you get it right. Especially if you’re starting out, I recommend using mechanical pencils with a good eraser. They erase easily, and you can re-work and readjust a drawing until you get it right. Set a high standard f0r yourself and work to achieve that with every piece. Look at your drawing in front of a mirror, or flip it around and hold it up to the light. Seeing it in reverse will reveal problems in the drawing. Don’t take this suggestion too far. If you’re really hitting a wall, abandon the drawing, or start over. It’s more important to draw a lot than get stuck on one drawing.
5. Study the Fundamentals. Study the best books and videos on perspective, construction, anatomy, rendering and color theory. I highly recommend the resources found at Gnomon Workshops (Some of the best stuff I found on Gnomon were tutorials by Feng Zhu and Scott Robertson
Buy this book.
6. Repeat until you die. This is probably the most important step. There’s always something new to learn. Thank God! One of the greatest joys of drawing is having those break-through moments that come from constantly challenging yourself. Keep at it. The fun is in the process, not in the prize.
January 21st, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Spot on, I especially love #6, so many underestimate the ongoing training… that you are never finished. Well written piece.
February 15th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
[...] reading Brandon Dayton’s article 6 Tips to Getting Better at Drawing, I’ve decided to keep a sketchbook. This is nothing new, I’ve started several sketchbooks over [...]
October 14th, 2010 at 8:13 am
I copy a lot and i never get better at drawing. I can draw ONLY what i see, but when i try to invent i draw as i drew 4 years ago. Flat, tiny, wrong figures with several anatomical mistakes and all charatcers that look the same
Looking image in the mirror doesn’t work with me. When i draw something as better as i can and i flip the image i see the image exacly as i see it when i look at it normally, so i can’t correct mistakes (and i know there still are mistakes, because i receive critiques about them)
And yes, I study. Not improvement at all. I can just copy and copy and copy, the only thing i have been able to improve.
October 14th, 2010 at 8:29 am
When copying other works it’s also important to analyze it, and figure how it differs from your own. Ask yourself: what is my work missing to look like this? Focusing on that gap is how you stretch yourself.
I’d be interested to see you work over the last 4 years. I doubt there’s been no improvement at all. Sometimes we can be very hard ourselves.
How much time do you spend drawing every day? How quickly can you fill a sketchbook?
October 23rd, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Thank you for this it’s very helpful.
December 30th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Hi…Sorry for my bad english, but I am from Brasil. I fond your draws looking for sketchs in google, and then, your blog. In your Tip n 5 (study the fundamentals) you said that you own several books on anatomy. The only recommendation that I can ofer is Andrew Loomis books. I am starting draw now, I do not have a work that I can draw (only when I am on the phone), please, send the name of you books references.
Tnks. You´re a great worker…good luck.
January 15th, 2011 at 11:08 am
great advice…100% spot on all six tips!!
March 18th, 2011 at 8:31 am
No problems. Recently my drawings are suddenly improved. I still pratice every day.
The only problem is about mirroring images. Why when i do that i’m still blind to mistakes?
June 15th, 2011 at 6:34 pm
thank you for the helpful advice. I’m aspiring to be a cartoonist but just can’t seem to draw as perfect as i want to and i don’t practice sketching that much. These tips. were really helpful again and i hope to thank you properly in the long run
August 4th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Thank you very much for such great advice. I am fourteen years old, and ever since I discovered and read JtHM by Jhonen Vasquez, I have aspired to become a cartoonist of his high caliber. I’ve always been into art, of course, but never took it too seriously, not until that point. I’ve already improved SO much after just reading JtHM, and yes, I have drawn some of the characters before, but now you’ve opened me up to many new techniques and ideas. I hope to keep improving until the day I die. Thank you.
September 1st, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Have you heard of “Bridgman’s Complete Guide to Drawing from Life?” It’s given me a whole new perspective on figure drawing.
September 4th, 2011 at 8:29 am
I’ve seen smaller Bridgeman’s books, but I need to check out a big compilation from him. I’m sure there’s some good stuff there.
October 30th, 2011 at 3:17 pm
Thanks so much! my drawings have improved so much because of you!
November 5th, 2011 at 11:40 am
Cool! I’ll try these tricks and hopefully improve my skills. I want to be a cartoonist, after all!
December 18th, 2011 at 1:58 am
Can I get some tips on my drawings ? I have to wait to send them on my computer… I think my main problem is self doubt and never practicing