Advice on How to Start Drawing?

[clementina]

I would like to create my own webcomic, but I can't draw. I would like to start learning, but I find that a lot of resources tend to be overwhelming with information and I'm frozen trying to master everything at the same time.

Does anyone have any resources where I can start with the bare basics and explains things without derailing?

I appreciate the help, thank you.

[HostileFren]

as someone who also can't draw but is trying to learn, I find that step by step tutorials are the easiest to follow. I usually just search on youtube. But also practicing is key (and something I'm very much not so good at)

But also ralistic expectations. You aren't going to master anything in a short period of time, but also focusing on separate areas you want to improve first can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed, For example, I've been focusing on faces

[clementina]

Thank you for replying! I'm honestly trying to learn the bare basics, like shapes, lining, and shading. I'm honestly quite new at drawing and I haven't done it since I was a child, so my art style is very much kindergartner that just learn how to make stick figures

I did find some YouTube channels that I thought would be good for me, but I have a short attention span and they tend to talk too much for my liking

I'll try to focus on one thing at a time, thank you

[SleepingPoppy]

I think gesture drawing is a good place to start if you’re keen on drawing people. Lots of quick sketches based on looking at reference images. And looking at tutorials that help you break down forms into shapes.

It’s also okay to practice sketching out little comics, even if they’re not very good at first.

[Lensing]

I have 10 years of focused learning experience. I wasted some time and found out the best
way to improve over the years by trial and error.

Some people say "learn the basics" and this is true but I have to warn you about it.
Too much theory can lead to overthinking, burn out and it can be overwhelming very fast.
I did that mistake several times.

To get good at drawing comics there is no faster way than to draw comics. This is very
important. Skip the part where your brain tells you things like "I´m not good enough yet"
or "I first have to improve my skills to tell that story".

Start making comics right away without learning theory. Write a short script, draw a 2 (example)
page comic.

Then do a short theory period. Here is one example. You can learn how to draw better proportions
because in your first comic you realised that you have no clue how to draw a human.

Then get back to drawing the next comic or draw the first comic again with what you learned
about proportions.

At some point you will learn about perspective, how to draw faces and all that stuff, but don´t try
to learn that all at once and don´t try to learn all that before starting your comics. Learn it allong
the way.

Draw the first comic in the most simple and broken down style which works for you. Stick figures
and similar. It doesn´t matter as long as you finish the comic. Finished comic = biggest learning progress

I´m doing some daily warm ups like quick sketches and line excercises but that´s all advanced stuff
that you can learn later

[simonitropunk]

Like Lensing mentioned which I had that same experience.

"Should I wait until I'm good at drawing to start?" Ah hell no!! You can just dive-in and in modern times, things have gotten easier in comic creation with little to no drawing skills. There are many online tutorials, 3D models, learning simple anatomy and perspective. You gotta start from somewhere, eh?

I started this whole thing almost 20 years ago and still learning new things. You'll find your groove, eventually. Here's a cool tip: people will forgive you if you have a good story than good art. And get things done is better than getting things perfect.

Just dive in and keep swimming:

I'm not an Andy Warhol guy but that resonated with me.