Online Class: How To Draw 101

This course is designed for beginner artists who have an interest in learning how to draw or sketch -- or simply want to improve their skills. It covers the tools you'll need to draw and also provide plenty of exercises to practice drawing using different techniques and styles. It will cover drawing people, places, things, and even abstract concepts. For best results, we highly recommended that you take your time going through this course.

It's easy to get excited and flip through the pages, just to see what we'll teach you to draw next.   However, you'll miss out on the overall purpose of this course if you do.   Learning to draw is a process, even if it is a fun one.   In this course, you're going to learn the processes and techniques that gave rise to some of the most talented artists in the world. What you're going to learn over the fifteen lessons will be in-depth, professional information.   It can be comparable to signing up for an art class at a large university. 

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Floral Arrangement 101

Traditional Scrapbooking 101

Course Motivation

This course is designed for beginner artists who have an interest in learning how to draw or sketch -- or simply want to improve their skills. It will cover the tools you'll need and also give you plenty of chances to practice drawing different things, from people, places, things, and then beyond. It's highly recommended that you take your time going through this course.

It's easy to get excited and flip through the pages, just to see what we'll teach you to draw next. However, you'll miss out on the overall purpose of this course if you do. Learning to draw is a process, even if it is a fun one. In this course, you're going to learn the processes and techniques that gave rise to some of the most talented artists in the world. What you're going to learn over the upcoming lessons will be in-depth, professional information. It can be comparable to signing up for an art class at a large university.

However, it's also important that you keep in mind that this course IS for beginners. This means that, even though you're going to learn a lot, you shouldn't expect to be the resident artist at a gallery any time soon (but please let us know if that does happen). The word "draw" is a verb. Remember that. It means "to draw." It also means that you must draw often and practice the skills you learn here if you want to improve.

This course doesn't require that you go out and purchase a ton of art supplies if you don't want to. A pencil and a piece of paper is all that is needed. In addition, you can complete this course by drawing, reading the lesson and answering the exercise questions at the end of each lesson because this proves to us that you've mastered the information presented in the lesson.

Learning HOW to draw is taught in this course. But it's up to you to actually learn to draw. It's advised, if you're serious about learning to draw, that you take the time to purchase the basic supplies listed in Lesson 2, then complete the drawing assignments throughout this course. The assignments are for practice because you can't get better at drawing if you don't keep practicing. How you put this course to work for you is your choice. We're here to teach you the basic skills that you'd learn in most college art classes. It's up to you to take the skills you learn and put them to use in actual drawings.

Almost everyone LIKES to sketch. Whether it's scribbles they put on paper or actual drawings that will be hung on a wall, there's not many that don't enjoy "doodling" on paper to create shapes, objects, and even pictures. But most people honestly believe that, aside from scribbling, they really can't draw. How many times have you said (or heard someone else say), "I can't draw a straight line!" Or "I love to doodle, but I couldn't draw a decent picture to save my life."

Well, here's the thing about all that. You don't have to be a renowned artist to be able to draw. If you can sit down and draw a square, a triangle, a circle... then you can learn to draw almost anything you see. No, your work may never hang in a gallery or museum, but you can be taught to draw things you see -- either in the world or in your mind -- and those things can be recognizable and even pleasing to anyone who sees them. All it takes is the willingness to learn.

That said, as we start to embark on this course, remember these three important things. They will be critical to how much you actually learn.

1. You don't need to be able to draw well before starting this course. If you can't draw a straight line, that's fine.
2. You don't have to have a "natural ability" to be good at drawing. Drawing is a natural ability that we all have. You had to learn to walk when you were a baby, didn't you? Now you're going to learn how to draw.
3. Keep in mind that you're here to learn. Don't expect perfection the first time! If your first portrait looks like a space alien or if your first animal looks like a blob, that's okay. This is supposed to be fun, and it's supposed to be practice. If you get frustrated with yourself right out of the gate, you'll stop yourself from learning because your mind won't be open to it. Instead, have fun with it. Save the "awful" drawings, then continue to practice. You'll be able to pull those awful ones out a few months from now and see marked improvement.

Drawing is fun! It can be a way to relax, but it can also be a way to express yourself. Rather than thinking of drawing as a task you have to learn and master, instead think of it as this:

• A way to illustrate your perceptions of the world around you. You can show others what you see without speaking a word.
• An activity that is both fun and exciting. It doesn't take many supplies to draw, and you can take pride in the art you create.
• A way to add your personal touch to your surroundings. Frame some of your drawings and hang them in your home. You'll be surprised how much family and friends will love your drawings.
• An activity that is relaxing, but at the same time stimulating and challenging. You CAN learn to draw, and you will improve as much as you want to by practice and with patience.

How to Practice Drawing

Throughout this course, we're going to teach you how to draw. But learning how to draw is not going to help you learn to do it. The only way you can learn to draw is to practice the techniques you learn here and keep improving.

You're going to get all the tools in this course that you need to start drawing. After you finish, however, it will be up to you to use those tools and practice those techniques as you explore the basics of drawing. Just remember that you can finish this course at your own pace, and you should also draw at your own pace. Don't ever let yourself feel rushed. Creativity is never rushed, first of all. And improving at drawing takes patience as much as it does practice.

Here are some tips for practicing:

• Draw everything you see at every chance you get. Even if it's just a simple sketch on scrap paper, it will help your mind's eye start to really see your surroundings. It will also help you improve your skills.
• If there's something you're not so great at (such as drawing circles), practice and practice some more. The more you sketch circles, the better you're going to get.
• Pinpoint the most difficult part of each drawing you create, then recreate that section over and over. This will help you to perfect techniques that are giving you trouble.
• Practice making lines, marks, and shading by just doodling and scribbling on scrap paper.

There are all sorts of media that artists use to draw. Some prefer to use charcoal, some paints, and the list goes on. What's more, some like to simply draw landscapes. I'm sure you've watched the guy who is on public television and all the landscapes he paints. Landscapes are his niche, as is the paint that he uses to create them.

The point is, that the more you draw, you'll discover your drawing niche. You'll develop your own personal style, and that style will include the media that you use as well as the type of drawings that you do.

To find your niche:

• Draw everything you see, as time permits. We said this in the last section, but it applies here too. In order to discover what you like drawing the best, draw everything at first.
• Explore different media. Of course, you'll want to start out with a pencil because it affords the easiest way to erase and correct mistakes. But once you learn the basics of drawing, don't be afraid to branch out and try different things.
• Try different drawing tools. We'll talk about those in this course. Although tools can mean pencils, paper, rulers, etc, it can also refer to things such as grids.
• Try all the drawings presented in this course. Learn the basics of drawing, and challenge yourself to draw things presented to you. Don't limit yourself to the things you see around you. Challenge yourself with the optional drawing assignments in this course. Not only will the practice help you to improve, you might also find a type of subject that you enjoy drawing (and are very good at).

It's a good question, isn't it? Look around you. Look at the hundreds of things that surround you just in your own home. This course will show you how different subjects are drawn, and perhaps you can use that as a starting point. After seeing how to draw a certain type of subject in this course, you can then start to draw those subjects as you see them in the real world.

Here are some examples of subjects:

• People. Are you the type of person who likes to watch people? You'll learn the basics of drawing them in this course.
• Animals . Drawing animals can be a lot of fun.
• Mother Nature . Drawing trees and flowers can be fun, but it can also make beautiful wall art.
• Things . Look around the room you're in. Maybe you could draw the phone, a bottle of ketchup, a bowl of fruit... the possibilities are endless. In this course, you'll learn how to capture these types of subjects.