How to practice

[Psy]

No amount of drawing on a computer is going to teach you how to draw with a pencil. Drawing with a tablet is completely unnatural feeling and takes allot of practice to do properly but its unlikely that once youve got the hang of it that you can reproduce the same results with traditional mediums.

[apples13]

No amount of drawing on a computer is going to teach you how to draw with a pencil. Drawing with a tablet is completely unnatural feeling and takes allot of practice to do properly but its unlikely that once youve got the hang of it that you can reproduce the same results with traditional mediums.

really if you have chosen to be an illustrator there is no reason you "must" draw on paper anymore.
most people who draw on the computer plan on trying to get better at drawing on the computer.
also understanding things like perspective/anatomy does not require you to start drawing on paper

[Rio]

That's true - people aren't required to draw on paper anymore but it's a heck of a lot easier to just pick up a paper and pencil and draw than it is to turn on a computer, keep it powered, and to draw.

[ram]

Stick with what you can get. If you can afford books, buy books. if you can't, find online tutorials. There is no right way to learn or practice. I never bought or read a single art book in my life, aside from art history texts for college, but that's not holding me back from getting better at art.

As long as you can learn, it doesn't matter how.

I like how cype does it... actually I think it's much better to go to youtube and download any speed paint and slow it down... imitate some great artist there of how they draw...

or just go to groupboard and see how people draw there...
it's much better than reading drawing books... you'll learn far better that way than keep on going researching of how to improve... cause you can't improve if you don't practice... (I've been reading drawing books now and it seems they just teach me what i already know and things i already figure out my self)

I've given a drawing book my self to the "recommend your drawing book thread".. but those are japanese and i just copy what guide lines that book has... and that's all i need from those books...

procedural memory are still different from episodic memory somehow... some memory that you have in episodic memory can't go to your procedural memory no matter what you do

believe in your self that believes in you!

[Rio]

Drop by the Group Board. Some folks get or give lessons there cuz someone asks.

[Slurpee]

I highly suggest you study a little bit of everything at the same time because you will get to a point where you want to draw something but can't fully express it because you don't know what you're doing wrong/right/etc...

[bambi]

I think it's fine to imitate artists you admire when you're first starting out... but the way I really learned to draw was just to pick something I wanted to draw and draw it. Learning about realism helps too. Realism places less importance on the thing you're drawing and more importance on what you see.

I would try to use photographs for reference. Draw what you see. And from there you can develop a style.