How to start drawing from the very beginning
It’s not easy to start a new creative activity from scratch and it’s totally normal to search for help on the web. Therefore, I decided to put together my collection of drawing tutorials in one blog post. Everybody needs inspiration and advice when exploring a new medium or technique. You can learn best from those who have their focus exactly on the specific topic you want to practice while watching the tutorials. Therefore, I have a go-to-channel for every medium and special technique. Today, I want to share my collection with you with a special focus on figure drawing and portraits. The most important thing is that you find a channel which suits your preferred way of practicing best. If you are interested in which materials I use, check out my blog post about materials.
Alphonso Dunn
Alphonso Dunn is the perfect go-to for beginners. He helped me motivating myself to draw everyday and practice different aspects of ink drawing. On Youtube he offers different videos concerning practicing ink art: from basic shading techniques to anatomy and nature motifs. Additionally, there is a section where he combines ink art with an aquarelle finish. For those who love to have something in their hands, he also published a book accompanied by a workbook. Both are very helpful for starting with pen and ink art, especially when you don‘t know where to start like I did.
Stan Prokopenko
Stan Prokopenko offers tutorials in the categories anatomy, figure and portrait drawing on Youtube. He explains very well and points out on what you need to take care of. It’s also perfect for experimenting with charcoal pencils. On his website he also sells course packages with extended video material for explanations and practice assignments, but that was not the right learning model for me. However, there is also the possibility to buy a package with photos of a preferred model in all kinds of poses. This is very helpful if you want to practice figure drawing for yourself or need poses for your art projects. There is really for every idea the right pose in this package and it is very affordable. 631 photos cost about 16 dollars. I‘ve never regretted buying it.
Love Life Drawing
Love Life Drawing is also a Youtube channel for figure and portrait drawing. Additionally, they offer videos concerning finding time to practice and how to overcome self-doubt. All their videos have a very good structure to learn the process of drawing from the very beginning with step-by-step videos. On their website there are also free tutorials available for specific topics.
Chommang
Chommang shows you not only how you feel free during drawing, but also how to draw freely without pre-sketch. He further emphasises techniques how to overcome pressure while drawing. Moreover, he explains all kinds of drawing motifs step-by-step, for example figures and portraits with different expressions. Additionally, he offers courses on an online platform, especially for beginners.
Angel Ganev
Angel Ganev is famous for his digital portraits with this special glow effect. I can really recommend his channel if you want to learn how to draw portraits digitally. In his Youtube tutorials he shows step-by-step how to create portraits with a unique glow finish. In my latest drawings I used his technique to give my hand-drawn ink drawings a digital glow finish.
Jazza
Jazza is an Australian animator and artist who offers tutorials in a very funny way. He shows his viewers the world of paintings, drawings and animation. There are also speedpainting sessions on his channel. Further, he often posts challenges which are very funny to watch.
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