Drawabox | A free, exercise based approach to learning the fundamentals of drawing

Anyone can learn to draw. It's not some magical talent a few people are born with. It's a skill you can train. We can help.

Drawabox is a set of free exercise-based lessons that focus on the fundamentals - the skills you'll need to make sense of all the other resources and tutorials out there. First we focus on the basic mechanics of mark making, and how to use your arm. By the end, we develop a strong understanding of form, 3D space and construction.

I won't lie to you - our approach is tough and involves a lot of hard work. It's also structured and gives you a clear path with concise explanations and assignments you can complete and submit for review.

You can read more about Drawabox and how it came about here.

Or you can join the community of thousands of beginners and professionals alike and get started.

Homework

Once you've completed a lesson, one of the best ways to refine your understanding of that material is to help others by critiquing their work. After having done thousands of critiques and having improved immensely over the last few years, I can attest to that myself.

  • Lesson 7: Applying Construction to Vehicles

    CyTori

    5:40 PM, Monday April 29th 2024
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    senj

    7:18 PM, Tuesday April 30th 2024
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    Quat

    7:39 PM, Wednesday May 1st 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    Gyanyu

    4:29 PM, Tuesday April 30th 2024
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    CyberKitty

    7:54 PM, Friday May 3rd 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    kotka

    2:50 PM, Wednesday April 24th 2024
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Cornball

    5:23 AM, Monday April 29th 2024
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    tamagaft

    9:40 AM, Tuesday April 30th 2024
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    toai3

    3:44 PM, Sunday April 28th 2024
  • 25 Wheel Challenge

    Absolute

    10:11 AM, Sunday April 28th 2024

Questions/Discussions

Take a moment to answer someone's question, or contribute to a discussion, if you have anything to offer.

  • 250 box challenge related questions

    hotwire12

  • 50 Percent Rule Clarification

    Marmoolak

  • ok for placing 2nd vp from the y in the boxes challenge

    anstupidartist

  • Questions regarding form intersections

    Tuanz

Sketchbooks

Along with Drawabox work, our community members also post other artwork to their sketchbooks.

  • Vivelli's Sketchbook: Tea Time @ World's End

  • Clamboree's Sketchbook: 50% Rule for Lesson 1

  • Kangaroo's Sketchbook: Random contour line sketches

  • Goosely's Sketchbook: lesson 1

  • Snowguy's Sketchbook: 50% Rule 3: Cringe Edition

The recommendation below is an advertisement. Most of the links here are part of Amazon's affiliate program (unless otherwise stated), which helps support this website. It's also more than that - it's a hand-picked recommendation of something I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Sakura Pigma Microns

Sakura Pigma Microns

A lot of my students use these. The last time I used them was when I was in high school, and at the time I felt that they dried out pretty quickly, though I may have simply been mishandling them. As with all pens, make sure you're capping them when they're not in use, and try not to apply too much pressure. You really only need to be touching the page, not mashing your pen into it.

In terms of line weight, the sizes are pretty weird. 08 corresponds to 0.5mm, which is what I recommend for the drawabox lessons, whereas 05 corresponds to 0.45mm, which is pretty close and can also be used.

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