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 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    guilleZoom

    3:16 PM, Tuesday December 3rd 2024
  • Lesson 6: Applying Construction to Everyday Objects

    Culhwch

    12:06 AM, Tuesday December 3rd 2024
  • 25 Wheel Challenge

    MrChungus

    4:48 PM, Sunday December 1st 2024
  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    Cornball

    5:39 AM, Thursday November 21st 2024
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    CyberKitty

    7:17 PM, Monday November 25th 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    FishingGuppy

    7:16 PM, Thursday November 21st 2024
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    Nandart

    10:17 PM, Saturday November 23rd 2024
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    Mk66

    1:35 PM, Wednesday November 20th 2024
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    RoyVD

    11:13 AM, Monday November 18th 2024
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Owlott

    9:15 PM, Friday November 15th 2024

Questions/Discussions

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

  • Am I ready to move onto the next bit of work?

    Geduldigkeit

  • Should I wait for critique?/Is getting critique better on Discord?

    Phoenix_

  • Visualizing and revisiting goals; benefitial or detrimental?

    fae33550336

  • Doubt-regarding homework Submission

    Mk66

Sketchbooks

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

  • TotalTempest's Sketchbook: Half-Dead Fox Gunslinger

  • bayleeboooooo's Sketchbook: sketches of some ppl

  • MoeLow's Sketchbook: Basic Dragon

  • Nayshawn's Sketchbook: line work

  • AbsolutelyUnsupervised's Sketchbook: 50% rule, before starting lesson 1

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 we've used ourselves, or know to be of impeccable quality. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Steven Zapata's Secrets of Shading

Steven Zapata's Secrets of Shading

Some of you will have noticed that Drawabox doesn't teach shading at all. Rather, we focus on the understanding of the spatial relationships between the form we're drawing, which feeds into how one might go about applying shading. When it comes time to learn about shading though, you're going to want to learn it from Steven Zapata, hands down.

Take a look at his portfolio, and you'll immediately see why.

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