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 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    dargonfyl

    8:06 AM, Tuesday January 21st 2025
  • 25 Texture Challenge

    Chieftang

    7:59 AM, Saturday December 28th 2024
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    PineCardboard

    4:17 AM, Wednesday January 22nd 2025
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    AndrewRain

    3:43 PM, Monday January 20th 2025
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Missingdesk

    6:57 AM, Monday January 20th 2025
  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    Mrhanzell

    7:40 AM, Friday January 17th 2025
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    EightcentXion

    5:06 AM, Thursday January 16th 2025
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    JuliaSperfeldt

    11:19 AM, Monday January 13th 2025
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    Missingdesk

    2:21 AM, Monday January 13th 2025
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    Gran

    8:15 AM, Friday January 10th 2025

Questions/Discussions

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

  • 50% Rule and CTRL + Z

    scrumpy

  • Infinite Vanishing Points in a Scene

    Jeanne_

  • How do I jump back in to official critique after a huge break?

    RODRI_TG

  • Taking Notes From Drawbox

    Minazary001

Sketchbooks

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

  • dargonfyl's Sketchbook: 50% #4

  • MarcoFr's Sketchbook: Underground Mutant Armadillo

  • MillenialMonk's Sketchbook: A 50% Rule Spread (Tackling the Art Block)

  • markuseicher's Sketchbook: DAB-Training-Lesson-1

  • Bubbubz's Sketchbook: Against the Boar Titan

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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