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

    Lalincechelancia

    4:40 PM, Wednesday October 4th 2023
  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    pikscarots

    5:50 PM, Sunday October 1st 2023
  • Lesson 6: Applying Construction to Everyday Objects

    Tempestsnow

    12:23 PM, Wednesday September 27th 2023
  • Lesson 7: Applying Construction to Vehicles

    Soprano

    10:44 AM, Monday October 2nd 2023
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    EgusiSoup

    9:06 PM, Monday October 2nd 2023
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Pingu83

    5:09 PM, Sunday October 1st 2023
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Mrhanzell

    9:30 AM, Sunday October 1st 2023
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    idichekop

    6:11 PM, Saturday September 30th 2023
  • Lesson 6: Applying Construction to Everyday Objects

    Simone123

    5:38 PM, Tuesday September 26th 2023
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    funkymills

    3:37 PM, Sunday September 24th 2023

Questions/Discussions

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

  • Lesson 7 "continues to be daunting!!"

    Himanknyx

  • How to pace yourself for the homework?

    Shay330

  • What to do while waiting for critique?

    insertusernamehere

  • Wrist exercises for relief and prevention - my personal recommendations

    Malcress

Sketchbooks

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

  • CleansedHands's Sketchbook: Behind the scenes of a circus

  • AzureTestament's Sketchbook: Drawing Prompt: Flora is Fauna

  • LordSagan's Sketchbook: Drawing Prompt: Flora is Fauna

  • Pomecat's Sketchbook: Drawing Prompt: Flora is Fauna

  • vish's Sketchbook: Drawing Prompt: Flora is Fauna

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.
The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

The Science of Deciding What You Should Draw

Right from when students hit the 50% rule early on in Lesson 0, they ask the same question - "What am I supposed to draw?"

It's not magic. We're made to think that when someone just whips off interesting things to draw, that they're gifted in a way that we are not. The problem isn't that we don't have ideas - it's that the ideas we have are so vague, they feel like nothing at all. In this course, we're going to look at how we can explore, pursue, and develop those fuzzy notions into something more concrete.

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