Drawabox | A free, exercise based approach to learning the fundamentals of drawing
The Autumn Promptathon is Coming
2024 • 09 • 24  -  2024 • 09 • 30
The Autumn Promptathon is Coming
2024 • 09 • 24  -  2024 • 09 • 30
Click here for more info

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

    FishingGuppy

    1:11 PM, Friday September 20th 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    Chieftang

    11:28 PM, Wednesday September 18th 2024
  • 25 Texture Challenge

    Cornball

    10:00 PM, Saturday September 14th 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    QriousK

    12:39 PM, Thursday September 12th 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    IHaveNoCreativityWhenItComesToUsernames

    12:18 PM, Monday September 16th 2024
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    heiwa

    4:45 PM, Tuesday September 17th 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    percystant

    6:45 AM, Monday September 16th 2024
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    StefyGLP

    6:47 AM, Wednesday September 11th 2024
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    LunaPetrich

    3:14 PM, Wednesday September 11th 2024
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    PoyoSousa

    11:35 PM, Monday September 9th 2024

Questions/Discussions

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

  • Is a page of two head studies OK for Lesson 5?

    fortunasoleil

  • Fighting the urge to restart 250 box Challenge?

    MnchrmDrms

  • How to get two agreements to move on to the next lesson?

    NekoMello

  • 1 year break, what should I focus?

    nescgui

Sketchbooks

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

  • ArbyNewSkiis's Sketchbook: WIP 2 point perspective backyard

  • King0George's Sketchbook: Athletic sloths - Drawfee Prompt

  • LunaPetrich's Sketchbook: perpective exercise

  • Cewdles's Sketchbook: About 4 or so drawings I did sometime right before draw a box.

  • 36Boxes's Sketchbook: 50% rule piece of Ryo from Devilman

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.
The Art of Blizzard Entertainment

The Art of Blizzard Entertainment

While I have a massive library of non-instructional art books I've collected over the years, there's only a handful that are actually important to me. This is one of them - so much so that I jammed my copy into my overstuffed backpack when flying back from my parents' house just so I could have it at my apartment. My back's been sore for a week.

The reason I hold this book in such high esteem is because of how it puts the relatively new field of game art into perspective, showing how concept art really just started off as crude sketches intended to communicate ideas to storytellers, designers and 3D modelers. How all of this focus on beautiful illustrations is really secondary to the core of a concept artist's job. A real eye-opener.

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