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.

  • 25 Wheel Challenge

    Chieftang

    6:56 AM, Monday April 14th 2025
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    abeanberry

    8:16 PM, Saturday April 19th 2025
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    PoyoSousa

    8:30 AM, Saturday April 19th 2025
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    Krythulu

    7:09 PM, Thursday April 17th 2025
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    aketterjr

    11:16 PM, Friday April 18th 2025
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    VisiblyVirtue

    1:03 PM, Thursday April 17th 2025
  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    Nickb3p

    12:19 PM, Wednesday April 16th 2025
  • Lesson 7: Applying Construction to Vehicles

    Culhwch

    12:30 AM, Wednesday April 9th 2025
  • 25 Texture Challenge

    Krissy_Alexander

    6:59 PM, Tuesday April 1st 2025
  • Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

    carpediem

    1:02 PM, Saturday April 12th 2025

Questions/Discussions

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

  • Questions about warm-ups

    LoafyCat

  • Alternative to Imgur for submission?

    NikhilKulkarni

  • Maintaining warmups after graduating from Drawabox?

    Culhwch

  • Useful Method for Drawing Arms at weird angles

    boxrouser

Sketchbooks

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

  • pedinbatata's Sketchbook: A terror bird with Crystals encrusted in his body

  • aikopon's Sketchbook: 5050

  • Brook1eLuvr's Sketchbook: Walkman doodle

  • Ageth's Sketchbook: 50% rule drawings #4

  • Anubis's Sketchbook: Wire Frame Dragon

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.
Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Faber Castell PITT Artist Pens

Like the Staedtlers, these also come in a set of multiple weights - the ones we use are F. One useful thing in these sets however (if you can't find the pens individually) is that some of the sets come with a brush pen (the B size). These can be helpful in filling out big black areas.

Still, I'd recommend buying these in person if you can, at a proper art supply store. They'll generally let you buy them individually, and also test them out beforehand to weed out any duds.

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