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 Texture Challenge

    Fable

    1:27 PM, Tuesday May 20th 2025
  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    QriousK

    12:47 AM, Thursday May 8th 2025
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    TurnipGreen31

    12:14 AM, Monday May 19th 2025
  • 25 Wheel Challenge

    Chieftang

    6:56 AM, Monday April 14th 2025
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    Donhitme

    1:54 AM, Wednesday May 14th 2025
  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    GabriMiel

    4:03 PM, Thursday May 15th 2025
  • Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

    boxrouser

    7:10 PM, Wednesday May 14th 2025
  • Lesson 6: Applying Construction to Everyday Objects

    G4rinuun

    4:42 AM, Tuesday April 29th 2025
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Arthur5X

    6:14 PM, Saturday May 10th 2025
  • Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

    UwUless

    4:57 AM, Thursday May 8th 2025

Questions/Discussions

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

  • Question about the 50/50 rule

    Shade_Skip

  • Advice on interpreting the pelvis from awkward positions

    DaTravellingMonk

  • I want to restart, but do I have to start over?

    Grahamv2

  • Question About the 50/50 Rule

    skyrmion

Sketchbooks

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

  • Darkshepherd's Sketchbook: NMA: Constructive Figure Drawing I, Week 2

  • chinmaysai's Sketchbook: 50% rule drawing (this is an indian helmet from the marathi empire.)

  • Tawny_0wl's Sketchbook: 50% rule #5

  • Vinicius9155's Sketchbook: Seaescape with markers

  • Anghelina's Sketchbook: i love fairys uwu

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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