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.

  • 250 Cylinder Challenge

    QriousK

    12:47 AM, Thursday May 8th 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
  • Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

    Lorem_Ipsum

    1:02 PM, Friday May 9th 2025
  • 25 Wheel Challenge

    BoneHairReptile

    3:06 PM, 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.

  • Vinicius9155's Sketchbook: Seaescape with markers

  • chinmaysai's Sketchbook: 50% rule drawing took me like 5 hrs to compleate because of the leaves (i used 6 colours and each one is made saperatelly)

  • Anghelina's Sketchbook: i love fairys uwu

  • Chives's Sketchbook: Tanta The Evil Wanted

  • BoneHairReptile's Sketchbook: Doodles: Album7 (fixed)

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.
Staedtler Pigment Liners

Staedtler Pigment Liners

These are what I use when doing these exercises. They usually run somewhere in the middle of the price/quality range, and are often sold in sets of different line weights - remember that for the Drawabox lessons, we only really use the 0.5s, so try and find sets that sell only one size.

Alternatively, if at all possible, going to an art supply store and buying the pens in person is often better because they'll generally sell them individually and allow you to test them out before you buy (to weed out any duds).

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