Hi! Being able to draw from imagination with convincing results takes much more than a month of practice, but DaB helps you put solid foundations for that goal.

The good news is that you can draw what's on your mind right now and learn how to have fun doing that, regardless of the ending results. DaB talks about this too, which is key to improve.

One of the last tweets from DaB shows the before and after of a current student, check it out, it's huge. There is also on the homepage a video of a former student that clarifies what exactly is DaB.

The 10.000 is a myth that comes from the last decade of motivational nonsense. 45 minutes a day, everyday, splitting your days between focus study and drawing for fun it's an excellent pace to get better.

Good luck!

The material if absorbed will help you create 3d appearing objects on paper. Will this course magically change your brain structure to perfectly execute the concepts within it? probably not, good luck.

As others have said, drawing decently from imagination is not a realistic 20 hour goal, however that doesn't mean the book is bullshit and you shouldn't set one. I haven't read his book, but I have seen Josh Kaufman's TED talk on the same subject. He shows the result of 20 hours of guitar practice by performing for the audience and it sounds quite good. But bear in mind that this is just ONE piece, it is a SIMPLE piece, it is a piece COMPOSED BY SOMEONE ELSE, and he REHEARSED it beforehand. It is the bare minimum for guitar playing that is enjoyable for both listener and audience. It is good, but he still has a lot of room for growth. You'll see this same pattern in youtubers, like Mike Boyd, who do learning challenges. Their goals are always specific and simple. If they ever tackle advanced topics it's when they already have a solid grounding in the skills necessary.

Drawing from imagination is a much more advanced topic than what Josh Kaufman demonstrated. You're effectively both composer and performer. And are the things you imagine simple? Do you only want to draw one thing, or do you want to be able to draw hands AND faces? Do you want to skip the rehearsal and improvise something good first try? I think many professionals cannot do this. Drawabox gives you a grounding in the skills you need to do this, but is a long term goal.

I had the same problem as you when trying to study from other sources. Tutorials expected me to already be able to do things I couldn't, or simply had missing steps. Drawabox builds your skills methodically, starting from the basics of line making. This is why it's working for me, but it also makes it unsuited to the kind of short term challenge you're describing. It focuses on drilling certain fundamentals, not on creating a finished piece of art. It's up to you to learn to apply it to the styles and subjects that interest you. This is why students are told to spend only half their time on Drawabox and half on drawing what they want to draw.

After 20 hours you'll probably be somewhere in the 250 box challenge. You'll have improved your line work and be able to draw a box in perspective, but you won't be good at it. If you want something to show for you first twenty hours, you'd be better off doing something like 30 days of self portraits. I still recommend Drawabox though. It's helped me a lot. I'm only on lesson 2 and already those tutorials I gave up on are feeling much more approachable. Just keep it seperate from any 20 hour goal you set. Alternating like someone else suggested seems like a good idea.

Edit: It may also be worth noting that guitar is a very forgiving instrument. There are instruments that would not sound so good after 20 hours, and imho drawing is more like them.

Try searching for the Becca Rand drawbox stuff on youtube where she covers and reviews this course. This will give you a better idea of what is involved.

Do you think you could get the grasp of Japanese in 20 hours? How far would the knowledge gained get you in Japan?

You would say konnichiwa and sayounara and sumimasen probably. I would say it's the same for drawing. You would have a little basic knowledge but it won't get you very far because it's not become a natural skill yet. That takes months and years.

You need to put the work in to be any good. Hacks tend to be limited parlour tricks for the most part.

That said this course has helped me improve immensely but reckon I have spent between 100 and 200 hours on it so far and I have completed Lesson 4, working on Lesson 5.