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5:47 AM, Tuesday August 17th 2021

Here are a couple links which I hope can help you a little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLqWX7onVmU

https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/why-is-it-so-hard-to-draw-from-imagination-heres-how-to-do-it--cms-22967

The first video gives some great advice on confidence building things to sketch, such as cool rock formations, trees, etc. The take away is that natural subjects such as these allow for more imperfections than say a sleek new sports car, which would be a very advanced subject.

The second link is a bit lengthy, but it explains what drawing from memory is, and the difficulties that arise. For example if you say wanted to draw a dragon with wings from memory you would need to first draw studies of how wings work, scale patterns on reptiles, joints in animals etc. Memory drawing complex subjects requires alot of understanding not just of the act of drawing, but also how things work in reality. So at this point sketch what ever you want to sketch but use reference - either photographic or a physical object.

Also one thing to understand about motivation is that it has peaks and valleys. To boost our motivation it is very helpful to have an emotional reason/ answer to the question "Why do I want to learn to draw?". An emotional reason will be much stronger than a logical reason.

I hope some of this was useful!

Good luck! Live long and prosper!

11:48 AM, Tuesday August 17th 2021

Yes this helps, thank you. Having a "difficulty tier" of references is reassuring. I also realized on my own that drawing from imagination might be hard for a beginner. Although the article is informative it is also daunting. I'll come back to it later on.

And thank you for the advise on motivation. I'll keep it in mind next time I reach a low point.

11:17 PM, Saturday January 22nd 2022

Both are great resources. Love Feng's videos: they're so practical and inspiring.

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 I've used myself. If you're interested, here is a full list.
Sakura Pigma Microns

Sakura Pigma Microns

A lot of my students use these. The last time I used them was when I was in high school, and at the time I felt that they dried out pretty quickly, though I may have simply been mishandling them. As with all pens, make sure you're capping them when they're not in use, and try not to apply too much pressure. You really only need to be touching the page, not mashing your pen into it.

In terms of line weight, the sizes are pretty weird. 08 corresponds to 0.5mm, which is what I recommend for the drawabox lessons, whereas 05 corresponds to 0.45mm, which is pretty close and can also be used.

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