Drawing Course for Beginners

Drawing Course for Beginners

A Beginner Drawing exercise - working from life.

As a Beginner, it’s best to find a course, especially when going the self-taught route. 

The fact is, your progress will be accelerated not based on talent, overwork, or luck. It will come down to two factors:

• How quickly you form the drawing habit

• How deliberate your practice is

In the interest of helping you with both of those, it’s a good idea to keep reading. 

You see, a course is something that is designed. It’s a way of conduct that help you to achieve the results you’re after. 

While we can care deeply about the results, the practice should always be our goal. It’s what keeps up coming back time and time again even when we’re not happy with the result. 

Here’s a definition of course from etymonline: “from c. 1300 as "order, sequence;" meanings "habitual or ordinary procedure" (as in course of nature) and "way of life, personal behavior or conduct" are from early 14c.”

Creating the habit, and ordinating the way to proceed is how you supersede those who simply wallow about and wander into walls. That’s not the best way to do most things. Experimentation is fine, but even that should be designed.

But why are we reviewing the meaning of the word? 

Well, when it comes to finding a drawing course for beginners, you’re in the right place, but it’s important to prime yourself for optimum learning. 

that said, let’s get you on the right course.

Free Drawing Course for Beginners:

This course is the free version.

It’s 6-bite-sized lessons. Once you’re on the Growing Artist Mailing list, it’s yours. 

The Beginner Drawing Course:

This is the course that I first designed a an 8-week program in 2015. Over the years I’ve doubled the duration of the course to 16 weeks as of writing this blog, and several of the lessons are on YouTube for Free. 

Here’s the first lesson of a drawing course specifically designed for Beginners like yourself:

Week 00:

Forming the Drawing Habit

The problem with many Beginners is that they psyche themselves out. However, we all do it in many ways, not just in drawing. It’s one of those things that constantly pulls us away from our potential in life. One of those irascible human traits that we’re always rubbing up against like a bad pair of jeans. 

the chaffing you feel when you’re pursuing self improvement, self expression, or any goal for that matter, is natural. The unnatural thing is to be one of the people who finds a way around that stumbling blocks instead of stepping all over them, packing it up, and going home. 

In order to form the drawing habit, I want you to shut your brain off. 

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but hear me out— most of the time we’re overthinking. People who are drawn to the arts are especially susceptible to this malady of the mind. 

just remember “D.O.T.I.” Don’t. Over. Think. It.

When you want to draw, draw. Don’t start spiraling down a staircase of thoughts that will end with you telling yourself you suck or it’s not worth your time when you crash at the foot of them. 

Not only will it wreck your mood and smash a rotten egg all over your mental health, but you’ll be off course. 

And the key is to stay on course, no? 

So here’s the deal: D.O.T.I.

Deliberate practice:

I write about this often. I talk about this often. Hell, I can’t stop thinking about it. 

You know why? Because it WORKS.

When we find something in this world that works, we need to treasure it. It’s like a golden compass that guides us toward the things we favor, and away from the multitude of pitfalls that pepper day-to-day existence. 

If you want to hold yourself up to the light, and see the translucency of your being, you will come to find that you are currently human. If the light is powerful enough, we’d see through your skin, not unlike a deep-sea fish. A beating heart, a structure of bones, and a system of organs that unifies you with the rest of your species. 

As a human being, you have the ability to adapt and learn. This is something that we sometimes forget as we’re flagellating ourselves like some sort of beast of burden. Yes, we make mistakes, but the ability to break up the patterns that cause those mistakes is paramount to practice. 

The mastery of drawing is when the mistakes get smaller and smaller. They become microscopic in terms of technique, so that only highly trained eyes can spot them. Some would say they aren’t even there at all. 

When you practice deliberately, with all of your focus set upon the practice, you’re going to see 1% improvements that compound consistently. 

What is deliberate practice, then? It’s practice that’s in alignment with your course. If your course is to move from a beginner who doesn’t know how to draw to a beginner that is capable of drawing fairly well, then you must orbit your practice around understanding and applying the fundamentals.

Not only will the beginner drawing course reveal those fundamentals to your mind like a lighthouse in a storm, but when you get to shore you’ll learn even more. 

So as you form your drawing habit of deliberate practice, you’ll find that an exciting world of possibilities upends the mire of confusion and fear that once held your attention when tackling this endeavor. 

If you’re interesting in an overview of some of the most important drawing fundamentals, you can read this post or watch this video.

In Closing

I know it took a bit to digest all of the imagery and ideas that I’ve set before you, but that’s part of the fun. To take everything in, process it, and create and act based on it. 

I’m just glad to have found you, or that you’ve found this post. I spent so many years as a beginner just floundering. It wasn’t until I discovered that there were principles and guidelines that had served artists for centuries that I realized I was drawing like a dummy. I improved by leaps and bounds, and I know that if you’re able to adhere to your course and habituate your practice, your story will unfold similarly. 

Happy Drawing.  

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. Grow & Sharpen Your Drawing Skills here. (1,800+ students)

2. Build better Paintings and get Commissions here. (500+ students)