Ask HN: Anyone here have good material for learning how to sketch from scratch?

I would highly recommend drawabox.com. I used this system to get from no drawing experience to sufficient. I especially appreciate the focus on learning how to learn how to draw and not just the mechanics of drawing.

For me, it was really stumbling onto Feng Zhu's channel that changed things: https://www.youtube.com/user/FZDSCHOOL/videos The big change is more at a metacognitive level, which was to understand that you could view 'art' purely as a technical field, not something that involved artistic sense or talent. So he goes other detail density distribution, color theory, perspective, etc. The video content also helps getting a morale boost to grind through the exercises.

I would say you would not really benefit from actual dedicated courses for the first 2 years (assuming you practice with hobby-time and not full time); you have so much to learn that y ou will do big progress just doing standard exercises. Dedicated tutoring is good, but it's probably easier to get decent feedback IRL as opposed to online courses (unless you pay a fortune, it's easier to get advice from good local artists). James Gurney and Nathan Fowkes are great references.

(For reference I post some of my stuff here: https://twitter.com/wooliondraws I'm not close to any mastery, but given the amount of time I can sink into this hobby since 2015, I'm now fairly happy.).

Although there's no miracle: FZD school claims to bring people from beginner to pro-level in 3 years, but at the price of heart attacks at 30 years old for some of them.

It will definitely come to this eventually, even if OP does find some good teaching resources.

Here's what I've heard from artists: there's always a stage where you hate they piece, and you just have to push through (goes for writing too). Just push through, remind yourself no one else ever has to see it, and you'll get better with each one.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is the holy grail. I don't think you'll find a much better single "diy" resource. I don't think you need to follow it cover to cover, but it's a great reference resource to have and contains a lot of super valuable exercises and resources for drawing "the right way".

Honestly, I wouldn't spend money on instruction unless it's in person - drawing is ultimately about seeing and it's hard to instruct that online. Other tutorials/lessons tend to be about copying existing work rather than drawing from life, which is the foundation of all drawing/art skills.

Learn about the basic elements of art (line, shape, color, value, form, texture, and space) and the principles of design (balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, unity) and look up exercises to practice them all.

Most people only care about "line" when drawing (forced perspective, outlining the subjects, etc). This is a trap. Think about "drawing through the object" (don't outline and then fill in later, etc) and utilizing all the other elements of art.

Draw still life setups/landscapes/people from real life. A lot. Do long drawing sessions (4+ hours with the same subject). Short time boxed ones (15 mins max, 30 mins max, etc). Draw the same setup every day for a week. Draw every day.

If you want to copy other works, start with copying drawings/sketches from the "masters".

If possible, find a group drawing class to get IRL feedback.

Once you do this for a year or two you should have a pretty good foundation for pretty much any drawing/painting discipline.

Ultimately it's about repeated practice. Make it a daily habit and you'll see big improvements.

Source: art school, drawing/painting for 15 years.

Agree 100% with another comment posted in the thread - just do it. I have looked at different resources. Video series or a book both take many hours to complete. Hours which I could have spent drawing rather than just passively consuming content.

For me it works to draw what is constantly on my mind. It could be some thoughts about latest DC movie, a tv series or something going on in the news. Then I try to envision a background for example in case of Ukrain invasion, I am currently thinking of dark grey buildings in the background with smoke and ash falling from sky (scene could be inspired from something else like Chernobyl tv series). Then I introduce some story element since the point of sketch is to tell a story. I'll have a character in the foreground. That character can be sitting alone with a dog or with his/her partner to evoke feeling of tragedy and yet some hope.

In this way the thing which I sketch will be unique. It's hard to draw everything from scratch. So I think of the line from inception movie - never copy entire areas. Copy only small details like a lamp-post or a building or lighting. So I use any reference image to draw that particular detail. Even professional artists do that. Also, I post my work on instagram, this gives a finishing line otherwise I am never happy with what I have drawn.