To all people who are just beginning to learn how to draw, paint, sculpt or some participate in some other type of art, one of the most important rules is to not give up on your hobby. Perhaps you may have doodled in the margins of your notebook or just took an art class for the semester. But maybe you want to expand on your artistry?

Surely, learning how to draw is a difficult task and it requires some discipline to pull through. A good way to motivate yourself is to think of the reasons you decided to learn how to draw- whether it was through one of your favorite cartoons during your childhood or  you were inspired by another artist or you simply wanted to impress your family and friends. Another reason to train yourself is because it can also expand your hobbies list if you’re looking for a new one. It is also good to look at your past drawings to motivate you to keep doing better than last time. You can make anything negative about your art and work hard on it until your absolutely skilled at it.

Unfortunately, there will be many obstacles that you may face. There will be days when you feel like you can’t replicate that second eye or the proportions of person or animal you drew look disfigured. Maybe you have not drawn in a while or possibly you were stressed that day and couldn’t think straight. But don’t give up- take it as a learning lesson and strive to improve yourself. An important thing to note is that there is always someone better in art than you. People usually get discouraged by that and stop drawing, but understand that the person must have practicing art longer than you have so don’t feel intimidated. It could take you a few years to see your art as decent, depending on how much you practice. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

The first thing you want to think about when you’re learning to draw is what type of things are you going to draw. There is a multitude of things such as people, animals, clothing, nature, background, and objects. A recommended and helpful first step is to learn how to draw  different types of items in order to vary your skill. The second thing you want to think about is what type of art style do you want to draw in. However, what must be acknowledged is that you should learn the anatomy of what you’re drawing and then you can break the rules and develop your art style.

A good way to develop your skill in anatomy is to study in the real world of how body parts move and what type of different features they have. There is a number of different art styles you can draw in, possibly in cartoon, realistic or anime form, to name a few. Something that should be noted is that is acceptable to have a similar art style to another person, although there is a difference between a similar style and full-on copying. With copying, you are not trying to make your art style original and it may seem that it doesn’t fit with your personality. However, there is nothing wrong in taking certain aspects of an art style and to use it in yours.

All in all, regardless of how you take the initiative to learn a form of art, its nature, and various ways you can improve yourself, understand that the only tool you need to gain and apply your understanding is you! After all, art is nothing more than an expression of yourself and what you make of it!