So I just got my tablet 2 days ago and truthfully havent been drawing for years... I am trying to get into drawing landscapes but I dont really know where to start and apart from rough sketches that look like they were painted in kindergarden i can't seem to be able and produce anything great.
Here a aborted try of me trying to draw goku (about a day back)
http://i.imgur.com/XIIbf.jpg
And this is what I tried today... I thought well if what I want to be doing is landscape art and scenery, then I guess starting out with drawing goku isn't the best idea because I guess drawing persons is pretty different due to me having to pay attention to body proportions etc. Anyways, here it is, a sketch I guess xD I just don't know how to continue, how to make things look sharp and like an actual drawing, I don't know. I just don't quite understand how to start.
Here the laughable sketch..: http://i.imgur.com/u08JT.jpg
But yeah I've only been using the tablet for 2 or 3 days now I guess.
I use a Wacom Graphire4 by the way. And Photoshop CS6. :sleepy:
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Hi, i'd suggest to start with, try working in greyscale first, forget colour for the moment...it gets very confusing trying to choose correct colour saturation etc... secondly for sharper edges use the hard round brush...something i forget to use as well lol, If you want straight lines press the brush down at the start of the line, then hold the shift key and then press the brush down where the end of the line you want is. I stubbornly avoided using this for a long time as i thought it was a bit like cheating, but straight lines are infinitely harder to draw on a tablet than directly onto paper for some reason (at least that's how i've found it, so use the software to help, it's what it's there for)
Landscapes fall apart or succeed on correct perspective...so have a look through the resources section here for tutorials on creating perspective, and start small/simple, for example, with your painting of the wall, try just drawing the gate, using a perspective grid, and just work at getting that right, you're not going to produce amazing stuff instantly (i hated it when i realised that), but you'll get there :)
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It's all a slow process, We have all been where you are at, some of us still are. Not knowing how to push your painting further is totally normal, part of learning how to draw/paint is figuring just that out.
As for your sketch it looks like you gave up half way through, what is behind the gates? Is it a town or a castle? or something entire different? Don't get demoralized because what you have drawn so far doesn't look good or you don't know what to do, figuring that out is part of the fun!
You drew the gates as a simple 2d object thoe, from the angle we are looking at them we should see the top of the walls, the sides of the towers, ect. Try to think about what is in your painting as a 3 dimensional object and how to show that it is, rather then a 2 dimensional stroke on the canvas. I suggest you look into perspective also, as it is really important for landscapes.
Don't give up man, just keep pushing! 
I'd recommend starting with some paintings from pictures and master studies. I'd also cut down on layers, it looks as if you drew each line on a new layer when it could have been simplified down to just one layer. Look at Ctrl paint.com and daarkens enliighten site for some very nice intoductions to starting out. Starting out nothing from your imagination is going to blow your mind because you dont have anything in your mental library to fall back on for knowledge, you cant paint a mountain from imagination if youve never studied them yet etc.
Hm thanks for all the helpful answers! Though what would you suggest for me to draw to slowly get used to perspective and landscape art and all that?
Also, should I just use a 1px hard round brush and just start sketching like I did on that goku anime character thing?
I know this is going to be a long journey. I have been using photoshop for a few years now and it has been the same when I first started getting into web design. now some years later I'm much better. And I realize its probably going to be the same with digital drawing. I admit I'm a little scared that if I focus too much or only on learning digital drawing now and neglect web design, I will get stuck or get worse on that. Hm, so for tomorrow, how would I start when I open up photoshop? what should I try to make/draw?
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Dude, no offense but right now it sounds like you're saying: "hey guys give me the secrets to awesome art"
We can't tell you what to draw or how to do it. Part of learning is experimenting and failing and trying again. It will take you years of constant work to get better. You've been doing it for a few days.
Art isn't something you can absorb by having someone tell you what to do. You have to fail at it, step back, ask yourself "why did I fail" and then do it again, trying to fail less. There is no "Right" way to learn, everyone is unique and will learn in their own unique way. (Special note: there is no RIGHT brush or awesome tool in photoshop that you have to use. Every artist has their own work flow and their own preferences)
That being said the basic idea is to draw and paint from life then apply that to your personal work. For example do a self-portrait in a mirror, trying to understand how the human face looks and then apply that to a drawing of Goku, to make him look more realistic. Both of the drawings will look bad, so you have to do it again and again and again until they stop looking bad.
If you feel completely lost and need a starting point take a look here at Sickbrush's class ( http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-1408.html) watch his videos then do the assignments. That should get you going.
Also read through this: http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-3.html
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Xdrac I'd suggest taking an object from your house and drawing it or the view from your window, something that will be in front of you will help you more than trying to draw and paint straight from imagination. Open up a sketchbook in the sketchbook thread and post all your works you do and you'll get critique and feedback that will help you improve and you'll also see it as you add more and more images to your sketchbook.
Also this site is SOOOOOOOOOO helpful - ctrlpaint.com filled with tons of video tutorials ranging from total beginner to advanced techniques in photoshop. Check it out ;).
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Try this book man: Jack Hamm -Drawing Scenery Seascapes And Landscapes. It helped me a lot to start with environments, I read it and try to study some images from flickr with the info.
you can find the book everywhere :)
Alright I guess I'll be off best trying to draw simple things from home first, huh?
How about an apple or things like that?
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As dracken said, a large part of getting better is personal trial and error. You don't need to come to us and ask if every little thing you draw will be helpful or not, because we won't know 100% of the time. Instead of asking us and waiting for a reply, you could just start drawing a apple, find out what you did wrong, redraw the apple trying to fix mistakes.
I know I'm just trying to figure out whether going for landscapes directly would be too much for the begining...
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Yeah it will be hard, but you can only learn by making mistakes and struggling through problems. Look at that drawing you made of the castle, why is it bad? try to think about it, identify what is wrong and practice getting that right.
If you want to eventually paint landscapes, the only way is to paint hundreds of bad landscapes. It's like saying: I want to get big muscles but I'm afraid lifting weights will be too hard and I'll do it wrong so I'll just do cardio instead.
10-17-2012, 10:29 PM
I took your advice and started with something more simple - an apple. Though I admit I was a bad student and used my imagination...
Please tell me how to improve this. And whether it's "okay" or rather "bad" for literally my first completed 'artwork'. :-/
![[Image: h7pOk.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/h7pOk.jpg)
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use an actual apple! :D or some other stuff lying around.
then you will see everything :)
If you do a study of an apple, be sure to what you want to study - maybe perfectly drawing an apple is not the important stuff, but how light reacts.
means- take an apple, take a simple lightsource, draw the apple.
watch out for things like
- where is the main reflection
- what values has the shadow
- how is the actual drop shadow influenced
- where and how does the bouncelight from the desk meet the apple
- why does the surface of the apple look like it does (smooth, organic)
- is there rim lighting?
etc etc
just observe and your mind will flood over from information you are gathering by drawing a simple apple.
other than that- your shadows are not completely dark or black, which is good, the colors are not too saturated, your edges are very sharp, you seem to have a consistent blending, so not bad for your very first artwork ;-)
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When i get back for going out ill do a paint over for you.. But in the meanwhile once you understand thats this is something you are trying to learn. Take some of the pressure of yourself and I promise your work will see a big improvement... When i get back in ill give you a critique and a paint over.. Ill see you once i get back.
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