Hi

[Maira]

Hello everybody,

My name is Maira (not Maria ;)), I'm 23 and right now I work with advertising.
 
I've been drawing all my life but never took the time to really study it, and never considered it as a career option to me (my parents are artists so I always saw that as a hard path). However, I went through some tough times recently and realized that life is too short and I'm wasting too much time with things I don't enjoy doing and/or don't really care about. So I want to invest my time in what is important to me, and I decided that improving my art is something I really wanna do.
 
I was looking for people to interact with through this journey, but I'm also avoiding social media, that's why I decided to join this forum. I borrowed Successful Drawing by Andrew Loomis from a friend that recommended it to me, and I'm looking for materials to have a better grasp of the fundamentals of drawing, so any tip or recommendation is very welcome. My goal for now is to learn a lot and make new friends.
 
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

[John]

First things first, hope you're doing alright. Times are like the tide. Highs and lows!

And enough of silly hacky sayings from me!

Hello Maira. Welcome to the Crimson Daggers.

Fundamentals of drawing: you might want to check out this discussion http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-7607.html

If I have to recommend, although I've never gone through the course, www.drawabox.com . It seems to do wonders for a lot of people..

Books:
Scott Robertson's How to Draw

Perspective: David Chelsea's Perspective for Comic Book Artists.
Anatomy: Hogarth's Dynamic Figure Drawing
Painting: Alla Prima by Richard Schmidt
James Gurney's Color and Light

Oh. Start a sketchbook.

[Artloader]

Welcome to Crimson Daggers Maira :).

Hopefully this place will encourage, inspire and educate you like it has done for me.

You're definitely onto a good thing with anything by Andrew Loomis, if you see any more of his books, snap them up!

John's also given you a good steer with those recommendations, I'd like to second the drawabox.com advice, it is a great free resource that will furnish you with good drawing fundamentals.  The teaching it provides is something that I intend to keep on going back to for as long as I do art.

I also recommend anything this guy puts out:

http://www.dorian-iten.com/

Especially get his Accuracy Guide - it has done wonders for my art.  At first it seems boring and academic, but the more I use the principles he teaches, the more I fall in love with art.

Also, it sounds like you are embarking on this journey for the best reason of all - your love for art.  My advice is to nurture that and never let it die.

Looking forward to seeing your sketchbook thread :).

[Maira]

Thank you for all the recommendations, I really appreciate it! The drawabox.com seems great, I’m starting it right now :)

[Flow]

Hey Maira, welcome to the Crimson Daggers!

Let's get working, best you start with a Sketchbook!
There is a ton of material for you right here and also lots of people trying to learn these things as much as you do, so I think we're all in good company here. Let's go! :)