Doodling with a Purpose
You can turn the most basic shapes and squiggles into something worthy of display. In her book How to Draw a Radish and other fun things to do at work , Joy Sikorski teaches you how to draw food, animals, and objects that are fun, whimsical, and actually look like what you intended. Joy has other similiar, fun books for grown-ups such as How to Draw a Cup of Coffee and How to Draw a Clam .
How to Draw Lessons Index with some Drawing Lessons online
Start with an egg shape... Draw a cute little hedgehog. Then begin with a semicircle, a triangle, and a few more simple shapes you, too, can draw an armadillo. Make a circle and end up with a realistic or comical bear face. Jan Brett supplies simple instructions for using basic geometric shapes as the starting point for animal sketches.
How to Draw a Hedgehog
How to Draw an Armadillo
How to Draw Your Own Bear
How to Draw on a Grid
Move beyond doodling and try your hand at more structured, symmetrical designs. Celtic knots are both beautiful and a good drawing exercise. Learn to work within a grid to create these sometimes intricate drawings. Although the grids you work with in desktop publishing are generally rectangular, these tutorials offer lessons in balance.
How to Draw Celtic Knots by Christian Mercat
How to Draw Your Own Celtic Knots (various methods)
Bonus: The Celtic Knot Font - Mac and PC - not freeware
How to Draw Funny People
If your attempts at drawing people or animals lack a certain 'realism' consider cartoon characters. Step by step, illustrated drawing lessons from the Chunky Monkey Fan Club show how to draw this cartoon monkey. Start with a pear shape... Sure, it's written for kids but if you're a kid at heart you'll have fun too.
How to Draw Chunky Monkey
Gerry Alanguilan describes his way of drawing and inking comics. If you are worried about where to get inspiration for your drawing, Gerry offers his suggestions.
How to Draw Art Tips
How to Draw and Sketch Like the Pros
Drawing / Sketching Guide Helen South helps you learn how to draw beginning with the basics and building up from there. Whether you're serious about becoming an artist or simply want to improve your hen-scratching, these drawing lessons can help.
Learn How to Draw: Basic Starting Steps
Learn How to Draw Portraits
Learn How to Draw Anime and Manga
Top 10 Mistakes Beginner's Make When Learning How to Draw
Art School - Taking Art Classes
Are formal art lessons necessary? Graphic Design Guide Judy Litt suggests that art can be good for our graphic design and desktop publishing careers. In part, it teaches about composition and color - two important aspects of page layout and design. If you're reluctant to take "yet another software class" then consider the career benefits of art classes.
Beyond the Paper - Using Your Drawings and How to Draw With a Computer
Once you've drawn your funny characters or custom illustrations you'll need to get them into the computer and onto your printed page or Web page.
- Scanning Tips and Techniques
- Get Images Into Page Layout Software
- Use the Right Graphics Format
- Web Graphics: Common Problems and Solutions (jaggies, transparency, etc.)
Sometimes you can do all your drawing right on the computer even if you can only make crooked lines and boxes with your graphics software.
