>>8072403
I'm a beginner and I fully relate to you. You want to learn how to draw a character and the dude giving the tutorial will just draw a character and not actually explain how its done. Its just frustrating and silly

>>8072403
because it's 95% tacit knowledge, things that you learn by doing
the remaining 5% (perspective, anatomy, etc) you can easily find in books and youtube

>>8072407
Why can't people explain things that helped them in their own paths? "heres something that helped me" "when i started out i did X, try that for yourself and see if it works for you" why can't this be done?

>>8072409
they do, that's why you get conflicting information ('do boxes', 'do gesture', 'do value studies', etc)
but they all boil down to DOING stuff, not just shitposting on mongolian imageboards

>>8072403
Because actually talented people simply have a photgraphic memory.
They can create interesting stuff from head because they can just pull up pictures from memory in their head and then simply draw it.

It's not something you can learn. Either you have it or you don't.

>>8072418
There are plenty of people out there that struggled at first, and even asking them will get you the same "just draw/practice, bro" responses
>>8072417
Now youre just being an asshole, which is expected giving the board im on. Also your answer tackles the remaining 5% (perspective, anatomy, etc) thing youve mentioned, not actually relevant to what im asking at all. The question is "what helped you" not "how do i draw"

>>8072422
>There are plenty of people out there that struggled at first
Then they aren't talented. Really talented artists are already able to produce professional quality during highschool.

>>8072423
Talented artists arent the only artists out there. Anyone that knows how to draw can give advice

>>8072422
>The question is "what helped you" not "how do i draw"
they are essentially one and the same, framing the general as a personal thing
if you ask me, doing value and color studies is what helped me the most
but things would look different if your goals and skill are different

>>8072427
have you been drawing since you were a kid?

>>8072409
It honestly hard to tell what helped you because improvement is so gradual.

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>>8072403
>>8072409
As someone currently teaching himself how to draw, most people online are hesitant to teach others practical advice or help for a few reasons:

>they don't really have any experience teaching
>they don't want competition
>they forget that art isn't something intuitive for everyone

In my three years of learning how to draw, here's my practical advice:

>start with a pencil, then move up to a pen when you're comfortable
>spend more time looking at your reference than your paper
>draw your immediate surroundings from different standing/sitting positions
>draw continuous overlapping lines, even when sketching shapes and forms
>draw big shapes, medium shapes, and small shapes
>break down references into simple shapes from biggest to smallest (meaningful tracing)
>spend time looking at a reference/model, then hide the reference/model and draw from memory
>work with plasticine clay and sculpt simple forms
>make an ambitious drawing (no references), then take note of your fuckups, study and improve at those fuckups, then draw it again but this time using references
>study something you suck at, then immediately use it in a fun drawing

>>8072403
IMO I don't feel comfortable giving too much advice to a complete beginning artist who can't really properly form much yet because any advice assumes they will have to do a lot of practice, and they usually are not interested in that

It feels like 99.99% of the time I give a complete starting /beg/ advice they do not sewm too likely to follow it and I usually see them post again months later saying they barely have drawn anything

Most people are literally mentally disabled. There is no advice you could give them to ever produce ANYTHING of worth.

>>8072512
You're not wrong. Science has proven that the act of learning is quite literally painful, hence the mentality of normies to shame people who like to learn while also writing off all hard-earned skill as "talent" so they don't have to confront the fact that it's their own fault they can't get the things they want.

>>8072532
You just agreed that most people are retarded yet you claim there is no inherent talent. Doesn't make sense.

There definitely is genetic talent for art. But even genetically talented people have to draw a lot to unlock it. There are also environmental advantages. If someone grows up surrounded by abuse and poverty then he will have a much harder time to learn art.

>>8072548
>even genetically talented people have to draw a lot to unlock it
Although fuck that. These fuckers are already professional artists with 17. They don't have to do shit to become good.

Why do you guys ignore the fact that there are people who struggle with art at first like everyone else then get good later on? Anyone can learn to draw, it's just easier for some

>>8072409
the only way to get better is to directly copy something until you can do it flawlessly, then try to change it and draw new things with those techniques, see whats wrong, and start copying new shit. That's it.

Everyone knows this deep down. But what people want is a way to get better without having to draw.

>>8072548
I never said inherent talent was non-existent, I merely said that most people are retarded because their brains are literally not wired for learning outside of things that come very easy to them. They tend to chalk up ALL success as "talent" (regardless of whether or not the person was genetically predisposed to whatever it is they're passionate about) because admitting that success requires work would mean admitting it's their own damn fault they're not more accomplished in whatever creative field they admire.

It's a weird cycle. IQ is fucky like that.

>woman with middling IQ is more apt to have children with a man of middling IQ or below average IQ
>first child has the father's IQ but any successive child born within 2-3 years is more likely to have lower IQ
>because of the parents' lack of IQ, they are less able to help their children develop their IQ

The lower your IQ, the more stressful the act of learning is, especially if you lack people who are able to teach you and instill in you the value of learning. I could read at a 12th-grade level when I was six, but that was only because I had a family who constantly read to me and had me reading pretty much every day.

It's the same thing that László Polgár did with his children. If you want your child to excel at anything, you must start teaching them at a very young age. If a child does not go through this, they can still learn as an adult but it becomes much harder.

>>8072565
And while I'm on the topic, this is why autistic people tend to be VERY good at drawing. It's been observed that autistic brains have a different relationship with learning than normie brains do. A normie brain finds learning to be painful but for an autistic brain, the process of learning is soothing and actually reduces stress. If an autistic person becomes hyper-fixated on drawing, they tend to grow rather quickly at the skill.

>but why aren't autistic people good at other things if they're very good at X thing?

Well, that's because autistic people are still people, and most people are immature. If an autistic person has no interest in Y or Z, they're not going to touch it even if it's good for them. You have to basically trick them into doing it and metaphorically "crack the whip", much like with a normie.

>>8072561
To learn anything, you must learn like a child but also be your own teacher.

>>8072403
I don't see what's the point of the heart here. Also I noticed the egg changed shape in the final draft.

>>8072403
>What makes drawing such a unique skill
It's not unique. The context is.
I am going to speak specifically about /ic/.
1. /ic/ is an unruly classroom where there is no respect, no order, no authority, and no discipline. This is a feature, not a bug. It makes for great unfiltered conversation between everyone, all of whom are presumed equal. But equality is not conducive to learning, and /ic/ isn't about teaching.
2. Ego and lack of trust. Learning requires some form of surrender to a higher authority, and people aren't always willing to do that online, even when they sincerely seek to learn. It doesn't help that there are trolls who mislead, but again, this is a feature of 4chan. I don't mind trolls, as I see them as a filter. People who cannot discern real advice from trolling, or at least willing to test competing ideas, probably can't learn to draw.
3. This is perhaps the hardest pill for beginners to swallow - the best way for them to learn is through acceptance, not understanding or debate. Yet, that's what almost all of them do. They think the teacher must fully satisfy the student first with reams of proof and explanations. It's great to be a skeptic - but only if you are actually an expert yourself. Otherwise it's just blind insolence.
An entire book explaining a tennis serve cannot replace the experience of making a few serves. But beginners think they need that book. They think they can understand, but it's completely beyond those who have never picked up a ball and racket. This is what it's like to give advice on /ic/. I've been in threads where I suggested using a thicker pencil/brush to alleviate chicken scratching, only to be dragged into a long back and forth by the poster why that wouldn't work, and why he prefers his way, even though that's the problem. More time was wasted than what it would have taken to just try it.
People here think "just draw" is a meme. It is actually a cry of exasperation. The doing leads to the understanding.

>>8072403
Because drawing requires you to have trained sight in first place and be capable of actual imagination + you actually need to draw to be capable of drawing at least straight line.

I can tell you this is how to draw head but if you can't just tell in your mind well this isn't how it should look like definitely and can't even tell from reference then you need to train your sight to spot differences and your imagination and keep studying anatomy.