How to Draw: Free Beginner’s Course | RapidFireArt (2024)

How to Draw: Free Beginner’s Course | RapidFireArt (1)Want to learn how to draw but don’t know where to start? Are you frustrated with your slow progress and feel like you’ve hit a wall?

This free drawing course will guide you through a series of fun and easy tutorials which will develop your drawing skills quickly.

If you’re a seasoned artist, this course could be a great refresher! You might even learn something new.

My name is Darlene and I created this free drawing course because I want to provide beginners with all the resources to learn the skills they need without having to fork up loads of cash or rummage the web for bits and pieces.

Shout out to Nadia Adalath for inspiring me to create this course! Thank you :)

The unique thing about this course is that I’m going to use my non-dominate hand to learn along with you.

That means that I won’t have the same level of control as my right hand and will basically need to develop my drawing muscles from scratch! I want to prove to you that you can learn how to draw even if your writing looks like chicken scratch!

How to Draw: Free Beginner’s Course | RapidFireArt (2)

Some of the things you will learn:

  • How to draw the smart way
  • How to draw more realistically
  • How to draw what you see
  • How to shade realistically
  • How to draw with perfect proportions
  • And more!

Tools you’ll need to begin:

A sharp pencil, blank piece of paper and an open mind.

  • HB Pencil: Also known as #2 pencil
  • Any sketch paper
  • Eraser

How to Draw for Beginners: Course Outline

There are 5 levels in this free drawing course with a total of 10 lessons (I may decide to add more). Each lesson can be completed at your own pace and comes with a series of homework assignments.

You can submit your homework assignmentson theRFA facebook page and get feedback from me and other students participating in the course, just like in a real classroom. It will be a great way to track your progress as well!

I like to date all of my work (yes, even if it’s bad) so that I can go back and see my improvements later. It’s really fun and I highly suggest you do it as well :)

If you want to make some suggestions on what to cover in future lessons, let me know. I’m always taking in new ideas and since these lessons are for YOU, I want them tobe more personalized.

You can access all lessons from this page, so make sure to bookmark it in your browser. You can even subscribe to my mailing list to get notified when new lessons are posted!

Ready to start?

LEVEL 1: The Building Blocks of Art

Level 1 covers the very basics of drawing and why you don’t need to be perfect when it comes to sketching. You’ll learn how to draw faster and how to draw things that are more structurally sound.

Lesson 1: How to Sketch
If you can make a mark on a piece of paper, you can sketch! –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 2: Learn to see things differently
Learn how you can draw more accurately and quickly bybreaking complicated objects down into simple shapes –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 3: Going from 2D to 3D
Step up your game and learnhow to make your drawings go from 2D to 3D using various techniques. –> Go to lesson!

LEVEL 2: The Devil’s in the Details

Level 2 allows you to really pay attention to what you’re drawing and how you can make even your line drawings look realistic!

Lesson 4: How to draw with accurate proportions
Learn 4 awesome techniques to get your proportions more accurate. –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 5: Common Drawing Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Are you paying enough attention? Learn how to analyze your artwork and easily identify areas that could use improvement –> Go to lesson!

LEVEL 3: Techniques to Step Up Your Game

Lesson 6:Introduction to Linear Perspective
Learn how you can draw unique scenes with people usingone-point and two-point linear perspective –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 7:Introduction to Line Quality
Learn how to further enhance your drawings by varying your line weight–>Go to lesson!

LEVEL 4: How to Shade Realistic Textures

Lesson 8: Introduction to shading techniques

Learn four different shading techniques to shade a variety of realistic textures –> Go to lesson!

Lesson 9: Learn how to shade

Learn 7 simple steps so you can start shading today! –>Go to lesson!

LEVEL 5: Wrapping it all up

Lesson 10:Putting it all together

Learn how to put everything from lessons 1-9 into practice through 3 examples –> Go to lesson!

How to Draw: Free Beginner’s Course | RapidFireArt (2024)

FAQs

Is there a free drawing program? ›

Draw is Canva's free drawing tool, with everything you need to inspire your team to develop exciting creative brainstorms and build zesty new projects. The floating draw tab simplifies your starting point with options to customize the color, thickness, and style of your pen and a one-touch eraser at hand.

What is the first thing a beginner artist should learn? ›

An essential skill to learn as a beginning artist, whether drawing or painting, is perspective. If you want to achieve three-dimensional art, knowing perspective is key, including how to find the horizon line, determine the vanishing point and an overview of linear perspective.

Can you teach yourself to draw better? ›

It may take months of practice to see noticeable progress, and years to draw really well. Keep practicing and you will get there. Keep your drawings from now and compare them to your drawings a few months from now - you will surely notice some progress.

What is the 4 8 8 method of drawing? ›

5. Use the 4-8-8 method. Simplify your shape before putting in detail using one set of four lines and two sets of eight. The first four define the box and another eight cut away from it to fi nd the basic proportion and gesture lines of the subject.

How do people get so good at drawing? ›

Practice, practice, practice. That's the mantra of famous artists across the world, and practice is the sure-fire way to improve your drawings. Even spending a few minutes a day on sketch engages your brain with your art and helps you learn new techniques. Bring a sketchbook with you everywhere.

How long does it take to get good at drawing? ›

If practice is necessary, then what kind of practice do you need and how much? In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that, in order to master anything, you'll need to invest in 10,000 hours of practice. This equates to approximately five years' worth of full-time effort.

What is the first thing to do in drawing? ›

Start with basic shapes.

“You're not just drawing what you see in front of you. You're drawing the other side as well,” says artist Lucas Elliott. In order to create the appearance of depth, you have to break the subject down into circles, rectangles, and triangles, and then mold those as you might a block of clay.

What should I learn how do you draw first? ›

I'd recommend practicing to draw simple shapes, cubes, circles, triangles, lines, etc. Then try to draw a simple objet that you can see. To do that. Try to decompose the object you are seeing, into simple shapes.

How many hours a day should I practice drawing? ›

Some may want to draw 20 minutes while others 2 hours or even all nighter. If you wanna progress fast (even if you have a busy shedule, a family…), do not focus on HOW LONG you need. But draw as long as your heart tells you to. That way, sketching is going to be your lifestyle and be part of your daily routine.

How can I teach my self to draw? ›

Learn to draw better by copying.

Building off the work of those who've come before you is a great way to learn. Trying to pass off the work of another artist as your own is plagiarism, but emulating the work of accomplished illustrators is an observational exercise that can help you improve your drawing skills.

What is the best drawing app for beginners? ›

Best drawing apps for beginners
  • Procreate.
  • Adobe Photoshop Sketch.
  • Adobe Illustrator Draw.
  • Adobe Fresco.
  • Inspire Pro.
  • Pixelmator Pro.
  • Assembly.
  • Autodesk Sketchbook.

What app do artists use to draw free? ›

Gimp is the best free digital art software on WIndows, Mac, and Linux. The open-source drawing app is as powerful as Adobe Photoshop, however, there is a learning curve to mastering the tool. The freemium Adobe Fresco is also worth trying, without having to pay for the full app.

Is there an app that teaches you to draw? ›

“With over 1,500 hand-drawn lessons developed by real artists, ShadowDraw is a drawing app for beginners who want to improve their skills and become better artists through daily step-by-step drawing exercises.

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