I'm sure most you you became interested in drawing after joining the fandom, both clean and 18+ but the question is, where do I begin?

I've tried "draw furries - how to draw anthros" but it isnt very good imo, and the drawfurry website which had loads of tutorials just disappeared so all Im doing is making quick sketches here and there but I'm more of a visual learner, so anybody got some sites or tips? thanks (:

I didn't start drawing, drawing started me.

I'd say study your anatomy. Don't just draw furry, draw people too. Draw what inspires you. Don't worry so much that it might not come out how you wanted it to. You're still new at it. c:

As for tutorials.. DeviantArt is probably a good place to search for them.

Or learn them naturally! Do what you can do on paper first, then jump to the more complicated things, like computers! I don't know why but paper art looks more better than ink in a digital screen, it's my opinion, do whatever you want!

Well, depends what kind of style you're heading for, but I suggest starting from learning anatomy/figure construction. And not in a half-assed way. Those two are extremely important, as you can easily construct any kind of character if you got a good understanding of the two subjects.

Practice by drawing humans first (most furry artwork is essentially humans with animal heads/limbs), you'll have plenty of reference for it , you'll learn how bone/muscle structure works, which you can later use for drawing other subjects.
I'd advise learning the basic perspective as well in the start.

You should probably start drawing on paper, since digital drawing requires you to learn the software you're gonna use + you'll need a tablet, which is pretty fucking hard to draw on if you're a newbie (unless you get the super expensive ones with the LCD on it :| )

Check out Andrew Loomis. If i remember right, he offers A LOT free digital books, for novices and those advanced in drawing.
I would link you a pdf library on drawing I know, but the mods would probably kick my ass since it's from a torrent site, and I don't think e621 condones that (even though 70% of the books there a available for free, cough cough)....

Ami~ said:
I'd say study your anatomy.

It worked for Leonardo da Vinci, so do it.

Thanks all for the tips and @ Kaik I know what you mean lol and I got some loomis ebooks thanks, since I never heard of it :D I've only managed to draw anthro heads but Im going to work on anatomy/perp now, hope to get a wacom tablet if this all works out! Gonna stick with the ole paper and pencil for now

Usually, if you need those kinda guides, you probably aren't exactly made to draw.... Then again, I wouldn't take that as a rule of thumb.

Anyway:

If you start from scratch, I wouldn't recommend you to start ACTUAL drawing immediately since you're only gonna be dissatisfied with the results, instead, observe. A lot.
Try basic poses, basic anatomy, heck, start scribbling skeletons if you need to, look if there are some ragdoll programs or build a ragdoll yourself (or buy one, or just look at already done pictures and dumb them down to ragdoll-style, or.... ).

Besides anatomy, you should also put lots of work into faces and hands, you'll notice at some point that your own, more or less unique style crystalizes itself.
If you're having problems, always look at yourself first: I.e: Look at your own hands and how they are built, and if you can't, don't get the angle or something, chekc the internet for a similar pic and add your knowledge.

If you're confident in your basics, or already know them, start with stage two:
Imitate. Observe. Imitate more. Basically: Practice

Don't be ashamed to 1:1 copy other pictures, as long as you don't take any credit for them, it's a great way to practice stuff like lining, colouring, distance, position and bringing life into a picture, you can sill use math and rulers at this point, but try to get rid of them.
You shoudl at this point also start doing own drawings, rough sketches as well as complete ones. I find it extremely helpful to draw stuff for others. i never do anything except someone asks me to.

I would say, that as soon as you can look at a random picture, memorize it, and copy it's essentials and some details, so basically make a sketch of the already done pic without having to look at it, you have become awesome and an artist that might have a future, if he keeps practicing etc. etc.

As I am not an artist myself I can't offer much insight. The big tip I do have for whenever someone tries something new is to not get discouraged too early. Persistence is key.

Although mentioned above, it is still important to accent. As a musician, I've always been told to look up other great musicians and to just listen to how they sound and what they play. It may seem a little cheap, but everyone does it. Look at those artists who's style you appreciate, then experiment on your own while deciphering their artwork. Feel free to try different ideas when you feel comfortable.

I'll say the same as everyone else; practice anatomy. The best way I found to get practice in was to offer free art. Everyone likes free art, even if that art isn't very good, and sometimes they'll even thank you by giving you art as well.

https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=268850

Reference to get better.

do not trace

Mario583 said:
https://inkbunny.net/submissionview.php?id=268850

Reference to get better.

do not trace

Don't listen to the 'never trace' crowd. Just don't show other people traced work. Do it in private and then throw the traces in the trash. Showing off traced work is almost everything this link says, but tracing in private as practice is not evil.

"Teaches nothing", bah. I wish I'd traced more as a kid. It's a little late to do it once you're not in grade school anymore, but I'm pretty sure that every interaction with art helps people improve as an artist, especially when starting from low levels of skill. Just think about it as you're working on it. Don't just copy a line. Think about why the line was there and how it feels to draw.

Do not show off traced works and do not trace anything you're going to show off. Not even in part.

31h253 said:
Don't listen to the 'never trace' crowd. Just don't show other people traced work. Do it in private and then throw the traces in the trash. Showing off traced work is almost everything this link says, but tracing in private as practice is not evil.

Do not show off traced works and do not trace anything you're going to show off.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

tracing and heavily referencing is your friend.

I want to try every time I see an artist say "I drew this without references! I"m so happy!" as if that was some great achievement.

It's not. trace. Mimic. look at life, use references. Even if yoru own style is totally differnetn then what your'e looking at, if you're having trouble with how to draw something, looking at how it's actualyl put together, how other people do it, mimicing it with your hand, is one of the BEST ways to figure it out. I have pages of pages full of eyes, mouths, faces, feet, etc in my sketchbook.

Also... Every picture start doesn't need to be finished. When I was young, every time I started to draw, I HAD to finish the picture. If I stopped, I never revisited that idea again. Don't do that. if you draw and the pose turns out weird, draw it again and make the pose better. Don't be afraid to start over. DOn't be afraid to say "this isn't working out." and try again.

I've been learning to draw lately and my stuff comes out 10 times better if I have a reference. I look at characters (or even photos of people, or real people) in similar poses to mine to get an idea of how things should connect, what should be in front of what, etc. I also get ideas for features to add to my characters and poses to try.

I wouldn't say don't trace. I would say never trace something and then claim to have drawn it; that's like stealing. I often take images and trace them in Inkscape to make nice vector versions (smooth, crisp, scalable, often with some improvements) and, if necessary, colour them. I distribute them because they're nice improvements from the originals (just being a vector is an improvement!), but I always clearly state that it's a trace and that I didn't draw the original, providing a link back to the original if I can. (Thinking about it, I should be adding text to them stating this...)

Tracing will teach you some basics - it gets you looking closely at the construction, how the drawing is made. You can get a basic idea, then you move on to using references. Start by just trying to copy what you see, and deviate further until you're drawing mostly from your own ideas, just glancing at a reference every so often when you're not sure which line should overlap which.

Keep all your drawings, even if you're not happy with them and don't share them - they'll still serve as references. Maybe later you'll look back at them and realize what you need to improve to make them great, or just be inspired to redo them. But do share as many as you're comfortable sharing. You may be surprised how much people like something you thought wasn't very good.

Finally, the most important thing I was told: You have to be crappy before you can be good. Your first drawings won't be very good. I used to get so discouraged by how bad my results were that I didn't want to try anymore. Keep going. Practice. You'll get better. This might seem obvious, but it never really clicked with me until I heard it phrased like that: you have to do it badly before you can do it well.

(As an aside, I'm wondering if I should post my rough-draft sketches to e621 now, or wait until I have a working PC again and post the final, coloured versions as I do them.)

Should you want to skip this boring text, there are references in the end for you to check out.

Ohoh! One tip you've probably heard is practice and keep practicing. People repeat this cause it's true, and it shall be your first advice.

- A second tip is as AbsebaroKoon said. Try to avoid digital for main practices (but don't worry in using it, let yourself go), and focus practicing with pencil and paper in hand.
Accompanying this second tip, is the ever present, Draw from Real Life! No, you don't have to draw realism, you just have to draw what you see. This provides you with several boons on your drawing skill. First, by looking closely at objects or people, you'll notice details you never knew were there. By drawing them you learn more, and add it to that secret inventory of objects and details you have in the back of your head. Working out light and shadowing is best done in real life I'll tell you that.

- Should some details or positions be required, people already told you, references exist! You have two hands as well, be sure to use them to their fullest! They're good references. Photos and others details, you have Google. Hell, should I be asked to draw a Caterpillar excavator, I'd make a half-assed machine with a chevy on top. References help and are necessary! Just remember that when you use them to draw, you also learn more! Part of the keep practicing and drawing is that you keep on learning as well.

- As a personal opinion, I'm not a big fan of tracing, but there's really not much problem with it as long you learn from it. 31h253 there even said good tips about them! I actually copy from direct view and don't exactly trace over it (almost the same). Personal preference I guess.

- I uphold some extra thoughts. To learn how to do furry, be it cartoon or realistic, you have to learn their roots. Furry, or Anthro, have both animal and human roots. Learn from both, and you'll learn a lot more than just copying or tracing (which basically means, draw humans and animals to keep your anatomy sharp).

And last: Time, it takes time. You'll get frustrated, you may want to give up, but just keep at it, just keep practicing, just keep on drawing. You'll get there, at the very skill you want to achieve.
It took me some years to get where I am, and I'm still very displeased with my own skill. Makes me envious of those that starting drawing by their 12 and draw brilliantly :<
Oops! Starting to get off track.

When you practice enough, you'll find that you'll need less and less references to work on your art. You can use them, for they help, but you can also handle without them. As I said, experience takes time :)

Here's some resources worth checking:

- Andrew Loomis, someone said it, I repeat it. They're free ebooks and cover a lot of useful stuff, from anatomy to composition, to perspective and free drawing. I love those books and they're good to take a peek at once in a while!

- http://majnouna.deviantart.com/gallery/6557 <- I like her simple yet great tutorials!
- http://squeedgemonster.deviantart.com/journal/Quick-Tips-On-Referencing-Anatomy-268755412 <- Mostly what you search, no?
- http://dana-t.deviantart.com/journal/Helpful-Links-for-Budding-Artists-253800115 <- These are worthy of taking a look as well. Maybe not so for starters, but store this for future reference!

I'd give you more, but I actually just stole this computer. Therefore, it's not mine and I lack my huge ass list of tuts and tips.

Good luck & happy drawing!

start with simple shapes and understanding the flow. work on general details. you will have trouble with hands and feet for a while, and hair and faces will typically give you a rage fit. do not start on perspective until you feel comfortable with your style.