Hello, i just wanted to introduce myself to all of you guys.
My name is Alfred, since i can remember i have been trying to learn to draw without success. I cant remember how many times I have given up because I believed i could not do it.
Right now i'm picking up again the desire and have been doing some training with a human figure course i found over the internet. I'm 28 years old and sometimes i wonder if its too late for me to get better at drawing.
I would love some feedback on that part, is it really possible for someone as me to get better without having the "gift" of being able to draw since you're a child?
You know, i remember having this friend in school that could draw really easily and for me it was so hard to put whatever was on my mind into paper, i still don't know how to do that properly.
My main goal is to draw comic/manga characters. And now that i have a son coming i want to draw to him all kind of heroes, it would be of great joy to me.
Enough of my rambling, just wanted to introduce myself and i hope to be a part of this community.
Thanks for reading.

Hi Alfred,

Welcome to Drawspace!

It's absolutely possible to learn to draw starting at age 28, or even 78. We have many members here who have started later in life. We also don't have too many members who consider themselves to have a "gift" -- it's just hard work and practice, practice, practice.

There is a huge collection of excellent tutorials on this site: my advice to you is to start at the beginning and learn them, practicing each one several times. You can also join in our weekly "Drawing Challenge" here in the forums, or seek advice on your work from all the friendly artists who hang out here.

So welcome, and c'mon in!

I'm over 10 years older than you and just started drawing two years ago. Absolutely it is not too late!

Pretty much all I draw is comics and anime/comics characters -- and you're right, you'll have to do a lot of studying on anatomy and the human figure. But don't despair, with practice it will come. It will probably take some months of studying and practice before you can get consistantly recognizable and proportionate human figures, but for me the journey itself has been lots of fun.

I'm still pretty new here, so I'll defer to those with more experience here, but there are a lot of helpful people around here, and an emphasis on the basics that you'll probably find useful.

So sharpen your pencil, and make yourself at home!

Welcome to Drawspace! Join in you will be amazed at what you can do.
Paulette

There is no 'gift' of drawing. Excellence in drawing, painting, whatever medium you choose comes only with time and practice, lots and lots and lots of practice, as well of course as the desire to learn and to draw.

As for putting what is in your mind on paper? Don't. You won't succeed until you are as familiar with your subject and comfortable with your technique as you are with breathing. Very, very few people work completely out of their imagination when drawing any type of realism. Yes we have ideas but they are created using real references and them embellished to become something different.

Comic or manga drawing is a specialist area and I firmly believe that you need to be able to learn the classic techniques of drawing and shading and colour work before you can begin to be successful at any one thing. Comics are like any other form of art, a series of lines and shade.

So my advice to you would be start at the beginning, work your way up learning how to use line form and shadow, then start branching out where your mind and hand leads you.

welcome Alfred ....I hope you find what you are looking for .. if it's alot of help and encouragment then you have come to the right place ....the whole gift thing lol I think is funny here is my reason why ..I have had kids that are 7 years old and they draw very very well .. I have no clue where to give credit because they have not studied art at all and they do seem to have what I have always called the gift to draw .. to see something and be able to put it on paper ..it amazes me when I see it from a 7 year old ....my father and his father and my brother and my uncle are all artist ....my childeren and my brother kids can all draw very very well ...I personaly think its a gift that was passed on ...but I also believe that with hard work you can learn to draw as with anything eles if you put your mind to it .

What book would you guys recommend for me based on my goals?

Alfred, I wouldn't recommend a book, I would recommend that you just draw, draw, draw. Start with Brenda's lessons for a grounding in the techniques and go through them.

Yes, you can pick up books that reinforce techniques, but nothing is as useful as good old fashioned practice!

My main problem right now is how to make things look like they have depth i can get the outline of objects but the shading eludes me. More evident in surfaces that turn, spheric surfaces are not that hard for me but when something is turning, like is facing me and starts to turn away i don't shade it very well.