cerulis guide to drawing

Disclaimer

I suck. This shit is wordy.
This is a guide on how I personally approached learning in a somewhat efficient way. Any weird phrasing is due to me being lazy in adapting the text that was originally meant for somewhere else. This is meant for absolutely /beg/s who are lost fumbling in the dark over the quadrillion resources and conflicting information out there.

Plenty of gamer lingo ahead.


Table of Contents


Starting off

Grab a pen and do this before anything else: https://drawabox.com/lesson/0
These are your fundies, eat them.

-Other resources
Trying to tackle something like Loomis from the get go will likely be a waste of time because, when first you start, you don't even know how to hold a pen yet. The reason even Fun With a Pencil can be a beginners trap is because when Loomis wrote the memebook he had been drawing for over two centuries already, so he forgot how it feels to not even know how to hold a pencil and skips over all that. It doesn't matter what god tier artist course you buy, or how many how to X tutorials you download, if you don't know the very basics and practice them all that other information will just fly over your head.

-What you will be doing
DaB will cover your fundamentals while getting you started on building mileage. What you learn here will act as your toolbelt to analyze and breakdown anything you wish to draw. Additionally, when giving feedback, I use DaB as a filter to see who is committed and how much, as trying to explain or redline something to someone who can't even draw a cube in perspective and doesn't even want to try is a waste of everyone's time.
Overall I recommend doing everything up to Part 1 + Challenges and Drills. Yes, it is grindy. Yes, it is hard. But it just works, I promise.
Keep in mind that the idea isn't to simply reach the magic number the drill gives you, if you feel burnt out it is fine to stop. What is important is that you understand what the exercise was trying to teach you, keep at it if you desire to polish the skill and get more mileage. But don't get too fixated on perfecting them: you won't. As you draw more and more your intuition will improve and these will get easier.

-Do I have to
This isn't to say this is the only way of learning. It is not. But it is efficient and puts people on a similar level of discussion. If you rather spend 8 years schizosketching and not even know what 2 point perspective means, be my guest. Whatever you find fun, but I can't help you there.
DaB mentions a 50/50 rule but honestly you can tune that however you want. For me, the idea is to not get burnt out while still being able to improve.

-Note on ergonomics
Drawing can fuck you up. Make sure you at least try to cover the basics so you don't break your back like Togashi.
If your hand hurts while drawing that means you are deathgripping. You are not supposed to feel any pain. So stop trying to break your pen in half.
Do not hang and loom over your work when drawing, adjust it properly.
And if any part of your body hurts (it is not supposed to), go figure why and fix it.


Draw

I'm adding this section early because it can still be done in trad, before you mess with software.

What I recommend to do while and after DaB is the fun stuff: copy a lot of art that you like and wish to learn from.
Start by figuring whose art you want to draw similar to and why. I attached my own sheet as reference below, doing one of these is obviously optional, but it would help me on recommending you what to focus your work on. And yes, all of this is how you develop muh style


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Note: This is a crop from a full outdated image. The variables I used are completely arbitrary, decided on them on a whim and wouldn't really apply for anything that isn't characters. Feel free to make the triangle out of anything that you value in a work.


At the beginning I don't expect anyone to have this figured out, so for now you can simply go and download everything you can find from an artist you just like and experiment. You can be as analytical as you want paying attention to their proportions, line weight etc etc, but the main idea is to not burn yourself out grinding and just have some leisure time while building mileage. This is hugely due to the fact that copying is relatively speaking easy, so it shouldn't be too taxing on you (though it will still be quite hard at this stage). A lot of things you will simply pick up on instinct, but the more you focus your brain power into it the more you will get out of your time.

Word of warning: You must study from real life if you want to learn and practice structure from your copies. You cannot properly learn anatomy from anime and such. The goal of analyzing a style is exactly that: to learn how real features are adapted into the style.

Tracing is also fine, and even easier. There is nothing wrong with tracing stuff to help you in your studies (and often even in pieces), and there are many ways to go about doing to. Let's say you wish to learn eye placement: simply trace a head and work from that, isolating the variables. Tracing is also the best tool you can use to break down the anatomy and measure proportions. Just be careful to remember why are you tracing, always do it with a clear goal like the ones listed above. Doing it mindlessly is a complete waste of time.

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So again: try starting to decide what you want to draw, as this is what will dictate everything you should be studying after the /beg/ period. Developing a workflow is key, and that can only be done if you know your goals.
Remember that everything you do at this stage will suck, try to not get too attached to a single copy and just move on, you want both quality and quantity. Intuition and being able to see in 3D are the keys to drawing, and getting your hands dirty as much as possible is the only way to practice said skills.
Now regardless of what you decide to do: always use reference. This is non-negotiable.
And for the love of god just draw.


Drawing Tablet

Screen tablets:
+No need "to get used to" (they just feel very nice);
+Can be turned into table tablets or second monitor;
-Not ergonomic (please buy a stand for it);
-Expensive;
-Bulky (often require multiple cables or proprietary ones);
-Bad colors save for the giga expensive ones
Note: If you're worried about parallax most people say you get used to it but I can't comment on that. Not an issue on any newer model.

Pen tablets:
+Cheap;
+Portable (fit way more desks/spaces, meaning you're more likely to pick it up and start drawing);
+Your hand doesn't get in the way of the picture;
-Take getting used to (eye-hand coordination, aka the great filter);
-Nibs wear out notably faster;
-If you have a bad monitor then a good display one will be a two in one solution for your colors;

Notes:
Texture helps having more grip. You want this. Drawing on pure glass with regular plastic tip is a slippery nightmare.
You can always buy some film for more or less grip.
Avoid small tablets as they don't allow for enough gesture space and will force you to draw with your wrist: 13" inch is bare fucking minimum, personally I wouldn't go below 16" but it all depends on the resolution as well, since a higher one will have less software UI taking over screen real state.
Pen pressure levels is a meme, it's all about how they are calibrated instead. Anything above 2048 is the same.

Brands:
PC:
-Wacom: Basically Apple, best pen but super overpriced. I would only consider used. Cintiqs have fan noise.
-Huion/XP-Pen: Basically same brand, chinkshit but works. Chances are this is what you will be getting. Try getting the newer ones for the newer pens. Pen tech 4.0 or whatever (PWS 600 on Huion) is VERY GOOD. Recent (2020) or so models are AVERAGE to BAD. Really old models (pre 2019) are VERY VERY BAD;
-Xencelabs: New brand, it's alright? Dunno, never tried it.

Some models also work with mobile.

Mobile:
-Apple: Literally Apple. Top tier, supremely overpriced products, good software support, closed ecosystem with trannyOS, you have to buy the apple pencil separately;
-Samsung: Cheaper tablets are fine for sketching but generally too small. Good big ones are quite expensive. Pen uses Wacom tech;
-Everything else: lol

Do NOT think about "future proofing" and splurging at the beginning. You will get there when you get there, having the best tablet will not make you god artist somehow, and a cheaper one will not gimp your epic hidden potential. For the next years the bottleneck will still be your hand so don't lie to yourself here.
Buying an expensive tablet "to force you to draw" is stupid. If you're going to learn you will do it because you like it and not because you spent hundreds.

Whatever just shill me which to pick:

Intuous Pro M/L used or Huion Kamvas Pro 20 (2024, with PWS 600 pen);


Software

-CSP: One time payment lol, lmao even (easy pirate), most robust software that isn't Photoshop (hard to learn at first), can do animations, has asset store (most of it is free), 3d objects/poses, cloud backups, you get the idea;
-SAI: One time payment, best feeling brush, simple to use (realistically most drawing workflows don't need anything that isn't bundled here), but lacks most of the features listed above including QoL ones and a dark mode meaning it will burn your eyes;
-Photoshop: >Subscription service, actual most robust software, industry standard if you want to go >pro. Most of it's trillion features aren't really for drawing, however. Pirating Adobe not only is morally correct how it is also a civil duty;
-Rebelle: For tradfags. Idk much about it. Tries to simulate trad on digital as much as possible, like having fluid engine that makes the ink flow down the canvas to ink absorption in different canvas materials;
-Krita: Best (and only worthwhile) free app, has many of the tools of the paid ones and even some exclusive features;
-Gimp: lol, joke is in the name;
-MSPaint: G O A T

Make sure to give yourself enough workspace. CSP/PS come with a quadrillion completely useless windows out of the box, get rid of them.

Whatever just shill me which to pick:

CSP

Android
-Infinite painter: One time payment, quite robust for mobile while also having a friendly UI.
-CSP: Subscription service, UI not mobile friendly but allows for ease of syncing with your PC

iOS
-Procreate: top tier, or so I've heard.

Other usable software:
PureRef
Lazy Nezumi
Daz3d


General Settings

Brushes
For most people default brushes are more than enough. There is no hidden super brush that will make you god tier artist.
Brushes are only relevant when trying to nail down a certain style or you're lazy and want CSP asset brushes to draw for you.
For sketching: I recommend low opacity. CSP darker pencil, chalk or similar.
For lineart: G-Pen.

Canvas Size
Just do regular 4k and adjust according to your compositional needs.
PPI/Resolution is for print, you don't need to concern yourself over it at all. Set it to 300 (csp default) and forget.


Gesture

Enter more grind. At this point your lines will look super stiff, gesture is the best way to learn flow and just letting go.
Gestures will likely feel overwhelming at first since you can feel the knowledge gap, but as you practice it and study "unrelated" things like proportions and anatomy, you will also end up bringing that knowledge over to your gesture drawings and vice versa.
For all the basics on gesture + demonstrations, check this lecture by Hampton.
The other go-to gesture tutorial is Proko's.
Drawsh studio has my favorite book on the subject as it is retard proof.
You can get easy poses with a timer on many sites like: PoseManiacs, QuickPoses.
These sites all have timers. The idea behind them is to force you to focus on the most important elements right away. You won't have time to adjust anything and that will make you draw more loosely. What manga materials recommends is starting with something like 15/30 seconds and then you increase the timer after you've done a few rounds. After you do 15 second gestures, something like 60 seconds will feel like an eternity. You can also do the reverse, start with longer times to download the workflow then speed it up, both approaches have their benefits.


Commissions

Personally I have 0 experience with normal comms as I have little to no interest in them, but I gathered some info overtime. If you're experienced and got any feedback for this let me know.
First things first: You will eventually get scammed. Make peace with that fact and get over it.
This is why you must always get paid upfront.
Go-to platform is Paypal (I believe even ko-fi uses Paypal, so there is no avoiding it). Issue is that it takes a considerable cut AND doxes you fully. Alternatively you could get paid on gift cards and resell them (do NOT redeem the cards).
Make a terms of service. No it will not help you in case of a charge back, but it will give you grounds for argument depending on how everything develops. and helps set expectations.
Charge more. Too many artists end up charging pennies for something that takes an absurd amount of time, knowledge and energy to do. Do not under valuate yourself. Do not undercut your peers.


Learning

Learning takes a long time. You will not get things right after a couple repetitions. Information and skill will be internalized overtime, it is an invisible process that just happens. Be patient, give yourself time but keep practicing.
At the beginning it will all feel like a maze, there is just so much to learn and not a way around it. Often any advice you get will just feel abstract (because it sort of is). Everyone perceives [anything] in a slightly different way, so like it or not, you have to find the path and unlock the skills yourself. Advice generally will only point you a possible direction that might help start developing the perception you need.


Deciding what to study

Figure what your goals are.
Beginners often shrug this off as some abstract pointless thing since all they want is to get into drawing anime boobies asap, but figuring why, what, where and how you want to draw is step zero into figuring what kind of study "program" you're supposed to be following. There is no magic formula that works for everyone, drawing is different from photobashing, and recommending that one tryhard guy who wants to go pro the same regiment as someone who "idk just want to doodle anime sometimes I guess" is pointless.
From practice you will start to realize what your weaknesses are, do not shy away from them: challenge yourself and tackle the necessary topics.

One of my favorite study methods is to do a copy, then try to replicate the results without reference then compare both. Doing this over and over again while taking notes will help you develop a workflow and see where you constantly falter over your goals. But baby steps, you can study any individual aspect of a piece, so if for example a head feels like too much, try just the eyes.


Developing a workflow

Go look for speed paints, streams or whatever in the style you desire and analyze it. If you can't find any of these it will be much harder but not impossible. There are always a trillion different ways to accomplish the same goal and the path you take doesn't matter as long as you can do it consistently, enjoy it and it looks good.
When copying, always ask yourself why the artist is doing something the way they did. This is more advanced stuff like analyzing stroke order, line weight, shading order and so on, how deep you want to go into this depends on your determination.
When looking for advice most artists will just tell you "idk dude just draw more lol". And as frustrating and vague as it may sound, it is true*. Not that useful of an advice, but not incorrect either. That is, as long as you have your fundies down. Millage is terribly important for intuition which again, is the key to drawing.
I do encourage you on experimenting a lot. I believe experimentation goes hand in hand with millage, you don't (and won't) have to nail your perfect workflow right away. Back to what I said about people perceiving things differently: You have to try different things and see what sticks and what doesn't. But again, this does sound quite abstract if you haven't built enough experience.


Figuring out what is wrong with your drawing

Use reference.
Always flip your canvas while working. Setup a shortcut for that and make it a habit, do it all the time and work on it while flipped. Everyone gets blinded by their own piece and it is super common to go to bed, go look at what you did the previous day and suddenly now you see all the mistakes and issues. Flipping the canvas helps immensely with that, it snaps you back to reality.
Other than that you will just have to rely on crit and external feedback, specially because while your skills and knowledge are still developing.
And reference harder.


Mentality

This will be boring talk for some but most artists I know fall into some of these pits.

Once again ask yourself why you are drawing. Almost everyone who starts aren't going to make it. So why are you even doing this? Yes, I know this sound like that useless self help book intro chapter but it does matter here.
If what you seek is an external metric or validation, I will tell you right away that no matter what you attain, it will never be enough. You will keep moving the goal post.
Deep down everyone is at least a bit of an attention whore, but remember that something like likes on Twitter are fucking worthless. Pretty much nobody will care about you for the longest time. No one gives a shit about your followers. And all said followers will do is look at pretty picture then forget about you .5 seconds later. That's how social media works. I've seen so many faggots trying to chase clout then get hyper frustrated when they fail it is just embarrassing.
If you want to simply impress your friends, unless they are also artists, they don't care that much more either. So stop trying to impress other people. You are only setting yourself for failure like this.
Additionally, avoid comparing yourself to god artists for what I believe are obvious reasons. Sure, comparisons are sort of inevitable, but if anything you should want to learn from these people instead of feeling miserable about yourself. Remember that more often than not those artists drew for at least 30 hours a day, often at the expense of everything else. You have to work an absurd amount to get good, there are no exceptions. If anything I wish all of you were better than me so I could learn from you instead, so enough of inferiority complex.
If you relate to this in any way, do yourself a favor and try to get over this as soon as you can (yeah, no shit). Art is a team effort, but you need to draw for yourself, first and foremost.

If you're embarrassed over sharing your stuff: stop being a bitch. Learning that it is okay to fail and be retarded in public is really important. If you have that fear you need to get over it, as it is part of the journey. Don't hold back on asking or sharing, goal is to improve and improving in art is ultimately a team effort.

Talent is awful excuse for those who quit. If you believe in it you're ngmi.


FAQ

How long have you been drawing for?

Retard ass question. This tells you nothing and is a terrible way to benchmark progress. Often just used for humble bragging or bringing yourself down. Its now about the time since you first started holding a pen, but rather all the effort you put on studying, which isn't really quantifiable by the aforementioned metric.
Anyways, like 10 minutes.


Youtube resources

-Marco Bucci: https://www.youtube.com/user/marcobucci - GOD Artist with SSS tier tutorials. Simply the best teacher.
-DrawshStudio: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrawshStudio/videos - Simple channel that covers lots of fundies and anatomy, great for quick revisions. I like his book (it's $5 https://drawshstudio.gumroad.com/)
-DrawingWithWacom: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL932AB0958975441F - So you can check lots of japanese artists workflows
-Kienan: https://www.youtube.com/user/KienanLafferty/videos - Wholesome chungus, big fan of his workflow and brush. Went full schizo recently.
-Proko: https://www.youtube.com/@ProkoTV - You already know him.
Avoid any "how to draw anime" videos, for the love of god.

Edit Report
Pub: 30 Sep 2024 11:57 UTC
Edit: 04 May 2025 17:54 UTC
Views: 304