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How to Improve at Drawing: A Practical Guide for Beginners
A practical beginner's guide to improving at drawing: build a small daily habit, practice with a goal, learn to see accurately, and track your progress over time.
Drawing & painting
Pick up a pencil, paint what you see.
Practical art guides: drawing skills, sketching and charcoal, oil, acrylic and watercolor painting, supplies, techniques, finishing and practice.
87 in-depth guides 15 topics Oct 2026 latest guide
Featured guides
Guides to start with
Each one links on to more specific articles in its topic.
How to Get Better at Sketching: A Beginner's Roadmap
A practical beginner's roadmap to better sketching: daily habits, warm-ups, drawing from life, simple shapes, and how to track progress without burning out.
Which Pencils Are Best for Drawing? A Grade-by-Grade Guide
Learn what H, HB and B pencil grades do, whether 2B or HB suits you, and how to put together a simple graphite set for sketching and shading.
How to Get Started with Oil Painting
A beginner's guide to oil painting: what to buy, how to set up safely, the basic rules, and how to plan your first painting without wasting money.
The Oil Painting Method: From Underpainting to Final Layer
A step-by-step overview of the oil painting method: preparing the surface, toning, drawing, underpainting, building layers fat over lean, and finishing.
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Drawing
Drawing skills, sketching, charcoal and drawing materials.
Drawing Skills 6 guides, starting with How to Improve at Drawing: A Practical Guide for Beginners. 6 guides Sketching Charcoal 6 guides, starting with How to Get Better at Sketching: A Beginner’s Roadmap. 6 guides Drawing Materials 4 guides, starting with Which Pencils Are Best for Drawing? A Grade-by-Grade Guide. 4 guides
Oil & Acrylic
Oil painting basics and technique, acrylics and comparing paint types.
Oil Basics 7 guides, starting with How to Get Started with Oil Painting. 7 guides Oil Technique 8 guides, starting with The Oil Painting Method: From Underpainting to Final Layer. 8 guides Acrylic Painting 5 guides, starting with Acrylic Painting Tips for Beginners: Simple Habits That Help. 5 guides Paint Medium Comparisons 5 guides, starting with What Is the Best Paint Medium for Beginners?. 5 guides
Watercolor
Watercolor basics, supplies, paper, techniques, color and project ideas.
Watercolor Basics 6 guides, starting with Watercolor Painting Basics for Beginners: Start Here. 6 guides Watercolor Supplies 5 guides, starting with Watercolor Supplies for Beginners: What You Really Need. 5 guides Watercolor Paper Surfaces 6 guides, starting with The Best Watercolor Paper for Painting. 6 guides Watercolor Techniques 4 guides, starting with Wet-in-Wet Watercolor Painting: A Complete Guide. 4 guides Watercolor Color Composition 7 guides, starting with Color Theory for Watercolor Painting. 7 guides Watercolor Subjects Projects 7 guides, starting with Plein Air Painting in Watercolor: Gear, Setup and Workflow. 7 guides
Finishing & Practice
Finishing and presenting your work, plus practice and creativity.