Recommendations on pencil drawing course (free or pay)

If it’s just for fun, why not just look up a bunch of tutorials people make (tons on deviantart.com alone) and go with that? From there, it’s just enjoying yourself and practice.

But if you’re going for technical, guess I can’t say much there :( Maybe there’s a drafting class being taught at a technical/vocational school in your area? And have you considered the library for any of the myriad of technical drawing books there are?

The book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain” is a great way to learn to draw. You can get it at a library. That means all you need is paper, pencil and eraser. (Some might say you don’t need an eraser, but I’m more realistic than that.)

I second @Sunny2 ‘s suggestion. ‘Drawing on the right side of the brain is an excellent book’ with great lessons.

i too got ripped off from an art home course. but please check with your local library for books or classes that they know of. good luck.

I seriously doubt you’ll get anything out of an online drawing class. You don’t really learn drawing by looking at drawings. You have to learn how to see the world. Learning from tutorials just teaches you how to mimic how someone else sees the the world. Drawing on the right side of the brain does have good exercises, but nothing is going to to replace a good class. Especially for something like figure drawing.

If you have the time you might look into classes at a local college or community center. Also a lot of cities have social drawing clubs. For a small fee they cover the cost of a model and you can schlep your stuff over for and evening of socializing and art. I went to one at an FX studio once. You can put together a pretty cool still life with severed limbs and skinned weasels.

A cheaper alternative would be taking drawing classes at your community college.
But THE most important thing, is to practice practice practice.
Then take what you have to an artist (in person or an online critique forum) and have them tell you want you can do to improve.

What are you trying to do by the way? Improve at life drawing? architectural drawing? comics? real life? nature? scenery? concept art?

Real life drawing and human body and face primarily. Don’t really have time for a formal class unfortunately, as its only for my own enjoyment. Found some great tutorials on deviantart, so thanks for that :)

Oh- if you are doing life drawing, I recommend Andrew Loomis’ “Drawing the Head and Hands.” It’s got some really useful stuff on proportions.