The natural way to draw
by Kimon Nicolaïdes · first published 1941
80% recommend20% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A structured, long-form drawing course built as daily exercises and lesson plans. Readers value it as a guide for working through observational drawing over many months. Suits serious self-taught learners.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
An approach to drawing technique based on observation covering contour and gesture, model drawing, memory in ink and watercolor; anatomy study, drapery, shade, structure, and other topics in drawing.
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My suggestion is to follow Kimon Nicolaides' "The natural way to draw" It's almost the antithesis of Betty Edwards' "Drawing on right side of the brain". Follow the exercises as if you were doing push-ups. At some point you'll probably want to get a model, spend your money…
on “Ask HN: Anyone here have good material for learning how to sketch from scratch?” ↗…smiley face to drawing myself in a way that resembled a human and was even recognizable with that book. A good book to read after you are done with Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is Nicolaides The Natural Way to Draw. It's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it in the end.
on “Design for Hackers: Why Monet Never Used Black, & Why You Shouldn't Either” ↗I'm surprised no one has mentioned Nicolaides' "The Natural Way to Draw." While I never finished it, I liked it well enough and it's regarded as a classic. I'll have to check out Preston Blair's books.
on “The Best Textbooks on Every Subject” ↗I recommend The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaïdes. This book sets out some extensive lesson plans, but you can tailor them to your own time allowances.
on “Letter of Recommendation: Blind Contour Drawing” ↗Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain takes a lot of its guidance from a book called The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaïdes. The latter is more of a textbook with practice schedules and the like, but is a very good guide to go from nothing to decent in 6 months.
on “A Quick Beginner's Guide to Drawing” ↗…exhaustive, or in any particular order: _Animator's Survival Kit_, by Richard Williams. _Illusion of Life_, by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. _Animation from Script to Screen_, by Shamus Culhane. _Natural Way to Draw_, by Kimon Nicolaïdes. _Creative Illustration_, by Andrew Loomis. _Timing for Animation_, by Harold Whitaker and John Halas. _Drawn to Life_, vols. 1 & 2, by Walt Stanchfield. _Character Animation…
on “Ask HN: What are the best textbooks in your field of expertise?” ↗A related book, and the basis for much of whats in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain is The Natural Way to Draw, by Kimon Nicolaïdes. It is a text book and has structured lessons in it, so if you need formal structure its helpful. Following the lessons is not required to gain a lot from this book.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…think is really excellent. As you progress through the exercises, the instructor has you work in different media, including paints (but in order to learn how to express a 3d object on 2d material). The Natural Way to Draw by Nicolaides. It might be found at a library but here is a link to amazon (I don't get any credits for this just for ease of searching) https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Way-Draw-KIMON-NICOLAIDES/dp/...…
on “Ask HN: How can I learn how to paint?” ↗There are two books you need. You’ve already gotten the title of the first one. That’s the first one you should read. When you’re done, the other is “The Natural Way to Draw” by Kimon Nicolaides. It’s weird to find something that can be so easily answered but there it is. Truly great books.
on “Ask HN: How do I learn drawing?” ↗I learned from Kimon Nicolaides' _The Natural Way to Draw_ – although it's really more of a teacher's guidebook for many months' worth of regular drawing sessions, there are some "lesson plans" for classical subjects like slowly introducing colour into your…
on “Painting from Primitives (2017)” ↗You should also definitely checkout The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides.
on “Ask HN: What skills/things are you learning?” ↗…then move on to plants, or old shoes. You can draw your hand, and then maybe try a portrait. Now to really learn how to draw, with style and sensibility takes a little longer. There's a book called 'the Natural Way to Draw', which is broadly recommended and is an excellent guide for getting off on the right foot, with the right mindset.
on “Ask HN: How Do I Become as Proficient with Art as I Am with Computing?” ↗Also, Keys to Drawing, by Dodson is really good, with more of an emphasis leading to painting. The Natural Way to Draw, by Nickolaides, is really good for life drawing.
on “Artists have forgotten how to draw” ↗…meaning - the human figure flattens out into a hand shape, an arm shape, an eye shape. But there's very little mystery to "what do you do about that" - you grab a book of exercises like Keys to Drawing or Natural Way to Draw, and you try to see the object you want to study through the exercise. Because we recognize silhouettes first, and we make marks as lines first, contour drawing is a typical starting point for practicing…
on “Painting is terribly difficult: on Monet” ↗…blobs you might see if you defocus your eyes. Being able to capture the proportions and locations of these masses is actually very important when drawing from life. (see, for example, Nicolaides's "The Natural Way to Draw")
on “Learning To Learn: Pencil, Then Ink” ↗