<p>So, I have never had any formal art classes, but art has always been my secret passion. I am by no means any kind of "good" or "skilled," though I would like to be some day.</p>
<p>At this point, my art is pretty much in the beginner stage. Though I've tried to start learning about anatomy and such online, I find that without instruction, it's very hard for me to understand the underlying concepts involved.</p>
<p>I am not going to an art school, but a university, where I plan to double major in Creative Writing and either Studio Art or Graphic Design. </p>
<p>Will being a beginner get me utterly crushed in college? </p>
<p>Are there some skills I should be practicing at this point that are necessary for art classes? </p>
<p>Are there any good beginner art resources online you know of?</p>
<p>/// Will being a beginner get me utterly crushed in college? ///</p>
<p>It might depend upon your mind set. If you compare yourself to fabulously talented and well-trained students, you begin to doubt yourself. But it isn’t about them, it’s about you. Your skills and vision will grow in time. </p>
<p>I was very nervous about how I would fit in at an art school. I took a summer Drawing I class at a state college and it gave me the means to walk into my foundations level courses confident I belonged there. </p>
<p>Drawing, 2D design, sculpture or ceramics courses would be a great place to start. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I self-taught myself art until the summer before my junior year of high school, when I took my first class to develop my portfolio for college and I and discovered that I was as good as (and maybe even better than) people who’d taken classes all through high school. You’d be surprised how much you can learn on your own when it comes to art!</p>
<p>Resources online may be packed with information, but they’re not going to teach you how to use that information in your own drawings. Here is a list of some good old-fashioned printed books that got me started off when I decided to get serious about my drawing skills. If you like creative writing enough to want to major in it, I don’t think reading books is going to be too much of a chore for you. ;)</p>
<p>Drawing People: How to Portray the Clothed Figure by Barbara Bradley
Perspective Without Pain by Phil Metzger
Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm
Drawing the Human Head by Burne Hogarth</p>
<p>Or if you want to go even simpler, you can try books like:</p>
<p>Draw Real People! by Lee Hammond
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards</p>