Most people approach drawing like they’re following a recipe for sourdough bread. You follow the steps, you measure the ingredients, and you expect a perfect loaf. But art isn't baking. Honestly, the biggest lie in the art world is that how to draw step by step tutorials are a linear path to mastery. They aren't. They are training wheels. If you never take them off, you never actually learn to ride the bike; you just learn how to follow instructions.
I’ve spent years watching beginners get frustrated because their "step five" doesn't look like the professional’s "step five." It’s demoralizing. You’ve got your pencil, your expensive sketchbook, and a burning desire to create, but the bird you're drawing looks more like a potato with wings. That’s because most tutorials skip the "why" and go straight to the "what."
Drawing is about seeing.
If you can’t see the underlying structure of an object, no amount of step-by-step guidance is going to save your final piece. We need to talk about what’s actually happening behind the scenes of those polished YouTube videos and glossy art books.
The Geometric Skeleton: What You’re Missing
Think about the human body. You don't start by drawing skin and eyelashes. You start with the skeleton. In the world of how to draw step by step, this means breaking everything down into primitive shapes: spheres, cubes, and cylinders.
Andrew Loomis, a legendary illustrator from the mid-20th century, revolutionized this with the "Loomis Method" for drawing heads. He didn't just say "draw a circle." He explained that the human skull is basically a ball that’s been flattened on the sides. When you understand that the head is a 3D object in space, the "step by step" part becomes a lot easier because you aren't just tracing lines; you're building a form.
Why circles are never just circles
When a tutorial tells you to "start with a circle," they usually mean a sphere.
- A circle is 2D.
- A sphere has volume.
- Perspective changes everything.
If you’re drawing a coffee mug, you don't draw a rectangle. You draw a cylinder. If you look at it from the top, it’s a circle. From the side, at eye level, it’s a rectangle. From an angle? It’s a complex series of ellipses. Understanding this spatial awareness is the difference between a drawing that looks "flat" and one that pops off the page. Most beginners struggle because they try to draw the idea of an object rather than the shape of the object.
The "Ugly Phase" and Why You Shouldn't Quit
Every single drawing has an ugly phase. It's that awkward middle ground where your lines are messy, your proportions look slightly "off," and you’re convinced you have zero talent.
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I see this all the time. Someone follows a how to draw step by step guide for a portrait. They get the eyes down, they look great, but then they hit the nose and everything falls apart. They erase so hard they rip the paper. They give up.
Listen: the middle of a drawing is supposed to look bad. Professional artists like Kim Jung Gi—who could draw incredibly complex scenes from memory—still understood the internal grid and the "rough-in" stage. You have to give yourself permission to be messy. Those clean, crisp lines you see in finished tutorials are usually the result of hours of "construction" work that happened off-camera or under the final layer of ink.
How to handle the mess
Basically, you need to work from the general to the specific.
Don't draw the fingernails before you've placed the hand.
Don't draw the shingles before you've built the house.
If the foundation is wonky, the decorations won't matter.
Standard tutorials often rush the foundation because "drawing a box" isn't as sexy as "drawing a dragon." But the dragon is just a series of boxes and cylinders with scales on top. If you can draw a box in perspective, you can draw literally anything in the known universe.
Common Mistakes in Step-by-Step Learning
One of the weirdest things beginners do is "chicken scratching." You know what I mean—those tiny, hairy little lines instead of one confident stroke. People do this because they’re afraid of making a mistake. But how to draw step by step effectively requires commitment.
Betty Edwards, author of Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, argues that most of our drawing problems come from our logical brain trying to "name" things. Your brain says "that’s an eye," so you draw a symbol of an eye (the classic almond shape with a dot). But if you look at a real eye, it’s a wet orb tucked into a socket with fatty tissue and folding skin.
Stop naming, start looking
- Flip your reference photo upside down.
- Suddenly, you aren't drawing a "face."
- You’re drawing lines, shadows, and shapes.
- Your brain can't "label" it as easily, so you actually see what’s there.
It sounds crazy, but it works. When you remove the label, the "step by step" process becomes about measuring distances and angles. How far is the corner of the mouth from the bottom of the ear? Is that line at a 45-degree angle or a 30-degree angle? That's the secret sauce.
Tools Matter, But Not the Way You Think
You do not need a $200 set of Copic markers or a top-of-the-line Wacom tablet to start. Seriously.
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I’ve seen incredible art done with a Bic pen on the back of a receipt. However, if you are following a how to draw step by step guide for shading, the type of pencil you use actually matters for your sanity.
A standard #2 pencil (or an HB in artist speak) is fine for outlines. But if you want those deep, rich blacks, you need a 4B or a 6B. These are softer leads. They smudge easier, which is great for blending. Conversely, if you’re doing technical drawing, you want a harder lead like a 2H so your lines stay sharp and don't smear.
- HB: The middle ground. Good for everything, great for nothing.
- B series (2B, 4B, 9B): The "Black" series. Soft and dark.
- H series (2H, 4H): The "Hard" series. Light and precise.
If you’re trying to follow a tutorial on realistic skin texture and you only have an HB pencil, you’re going to have a bad time. You’ll press too hard, dent the paper, and it’ll still look grey. It’s not your lack of talent; it’s the physics of the graphite.
Beyond the Tutorial: Developing Your Own Style
Eventually, you have to stop looking at the guides.
Style is essentially the "mistakes" you choose to keep. If everyone followed the same how to draw step by step instructions perfectly, all art would look exactly the same. Boring, right? The goal of using these guides is to build muscle memory.
Think about animators at Disney or Studio Ghibli. They have "model sheets" which are essentially step-by-step guides to keep the characters consistent. But within those rules, there’s an incredible amount of life and movement. They use "squash and stretch" principles—concepts popularized by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas—to make drawings feel like they have weight and soul.
Finding your "line"
Some people have a shaky, energetic line. Others have a clean, clinical line.
Both are valid.
Once you understand the basic steps of construction, start playing with the "finish."
Maybe you prefer cross-hatching for shadows.
Maybe you like smooth, blended gradients.
The step-by-step gets you the structure, but the finish is all you.
The Reality of Persistence
Art is a blue-collar job for your brain. You have to put in the hours.
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The "10,000 hours" rule by Malcolm Gladwell is often debated, but in drawing, there’s no substitute for "mileage." You need to draw thousands of bad eyes before you draw a good one. You need to fill up sketchbooks with garbage.
Most people see a "how to draw" video and think they can do it in ten minutes. When they can't, they think they aren't "gifted." Talent is just a head start; grit is what gets you to the finish line.
Actionable Next Steps for Better Drawing
Instead of just mindlessly following the next tutorial you see, try these specific tactics to actually improve your skills.
First, practice ghosting your lines. Before you put the pencil to paper, move your hand in the motion of the stroke you're about to make. Do it two or three times in the air just above the page. When you finally drop the pencil down, do it in one fluid motion. This stops the "chicken scratching" and makes your work look way more professional instantly.
Second, start a "morgue file." This is an old-school illustrator term for a collection of reference photos. Whenever you see a cool lighting setup, a weirdly shaped tree, or a specific way fabric folds, save it. When you're following a how to draw step by step guide for a character, use your morgue file to add unique details that aren't in the tutorial.
Third, limit your time. Set a timer for 2 minutes and try to capture the "gesture" of an object. Forget the details. Just get the flow and the weight. Then do a 5-minute version. Then a 10-minute version. This teaches you to prioritize the most important information first.
Finally, change your medium. if you’re stuck in a rut with pencils, grab a charcoal stick or a brush pen. Different tools force your brain to solve problems in new ways. A brush pen won't let you be timid; you have to be bold. Charcoal forces you to think about large masses of shadow rather than tiny lines.
The "step by step" method is a map. It shows you the road, but it doesn't drive the car for you. Learn the rules of perspective, anatomy, and light. Use the guides to understand the mechanics. Then, shut the book, put away the phone, and draw the world as you actually see it. That's where the real art begins.