I don’t know if I ever “started” drawing so much as “didn’t stop at the age when a lot of people seem to”. Can’t really pinpoint the point where I went from normal childhood drawings to taking cartooning seriously. Even when I’m not posting things online consistently (cough, ahem) I’m always at least doodling on pieces of scrap paper or something.I’m entirely self-taught, for better or for worse.Again, it’s hard to say what my “first steps” were, but there are a few areas I would recommend new artists hone their skills on. Body proportions are definitely one of them - if you’re aiming for a more abstract/”cartoony” style you don’t necessarily have to draw photorealistic muscles and whatnot, but getting a hang of the general size and flexibility of body parts in relation to each other is essential.Other areas worth getting the basics down on:Perspective - I’m still not the greatest at this, but even if you’re like me and the word “horizon line” sends you into a cold sweat, simply figuring out how to make things look convincingly behind each other, or very close up/far away, is essential.Expressions - There are a lot of artists out there who are amazing at the “technical” stuff like shading and anatomy but can’t draw the difference between “scared” and “surprised” to save their life.
Comics-specific stuff - Paneling, lettering, etc. If you plan on doing comics at all - whether two-panel fancomics or full-length stories or anything in between - go out of your way to study and practice these, because they’re unfortunately the areas that non-specialized art classes and how-to books will give you the least help with. (Two big exceptions on the books front being Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics and Making Comics.)
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