I'm thinking about getting into drawing.

[DiZXIII]

Anyone know a good place to start?

[carbon]

Go to a local life drawing session.

[Northman]

A good sized sketchbook and some pencils with different hardnesses. Currently I like 2H pencils since they leave a fainter line and yet run smoothly on top of the paper. You should try with different paper qualities - I started with plain old 4H size copier paper, cheap and comes in bulks, good for doodling and in general practice - and get to know your tools. How they feel and behave, the kind of lines they make, and how you personally like them.

There are hundreds of tutorials on youtube about drawing, but courses with teachers are good for instant feedback on your work and answering questions - and encouragement.

...and background music. Optional, but it can help.

[DrgHybrid]

If you go into digital drawing I use a wacoom tablet. Perfect for drawing.

[Northman]

If you go into digital drawing I use a wacoom tablet. Perfect for drawing.

What is it like?

[DrgHybrid]

Basically like a tablet. I have a cheaper one where you draw and look at the monitor. I want to get a better one where you can draw and look down at the tablet at the same time. The pen is wireless and has buttons on the side just like a mouse. So if you make a mistake, for example, you just click it and continue on. It's how I've done all my things I've done on the computer.

[Tree]

What kind of drawing are you interested in?

[DiZXIII]

What kind of drawing are you interested in?

I suppose cartoon and manga style drawing.

[carbon]

I suppose cartoon and manga style drawing.

What's your current skill level?

What's your motive for learning to draw? Are you going to be making comics, games, animation, hobby etc.?

Whatever the case, you'll need to learn the fundamentals. Majority of the great masters of cartoon, manga, and fine arts -- no matter how simple their style is -- have built pillars on academic concepts: colour theory, anatomy, perspective, conceptualization, execution and so on. Watterson and Schulz, Tezuka and Oda, Picasso and Klee all have strong academic works under their belt before they've come to be known for their fame.

That said, I don't think you need to invest too much on the fundamentals, learn what you need, assess and critique your work and practice the right parts to help supplement your art. The resources are everywhere on the web so you really don't need to pay for education anymore (unless you use it for networking and hanging out with peers).

[Bastian.therock]

I often draw from this amazing drawing YouTube channel called ‘croquis cafe’

[renez]

I once found some advice for self-taught artists that have really helped me improve my skills. Some of the most important were
-Draw fast, even if it looks messy at first (do not spend hours working on one single thing)
-If you erase mistakes too much, start working with pens or markers to break that habit
-Experiment with different mediums without necessarily mastering any of them
-Draw from things in your life/photos rather than those diagrams you see on Instagram of how to draw specific things.

Some of these might seem a little bit weird and counterintuitive but they'll help you be more efficient with your time and have better skills in the long run. It will be stressful for a bit to do these things but you'll get better pretty quickly.