Drawing

Hello Dillon, I feel honored in answering your questions and really do not mind if you use my name I would welcome the free publicity!
Before I answer your question, let me give you some insight into my artistic background: I was trained traditionally as a fine artist but specialize in cartooning and caricature(at which I make my living.)
You asked:
What would help someone get started?

Passion is what helps someone get started. Birds fly because it is part of their nature. They cant help but fly. To artistic folk, we cant help but draw or create art. It is part of our personal expression. A person who is a budding artist must ask himself "do I LIKE to do this, or do I NEED to do this? the artist will always NEED to do it. Once you recognize that passion within yourself, you must nurture it, feed it. help it to grow... which brings me to your next question..

How could they find their style of drawing?

There are several ways to find your own personal style. One method and probably the most important, is to monitor yourself. Ask yourself, what type of work am I personally attracted to most often? Some people can pass by a building without giving it a second thought, another person can pass the same building and be awestruck at the beauty and majesty of the architecture and structure. If that person finds that they are fascinated with the way things are built, structures, buildings, monuments, then perhaps their passion is in the system of architecture. For me, I was struck by the beauty of the human form. I loved to watch people move. It made no difference if they were ballroom dancers, or gymnasts. The beauty of the human body in motion is what struck me at an early age. I wanted to experience that power, that movement. The only way for me to "get inside it" was to draw it. At the same time, I was attracted to the absurdity of life, and cartoons caught my attention because of its tendency to express emotions in an exaggerated way. I chose to specialize in caricature because it combines the best of cartooning, and fine arts.

· What help you become good at drawing?

After it is all said and done there is no substitute for practice. Developing your eye hand coordination is a lifelong pursuit of the artist. There are several ways to practice. You can start by drawing simple geometric forms, like a pile of books or boxes. You'll learn a lot about perspective, shading and compost ion by doing this. Doing still life drawing involving fruit or fabric is another good practice. It is important to do some type of practice on a daily basis so that you will develop the ability to get "inside" the thing you are drawing to discover it's essence so to speak. Patience is a very important quality. Developing your eye hand coordination takes time. Most artists give up when it starts to get hard. The journey is very important. The goal is not to get a perfect photographic rendition of the thing you are drawing, (although if you can that's great too!) the goal is to make a discovery about yourself.