Ever heard it said that you can do whatever you set your mind to do? That's not entirely true mainly because you can't quantify what 'whatever is' and so such a sweeping statement has no way of covering every nuance caused by limitation or the sheer magnitude of whatever goal it is they're proposing to accomplish. That being said and out of the way, I truly believe anyone who wants to draw or do art can and I'll tell you why in a bit.
Before I begin, I want to say that this post was as a result of comments I've received which appeared to be compliments to me but also degraded the givers of said compliments. Things like ' I can only draw stick figures' or 'My drawing were so funny as a child'. The might sound flattering but I get annoyed because of the disservice it does to them.
Drawing is a skill that can be learnt. That is not to say that I don't believe that some are clearly really gifted. Some people are better than others with style and hand coordination even as they train. Some learn faster and just have a certain beauty that study will only serve to amplify, but this post is not about such people. This is about ordinary people with so called lack of an artistic bone, this is for late joiners and aspiring artists who are too afraid to try as they've already given up before even starting. All I want to say to all such people is if you want to draw, then draw. Why exactly are you not studying this?
Some people think that you'd wake up and magically be able to understand the principles of shadow and light or be able to visualize an elephant because of talent. Um, no? That's what references are for. Being able to draw is as a result of constant repetition aka consistency and the close study of the objects you want to depict visually. Even great artists who seem to do things effortlessly will tell you how they draw daily and carry a sketchbook around. It is work, work, work!
You need to learn about color theory, you will need to learn about the various mediums and experiment greatly to see what appeals to you. In the beginning, it will be confusing, as there will be so much information and different people saying so many conflicting things, so it definitely does not hurt to have a regimented study where you follow one person who teaches you the basics and progresses to more things. With the explosion of moocs(massive open online courses) on different platforms , you can follow a couple of people and learn from them.
Like I said, I love a routine, so for me in my art journey, I have paid for several courses on udemy, domestika and I have a subscription on skillshare which have all contributed to me learning so much this year.
There is simply no excuse that cannot be cancelled out by the sheer amount of resources out there and people willing to help. YouTube has so much to offer. I only recommend using YouTube if a content creator has playlists with a gradual progression of skill level so that you can slowly ease your way into doing more complex things as YouTube can be quite chaotic with beginner level videos mixed up with professional level, making it overwhelming for newbies who are wondering why they cant draw and shade a full portrait in ten mins since the sped up painting which probably took days or weeks made it look so easy!
Please set realistic expectations for your self and celebrate every artistic progress. It is very important to find a community of beginners like you to encourage and learn from. As they will understand your new struggles unlike some friends who might casually laugh over something you worked laboriously on and deflate your joy. Please remember as well that art can be highly subjective especially in this nft era, so you can never really tell what thing people will find value in, and this is why you should ensure that when learning to draw or do art, that you thoroughly are enjoying yourself as there is really no point engaging in something this time consuming and eventually money consuming depending on your medium if you don't feel attached enough.
I hope this post did enough to convince you to try to discipline yourself enough to not give excuses when it comes to learning to do art. There is definitely a place for talent, but hard work can bring great results just as with any craft. Skill is often just hard work and dedication masked as easy intuition.
Cheers!