I'd like to learn how to draw, but of course I suck and have no natural artistic talent. Does anybody know of some good "how-to-draw" books tailored for an absolute beginner like me?

It is better to just buy a drawing pad, some pencils and start drawing what you see. If you use "how to draw" books then your drawings will look like everyone elses. I went to college hoping to learn how to draw as if it was a paint by numbers process and all I learned from 5.5 years of schooling was that no one can really teach you to become a better artist. Observation is key to learning to draw and becoming better at your art.

But the question is, what are you planning to draw? If it's to be an artist, don't use art books. If it's to be an illustrator those books are launchpads. But then that's not really drawing by the academic definition, or artist definition.

Skip the books, just observe. Practice makes better. Depends on whether you plan to be the artist or the illustrator.

I agree with Jedi, but sometimes it's nice to have some references or insight into how others draw. We're not raised in vacuums.

If you're looking for life (people) drawing, then George Bridgman is highly recommended by me. His naturalistic approach is fantastic, as well as his surface anatomy knowledge. You'll want to know at least the surface anatomy (bones, muscles, some tendons) if you want to draw from life. But again, echoing Jedi, you can always just look up anatomy from a used textbook and draw from that. Also, also check real humans because skin hides anatomy and it's a beginner mistake to draw humans as if they have no skin or body fat.

Repetition is your friend. If you're just starting, no matter what book you use, or what source, even if you're drawing a live nude model, you will suck. And you'll continue to suck for a really long time. No one, no matter what they tell you, is born a master artist. It's all training in some way. So just find a source, images, real models, whatever, and draw. And keep doing it.

One superb trick when you draw anything is to flip the paper backwards and look at it at a window or some other light source. You'll see your imperfections and it's a great way to check yourself. If you're drawing digitally, most programs let you flip your image horizontally/vertically or whatever.

I prefer George Bridgamn's approach a bit better than Andrew Loomis, but again, this applies to drawing humans. Loomis is not bad though.

Good luck, hope that helps. You can specify what type of drawing you want to do to make it more clear? Cars, animals, humans, objects?

Edit: some helpful links.

Conceptart.org is great. Also, posemaniacs.com has anatomical figures in various poses to help out. There are tons of other resources.

I'm not an artist, but I'd say it really depends on what kind of book you're talking about. Books like the millions of "how to draw manga" books are basically worthless, but stuff that can help you practice figure drawing, anatomy, etc. is good. Basically, if you look for a book, look for something that teaches you strategies and building blocks instead of just regurgitating what the book's artist drew.

Not a book, but for the first part of a video tutorial on drawing you can go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egvhz8EzWnA
(and then just follow the links to the next part etc.)

Oh I wanted to add, when you have a chance (or the room for them), pick up a replica of the male and female skeleton. You know the one that is suspended on a pole. They are so neat and you can pose them however you want.

Some anatomy books about muscle structure are good too. But I'd stay away from the standard "Draw Robots/Cats/People Like" books.

Regarding the lifesize skeleton replicas, I don't have room for them so I just have a small scale (12") version of the male. Not as poseable but still gives me a good idea of movement/placement.

Here's a probably pretty challenging homework suggestion:
-add a grid to some picture
-make a similar empty grid and try to draw the picture into the grid
-it'll probably take quite a few attempts when you're a beginner, take it slow and be ready to start over many times

It's pretty good for learning how to draw curves and figuring out scale and stuff. If your version looks wrong, the grid helps with locating what's amiss.

Yeah, I've had to do this in art classes. It's definitely harder than it sounds, because you have to kinda abstract the contents of each square while keeping in mind for how it fits together.

Incidentally, on the subject of that album cover: Is he supposed to be the Crimson King or is he just some worried dude?

"How to draw comics the marvel way" by stan lee and setve ditko is a classic that covers all the bases of theory, shows you easily how to put them in practice and with it being based around comics will tell you quite a bit about layouts, flow and composition that traditional art book generally dont. it's also aimed at a mid teenage audience so wont stab your brain too much.
should be able to find a bargain bin or secondhanc copy dirt cheap!

I also recommend imagineFX magazine if yer into scifi / fantasy / concept art - a lot may be beyond you if yer just starting out, but theres so much in it. plenty of free pdf tutorials on their site too!

First off, thanks for the suggestions everybody. Secondly, he's the Schizoid Man. I've attached an image of the Crimson King.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Not sure why I didn't think of that. >.>

Check out Andrew Loomis and Burne Hogarth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burne_Hogarth

The thing that most people don't really click to is that "good" artists don't just make stuff up. Their stuff is very much based on reality, even if the end product is entirely fantasy. Landscapes, human and animal physiology, botany . . . if you try and just "make it up" it will undoubtedly not look good.

I worked in CG VFX for a few year as a compositor. Because we had to try and make our stuff look believable we had reams of reference videos and photos that we would study to create FX. Sure it's a giant robot fighting a squid, but the design has to look believable, animation has to be weighty, colours have to match. You do that by studying things.

Most people just try and draw things from what the *think* things look like. Try drawing a Ferrari from your memory. Now go get 20 photos of a Ferrari Scaglietti, print them out, put them in front of you and spend 3 straight hours drawing one. Look at the difference.

I would also suggest taking classes, not necessarily because I think it will make you a better artists (but it most likely will), but what it does is gives you 2-3hrs straight where you can be in a totally creative environment and just focus on drawing/painting/whatever. Most community colleges do quite cheap courses. I did a life drawing course and I noticed improvement not only over the time of the course, but even with drawings done in each lesson as I loosened up and stopped thinking about work and just focused on drawing.

Good luck.

Classes are best, failing that, here are three interesting books:

http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Bargue-Jean-L%C3%A9on-G%C3%A9r%C3%B4me-Ackerman/dp/2867702038/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=HN90ZLKVWZVN&coliid=IWDU93QTJGH9X
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Lessons-Great-Masters-Anniversary/dp/0823014010/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=HN90ZLKVWZVN&coliid=INTRSFYZMP860
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Classical-Drawing-Essential-Techniques/dp/082300659X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=HN90ZLKVWZVN&coliid=IYWMWNA6CTBKV