how to start drawing

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Ive drawn off and on for most of my life now i want to start again and id like to know where to start what to start with and what art supplies i might need which i could buy easily at walmart because the local art store went out what got me back interested was seeing the documentary Crumb about the cartoonist Robert Crumb or R.Crumb id like to emulate his style until i have the ability to form my own

All you need is a sharp pencil or a pen and perhaps an eraser and cheap paper like letter size printer paper. If you like Crumb try to copy some of his work and see how he composes his panels and creates his characters and backgrounds. Simultaneously try to create your own style of graphics. Since you have a computer you can scan your drawings and print them out and modify them. And you can put them on file through Photoshop or some other software and work them over and add color etc. Mostly it's a matter of keeping at it until you're happy with the results.

With Google images you have a huge data resource for other comics or drawing references.

what Sand said.

also it's good to have some good erference books, like these anatomy one by Villpus:
http://www.gigasize.com/get.php?d=724lyg1p1rb
and Der Nackte Mensch: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3RSMAM2J
(:

Have you thought about taking art classes?

Once you've become comfortable with pen and pencil you might try working with brush and ink. It's not easy but worth the effort. Do not try to work with cheap brushes. A good brush like a Windsor Newton #7 is expensive but worth it, It will keep a good point for fine lines but also make variable thickness lines to give a line rendering good depth. Good brushes require care. Ink should never be allowed to dry in a brush and they must be washed and permitted to dry free standing so the tips are preserved. When buying a brush you can wet it in your mouth and test if it keeps a good point. This is very important. Sable brushes are the best and when bent they should spring back into shape. If a brush does not maintain a good point and good springiness it is not worthwhile for good comic work. I worked in comics for a while and know.

You can get interesting effects with a brush damp with ink known as dry brush or wet areas with water and add ink or water color and let it "bleed" to get other effects. Experiment.

You should also try different techniques with charcoal and pastels. You can get interesting effects with a fiber stub and charcoal and clean up areas with a a kneaded eraser that can be shaped or a soft rubber eraser that can be sliced to a point with an xacto knife or a scalpel. Once you are satisfied with a pastel or charcoal drawing you must use spray fixative to make it permanent.

All artists eventually learn to prefer certain techniques and that is very individual and developed over long hours of experiment which is a great adventure and wonderful fun. Good luck.

When drawing from models or life do not merely copy what you see but try to perceive the bulk structure. Anatomy books which show all the muscles and bones can be confusing and you should be interested in the bulk forms that can be easily remembered and used when drawing without models. Once you start working with the bulks you will gradually pick up the muscle details as you learn how the bulks relate in movement and balance and dynamics. Anatomy books by George Bridgman which can be found on the web are good for bulk studies. It's good to play with drawing action stick figures but try to see that the sticks should not be straight. The upper leg curves one way, the lower the other way and the same with the bulks in the torso and the arms and hands.

actually, I found a book once called 'How to draw comics the Marvel way', and although it was geared toward comics, it did cover things like how many 'heads' high or wide a character needed to be, composition, etc. I don't have it any more, but you might find it in a used book store somewhere.