Learning charcoal drawing (how do i start?)?

In my humble opinion as a teacher and artist drawing is a learnable and teachable skill. Once you master the basics you can pretty much work with any medium. The best "how to" book I know of is Betty Edwards classic Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. It's a series of exercises that teach you to see in a whole new way by tapping into the right (creative) side of your brain. If you can write legibly you have all the hand-eye coordination you need.

i guess you need to start from basic since you didn't really draw before, check out 88db website for art classes that offer basic art courses

really you can't teach or learn art, you can learn a technique but not how to be artistic. If you have the skills and ability you can succeed, I would say play around a bit first. practice, and pick what you want to do before you start. charcole is messy so remember to wear clothes you con't care about and stay near a sink. also you will need to cover the areas you don't want to get charcole on with paper so it doesn't smear. just have fun with it and you really can't go wrong.

Look, my best basic drawing classes have included both graphite and charcoal, plus at least oil pastels and sometimes pastels. Anyone serious about art, even someone as addicted to classes like me, will tell you the way you learn to draw is draw. A class will help you understand and articulate concepts like composition, design, value, and hue. The best part is it really gives you a chance to experiment and to learn in a social environment. If it's a basic design class which specializes in one medium, I'd be very cautious about it. The media we learn best are the media we want to learn best. Look for an instructor who will encourage you to understand the concepts behind markmaking with charcoal, charcoal pencils, graphite sticks like conte crayons and so forth. Start there.

Start with some basic shapes and shading. Circle, cylinder, move up to sketching and shading a vase, ad flowers when you feel comfortable. Keep practicing, if you want to show off your work, go ahead, if you don't, save it anyway so you can see how you have improved. Are you wanting to do charcoal pencils or the bars? The bars are more messy, but so much fun!!! Arts and crafts stores sell basic learning books, that might do you the most good to start with, to see if you really like it. It takes time and patience, but it is very relaxing and rewarding, don't stress over getting it perfect, relax and have FUN!!!!