The Wordsmith's Forge

Someone wished for recommendations of books and other text tutorials (not videos) for an adult learning art from the very beginning, with some fine-motor challenges.


Worksheets
Mainly I recommend worksheets. They are shorter and simpler; you can reprint and reuse them as often as necessary. They're also easy to store in a folder, in order, so you can see your progress. Focus on learning one skill at a time, rather than trying to learn the 20 microskills you need to make one whole drawing. It can be meditative. Explore the theory of art, and you can have fun looking at pictures even before you draw.

Art Worksheets and Handouts

Color Theory Worksheets

Crayola Art Worksheets

Geometric Line Art Worksheets
Good for practicing lines and angles, add color if you want. Also if you put these patterns on a board, drive nails through the dots, and connect them with thread then you get String Art. \o/

Chiaroscuro Worksheet

Lines and Shading Worksheet

Rules of Design for Art


Shape Sketching

One way to draw things is to sketch out basic shapes, then smooth them into a finished picture. You can practice one step at a time -- starting with just the basic shapes -- then when you feel comfortable with that step, add the next.

How to Start Drawing Using Simple Shapes

Drawing Basics: Simplifying Shape and Form

Designing characters with 7 basic shapes

How to Draw a Baby Fox

How to Draw a Bowl of Apples

How to Draw a Conch Shell

How to Draw a Fish

How to Draw a Fist

How to Draw a Lioness

How to Draw a Ruined Castle

How to Draw a Still Life


Exercises
These are activities you can do to practice basic skills or warm up before drawing.

Absolute Beginner Drawing Exercises Tutorial

Basic Drawing Exercises for Comics

Trace lines around a leaf

Warmup Exercises


Zentangles
This is a particular method of doodling that makes a fantastic drawing exercise.

Zentangle home page

How to Make a Zentangle

LIST OF OFFICIAL ZENTANGLE PATTERNS WITH STEP-OUTS

Zentangle Basics Handbook

Zentangle How-to Books & Supplies


Books
There are many books for novice artists.

Top 10 Best Drawing Books For Absolute Beginners

22 Best Drawing Books for Beginners of 2021


Regarding fine-motor control:

* Explore media that will work with your level of dexterity. You may be happier with pastel sticks, charcoal sticks, "lump" media (like melted crayons or chunk charcoals), sidewalk chalk, large markers, etc. than with narrow pencils or fine-point markers. These large media are especially good for learning certain basic skills like shapes, shading, and gesture drawing. Once you have learned the techniques, you may be able to shrink them down to smaller media.

* Draw big. You will drive yourself bats trying to learn on a small page or board. If you're on a budget, go to the kiddie section and look for giant drawing pads or construction paper; business stores also have big pads for meetings. Another option is a roll of butcher paper / craft paper -- I bought one for making patterns. These will be cheaper than high-quality art material, and for practice they are fine. Get something big enough you have to move your arm to use the space. If you have access to pavement you can draw on, buy or make sidewalk chalk.

* Browse adaptive equipment to see if anything looks helpful for your issues. They have grippers, motion-dampers, etc. Consider a Buddha board or similar media -- these use brushes and water, and the marks disappear. Infinitely reusable and no real mess if you spill.

* Adaptive art education resources may help too.

* Work with the body/brain you have. If someone else's instructions don't work, move on, try something else. Find tools and processes that feel comfortable to you.