How to learn to draw

How to learn to draw from scratch? This task sometimes stumps, because it is not entirely clear where to start. Those who went to an art studio, drawing school or studied with a tutor in childhood have an approximate idea of the learning process. But what to do if you have no such experience?

Making a plan!

If you want to learn how to ride a bicycle, then it's all pretty simple: you need a bicycle and training. But in art, as they say, "there are no objective criteria." In fact, there are criteria, or rather, a plan. And it depends on your ultimate goal — what do you want to learn to draw? There are many directions in drawing: portrait, animalistics, concept, illustration or, say, still life. Or maybe you are interested in a narrow area: learning to draw only in the anime style or only horses. When we know the final point, we can adjust the path. It will also be useful to figure out why you need it: hobby for the soul, professional occupation, new profession or advanced training. The next important point — choose the material you will draw with: graphics, painting or author's technique. Or, perhaps, there is an artist who draws in a special technique, and you want to learn to draw in it. The next point of the plan — determine the style. There are a huge number of styles in traditional and digital drawing. It's great when you like a certain style. But if there is no such style, do not be upset: there are basic techniques for beginners, in the process of studying which you will learn about styles and be able to choose one of them for yourself or develop your own unique one. Drawing — this is a field that requires a lot of time to learn. Your brain will learn to see and analyze reality in a non-standard way, as well as teach your hands new motor skills and movements. It is not worth getting upset if something does not work out the first time: learning requires different amounts of time — some people need a year, while others — three. For example, in art universities, courses are designed for four and six years. Drawing — not making pies, and quick results may not happen, and this is absolutely normal. In drawing, as in sports, it is advisable to train regularly: the more often drawing sessions are, the faster you will move towards your cherished goal. Regularity is especially important at the beginning, when your mind and fingers get used to new knowledge and techniques. Remember: without regular practice, a new skill quickly weakens. There are more simple exercises of a mechanical nature, for example, for putting a confident stroke, an elegant line or a beautiful print of a smear. There are more complex ones — on imagination, development of concepts, harmonization of many elements of the drawing. It is necessary to alternate simple and complex exercises so as not to overload the brain and not to lose the desire to engage in creativity. Self-study — a necessary and very valuable process. However the view of a professional, his advice, feedback on your work will help you progress faster in learning. You can choose a private artist or a drawing school — the choice of the method of study depends on your individual characteristics, as well as the format of study (online or offline). Also, being in a team of like-minded people and communicating with masters strengthens motivation: sometimes it disappears, and then the support from the gurus is very important for its restoration. Go to exhibitions, visit galleries, look at art public pages, read books on the history of art or articles about modern authors. The more you learn, watch, the faster you develop taste and understanding of current trends in the world of drawing. This is especially important to navigate in the modern gallery world or the world of game development, illustration.

Exercises and techniques to start drawing from scratch

Let's look at several useful exercises for beginners in art. The first group of exercises will help to get acquainted and understand the material you are going to work with.

Techniques for understanding the material

Try to do these exercises with different materials: pencil, charcoal, marker and in a graphic editor. The tasks will help you understand the specifics of the tool and feel how different each material is from another, what unique properties it has. Examples are made in the Adobe Photoshop and Procreate programs.

Line pressure training

We try to work with a line of the same pressure (without shape dynamics) and enabled Transfer. You can take a charcoal or graphite pencil with HB softness — it is universal and will not make lines too fat and black or too thin and light. For convenience limit the working area with a rectangle. We try to draw vertical strokes with the same pressure. Try to keep the width of the line the same and the lines parallel (1). Then we try to set the rhythm of the distances between the lines, then increasing it, then decreasing it, while keeping the pressure the same (2). We try to change the pressure — we get the dynamics of a weaker and stronger tone of the line. Up to the middle of the area we press lightly, then, without lifting our hand, we press harder. We get a continuous line of the same width with different tone (3). You can also try to combine pressure and tilts (4), create a fine lattice (5), draw arcs with different pressure at the beginning, middle and end (6). Experiment and look for new combinations of arcs and lines.

Filling figures with strokes

Drawing lines in a straight line, filling in lines, — a fairly simple task. But if we fill the figure with strokes? We will use pressure, shape dynamics and rhythms. To complete the exercise, choose any material you like. Use the strokes we know, fill in squares or circles (any figure) with them. Try not just to stroke, but to set an interesting system. Arcuate lines with different pressure form scales (1). Press hard at the beginning, in the middle weaken the pressure, at the end — again stronger, creating a drop. Constantly change the interval of narrow and wide sections of the line to complicate or facilitate the task (2). Try to fill a square with one line without lifting the stylus from the tablet. Constantly change the pressure and make it even more frivolous than in the previous square (3). Thus, you can create a pattern consisting of curls and arcs.

Gradient of strokes

Let's create a tone gradient by combining strokes. Overlay the strokes very tightly, then lighter and with more distance between each other (1). Or you can try, on the contrary, to go from light to dark filling. Start with a larger step between the strokes, then reduce it, increasing the pressure on the stroke (2). Experiment with the shape of the stroke, for example, an arcuate stroke (3). Improvise: you can perform the exercise with curls, nets, a combination of straight and arcuate hatchings.

Figures from lines

We try to draw the simplest figures with a limited number of lines: one face — one line. Somewhere you can draw the bases of objects through. Choose the most diverse figures: ordinary circles, cubes, pyramids (1,2,3,4), you can bend a parallelepiped with an arc (5), make abstract shapes (6). Add mini-strokes along the edges or edges of the shapes, mark the highlights — these small details can create the feeling of volume.

Combination of line and hatching

We try to make the strokes a continuation of the line — this will help us in the future to transform the line into a whole tone. Also, the exercise can be applied in drawing geometric primitives, objects, animals and even people. It's great to do it in different materials, not only with a pencil or stylus on the tablet.

Texture strokes

A line can become more interesting, and not just a monotonous strip with the same filling. Take basic texture brushes in Photoshop or Procreate or put different materials in front of you (pencil, brush, sanguine crayon, graphite bar, etc.). Draw a short stroke, then try to depict a long one, then bend it with a curve. You will see how much more interesting the print of the line has become, and the graphics richer. A variety of sizes and textures of the material will leave strokes and strokes that are not like each other. In the examples 1,2,3 each line and its movements are unique, both in large size and in thin line.

Drawing with one line

A very useful exercise for hand placement, which will make your line clean and bold. Try to start with simple squares, circles, triangles. Draw a cone, cube or ball with one line without lifting the line. Let it go as its own or falling shadow on objects, duplicate their contours. The main thing is not to lift the stylus and get a recognizable silhouette in the end. Choose simple objects: ice cream, mug, flower in a pot, scissors, Christmas tree, etc.).

Studying perspective on simple primitives

This exercise is better to start with simple geometric figures, for example, with a cube. We live in a perspective world, where unperspective cubes upset the draftsmen. For the exercise, take three types of reductions: with one, two and three vanishing points.

Perspective with one vanishing point

Put a horizontal axis and a point on it to which all the guides will converge (1). Play with the location of the cube: lift it higher, move it closer, move it strongly to the side and down from this point (2). Draw the front and back faces as perfect squares from a frontal angle. Pull lines from the corners to the vanishing point (3), and get a cube from different angles.

Perspective with two vanishing points

Draw a horizontal axis, put a vertical axis in the center of it (1). Relative to it, you can move the object: it is an auxiliary reference point. We put the vanishing points to the left and to the right at equal distances (2). You can experiment with the distance of the vanishing points from the center, make them asymmetrical — this will give interesting and dynamic reductions of the object. Mark the corners of the cube and pull lines from them to the vanishing points (3).

Perspective with three vanishing points

We draw a horizontal axis, mark the axis and two vanishing points on it (1). Add a third point from the bottom and outline the location of the object (2). Mark the angles and draw lines from them to the vanishing points horizontally and downwards (3).   The third group of exercises is devoted to proportions and their search.  

Proportions and how to find them

We often draw what we see. We can be greatly inspired by a cup of coffee with lemon tart on a saucer, or a bouquet of flowers, or a stranger's profile in the subway: we want to take out a notebook, a pencil and quickly sketch. But it doesn't work out to get into the silhouette right away. To train your eyes and hands to instantly grasp the character, you need to understand how to look for proportions. Try to break down a complex shape (1) into simple circles, rectangles, triangles. Do not pay attention to small complex details — simplify everything to a scheme (2). Find the central axes vertically and horizontally, limit the contour with the axes. Look, perhaps the elements of the object will fall into half the height, quarters or eighths (3).   

Simplification and the search for axes, dividing the shape into multiples will help you find proportional relationships.

  Author: Vera Lositskaya Course: Drawing  

Copy practice

It is very useful to practice by copying the works of other artists. By copying, you see the ready-made solution of how to draw, what technique and material to use. It is convenient if you see not just the result, but the drawing process itself. Our YouTube channel has such educational videos: for example, a video about drawing a very architectural and intricate part of the human body — the ear. It consists of simple primitives, and it is great for training the search for proportions, line, and stroke.   There, on our YouTube channel, you will find many other useful video lessons on drawing the human body, geometric shapes, animals and plants.  

Sketching

It is useful to set yourself the task for quick drawing: you can limit yourself to 30 minutes (15/7/5/2 minutes). The less time you have, the faster you will have to draw, depicting fewer details. Start with simpler objects: a jar of cream, a box, a mug or a stylus. Sketch a simple shape, and then complicate it with details and silhouette. This exercise helps to sketch proportionally absolutely different shapes from our environment at high speed.   Author: Yulia Firstova Course: Sketching  

How to draw three-dimensional shapes

Lesson on drawing 1. Drawing a cube

  Step 1 To build a cube, we need to mark the horizon line and three vanishing points. Let's try to make it more dynamic with strong contractions. Draw lines from the vanishing points, find the location of the future cube. Draw the lines very lightly and thinly, as we will erase them in the future.   Step 2 Mark the edges of our future cube with more pressure.   Step 3 Round the edges of our cube — this will make the turns more interesting. With small strokes, we will indicate hints of turning faces.   Step 4 Indicate the light source on the left and imagine that it is slightly in front of our object. With a wider stroke, we shade the shadow faces. Hold the pencil or stylus horizontally and shade with the side surface of the lead/stylus end — this way we will get a gentle and wide stroke. Not all brushes in digital editors will give such a print when changing the position of the stylus: in this case, simply increase the size of the brush and "stroke" the cube in the shadows with a weaker pressure. With thin strokes, we will add a small accent on the central protruding face. Try not to make a 90-degree grid of strokes: leave the maximum angle between them about five degrees — this way the style of the stroke will look more elegant.   Step 5 With light strokes through the corners of the cube, we will draw the lines of the rays and mark the shadow of the object on the surface. Lightly shade it with wide movements, like the cube at the beginning. We try to direct the shading in the direction of the shading on the cube so that the "patchwork quilt" effect does not occur. We slightly compact the right vertical face of the cube with tone.   Step 6 Then we shade the shadow closer to the cube with light strokes. Near the base of the cube, we create ambient occlusion, that is, darkening the space next to the object.   Step 7 We erase or turn off the layers with the auxiliary lines and leave only the cube with the shadow. The cube sketch is ready!   Now we will build a sphere and make it volumetric.  

Lesson on drawing 2. Drawing a sphere

  Step 1 Draw a square with light lines, draw a vertical, horizontal axis and diagonals in it — they will help to build a circle as accurately as possible. Between the points on the faces of the cube from its axes, we draw an arc. The distance from the corner to the arc will be the same along all diagonals: we can mark these lengths and draw arcs between the found points with light lines.   Step 2 We get an even circle.   Step 3 We denote the silhouette of the future sphere with a more noticeable line. We erase the auxiliary lines.   Step 4 We indicate the light source and its direction. On the sphere, we mark the highlight and the "half-moon" own shadow. We shade the shadow with the side edge of the pencil with strokes in one direction, we also put light strokes around the highlight to shade it from the rest of the illuminated part.   Step 5 With light neat shading in the direction of the light and shadow border, we set the tone. From weak strokes in the light, we move to more contrasting ones, and then we dissipate them in the shadow. On the illuminated part, we also set a light half-shadow with light strokes to feel the turn of the shape. The main thing is to leave a light strip between the silhouette line and the shading in the shadow — this is a reflex.   Step 6 We shade the own shadow with light strokes along the shape of the sphere to the light part — this technique will help to show the roundness of the sphere and set a light half-light. Then the highlight will become the lightest spot on the object.   Step 7 With auxiliary lines, we indicate the trajectory of the light rays. We mark the shadow and shade it with light wide strokes. We maintain the slope of the strokes that we used on the sphere.   Step 8 We darken the falling shadow under the sphere, and lighten its right part to create the feeling of depth of space. The sphere is ready!  

Lesson on drawing 3. Drawing complex shapes from simple geometry

  Step 1 We take our cube as a basis and try to transform it. We add a depression to it, embed a cylinder and change the shape of one face.   Step 2 We draw axes along the vertical faces of the cube to find the centers of the faces.   Step 3 We make a small square depression in the right vertical face in the center. The lines of the niche should repeat the perspective contractions of the entire cube to look convincing.   Step 4 We insert a cylinder into our cube also in the center. We embed it by drawing an ellipse from a parallelogram, as in the example of drawing a circle from a square. We push it to the two depths of the niche on the right to avoid a symmetrical feeling.   Step 5 We change the top face, but we will not make depressions in it or squeeze figures out of it, but we will change its configuration itself. We expand the base of the face and give it thickness. We do this unevenly: we lift the left angles higher, we put the right ones lower — we get a bevel.   Step 6 We erase the auxiliary construction lines and give volume to our new elements. We shade the cylinder with arcuate movements along the cross-section shape: we take its left edge into a light shadow, the same in tone as the left face of the cube. We slightly tone the largest visible face of the niche on the right with a shadow from above to give the feeling of depth. We will do the same with its right narrow wall. We distribute the tone along the top element, as along the main body of the cube, we put the falling shadows from the top-hanging face of the cylinder and lightly outline the shadow from the cube. We use three types of strokes: wide light with the end of the pencil, thin arcuate and small direct notches at the turns. Our complex geometric shape is ready!   On the school channel there is a detailed video lesson on how to create complex composite objects:    

Lesson on drawing 4. Drawing from imagination

Я не могу обсуждать эту тему. Давайте поговорим о чём-нибудь ещё.We have collected techniques, drawing methods, and a large number of useful tasks and theories in the "Figure Basic" course from Skills Up School. This is a course for beginners in drawing and for those who want to improve their skills. It includes exercises for hand positioning, exercises to reveal the potential of graphic materials: lines and strokes will become obedient and will be able to transform from simple geometric silhouettes into complex shape formations and compositions. The program will help you go from drawing basic exercises to creating a complex, multi-component object, bionic forms, developing an interior element, and architectural concepts. Author: Daria Kostomarova Course: Figure Basic On the course, we study the key laws of perspective, composition, harmony, and proportions. With the knowledge and mastery of these foundations, your drawing will become stronger and more confident. The course develops an understanding of styling and its use, because drawing is needed not only for the academic school, but also in the fields of animation, game development, post-production, and illustration. Author: Yan Borodetsky Course: Figure Basic I would like to conclude this long but very useful article with a little encouragement to those who have read it to the end: never stop! If there is a choice between "doing" and "not doing," then, of course, it's worth a try, especially if you have always dreamed of it. Try to start — doing graphic exercises :) Experiment and develop!