An artist needs practice – how else would you pump the skill? You don’t have to draw weapon concepts or flying dragons all the time. Sometimes easy exercises that only require a simple pencil, a notebook and 10 minutes are enough.

Sharing with you one such exercise that will help you learn how to draw with a pencil.

Commentary by Diana Pryadieva, curator of Drawing:

“This exercise is. on plasticity and rhythm in the silhouette. With its help we learn to make objects more expressive, interesting for the viewer. The main challenge is to find a simple form and make it dynamic”

First, we create arbitrary silhouettes. Let’s call them “pebbles” (because they will look a lot like small rocks).

1. Begin by determining the shape of the pebble. Find the reference points and make sure that you don’t get the same segments – it looks boring. There is a rule of thumb: all modules must be of different lengths. This is how we set the rhythm of our form.

2. After adding the plastic. Work through the arcs, alternating between straight lines and more curved lines. Let’s not forget about diversity. Straight, curved, short, long. Emphasize movement in the silhouette.

3. Then add a chamfer to the object to make it look more three-dimensional.

4. practicing a graphic technique. We hatch the shape, reveal the sloping planes of the chamfer, and accentuate the transition from one plane to another. Line on the silhouette make more diverse, accentuate the fractures of the plane.

As practice, you can fill the whole sheet with such pebbles. Ten to fifteen minutes is allotted for this.