Drawing 101| We all start somewhere
- megquindraws
- Apr 19, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 25, 2021
"You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh." John Singer Sargent
Hello humans!
As stated in the previous post, we are start with some drawing basics.
Materials Drawing is probably the easiest form of creating as you don't need many supplies. As it stands, your basics are very simple. Pencil and paper. However, as you progress and want to broaden your knowledge in the subject, you can see a variety of materials such as, pens, fancy pencils, graphite and shading stumps. For the purpose of simplicity, We're going to focus on the use of any drawing sketchbook paper, a no.2 pencil, I'll be using a mechanical pencil, and an eraser. I prefer a kneadable one and a regular rubber eraser.
I like to start with a bit of stretching. I work a very sedentary job and repetitive
job which can cause a lot of stiffness to my hands, wrists and forearms. If this is left unattended, this can lead to inflammation in your joints and can suffer from carpel tunnel. Let me tell you, it's not fun and is a pain to recover! I have since lessened this inflammation myself by A. following good ergonomics the best I can and B. stretching
extend one arm out and with your other hand pull your fingers back so that your palm is facing out. Hold for a few seconds then on the same hand face hand forward and down while gently using the other hand to pull towards you. Repeat this on the other side.
With arm extended, begin rolling your wrist clockwise 10xs then counter clockwise 10xs. Repeat on the other wrist.
Clench both hands into a fist and then stretch out hands by opening them wide. Do this repetitively.
Hold hands in a prayer position, palms together, start lowering your hands until you feel the stretch and hold. Reverse the stretch by facing the back of your hands and raise them and hold.
Shake it out!
Warm up Now that we've stretched, lets do some warm ups! With your tool, start drawing wavy lines. The goal is to remain loose with your form by moving your whole arm while drawing. We can easily get tensed up as we draw and this will just create that tight feeling in our hands and arms and can even travel to our shoulders and neck. So chill out, it's not a test.
Next, lets focus on some muscle memory. Draw two points on your paper. Then, you're going to quickly and with one stroke, draw a line from each point. This helps with control. As a beginner artist I made so many unsure lines. I was lucky to work with someone who would provide constructive criticism and tips on how to improve these unnecessary noisy marks. This led me into a deeper drive for continuous growth.
Now, honing in on that control, you can choose to draw other shapes, and within that shape the same shape but smaller. You're interchanging the sizes of the shapes, drawing within the shape and outside of it.
shapes Everything is comprised of simple shapes. The human figure, for example can be simplified into circles, cylinders, boxes and more instead of drawing each detail all at once. When you pick a subject, study it and see if you can decipher what shapes build the object.
The sketch Keep the under sketch light. This is helpful because when you finish the drawing, erasing will be easier, the sketching process won't seem as intimidating with dark final lines. I also do this to help with building up my design.
Shading To me, this is the fun part. Shading helps bring your drawing to life. However, this can be over done! It is important to decide the light source and move on from there.
There are many different ways to go about shading.
Because I was using a 0.5 mi pencil, I couldn't get the effect that I wanted but, I still hope you can get my point.
Practice!
Take these tips and put them into practice. Please let me know how they've helped you out.
Also, what tips do you have that can be shared among the community?
I'll be making a separate group for a 30 day drawing challenge! Everyone and anyone is welcome to join and the "rules" of said challenge will be listed in the group details.
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