Learn to Sketch: Beginner Techniques for Drawing Anything
Many believe that drawing is a talent reserved for a select few. However, anyone can learn to draw with practice and dedication, regardless of perceived natural ability. This article provides a simple guide on how to learn to draw anything, emphasizing basic concepts, techniques, and consistent practice.
Warming Up: Preparing Your Mind and Hand
Before diving into serious sketching, it's a good idea to warm up and get comfortable with your tools. A warm-up is a great way to loosen your drawing muscles and bring your thoughts to the page. Grab your pencil or pen and make different marks. Line work can be incredibly varied. Make scribbles, doodle around, create dots, stipples, hatching, zig zag lines - explore the range of your drawing tool. Also try varying pressure. To take this exploration a step further, let‘s train your hand-eye coordination a bit. Take your pencil and practice drawing a few straight and curved lines, long ones and short ones. Don’t worry about doing this right or wrong, it’s just a warm up. Then draw a few round shapes like circles and ellipses, and try out loose shapes like lying eights. Vary the size and also vary the pressure of your pen. See what changes if you draw with your entire arm, that means locking the elbow and wrist and making motions from the shoulder joint. What will give you the smoothest arks? Fill a page with these explorations. Keep it fun and playful. If you feel bored, you don’t need to continue. It helps to do just a few of these warm-ups at the start of a drawing session to create smoother line work.
Breaking Down Objects into Basic Shapes
Essentially, you can break down everything you want to draw into basic shapes. Basic shapes are circles (we already practiced those), rectangles and triangles. When you look at an object in real life, all you need to do is figure out how you can break it down visually into easier to manage basic shapes, and put those down on paper. So you might look at a rose, or a house or a bird, and figure out how to reduce them to basic shapes. So you can use those basic shapes as a loose underdrawing. For this, we‘ll start with very light linework and rough shapes, that we can refine to a more specific structure and more defined shapes in a second step. But right now, it‘s all about getting the proportions right and produce a solid underdrawing that you can work with.
Refining Your Sketch with a Solid Outline
As a second step, you‘ll want to refine what you have drawn through a solid outline. Again, observing what you draw is much more important than actually placing the line. Take your gesture drawing as a basis and check all the angles and edges against your subject. See where you need to make adjustments. Observe the angles, shapes and curves of your subject. Travel around the contour, and be mindful about the proportions you‘ve already explored. Are they true to what you’ve drawn? If not, make your corrections now. Again, observe closely before you place your lines. Really notice what your subject looks like before you place your line. You can use your pencil as a measuring help. Often you will draw several loose lines in the first explorative stage, now is the time to decide on one contour line and define it with a solid line.
Quick Sketches: Practice and Hand-Eye Coordination
At this stage, it can be helpful to just produce a lot of quick drawings to practice what you‘ve learned. Grab an object, and draw it with lots of quick gestural sketches from different angles. Try to get your hand to a stage where it seems easy to see a line, and transfer it to the paper. You want this to become a fluid process. This will take a bit of time, but it’s important to become comfortable with hand-eye-coordination. You will want to create many quick drawings, not one perfect drawing at this stage. These basics may seem very simple and mundane, but they’re really important for learning how to draw.
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Adding Finishing Touches: Contrast, Light, and Detail
At this point, you‘ll want to make your sketch a bit rounder, a bit more finished. Do not proceed to this step when your basic framework and the right proportions aren't in place, rather make another drawing or correct the one you have. In this step, you can add contrast, light and dark areas, and a bit of detail, like textures in a few places. All of these are techniques for themselves that can be practiced, in any case I’d like to caution not to overdo it with the details. Think back to the mark-making exercise and remember the different marks and lines your pencil can produce. Dots, lines, hatching, broken up lines, varied lines. As for contrast and shadows, the same concept applies. Add darker areas to show volume here and there, don‘t overwork your sketch. You only need a few accents in your drawing.
Embracing Mistakes and Trusting the Process
Mistakes will happen, they‘re part of the process. Don‘t get too hung up about mistakes, they‘ll help you learn and make your next drawing better. The hand needs time to understand these concepts. You‘ll need to build muscle memory, and this means working through mistakes. So try not to feel frustrated about mistakes and trust the process.
Essential Sketching Tips to Transform Your Work
Understanding Pencil Grades
Having the right pencil to begin drawing your pencil sketch is one of the most essential sketching tips. The hardness of the graphite is indicated on the side of the pencil: 'B' pencils are softer, 'H' are harder, and 'HB' sits in the middle - there's a big difference between a 4H and a 4B. "I recommend starting somewhere on the H scale as a foundation and then finishing with the darker B scale," says travelling convention artist Tim Von Rueden. When you're learning how to draw, it's also worth considering using mechanical pencils alongside traditional ones. "Mechanical pencils are usually better suited for precision, while traditional pencils are great for laying down large areas of texture," says Tim. "Keep in mind that most mechanical pencils come with HB pre-inserted, which gives you only the middle range to work with."
Pencil Grip Techniques
"If you position your hand closer to the end of the pencil, you have more control and precision, but heavier strokes (darker markings)," says illustrator Sylwia Bomba. "Gripping further up the pencil will give you less control and precision, but lighter strokes (lighter markings)."
Creating Form and Depth
There are plenty of sketching tips and techniques to help you achieve different styles and effects. It’s important to experiment and find what works best for you, to not only complement but enhance your style. "While I prefer smoother value transitions with the pencil strokes blending in against a thin outline, you may be more partial to cross-hatching against a bold outline."
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Varied Lines
Use varied lines, says illustrator Rovina Cai. "Not all lines are equal. Subtle shifts in the width and darkness of your lines will create a dynamic, visually interesting drawing. Controlling the kind of mark you put down can be tricky in the beginning, but with practice you will be able to create a variety of marks that work together to make a cohesive image. Experiment with different pencil grades (from 3H to 6B) and with holding the pencil at different angles."
Avoiding Smudging
"When shading, use an extra piece of paper underneath your hand," advises artist Brun Croes. "This will minimise the amount your hand smudges your pencil lines. If you're right-handed, start shading from left to right; if you're left-handed, start at the right and move to the left." Instead, use smudging to your advantage every now and then to smooth out shading. You can do this with several tools, such as a simple piece of tissue paper.
Defining Edges
Tim uses four different sketching techniques to define object edges: thin, hard, lost and undefined. A thin and hard edges give objects solid borders. Lost edges occur when the object and background values start to blend together, so the edge is implied rather than defined. Undefined edges need to be deciphered by the viewer themselves. He suggests exploring all four types, and combining them to create interest within your work.
Subtle Shading
It is possible to create smooth, blended effects using pencils - for example, to capture a sky. "Sometimes it's preferable for your shading to be less sketchy and more smooth and subtle," says artist Marisa Lewis. "Pencil lines don't blend perfectly unless you're very careful." To avoid your initial scribbles showing through, Marisa uses a particular technique. "Use spare paper to doodle a big swatch of soft graphite or charcoal pencil, then use a large blending stick to pick up the soft dust to use for your image," she explains. "Keep using the blending stick and adding more scribbles as you need more graphite." You can then build up darker areas to create definition.
The 70/30 Rule
One of the most vital sketching tips is that less can be more! The 70/30 rule helps you create effective compositions. The idea is that 30 per cent of your sketch is filled with the main focus and detail, and the remaining 70 per cent is filler. This less interesting area helps direct attention towards the main subject of your artwork.
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Symmetry and Asymmetry
"I like symmetrical drawings, but they often look boring all too quickly," says Brun. "A good way to prevent this is to add some subtle changes and only keep the general lines symmetrical instead of mirroring every small part. Keeping some elements asymmetrical helps to avoid boring repetition."
Representing Texture
To show different textures within your sketch, you need to adjust your technique. "You wouldn’t want to shade skin the same way you shade metallics or fur. They each have unique properties and capturing that will elevate your drawings because of the accuracy depicted," says Tim. A good starting point is to consider if the texture is rough or smooth, and then if it absorb or reflects light. "A reflecting and smooth texture, such as chrome, usually has higher contrasts and prominent highlights, while an absorbing and rough texture like cotton has low contrasts and little to no highlight present," he continues.
Mastering Realism
Sketches don't have to be realistic. However, Tim believes it's vital to focus on creating realistic sketches first - considering elements such as lighting, values, proportions and anatomy - before trying something more stylised. "Once you understand how to recreate something realistically, it becomes incredibly easy to then create a stylised version of the same object, especially for creatures and characters," he says. "Over time you’ll make seemingly small, personal preference choices on the actual execution of a piece (often straying from realism) and that’s what will help you to gradually build up your own style."
Using Silhouettes
"Have you ever noticed that every important character in an animation movie is recognisable from their shadow alone?" says artist Leonardo Sala. "This magic has a name: the silhouette. The purpose of finding a strong and interesting silhouette is to create an easily recognisable character that will remain clear in the visual memory of the viewer." Another of the great sketching tips is to see if your characters are recognisable in silhouette form. To do this, place a piece of tracing paper on your sketch and trace around your character, filling it in with solid colour. Then show a friend or colleague, and ask what they see.
Contrast
Contrast helps direct the viewer's eye within a sketch. When people talk about contrast they're usually referring to a difference in value, where light and dark areas are juxtaposed. However, you can also create contrast in hue, saturation, shape, texture, edges, proportion and so on. "Heavy contrast will demand attention," emphasises Tim. "I recommend placing the highest value contrast in your area of intent focus. You can also add contrast to separate forms and distinguish different subject matter."
Lower Contrast
Subtle shading can be just as effective when it comes to showcasing form and detail. "In these examples [above], you can see that the softer, low-value contrast piece enables the eye to wander and doesn’t define an area of focus," Tim adds. "While the area of focus in the high-value contrast piece rests on the darkest darks against the lightest lights."
Flipping the Image
If you've spent a long time looking at a drawing, it can be difficult to see where the errors are. Artist Justin Gerard has a nifty sketching tip to help. "A benefit of tracing paper is that you can flip it over to see how your drawing looks from the reverse angle," he advises. "This can help reveal errors in proportion. As you work, take advantage of this in order to arrive at a more successful drawing."
Gradients
Tim is very fond of a well-placed gradient. "They are visually pleasant to the eye and can direct the viewer’s attention to an area of focus," he comments. "The scope of the gradient is important as well. A gradient that covers most of the drawing or subject matter will influence where the viewers look, and smaller gradients can add a pop of detail and contrast. If you feel your piece is looking flat or has lost focus, try adding a subtle gradient."
Abstract Backgrounds
"The use of irregular lines when shading adds a lot of dynamism to your sketch," Sylwia says. "If you want to create a fresh and unique portrait, architecture sketch, or piece of concept art, you should definitely try this technique." Sylwia uses it to add interest to flat backgrounds.
Distinctive Objects
"Instead of just looking at what makes an object recognisable you should also consider how to make this object distinctive," says Tim. Quirks and imperfections add character to your sketch, and can suggest a story for the viewer to mentally explore. "Look to add [imperfections] to any given subject matter and try to have some fun pushing it into something fantastical," he suggests.
Hidden Details
Tim believes an artist's heart and soul is revealed in a sketch's details. "The additional time put into adding elements that may go unnoticed are like treats for viewers who take the time to look for them," he says. Putting extra care into the details can also teach you patience. "Great art should be nurtured, not manufactured," he adds. "Don’t overlook those details or let time be a deterrent. Embrace them!"
Authenticity
Finally, the last in our list of sketching tips might seem to negate some of the others, but at the end of the day, we often have a sense for what works and what we like, and sometimes we just need to be brave enough to go with it. "Creating art takes courage. To fully express who you are, what you’re interested in, how you’re feeling and what you stand for can be daunting. Too many artists play it safe. They find an appealing and marketable comfort zone, and then only create from that space," says Tim. From experience, he's found that work that feels authentic will resonate more with people. "When you’re in your creative zone, trust your gut feelings and be expressive with your preliminary sketches and thumbnails," he continues. "Don’t worry about the reaction. Create without the fear of whether it will be 'good' or not."
Choosing the Right Pencil
The're no single right pencil for sketching, and many artists will use a range of them. Graphite pencils are the most popular, and an HB pencil is a versatile option since its balanced hardness makes it suitable for both outlines and shading. A softer B or 2B is also a good choice as a single pencil for sketching. Harder pencils like 2H-4H are useful for light sketches that you might later use as guides for paintings or illustrations, while softer pencils like 6B and up are useful for shading and adding darks. If you use mechanical pencils, some artists prefer 0.5mm leads for more precision, but 0.7mm leads can make smoother lines and can be better for shading.
Pencil Grip
Holding a pencil takes more practice than you might think. There are two popular types of pencil grip for sketching: tripod and overhand. The former involves with your thumb, index, and middle fingers, forming a triangle with the pencil. Your ring finger and little finger support the hand. This can provide more control for small details. An overhand grip means holding the pencil with your thumb and index finger, resting the middle finger and other fingers on the pencil. This allows larger, more fluid movements, making it good for shading.
Getting Started: Scribbling
If you're completely new to drawing, or you haven't drawn since you were a child, many artists recommend first learning to scribble. That might sound patronising since it's how children learn to draw, but there's a lot to be said for scribbling. It helps practise the art of holding and using a pencil as as well as hand-eye coordination and building up experience for the effect that different types of marks can have.
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