The Fundamentals of Drawing

Now that you have your workspace arranged and your drawing supplies assembled, let's put them to use, shall we? I imagine you are eager to realistically portray people, still life or landscapes – maybe all three! Well, I assure you that by the end of this course, you will be confidently sketching anything that intrigues you but for the time being, let's focus on practicing some basic skills that you will use throughout the course of your drawing career.

Drawing with the right attitude

Try to think of drawing as a form of language. In order to form sentences, we must first learn about the different letters. With these letters, we'll explore words and soon enough, we'll be putting together whole sentences, combining all that we've learned. Literacy, like drawing, is a skill slowly and patiently acquired. With practice, basic techniques will lead to advanced skills, but expect to produce some drawings along the way that you're less than thrilled about. Whatever you do, don't be quick to label them ¨failures¨ because they are an important part of the learning process. I recommend you dedicate 30 - 60 minutes of your time, a few days per week to get things rolling. Greater improvements will be visible with this approach rather than with prolonged but infrequent sessions and it will be less frustrating and overwhelming for you as a student. Try to focus on taking pleasure from the drawing process and you will amaze yourself with what you achieve. This course will focus predominantly on the literal representation of subjects, however, when you have finished with the lessons, you will be well-equipped to creatively express yourself as an artist in any manner you choose.

Other pages of interest

Sketch pad paper types
Chalk, charcoal and conte crayons
Eraser and other techniques
How to store artwork
The fundamentals of drawing