Draw 101 - The Basics - Beginner Drawing Lessons

If you want to learn how to draw and don't know where to start - start here! Drawing lesson hub organizes everything you need to know, and will guide you through each step as you learn, so make it your homepage for easy reference. Work through each article in each section, doing the exercises and trying out the ideas.

There's no 'one right way' to hold a pencil, but some methods are better than others. This article demonstrates the most popular ways to grip a pencil.

Beginner Drawing Exercise - Wire Drawing - an exercise in hand-eye co-ordination for beginners. Loosen up and have fun with a non-threatening drawing exercise that sharpens the hand - eye connection, developing observations skills

Learn Pencil Shading - try this pencil shading exercise, drawing a simple egg to practice your pencil shading technique with step by step examples.

Line Drawing - sometimes edges are easy to see, but what do you do with complicated, rounded shapes? Find out how to use implied line to create a better contour drawing.

Here you'll find an visual index to the beginner learn to draw lessons that are listed below, covering the essential basic techniques and exercises you need to learn how to draw.

One of the first exercises to try when you learn to draw, blind contour drawing develops your eye-hand connection. More advanced students can improve observation skills by including a short Blind Contour drawing as a warmup exercise.

Blind Contour drawing can sometimes look a bit strange, and you think you're doing it wrong. Chances are, you're doing just fine. Here are some examples.

Pure contour line drawing is the simplest form of linear expression. The line describes visible edges of an object from a particular point of view. This lesson explains what linear contour drawing is and offers some approaches to contour drawing.

Can you be a good painter if you can't draw? Of course you can, but learning to draw will enrich your painting experience on many levels. Even if you never really master the drawn line, the drawing process is still important, useful and enjoyable.

Find out the common mistakes beginners make when they learn to draw, and how to fix them.

Find out what cross contours are and how to use them to make your drawing more three-dimensional.

By sketching the structure of the subject before adding detail, proportion and placement can be correctly established. Learn how to get the framework down first by looking for the basic shapes that make up an object.

Get control of your range of tone with this simple exercise in graduated tonal drawing.

The first step to successful pencil shading is to control the movement of your pencil, making sure that every mark you make on the paper works towards creating the shading or modeling effect that you want.

When learning to draw, most beginners draw way too light, or don't control their values, jumping from light to dark. Here is a short exercise you can do to broaden your range of tone.

Value drawing requires a different approach to line drawing. This lesson will help you learn to draw values and shading by identifying the mental shift you need to make.

Those marks on paper are your means of communication with your viewer - make sure they speak beautifully. This drawing lesson will help you get better control of your lines and shading.

How can I learn to draw what I see? Firstly, by training your mind and eye to work together with some simple exercises. Here are some top techniques that will help you learn how to draw what you see. The linked headings will take you to more information on each technique, with lessons to practice.

Here is an easy drawing lesson for beginners. Start learning to draw with this these easy drawing lessons. A piece of fruit is a good subject for a beginner artist, so we'll start with drawing a pear in graphite pencil. Give it a try!

Learn how to draw with white chalk or pastel on black paper. This simple exercise helps you to practice shading with white on black to achieve realistic results when drawing on black paper or a blackboard or chalk board.

I'm trying to learn to draw, but don't know where to start. I'm trying to draw a great portrait and can't get it to look like the person, and when I try to draw a person, it looks like some sort of zombie! What should I do? First, don't panic. Second, read this article and find out how to learn to draw - from the beginning!

Need some things to draw? Here are some drawing and painting ideas to get you started. From traditional still life to contemporary approaches, you can find things in around the home to draw which make great subjects.