Learn How To Draw
By Helen South, About.com Guide
- Learn About Drawing Mediums
- Getting Started - First Drawing Lessons
- Structure and Perspective
- Value / Tone and Shading
- Sketching
Learn About Drawing Mediums
You can start learning how to draw with just some scrap paper and a number two pencil. It really is that simple. But for shading and advanced drawing, you'll want a few useful supplies. Don't waste money on the wrong art materials: learn about your choices before you hit the art store.
- Before You Buy Drawing Materials
- Sustainable Art Supplies
- Try Out Drawing Materials
- Drawing Materials for Children
- Which Paper for Pencil Sketching?
- Which Paper for Graphite Pencil?
- Which Paper for Pastel and Chalk?
- Before You Buy - Graphite Pencils
- Ink Drawing Pens, Inks and Nibs
Getting Started - First Drawing Lessons
These drawing exercises take you through exploring your medium, learning how to follow lines in space, follow contours and explore three-dimensional form. The aim of these lessons is not to create a perfect drawing but to train your eye, hand and mind - a bit like scales for a musician, or ball drills for a footballer. They are important, so don't skip them.
Structure and Perspective
To learn how to draw a realistic object, you first have to learn to see and understand structure and perspective. Learning how to show three dimensions on a two dimensional plane can be a little bit daunting. But for general drawing, you only need to learn the basics, and practice so that you develop a feel for it. If you enjoy perspective drawing, it can be fun to experiment with!
- What Is Perspective? (and who invented it?)
- Simple One-Point Perspective
- Boxes in Two-Point Perspective
- Try Three Point Perspective
- Find the Center of a Square or Rectangle in Perspective
- Draw a '3D' Pyramid in Perspective
- Draw a Brick Wall in Perspective
- How to Draw Structure
Value / Tone and Shading
Learning to use value (also called tone, or tonal value) - light and shade - in your drawing - requires a slightly different approach to contour drawing. Instead of looking for edges, value drawing involves looking at areas of light and dark and in-between tones.
- Introduction to Pencil Shading
- Value Drawing - Seeing Light and Shade
- Practice Graduated and Continual Shading
- How to Use a Value Viewer
- Value Exercise: Newspaper Drawing (matching tones)
- Value Drawing in Charcoal: Soft Volume
Sketching
Keeping a sketchbook is considered essential by most artists, for many reasons. A sketchbook allows you to track your progress, develop the drawing-from-life habit, and keep all your visual ideas in one place. If you want to learn how to draw really well, consider keeping a sketchbook and drawing in it every day.
- How to Keep a Sketchbook
- Sketchbook Ideas
- Planning a Zoo Sketching Trip
- Sketchbook Top Picks
- Drawing Quotes for Your Journal
- Thumbnail Sketching
- Draw and Sketch Cats
- Sketching Faces with Ed Hall
- Sketch a Running Horse with Dan Lewis
Figure Drawing
Figure drawing is the traditional cornerstone art training. The human body offers every challenge one could require - line and tone, perspective and composition. Parental guidance advised as figure drawing involves artistic nudity, and reference sources may include nude photography. For those under 18 - some links on these pages may not be appropriate. If your parents wouldn't approve, please respect their wishes.
Portraiture
Portrait drawing begins with a focus on technique - mastering head anatomy and proportions, and learning to observe and draw the features accurately. But the ultimate challenge for the portrait artist is to capture the character and spirit of their subject.
- Proportion and Structure of the Human Head
- Draw the Head from Life
- Drawing the Head and Neck
- Portraiture: Achieving a Likeness
- Sketching Faces with Ed Hall
- How to Draw Eyes
- Eye Drawing Demo - Step by Step
- Drawing the Nose
- How to Draw the Mouth
- Learn to Draw Hair
Pen, Ink and Wash
Pen and Ink is a popular and versatile medium. Its 'unforgiving' nature can seem daunting at first, but by learning some basic techniques, you can quickly learn to create beautiful line, tone and texture.
- Pen and Ink Basic Textures
- Drawing Pens and Nibs Top Picks
- Select and Maintain Drawing Pen Nibs
- Sketching in Pen and Ink
Drawing with Charcoal and Conte
Charcoal drawing is an inexpensive and expressive medium, always popular for large figure drawing, but also useful for smaller works, offering rich and subtle tones. The coarse carbon particles offer a far deeper black than graphite pencil, and surprisingly, it can be used for a comparable degree of detail.
- Charcoal Drawing FAQ
- Value Drawing in Charcoal: Soft Volume
- How to Apply Spray Fixative
- Choose Charcoal for Drawing - Top Picks
- Choose Paper for Charcoal Drawing
Draw with Colored Pencil
Learn how to draw with colored pencil to enjoy the intensity of the finest paint pigments, with the precise control and clean delivery of your favorite pencil.