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Learn to draw for beginners - tips and tricks

  • Basics
    • Materials and utensils
    • table
    • light
  • Tips & Tricks
    • overtures
    • Black
    • circles
    • Draw lines
    • screening method
    • First freehand drawings

Learning to draw is interesting for many who want to live out their artistic streak or try out a new hobby. For the beginner, it is often difficult to really get into the matter, as several points have to be considered. The advantages of drawing, however, are the low cost of the material and the numerous tips and tricks for the first steps as a budding artist.

The pen glides over the paper and slowly a nature scene on the ground is emerging. If you want to learn to draw or try as a beginner, you do not have to go to a course right away. With the right tips and tricks, the first steps with a pencil can be easily realized in your own home without any time pressure. If you want to learn to draw, you can start right away, provided you have the necessary equipment.

Basics

Materials and utensils

Drawing is useful for beginners due to multiple points. On the one hand only pencils are used, as drawings are traditionally black and white. It also makes it easier to learn the basic technique, such as pen guidance, because you do not have to worry about the colors. The other point is the low cost. Drawing utensils are easy to master even for the small purse, because compared to painting you do not need canvasses, oil, water or acrylic paints and an arsenal of brushes. The following utensils are only for beginners.

Make pencil drawings

pencils

For the pencils you should set as a beginner on three degrees of hardness.

  • soft: B2
  • medium hard: HB
  • hard: H2

The softer the pencil, the higher the number behind the B and vice versa. You need different degrees of hardness to better explore the different characteristics and your own drawing style.

paper

For paper, you should not put on copy paper or a checkered block at the beginning. Since you are still making quite large moves at the beginning, A3 drawing blocks are ideal. A good size is 120 to 190 grams, which will not tear the paper when you erase it.

eraser

For the eraser you need a soft and a hard one. Cut straight edges with scissors to improve the result.

sharpener

When selecting the sharpener, there are no special features to consider. Optional utensils help you to implement certain ideas more effectively or more easily.

Zeichenutensilien

This includes:

  • Rulers in different designs
  • compasses
  • paper Stomp
  • mark broom
  • Holzkreisel

At the beginning of your drawing adventures you should refrain from the use of color pencils. Using pencils will make you more familiar with the techniques and different levels of hardness of the mines. Over time, you can add colors to your pictures as needed, but you'll face other obstacles.

Tip: As you go further, you can even get semi-professional drawing tools to perpetuate people or animals on the leaf. These items are so-called limb or joint dolls, which illustrate the movements of an organism and are a great help.

table

Basis: table

At the beginning you do not need a drawing table yet. Choose a straight, level table or work surface. Even kitchen worktops are suitable because you can easily draw while standing. However, you should pay attention to enough space .

light

Basis: light

As light, daylight is recommended. Daylight makes it easier to look at the lines and how the individual forms merge. Here, a technique has proven to be particularly effective: the light should come against the direction of your hand. That is, left-handers rely on light from the right and right-handed people to light from the left. This will prevent shadows on the paper.

Light incident when drawing

Tip: If you do not have enough daylight, for example because sir could only draw in the evening after work, you should get a bright desk lamp. Especially recommended are lamps with a pivoting neck, as they can be directed to a specific location and thus provide sufficient light.

Tips & Tricks

Learn to draw: tips and tricks for beginners

As soon as you have prepared the right utensils, tools and your "workplace" for drawing, you're ready to go. The tips and tricks below are specific ways in which you may become aware, for example, of pen guidance, the behavior of color particles on paper, or the effective movement of your arms. One thing is especially important: Take your time and have fun. No one puts pressure on you when drawing, and it does not matter if you scribble a lot of leaves. The more you try, the clearer the picture becomes in the mind and on the paper.

Hold and guide the pencil correctly

overtures

The first tip is particularly easy to implement. Lay a piece of paper in front of you and start drawing lines, circles, no matter which shape you have in mind. As a beginner strumming on a guitar for the first time, you should explore all possibilities.

Test pencil

Here is an assistance:

  • Try all the pins
  • Press firmly or gently
  • Blur the lines on the sheet with your finger
  • Try out optional accessories such as rulers
Blur painted pencil lines

Already through these advances you get an insight into the different pens and possible methods with which you can realize a drawing.

to test different drawing utensils

As a beginner, you should always draw from the arm and not from the wrist when learning to draw. That is, take the pencil out of your arm and do not be afraid to go out and do it. Moving out of the arm is especially important as wrist movement is much harder to do if you do not have some drawing experience.

Lead pencil out of attached arm (left), lead pencil out of wrist, arm is not supported (right)

Tip: If you have children or siblings, this first try is ideal for teaching the little ones how to draw.

Black

The next tip is about the different degrees of hardness of the pencil leads and how they behave.

Proceed as follows:

  • lay a leaf in front of you
  • ideally place this on a sheet of slightly larger dimensions (keyword: shim)
  • Now dye the entire sheet black
  • for that you use all the pencils
Blacken sheet and blur graphite

See how each grade works more or less effectively ">

hand-blurred pencil graphite

This results in the following possible applications:

  • Soft mines allow blurring on paper
  • medium-hard mines are ideal for writing
  • hard mines are used for clear lines (example: technical drawings)
different pencil hardness grades

circles

The next tip is to draw circles. Yes, circles. Because of their shape, circles are among the heaviest geometric shapes that you can draw freehand.

Proceed as follows:

  • take a pencil in your hand
  • Draw a circle freehand
  • then draw more circles
  • vary the size and shape steadily
  • Use all the pencils you have at your disposal
  • blur the circles
  • let the lines overlap
  • try as much as possible
Draw circles on paper

Of course, you can and should additionally draw other geometric shapes or patterns such as stars to the circles.

Bring stars to paper with pencil

This makes sense in terms of the behavior of the forms to each other, which is important in the end for heavy drawings such as living things. Did you know that circles and crosses are necessary to draw people ">

Tip: When drawing circles, you should also try curves and arcs.

Draw bows and curves

Draw lines

Just as you drew circles in the previous step, repeat this process with lines. Draw freehand as well as you can straight lines in different lengths, thicknesses and directions.

Draw lines away from the body

Little tip: drawing lines to them is much easier than getting away from them.

Draw lines towards the body

screening method

A good trick to move from simple doodles and exercises to proper drawings is the grid method.

Use raster method to practice drawing

In this, draw a grid on blank paper with the help of a ruler and repeat this on the image you want to draw.

Record raster by raster method

Now draw the lines in each field as accurately as possible. This method helps you learn how to draw because you do not have to determine the position of each element on a blank sheet of paper.

Apply raster method for image transfer

Especially with the first correct drawings, the raster method makes sense.

Image transmitted with raster method

First freehand drawings

The last tip for you is drawing simple outlines . These lay the foundations for further, advanced techniques such as hatching or the use of vanishing points to create spatial impressions.

Freehand drawing bottle lying down

When drawing outlines, do the following:

  • choose a simple theme
  • Pears, apples, bottles, flowers or houses are well suited for beginners
  • Now draw the rough shape from the arm in controlled movements
  • controlled, not cramped
  • Remember the shape
  • try to draw them out of your head
  • try several motives
  • increase the difficulty with time
Freehand drawing bottle

Once you understand the outline, you can highlight the contours . This will make certain areas thicker than others. This creates a sense of spaciousness .

Freehand drawing with pencil
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