4 Effective Ways to Practise Drawing
Drawing is complex and involves several different elements at different skill levels. Of course, it needs regular practise. But well, just regularly practise drawing is not enough when it comes to pencil sketches or pencil art. There are both good and bad ways to practise.
When you practise ineffectively, you would put in a great number of efforts and receive very little rewards. But when you practise effectively, you would progress much faster than you would have thought with a lesser effort. If you’re wondering how to draw effectively, well, effective practise is deliberated, focused, and specific. On the other hand, ineffective practise is not and has no specific goal.
Complex pursuits such as painting and drawing need an amalgamation of different skills. Also, unfocused and ineffective drawing practises result in a lesser noticeable improvement in these skills. What’s even worse is that it can demotivate you in the long run and prevent you from practising at all. Well, in case you wish to know about effective practising, here is how to practise drawing effectively.
Draw from a direct observation
This might sound extremely simple to you, but most artists and art students do not work from a direct observation when they are looking forward to improvising on their drawing skills. The problem is that photography has become so crazily easy and fast to access with just your smartphone and internet connection.
Not only 99% of the times people draw from photographs, but they draw from low resolution, crappy photographs that they come across online. In this case, drawing a self-portrait is the ideal option since you wouldn’t find a better model who would be willing to pose for you!
Practise daily and regularly
Drawing is quite similar to athletics and is just a matter of investing your time. If you were an athlete instead of an artist, you would have a tight training schedule set up that you would adhere to. Drawing works in the same manner. You need to be serious, focused, and practise rigorous training. One of the best ways in which you can do so is by taking online art classes.
Practise drawing gestures
If you’re able to do gesture drawings, congratulations! You’ve won half of the battle! Gesture drawings refer to the core of the drawings. They tend to capture the essence of what that drawing is trying to portray in just a few simple strokes.
The initial two minutes of the strokes are crucial since they lay the foundation for the rest of the picture. Well, it’s not a compulsion that your drawing needs to be polished if there is no initial gesture that you can start with.
Take a look at the historical drawings
Visit a library and check out books that have drawings by historical artists. Avoid the internet as much as possible, only due to the following reasons:
- Internet is overwhelming most of the times in case you don’t know what you’re looking for.
- You wouldn’t find the selection or range of drawings that you’d find if you spend some time in the art history section in a library.
Make the time and effort to see those extraordinary paintings and drawings that have been made through centuries of history.
