How to Become Great at Drawing

Draw every day. Practice, practice, practice. That's the secret mantra of every artist around the world, and consistent practice is the key to making your artwork better. Even if you only spend a few minutes drawing each day, it helps your brain engage with art and learn new techniques.

Carry a sketchbook with you everywhere. If you always have a sketchbook on hand, you'll be able to draw anything—from a fellow bus rider, the natural scenery, to the stunning skyline of the city. To become a skilled artist, you need to practice, so make it a habit to sketch every day.

Buy a variety of pencils. Pencils come in different types, each offering varying hardness and darkness. ‘H’ pencils are harder, creating clean, light lines, while ‘B’ pencils give thicker, darker strokes.

• A starter pencil set for beginners is available at most art supply stores. A set might include pencils like 4H, 3H, 2H, H, HB, B, 2B, 3B, and 4B.
• Test each pencil to feel the difference. Take notes on how the lines differ and experiment with combining various pencils in a drawing.

Experiment with materials, colors, and blending. Use a few pages of your sketchbook to explore how pencil marks feel on paper, how your fingers or tissue paper blend colors, and what it's like to draw a simple sphere. Understanding the way materials work will help improve your drawings and guide you in selecting the right pencil for each stroke.

• Draw 3-4 straight lines and practice varying the pressure. Observe how each pencil type creates darker or lighter lines.

Take a drawing class or study fine art theory. While many young artists feel they can teach themselves, some techniques can only be passed down by experienced instructors. Take time to study perspective, proportions, and figure drawing. Spending time in a studio with an art teacher will help you identify and correct mistakes faster than learning on your own. However, you don't need to attend a physical class—there are plenty of online courses. If you're more comfortable drawing at home, you can find courses that are affordable or even free.

• Check art supply stores, art societies, or universities for drawing classes.

Draw from reference images or other artworks. It's important not to trace another artist's work and claim it as your own, but you can learn valuable techniques by recreating their artwork or other reference images. Since reference images are two-dimensional, they eliminate the pressure of learning perspective and allow you to focus on lines and angles.

• Practice by recreating classic masterpieces to learn from the greats—da Vinci was a master of anatomy, and there's much to learn from his works.
• Don't trace—you won't improve and will only copy the lines.

Draw in reverse. Drawing from the opposite direction forces you to stop worrying about making the image look logical and instead teaches you how to draw what you truly see. You can achieve a similar effect by drawing through a mirror or practicing with distorted images or edited photos in Photoshop.

Learn from various resources. Achieving precise lines requires more than just looking at online reference images. The best artists and art instructors invest in books, real-life examples, and research to understand what they are drawing. This depends on the type of art you're pursuing. Throughout history, all artists have benefitted from stepping away from their sketchbooks and learning from other sources.

• If you're drawing people, invest in anatomy books or enroll in classes with live models.
• If you're drawing animals, spend a day at the zoo or get a book focused on animal anatomy.
• If you're drawing landscapes or cityscapes, invest in perspective books to accurately create depth in your artwork.

Buy a wooden mannequin. These small, poseable mannequins have joints that allow you to create a perfect body proportion. They are incredibly useful for drawing complex poses. Simply pose the mannequin and use it as a reference for your sketch, then add details to the character later.

• If you can't afford a mannequin, try using a skeleton model from your school's biology lab to study proportions.
• There are also detailed models available of individual body parts like the hand, head, and skeletal system, but they tend to be more expensive.
• Wooden mannequins are a great, affordable tool for practicing drawing the human form.

Remember that line drawing is all about the outline. It's simply the outer shape, not yet shaded, but just the lines. Drawing clean lines is essential for a finished piece, as it defines the shape and proportions of the artwork.

• Generally, line drawing is the first step you take when starting a drawing.

Draw the grid. This step is often overlooked by beginners who dive straight into their drawings, but it is essential for accuracy. For example, when creating a large landscape, start by lightly sketching lines that divide the canvas into three horizontal and vertical sections. This results in a 9-square grid. This process helps frame your composition, organize the elements, and gives you reference points for your drawing.

Focus on proportions first. Proportions refer to the size relationships between objects. For instance, if you draw the arms and legs in the wrong proportion, the artwork will look awkward and out of place. Close one eye and align your pencil with the object. Hold your pencil straight, using it as a measuring tool, and mark the length with your thumb. You can then compare this measurement with other objects in the drawing or mark specific distances on the page.

• You can use the 9-grid layout to check the proportions. Which section does the object align with? Does it occupy the whole page or just one-third of it?

Sketch the basic structure before moving forward. There's nothing worse than finishing a drawing only to realize the character’s arm is too short. Skilled artists avoid this by sketching the basic structure first. Use simple shapes to define the proportions of each element. For example, an oval for the head, a rounded rectangle for the upper body, and elongated forms for the arms and legs. Adjust these shapes until the posture and proportions feel right.

• Sketch lightly so you can erase later.
• Draw small circles or dots at each joint to help position the arms and legs in the correct posture.

Gradually add details to the sketch. Each draft should become more refined. Start with the grid and stick figure, then add basic shapes and posture. Next, refine the outlines, connect the joints, add facial features, and more. Think about the final step of refining the lines by connecting the joints to create a recognizable figure.

• Once satisfied with the main outline, erase the initial sketch lines.
• Take your time, carefully drawing each line, and feel free to erase if it’s not perfect. Accurate lines will improve the final piece.

Start with the largest objects and work your way to the smallest. Never begin with the small details. Once the larger shapes are in place, you can focus on the smaller elements. This is a common mistake among beginner artists who get caught up in tiny details and forget to consider the larger proportions.

Practice perspective to give your landscape a true sense of depth. Perspective explains why objects far away appear smaller than those close by. To draw accurately, you need to understand correct perspective. One way to practice perspective is by using a vanishing point. Think of this point as the farthest point on the horizon, like the sun just before it sets. From this point, draw lines that align with your artwork - objects closer to the vanishing point seem farther away and appear smaller, while those farther from it appear closer to you.

Understand that shading adds depth to an object. Shading is what makes a drawing pop rather than appear flat. It's an essential element for creating the 3D feel of a drawing. Mastering shading can be difficult, especially when trying to shade from imagination or memory. Shading can also highlight the strokes in a drawing. Take the nose bridge and upper lip, for example. You can outline them, but they may still look unrealistic. Try shading the areas around them gently, darkening those spots, and immediately the features like the nose and lip line will 'pop' out.

Think about the light source. Shadows are created where there is less light compared to other parts of the scene. Consider where the light is coming from, the type of light, and even the time of day, as all affect the shadow. Shadows appear in areas opposite to the light source. For instance, if you place a ball and shine light from the right, the left side will be darker. This is the area you need to shade when drawing a sphere.

Pay attention to the edge of the shadow. The edge of the shadow is where it fades away. Try imagining a shadow on a wall - when your hand is close to the light source and the wall, there will be a sharp line where the shadow meets the light. But as you move your hand away, the shadow blends softly into the light. Keep in mind that all shadows have a soft edge. The difference between shading and outlining is whether the edge of the shadow fades or stays sharp.

• Direct light, such as stage lights or a bright sunny day, creates harsh shadows with sharp edges.
• Diffuse light, distant light, multiple light sources, or an overcast day will create shadows with softer, blended edges.

Mark the area before finalizing the shading. Lightly draw thin lines around the edges of the object to indicate where the shadow will fall.

• Define the light sources: Where is the light strongest? Are there any glaring spots?
• Outline the shadow: Where does each shadow start and end on the object?
• Emphasize the darkest parts of the shadow. Are there any shapes created by the light, like a human silhouette under sunlight?

Focus on smooth transitions in shading. Shading is the art of gradually changing the light levels across an object. Start with the lightest pencil marks, gently shading in the form. Then, gradually darken the areas with the most shadow, step by step.

Blend the shadows effectively. This is one of the best techniques to create realistic light and dark contrasts in your drawings. Use a tissue, your finger, or gently shade with your pencil, slowly blending darker areas into the lighter ones by rubbing from dark to light. Pencils blend slightly, but charcoal allows for a more intense dark-to-light transition when blended with fingers.

Practice shading simple objects. Set up a basic still life to practice shading. Place everyday objects like a ball, small box, or water bottle under a light source. First, draw the outlines of the objects, then practice shading them as you observe.

• Once comfortable, try drawing transparent objects, more complex shapes, or incorporate a secondary light source to challenge your shading skills.
• Use children's coloring books to practice shading, using the simpler lines to tackle more advanced techniques.

Learn various shading techniques. While realistic shading uses smooth, gradual transitions (known as 'smooth shading'), there are many different styles artists use. For example, many comic book artists employ cross-hatching or stippling to convey shadow. The basic principle remains the same—more lines mean darker shadows. Experiment with different methods to find which one suits you best.

• Hatching: Individual straight lines that create shadow effects. More lines mean darker shading.
• Cross-hatching: Intersecting lines that form a shadow effect. The further apart the lines, the lighter the shadow. This technique works well for drawing textures like hair or fur.
• Stippling: Small dots that build up the shadow. The more dots you use, the darker the shadow will appear until the individual dots blend together at the darkest edge.
• Circular shading: Creating shadows by layering circular strokes. The more circles you add, the darker the shadow becomes. This is the best technique for colored pencil shading.

• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes, a wrong line might actually enhance the drawing! Embrace the imperfections of your artwork; it’s a great way to discover new techniques that will help you master your skills in the future.
• Visit art galleries and explore artists online to get inspired.
• When drawing animals, start by sketching the basic shapes that form the body. For example, a giraffe can be broken down into multiple rectangles for the legs and neck, while a bird might consist of an oval shape.
• Don’t judge too quickly. Wait until the next day and look at your artwork again to see how it looks then.
• Have confidence in your drawing and avoid comparing yourself to others. They are not you, and you are not them.
• Have fun while drawing—avoid frustration or anger.

• Pencils
• Paper or a sketchbook