Teach Yourself How To Draw

There are many ways to teach yourself how to draw and one of those is to explore using shapes for assistance.

Along with drawing outlines, this process involves the basics of drawing.

When you observe whatever it is that you want to draw, mentally convert the general mass of that object into a shape that you recognize.

So, if you were to draw this shoe, can you see that the main overall shape would be a triangle?

When you start to put what you see on paper, your pencil will flow along with those preconceived shapes.

You sketch in light guidelines, just like a type of scaffolding, to help your eyes get the correct outline in its place.

Once you have your guidelines (squares, circles, rectangles etc) in place, you can proceed to draw in the actual outline of your subject, correcting it as you go along.

This simple 'teach yourself how to draw' process helps you identify the relation of the mass of a figure and it gives you a sense of structure in drawing.

When we look at anything, we see a complexity of form. Make your lines as descriptive as possible, define the main form boldly and block in the main mass using shapes. Aim at the general look.

If you are not confident drawing an outline straight onto paper, then using shapes might just be the answer you are looking for. There's no harm in trying it out, is there?

A Tip

When you teach yourself how to draw, part of the process is to learn the common terms used by artists.

The habit of recognizing and drawing shapes to assist an artist is sometimes called blocking-in.

Drawing shapes to identify objects is a really popular method among beginner artists. Experienced artists also rely on shapes all throughout their careers, it's a very handy trick to get a drawing onto paper easily.

You can block-in by drawing shapes encompassing (outside) your subject or you can draw shapes within the boundary of its form.

Oval shapes are commonly used to draw the human form and animals.

However, if you have a tendency to round off your forms too much, then you would be better off using square shapes as in this example horse sketch.

Silhouettes

It is important to master outline drawing first.

To help you along with identifying outlines, imagine your subject to be all black.

If you are copying from a picture, make a spare copy and paint the object black. Place the black silhouette against a white background to see the true boundary without surface markings or shadows.

Concentrate on the edge, follow it as carefully as possible within your rectangular border. This encourages a larger style of drawing, since good outline means good perception of mass. It's a way of training your eyes to judge form correctly.

Leaves come before flowers so it's best to begin drawing outlines of leaf forms.

This helps you ignore details. Details can be a real distraction for some of us and even though we are tempted to include them into our drawings early, we must learn how to ignore them.

If you feel dissatisfied with your outline because you think it's too small, there's probably not enough space between the boundaries of its form. Using silhouettes helps to eliminate this common problem.

Comparing your drawing outline to the blackened image helps you to see where you have gone amiss, should that happen.

If you want to teach yourself how to draw, remind yourself that outlines are a good beginning, one step at a time, just how you learned to print then write.

Once you feel you have mastered the first step of outline, then you progress on to the next step, learning each new technique gradually.

The Beauty of Line

The use of line alone is a language, it can be most sensitive and it can be used for any purpose. It can appeal to our emotions and evoke passion. It has power and a wonderful range of expression. We are wise not to underestimate it.

We all use line in a different way, we need to look for constant variation and individual difference.

When you teach yourself how to draw, be gentle with yourself.

Don't be a harsh self-critic of your work, view it as another step in the right direction.

Learning to draw is not something to become impatient with, it is something to relish, something that helps you to grow as an artistic individual.

Every artist would love to draw what they see directly onto paper and this is simply a matter of time, experience and practice. Let yourself go with the flow of progression, we all have to start somewhere.

This page is a follow-up to drawing outlines. In the end, you choose how you want to draw, just follow the path of your inner voice.