Sketching for beginners

[ZandraJoi]

What are some good tips for those who would like to try their hand at sketching but honestly are lost at where to begin? Are there certain styles or techniques that would be best? I'm not that good at drawing, not like I'd like to be. Stick figures can be hard enough lol

When I did a search, I saw that some people start small with cylinder & circle shapes. Getting those down pat before moving on. Then with those geometric shapes, you can add on to create figures.

Does that work for you?

[Sharon]

I'm not a sketcher so can't really speak from experience... I imagine it's just something you try and mimic other drawings at first. YouTube may be an excellent resource too. I know I've spent time watching tutorials with oil pastels those I find quite mesmerizing.

[Absinthe]

I know for me when I was creating art regularly (I minored in college, but haven't actually created much in years), the thing that helped me was just letting myself be terrible. If that makes any sense? Like, yes, I started with the basic shapes and trying to mimic still-life directly from a reference photo, but found I created better stuff overall when I just let myself sketch and have messy lines that I could later refine. Definitely look to references where you can. The biggest thing is to enjoy what you are doing. It doesn't have to hang in some gallery. As far as I'm concerned, if you had fun making it, it's great art.

[Sharon]

Sept 26, 2021 17:15:56 GMT -6 Absinthe said:

I know for me when I was creating art regularly (I minored in college, but haven't actually created much in years), the thing that helped me was just letting myself be terrible. If that makes any sense? Like, yes, I started with the basic shapes and trying to mimic still-life directly from a reference photo, but found I created better stuff overall when I just let myself sketch and have messy lines that I could later refine. Definitely look to references where you can. The biggest thing is to enjoy what you are doing. It doesn't have to hang in some gallery. As far as I'm concerned, if you had fun making it, it's great art.

That's really great advice! I agree 100%. If you're enjoying the process that's all that really matters!

[thelucky7th]

For me, I never really got too into the cylinders and cubes... they certainly can be helpful and maybe I'd benefit from them if I was more inclined to use them, but most of the time I just want to get into the meat of what I'm drawing as soon as I can, haha. I also like to trace things I'm not familiar with to get used to the sort of strokes that come together to create something (try looking up "the shrimp method" if you'd like).

There's gesture drawing, which I really should get in the habit of, but the idea is to get the basic concept of what you're drawing in a short period of time--anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. This helps you with drawing action and motion and is also beneficial in that you can get a lot of gestures done in a short amount of time. There's even websites that will automatically cycle through stock images for you to practice gestures (AdorkaStock, Quickposes).

Other than that, the best way to get into sketching is to just do it. Find something you're interested in--flowers, fish, dogs, whatever--and see what you can do! Maybe it won't be amazing, but it'll still be something you've made! And every time you draw something you get a little better at it.