During this stressful time, being stuck in the house with little to do makes the situation ten times worse. People everywhere are looking for ways to fill their time in a productive or creative way, so we are turning to art. BUT there’s a problem. I have heard so many people saying ‘oh but I can’t draw or paint’ therefore I cannot do art?
As a person who draws at least every second day of the week, I just want to say that art is something that is for EVERYONE! It does not matter if you are a beginner or not good, it’s all about the enjoyment factor!! How in ever, I would like to give some tips on how to start out in order to make the process a little bit more enjoyable and hopefully produce a better end product for you.
It’s all about Shapes
You have probably heard throughout school if you studied art, that drawing is about seeing the shapes in images. This tip is honestly the most useful thing for drawing. I apply it all the time because each shape you see is entwined within another so. This sounds confusing but here’s how I apply this rule into my drawing application..
Pick a point of interest in an image and draw that shape on the page until you are happy with it, slowly start adding on the shapes which are attached to the first shape you drew. As you continue to add in the shapes a 2D image should start to come to life.
Shading
As I said above, the sketch is the base line for a good image, but it is only 2D which doesn’t have the realistic appearance that we are aiming for. This is where shading comes into play. If you are a beginner, I recommend buying some drawing pencils. (3, 4 and 5B pencils should be okay, anything after that might be a bit to soft and would make control a little more difficult if you are only starting out).
Start with light tones using the hardest pencil but avoid adding to much additional pressure onto the pencil, instead use a light pressure or perhaps the side of the pencil. Every image contains light, medium and dark tones so this should be portrayed. Continue to layer the light pencil and as it comes to dark areas grab a softer lead pencil again, only applying light pressure.
The darkest areas should be applied with the soft lead pencil but keep a sharpener on hand if detail is needed as these pencils wear down quickly!
Gridding
A concept that many beginners struggle with in art, is special awareness on the page when compared with the image being drawn from. Grids are great for this reason. They allow for one item to be drawn in relation to another.
To draw an effective grid you MUST find the centre point of both you image and you’re drawing pad!! From here draw a cross and then evenly split the image based on how many boxes you want. Be aware that you need to have the same spacing on the image as is on your page, otherwise the grid is pointless.
If you haven’t started drawing yet, I would recommend! It is therapeutic for the mind and a great pastime to have to occupy yourself instead of being on social media or watching television. Some of the equipment that I have been using and loving lately are the Derwent Coloured Drawing Pencils, STA Pigment Liners, Faber Castel Watercolour pencils and Windsor and Newton Paints just in case this has inspired any artist flares to be released. Enjoy ?
