5 Drawing Tips To Make You A Better Artist
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1. Grip the Pencil Lightly -
When people ask how to create a finished drawing that looks more "professional" or "finished", I always give them this tip first. The primary advantage of gripping the pencil lightly is that it relieves tension in the hand that can be caused by a tight grip; freeing up your hand to flow smoothly across the paper. A light pencil grip also allows artists keep the lines in their drawings light (Tip #3). 2. Avoid Smudges -
Graphite, being an inherently soft material, is prone to being smudged by your hand while you are distracted by your drawing. The best way to keep your piece of art safe is to simply lay a piece of copy paper over the areas where you have already drawn. This allows your hand to slide over the clean paper without smudging all of your hard work. Furthermore, extended contact of your hand to the paper could result in an excess of oil on the paper which could have several adverse effects. Primarily, the oil may result in abnormal graphite adherence to the paper leaving a different texture on the drawing and ruining the finish. Also the oil absorbed by the paper could promote premature yellowing, also ruining the finish. |
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3. Draw Lightly -
The first lines on the paper should always be lighter than you intend for them to be in the final product. The main advantage being that your drawing will stay neat and really nice looking. Drawing Lightly also allows for easier erasing, (everyone makes mistakes), and you can darken key lines later! Also drawing lightly preserves the tooth of the paper, which cuts down on the glare of graphite drawings you've seen on notebook paper perhaps. This results in amazing shadows and increased realism. Speaking of shadows... 4. Darken the Shadows -
Drawings should have contrast! Next time you are looking at something with a dramatic shadow, try and notice the colors present; and take note of how deep and dark they become in the shadows. Novice artists tend to be shy with the amount of darkness on a page, however a touch of darkness in the shadows will make your drawings astonishingly lifelike. |
5. Use a Wide Range of Pencils -
While top of the line art supplies are not always necessary, investing in a good set of pencils will be a good start for your art career. A full set of pencils helps an artist achieve different tones in a drawing. The main advantage of quality pencils is that the hard lead pencils allow for clean detail work, while softer lead pencils allow for extremely deep shadows. Also the softness of these pencils keeps from flattening the texture on the paper, aka the tooth. Alleviating the harsh shiny graphite drawings we all remember from elementary school. Hard lead pencils (7H - B), are ideal for light line work and setting guidelines to be erased later. While softer lead pencils (2B - 9B) are used for dark shadows and filling in smooth gradients.
While top of the line art supplies are not always necessary, investing in a good set of pencils will be a good start for your art career. A full set of pencils helps an artist achieve different tones in a drawing. The main advantage of quality pencils is that the hard lead pencils allow for clean detail work, while softer lead pencils allow for extremely deep shadows. Also the softness of these pencils keeps from flattening the texture on the paper, aka the tooth. Alleviating the harsh shiny graphite drawings we all remember from elementary school. Hard lead pencils (7H - B), are ideal for light line work and setting guidelines to be erased later. While softer lead pencils (2B - 9B) are used for dark shadows and filling in smooth gradients.