Do you want to start drawing or painting and are you over-motivated? Perfect !However, you need advice for How to draw as a beginner? Know where to start?Which material to choose?Also, which method to use?
In this article, I offer you 3 easy tips to follow to dare to get started!
5 good reasons to start drawing
Have you ever said “I don’t have an artistic streak”, “I would like to know how to draw, but I can’t”, “You need a gift for painting” and blah blah…?
FAKE ! We all have an artist in us! I agree that it is better to learn some basics but beyond the technical aspect, artistic creation can improve your well-being and help you in your personal development.
Here’s how with 5 good reasons to start drawing and painting!
“Art is an expression unique to human consciousness”
(Aristotle)
1. Art as a means of communication
First, who hasn’t dreamed of speaking all languages? Art make it possible! This is a universal language that has no borders.
Artistic creation makes it possible to communicate with the outside world, but it is also a way to open a new dialogue with oneself.
When you create, you externalize what you have inside of you, your inner world: your emotions, your feelings, your imagination.
Painting and drawing gives you the opportunity to express yourself other than through verbal language. It is a means of expression and symbolic communication (shapes, colors, …) which is just as liberating as words (see more!).
It is a moment of introspection that leads to better self-knowledge and reveals new facets of your personality.
To conclude : Artistic creation offers you a new means of communication to dialogue with others but especially with yourself.
2. Create to have a positive vision of oneself
Secondly, having a positive vision of oneself requires, among other things, confidence in oneself and in one’s abilities.
Artistic expression invites you to make choices and gain confidence in yourself. She calls on your inner resources, such as imagination, observation, dream, emotions.
These are resources unique to you, so they are unique! There is no mistake in artistic creation, it is experimentation!
To dare to create is to dare to be yourself, without worrying about “What will people say about it”.
The best way to lose confidence in yourself and your abilities is to compare yourself to others. or more experienced artists.
You don’t know their background, the number of hours they spent to reach a certain level.
When you start drawing or painting, as in any discipline, the best thing is not to aim “too high”.
Take the example of a person who decides to start hiking and who embarks on the ascent of Everest the next day. You guessed it, this person is likely to give up very quickly… The initial objective was too ambitious!
It is therefore important to start with the basics, with creations that are easy to make at the start and to become more complex as you go. This will give you confidence in yourself and your abilities!
To conclude : Dare to embark on new activities, you are capable of it!But don’t forget, set achievable goals 🙂
3. To get out of your “comfort zone”
Third, going into the unknown can be scary. It is much more comfortable to stay in what you already know. But can we evolve in this way?
Learning a new discipline means embarking on the unknown and getting out of your “comfort zone”. Learning always begins with a “discomfort zone”, you are just starting out, you are looking for your new bearings… Once you have acquired the basics, you are much more comfortable! There you go, you’ve evolved!
The challenges are uncomfortable at first, but when they are successful, what satisfaction!
Imagination and creativity allow you to have a new vision of things and situations, they bring a new look.
Developing these skills will allow you to find new solutions, not only in creation but also in your everyday life.
One of the secrets of creativity is observation, you must learn to look differently and this will open up new horizons for you. I will have the opportunity to tell you more about it in a future article. 😉
To conclude : Take on new challenges outside of your habits, overcome your blockages and your preconceptions. Become an actor of your evolution!
4. To release stress
Fourth, caught in a busy daily life, you are regularly confronted with stress and anxiety. µ
The practice of drawing and painting has the main objective of making you have a pleasant time just for you. It is a discipline of mindfulnessa reconnection to oneself.
It is a form of meditation for let go of your mind, on your blockages, your anxieties and the daily problems. Artistic activities, in vogue in recent years, such as zentangle, mandala coloring, … can help you in this stress management.
You have surely already noticed how Art, in the broad sense (music, dance, theatre, writing, drawing, painting, cinema, etc.) can cause you emotions, sometimes even inexplicable! Positive energies, joy, tears, appeasement,…
To conclude : Art is a powerful liberator of emotions and promotes letting go of your mind.
5. To create your own universe
Fifthly, the imitation that art maintains with reality, faithfully or distorted by the imagination of the artist, is called mimesis.
Artistic practice allows you to create your own world and your own Universe. By creating you escape from everyday life, you create a world that looks like you and where you are good there. Isn’t it sometimes good to indulge in imagination and daydreaming?
Drawing and painting make it possible to materialize your dreams and your imagination. Just like writing or any form of art.
In a reading of one of her letters, the author Anais Nin answered the question: Why write?
“I believe that we write because we have to create a world in which we can live. I couldn’t live in any of the worlds offered to me: the world of my parents, the world of war, the world of politics. I had to create a world for myself, like a climate, a country, an atmosphere, where I could breathe, reign and recreate myself when I was destroyed by life.” for KPFK 90.7 FM radio in Los Angeles, in 1974
To conclude : You can materialize your inner world, dream, imagine a world that looks like you.
“The greatest art remains the art of living”
Jiddu Krishnamurti
How to draw as a beginner
How to draw as a beginner : 3 essential tools
You want to learn drawing, but you don’t have a lot of budget for the material?
Do not panic ! In this article, I will present to you the 3 essential tools to learn how to draw with a budget of less than $22 .
First, practice draw in black and white before color.
Therefore, you will need a Gray pencila sketch pad and an rubberquite simply.
Here is a detailed list of the 3 essential tools to start drawing, with links to help you make your choice.
Gray pencil
About the Gray pencil (or pencil), take a HB lead. There are different types of leads, the driest: H, 2H, 3H, etc. The oiliest: B, 2B, 3B, etc. The HB lead is therefore between the two.
A criterium 0.7mm is perfect to start with.
Why ?
Because one of the mistakes I’ve seen most often in beginners is to press too hard on the mine when they draw, as if they were writing with a pen. However, the practice of drawing is different from that of writing! The line is too marked and if you have to erase it, it leaves traces…
With a criterium, if you push too hard on the mine, it breaks! So it’s a very good way to practice to draw the lines very lightly, to work with flexibility and to be able to catch up if necessary. In addition this type of pencil already has the little eraser at the end which is fine 🙂
Gum
For the eraser, use a matte eraserkind white pebble eraser. Avoid the plasticized eraser which leaves traces and literally forget the pink and blue eraser = IN-TER-DI-TE ! A real disaster for the paper!
You can also use the eraser at the end of the criterium because it is small and precise, but it will not last very long… It is practical for erasing small details, but for that there is the eraser pen, with the same qualities of precision but which will last much longer. 🙂
The paper
About the support, prefer a sketchbook with drawing paper of at least 100g/m², 120gsm is ideal, rather than printer paper which is too thin (80g/m²). For the format, an A4 (21 x 29.7 cm) is very good to start with, neither too big nor too small and you could take it with you on your inspirational walks, if you wish!
Tips for developing your artistic talents
To conclude, plan a budget of $15 approximately for all of this “drawing” material.
How to draw as a beginner :3 tips to start drawing
How to draw as a beginner Tip #1: Start easy
First, what could be more frustrating than starting a new activity and not succeeding?
In other words, you may have set yourself a overly ambitious goal from the start.
The first mistake is wanting to aim too high and embarking on too complicated a subject. Take for example, a person who wants to get into sport and who immediately registers for the New York marathon…
You think “She’s not going to make it! She doesn’t have enough practice! » and you are absolutely right!
It’s exactly the same for drawing and painting 😉
Therefore, if you wish to repaint the chapel ceiling sixtine right away, I hope you are well trained! Otherwise, you will get discouraged and give up…
So NO! Do not abandon !
In addition, to progress in drawing and painting, it takes time, patience, work and perseverance! Be regular in the practice of drawing and one of the secrets to evolve quickly. Therefore, “start easy” does not mean that drawing is easy, it takes a lot of practice!
In conclusionI advise you to start with simple models to be reproduced, without too many details, like a line drawing for example. To start, prefer black and white before color. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the technique of drawing, with observation and to be satisfied with the result to continue training! You can go on to study the lights and shadows later, for example.
How to draw as a beginner Tip No. 2 : Start with a small budget
Secondly, you don’t have to spend a fortune to start drawing and painting. You can invest in high-end equipment later, such as oil painting, when you are more experienced.
You want to start drawing, so I advise you to take a gray pencil (or pencil), a pad of drawing paper, an eraser, observation and motivation (which are free) and let’s go my kiki! The starting cost is really ridiculous.
When you start painting, I advise you to start with the technique of watercolor. The fluid side of this medium brings beautiful results easily and this will allow you to become familiar with the brush and the mixing of colors. Watercolor is most often worked on paper and in addition, it dries easily 🙂
The technique of gouache is close to watercolor, with the possibility of working in transparency, but also with beautiful solid colors. The budget for gouache tubes is very reasonable.
Then you can use paint acrylic or the oil paintinghowever these mediums require a little more technical mastery and the material budget is a little more expensive.
Finally, I would advise you tolearn some basics of drawing before getting into watercolors and painting in general. The sketch is the basis of your realization, its architecture. Like building a house, the foundations are essential to have a good result!
Little tip: I found 300gsm paper and sketchbooks at bargain prices and of good quality, in Action stores. I was amazed at the quality / price ratio, I made my stock! So to start it’s perfect!
How to draw as a beginner Tip #3 : Start by setting benchmarks
Third, when you start a drawing, it is important to frame your subject well on your support (sheet, canvas, etc.)
A rookie mistake that I regularly see is that they don’t take into account the size of their support, they draw the subject very small in the middle of the sheet or too large and the subject is “out of frame”. The proportions are not respected. So we have to start all over again…
The advice I can give you is to put some marks before you start your drawing. That’s to say ?
You can draw a grid on the model and reproduce it on your sheet. First by dividing in 2 in the length, then in 2 in the width, your model is then divided into 4 equal parts. You can redivide these parts into smaller ones if your model has a lot of detail. You will be much easier to reproduce the “box by box” model and to respect the proportions and dimensions of the format.
The result is often stunning and it’s very encouraging 😉
Well, I hope these tips will be useful to you and that it will motivate you to start exploring your artistic talents!
After that, I will soon offer you more technical and illustrated articles to accompany you step by step in learning to draw and paint. 😉
Don’t fear perfection, you’ll never reach it
Salvador Dali
5 drawing exercises for beginners
As an artist, experienced or beginner, professional or amateur, it is difficult to always have creative ideas.
How to boost your creativity when you’re stuck?
Here is 5 exercises of drawing accessible to everyone, which will help you to familiarize yourself with the drawing skill to make you more confident.
These exercises are taken from the book Playing with Sketches, 50 creative exercises for designers and artists (Rockport Publishers) of whitney shermanaward-winning illustrator and director of the MFA in Illustration Practice at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, USA.
1. Drawing Exercise: Doodle
The term “doodle” means to scribble. Anyone can do this drawing exercise, doodling and creating simple shapes.
It’s as easy as putting a pen or pencil to paper and randomly sketching whatever comes to mind. You don’t even have to draw straight lines. Doodles come in any shape and color.
But don’t let the simplicity of this exercise fool you!
Doodling increases your visual reading and helps you process ideas, even when you’re not trying to think or analyze!
Experiment with different materials and drawing tools and doodle whatever comes to mind. You can also use sticky notes in different colors, like on post-its for example.
2. Drawing exercise: random lines
This drawing exercise is based on a surreal game.
Just take a page from an old paperback or anything else that has marks on it. Then place dots on specific words or letters.
You choose the word or letter markers you want. Then connect the dots with curved, zigzag or straight lines to create a pattern.
This exercise reveals hidden patterns in your unconscious and show you how choices can make a difference and help you engage in chance to advance your work to the next steps.
3. Drawing Exercise: Word Stacks
Take 25 blank sheets (A5 format for example) and cut them into three.
On the first pile write an adjective on each card, on the next pile write a common or proper noun and on the third pile write a verb on each card.
Shuffle each pile separately, then draw a card from each pile and place them next to each other, forming a phrase such as Brad Pitt/Coffee Table/Dancing.
(Admit it, you’re imagining the scene… 🙂 )
Now draw it! It may not turn into fine art, but it will help cultivate basic skills and boost your confidence.
It familiarizes you with the skill of drawing, imagination and creativity.
This exercise can also be very fun! #enjoy
4. Drawing exercise: non-dominant hand
If you’ve been drawing for a while and feel stuck or uninspired, maybe it’s time to reinvent yourself in order to discover something new.
For example, if you’re used to graphite pencils on fine-surfaced drawing paper, try tools and paper that are the exact opposite. Like ink with a feather on hot-pressed paper, which is slightly spongy.
You can also draw your my non-dominant hand and no photo reference.
With this simple exercise, it sometimes takes several months before noticing changes and especially benefits.
At first it can be awkward and unsettling, but when you re-use your dominant hand and familiar tools, you’ll break up the image in different ways and draw with less restriction.
5. Drawing exercise: one day, one theme
For this drawing exercise, pick a theme or type of object and only draw that thing in one day.
You can choose an animate or inanimate object, with different colors, things that scare you or make you laugh, things that start with a specific letter and add scriptures to it.
Vary your approach by using synonyms, words that affect you emotionally, such as memories.
Also draw things that literally move you, like modes of transportation. The more thoughtful you can be, the more you exercise your concept-building abilities, creativity, as well as your manual skills.
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