Learn to Draw at Your Own Pace
Arts Related Workshops and E-resources Focusing on Skills Based Learning
HELPFUL VIDEOS
Sometimes watching someone draw is the best way to learn.
Learning through watching is a fantastic way to improve on your creative skillset. That way, you can see how someone uses a material, why they are using it and even how a drawing comes together through an artist's process.
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Below, you will find a variety of short videos showing in very basic terms how to approach using mediums, specific techniques or some supporting videos for the workshop content where you may be required to 'draw along' with the artist. Each video will be complimented with a caption explaining what is going on, how to do it and why.
Draw Along with the Artist: Drawing at a large scale, while considering the use of mark making techniques
Working at a larger scale can be daunting because it can often result in making mistakes in terms of proportion, shape and form. A good way to work around this is working from a smaller sketch, because you will have already practiced the drawing at a smaller scale, to get an idea of the shapes it is made up of, how to get it into perspective and the general form of the structure.Â
Looking at this video, you will notice the artist working in a very loose and sketchy manner to get an initial shape, and then they begin to add charcoal to add some depth and definition. Here are some tips from the artist:
- Work in pencil to develop a loose outline. don't worry if it doesn't look accurate, its a sketch you are after creating.Â
- experiment with the space you have. In the video, the paper is A1. Try and fill the space, this will make it easier to achieve the right outline shape.
- Pick a reference that is achievable to draw. Don't make things too complicated for yourself, pick something you feel you can achieve at your level of drawing.Â
- confidence is everything. Give it a go and see what you come up with. You might find it looks exactly how you want it first time.
Draw Along Part 2: Focus on your Pen Control
Controlling your medium is a very important part of developing your style. How you hold your pen or pencil directly affects how the lines or marks are applied to the paper. Notice how the artist is holding their pen. If you grip higher up, you have a looser grip, meaning your marks will be suggestive and gestural. If you hold the pen in a typical writing position, it will produce more definite, harder marks.
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Keep in mind how you hold your pen, and try holding it in different positions to produce marks. This will help your drawing skills massively.
Tip:Â Applying a light Layer of Fine liner to a drawing
A good way to apply a light layer of fine liner to a drawing is by holding the pen higher up and using larger wrist movements. That way, you will be able to apply a light layer of pen, and add detail over the top of it. Notice how the artist is using this technique to establish an outline and a rough shape within the drawing. It is a fantastic way to begin adding detail to an area, so that you are not working on just white paper. It allows you to have a rough shape to start with. Â Give it a try.
TUTORIAL: How to Draw Using Two Point Perspective
This video shows you how to draw a cube using two point perspective.
Process:
- Draw a horizon line and put two dots at either end
- Draw a vertical line through the middle of the horizon line
- Draw your first 4 guidelines to the vertical line from the two dots. the dots are your vanishing points. You should have a diamond shape
- Then, draw two more vertical lines either size of the middle line, as shown. They are the other edges of your cube.
- After this, draw new guidelines to those smaller lines. This is shown on the video.
- Now you have your guidelines in, you should notice you have some obvious points where the lines meet. These are you corners. From this, you should be able to draw in your final vertical line, which should be close to your middle vertical line.
- Go over your pencil lines in pen where your cube has taken shape.
- You should now have a cube in two point perspective.
If you would like a more in-depth tutorial of this process, you will find a workshop session on two point perspective in the 'Workshop' section.
Mark Making Tutorial: Working In Fine Liner
Working in Fine liner pen can be a challenge because it often appears quite scratchy on the paper, and you can't rub it out. To use a medium like this, it is a good idea to look at your reference, notice ant textures or patterns on your subject and make them the focus of what you draw. As this medium does not have a tonal range, drawing what you can see is important. Notice on the video building up small thin lines can develop a pattern or texture. Here, the artist is trying to replicate the look of wood using fine liner.
Mark Making Techniques: 3 Different Mediums
Making a mark making sheet is a good way to see how a medium behaves in comparison to another. It also can help you decide which medium you want to use and when.Â
Here, the artist is creating a mark making sheet, simply by doing the same mark making process three times, one in each medium. Notice how the marks change depending on what they are done in?This is because all drawing mediums behave differently. Some softer, some harder, some scratchier. Mark making sheets are great for experimenting with your materials to see which one does the best job for you. Give it a try.
Draw Along Video for One Point Perspective Task
Drawing an outline can be the tricky part of the drawing process because it requires an understanding of proportion as well as an awareness of what you are looking at.
Make sure you have identified where your vanishing point is, as shown by the video, and where your guidelines would come from it. That way, you can accurately draw the building within those guidelines. Don't worry if it takes you a few times to get this right, it is about getting as close to the shape you can see in your reference as possible. This time-lapse video shows how the artist uses one point perspective to get the shed at the right scale and angle.
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Top Tip: Start with a pencil, and draw lightly. That way, if you make a mistake you can rub it out.
One Point Perspective Ruler Technique
Struggling to understand how the angles change when using perspective?
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As long as all of your lines are angled towards the vanishing point, you will keep your building in the single point perspective you are wanting to achieve.
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A good way to help you understand is by positioning your ruler through your vanishing point and where you are drawing, like the video shows. Then, keeping the side of the ruler positioned on or over the vanishing point, pivot your ruler so that all of the lines you make angle to this point. That way, you are keeping your drawing angled towards the vanishing point at all times. When you are more confident with the process of one point perspective, you can take the ruler away.
Mark Making Technique: Pointillism or Stippling
Pointillism or Stippling are the terms used when the pen is dotted onto the paper close together. It is a great way of developing a pattern within your work that you can change depending on the darkness of the area you would like, simply by how you position the dots. It is also a good way to add an interesting mark to your work.
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Here, the artist is using a special type of pointillism pen that allows them to do lots of dots very quickly, similar to that of a tattoo gun. Don't worry if you don't have one of these pens; simply just use a fine liner and stipple or 'dot' little dots onto the paper close together or far apart. The closer you put them to each other, the darker the area will appear.
Building Detail on a Large Drawing
Building high levels of detail using fine liner is often a repetitive process. It involves using lots of little lines and cross hatching to build up areas of light and dark. In this video, you will see how the artist is using their small sketch reference to influence their mark making and also how they build detail. You will notice that the drawing looks quite dark, this is because the tonal range of fine liner is limited because it cannot be blended like pencil or charcoal. However, it allows you to produce highly detailed pieces. Try and include some of the marks made into your work too.
Using Fine Liner: Applying Pressure
Like with any drawing mediums, the harder you press onto the paper with your chosen medium, the harder the line. Here, the artist is lightly pressing to achieve light, thin and scratchy lines to produce a wood grain look to this drawing. This is a good technique to practice because it will help you have more control over the mediums you are using and have the ability to change how you use them depending on the situation.Â
To do this, hold your pen loosely and higher up than you would typically to write. That way, you have slightly less control of where the pen goes and therefore the lines become softer and looser.