Why drawing skills matter
Being able to accurately draw what you see or imagine can be a useful skill to have during the creative thought process when you are generating ideas and developing your artistic intentions for a project. Drawing sketches and revising models of what you ultimately intend to create can help you through the artistic process even if you plan to work in another medium such as clay, water colors, card stock, mixed media or many others. Strong drawing skills are also helpful in generating a final product if your intention is to produce a drawing.
Tips on how to draw what you see
Frequent practice combine with use of the tips below will help you to develop and strengthen your drawing skills.
- Use a non-mechanical graphite pencil to create your drawing. Graphite pencils are often easier to control and are less likely to leave dents in the paper.
- Before beginning to draw, take a few moments to look carefully at the scene or object you want to draw. Be sure to pay close attention to all of the significant features and details of your subject to help create a clear mental picture of how you want your drawing to look.
- Sketch the entire object or scene lightly and avoid using an eraser at first.
- Once you have completed your entire initial light sketch you can erase unnecessary lines and mistakes and darken in lines you intend to keep.
- Shade to add depth and dimension to your drawing.
Practice drawing what you see
Below you will find a variety of images that you can practice sketching to improve your drawing skills. The images range in complexity. Feel free to begin with images that you can sketch with confidence and then begin pushing yourself to attempt more complex images over time.
Looking for shapes and lines
Now that you've had a chance to practice drawing the step-by-step images above you should attempt to sketch some of the new images below. Remember that it is important to take a few moments to try to identify some of the general shapes and lines that make up the image before you being sketching.