How to Draw Better

If you are looking for an elective credit class, drawing is always a fun and easy high school credit. Even if you’ve been drawing since you were a little kid, you can always learn how to draw better.

But what if you’re no good at drawing, you may ask? Drawing is a skill, just like reading or cooking or playing soccer. Sure, some people seem to be born being able to do these things, but the rest of us have to learn. Anyone can learn how to draw whether they are talented or not.

You may not be able to find specific guidance on what exactly should be included in a drawing class. But a one-semester drawing course will typically cover the basic techniques of drawing through the use of pencil sketching, pen and ink, colored pencils, charcoal and pastels.

A drawing class does not have to be formally structured, but you should keep track of your hours to count it as credit on your transcript. A basic rule of thumb is that a half credit (typical for electives) is earned by 75 hours of study. This translates to about three hours per week for half a year (25 weeks). It could be an hour-long class three days per week, or a 45-minute class four days per week, or 30 minutes per day for six days each week.

FREE Guide on How to Draw Better

JenReviews.com has created a detailed, up-to-date 7,000-word guide on How to Draw Better that is packed with tips and advice. This is completely free! It’s divided into 15 sections:

Practice Makes Plastic – Harness Your Neuroplasticity to Improve Your Skills
Get Your Eye and Hand in Sync
Fine Tune Your Motor Skills
Work on Your Short Term Drawing Memory
Learn What to Choose
Practice “Switching Your Levels”
Play the “Perspective” Game
Practice Scaling Your Drawings
Draw the “Negative Space” Between Objects
Learn Proportions
Divergent Creativity: Many Ways to Draw a Cat
Enlist a Friend for Some “Exquisite Corpse”
Steal Like an Artist
Look Little, Look Often
Learn to Take a Pause
Enjoy it!

Here is the link: https://www.jenreviews.com/how-to-draw-better

FREE Drawing Lessons Online

Basic Drawing – Learn drawing skills and techniques through exercises that acquaint students with basic materials first, so confidence is gained early on and the student is ready for the visual projects. Lois DeWitt created her basic drawing videos from methods she developed from over 40 years of teaching students how to draw.

Drawing Lessons – You can also get free drawing lessons from the ArtyFactory.com. Teach yourself how to draw, paint and design by following the illustrated step by step tutorials. ArtyFactory places great importance on teaching art visually as opposed to verbally. In addition to the basic still lifes, portraits and animals, they also cover unique topics such as how to draw African masks, Egyptian art, and pop art.

Drawing Books

Here are a couple of books that will come in handy:

Drawing for the Absolute Beginner – This inspiring book makes drawing in a realistic style easier than you may think and more fun than you ever imagined! At the heart of this book, a series of fun, hands-on exercises help you practice and perfect your strokes—24 mini-demos lead up to 9 full step-by-step demos. Each exercise builds on the previous one as you develop your skills, build your confidence, and enjoy yourself along the way. The lessons you learn by drawing simple subjects such as coffee mugs, clouds and trees will help you take on progressively more challenging subjects like animals, still lifes, landscapes and portraits. This book is just the ticket for budding artists of any age. It’s never too early and never too late to discover the pure joy of drawing!

The Drawing Lesson – Nominated for a 2017 Eisner Award. For the first time ever, drawing instructor and graphic novelist Mark Crilley brings his easy-to-follow artistic instruction to aspiring artists in the form of a comic book, providing you with a one-of-a-kind how-to experience. In The Drawing Lesson, you’ll meet David—a young boy who wants nothing more than to learn how to draw. Luckily for David, he’s just met Becky—his helpful drawing mentor. Page by page, Becky teaches David (and you!) about the essential fundamentals that artists need in order to master drawing, all in a unique visual format. In panel after panel, Crilley provides lessons on shading, negative space, creating compositions, and more, with accompanying exercises that you can try for yourself. Are you ready to start your drawing lesson today?