All you need for this exercise is a blank piece of paper. Pretend that your pencil is a figure skater, and the paper, a frozen pond, drag the pencil across the paper continuously "skating" across the page. Play around with speed and pressure of your line. When you are done, try to identify any shapes you made. Here is my example of the exercise:
A second technique Elaine suggests is playing with line gradation, or the change from one type of line, to the complete opposite line; for example, light to dark. Here is my exercise:
Clayton, Elaine. Making Marks: Discover the Art of Intuitive Drawing. Atria Paperback, 2014.
Hi Raiden! Great post. I do not have any drawing warm ups. I am a big doodler and draw a lot in random notebooks but I am still quite artistically challenged. What tips do you have for someone who wants to become better at drawing?
ReplyDeleteHaha Kelsey, it seems like we are in the same boat. I am personally very bad at drawing too! If you are looking to become better, than I would suggest practicing a LOT, and really focusing in on your technique and style but I also think that just doodling is great too. Thanks for reading my post! Glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteHi Raiden, I do have warmups somewhat, if you count drawing random things before drawing what I was meaning to draw. If you don't mind me asking, what were you warming up to draw, if anything?
ReplyDeleteHey Jadenned! It's great that you have warm ups that you do before you draw. I think that they are super important to be able to draw. In this particular instance, I wasn't warming up for anything, just demonstrating techniques you can practice to have a better picture.
DeleteHi Raiden! I typically do not start drawing with warm ups, because I usually draw doodles when I have free time. I am currently doing a post on calligraphy, though. Every time I start a new alphabet, I always use the warm ups from the book. I can see a considerable amount of difference when I warm up compared to when I don't. Is there any difference in your drawing when you do warm up compared to when you don't?
ReplyDeleteHey Seerut! I do notice a considerable difference in my drawings when I warm up, I think they are a super important part of the drawing process. It's good that you use warm ups for your alphabets. Thanks for commenting, I'll be sure to check your blog out, it sounds super interesting!
DeleteHi Raiden! I usually don't warm-up when I draw. But often times I do draw something multiple times until I get something I like, almost like a rough draft. I do some practice sketches to understand how I want something to appear, such as shading, I will practice different shading techniques until I get something I like. What warm-ups do you think would improve sketching skills?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question Milan! I don't have specific warm-ups for different styles of drawing, but I like that you draw something more than once. Practice really lets you understand what you are drawing, and makes it easier to draw. Warm ups aren't anything fancy, find whats comfortable for you!
Delete