1 – Draw from life, If possible and not from photographs. If you can draw people, you have it made.
2 - Draw only the main lines,do not attempt to draw every line and detail that you see. It will be to much to absorb
3 – Do your drawing in more then one sitting . It will give you time to think of how you want to put it on paper.
4 – Do not be overly judgmental about your drawing before it is completed. This may cause you to become discouraged and give up.
5 -Start with simple subjects that you know you can complete and then progress to more complicated ones. Do not take on subjects that are too complicated at first. This will cause you to become discouraged if the drawing isn’t as good as you expected it to be.
6 -Draw what you see in front of you and not what you know already about that subject.
7 – Make sure you have excellent lighting. If you can’t see you can’t draw. If you do not have a well lit room with natural sunlight to work in, then check your local art supply store or search online for full spectrum lighting products that mimic natural sunlight.
8 – Get yourself a pad of newsprint paper. Its very cheap and great for practice and doing preliminary sketches.
9 – Keep your pencils sharp. There are drawing techniques that require a blunt pencil point , but for the most part, you should keep your pencil points sharpened.
10 You should keep a conscious effort to use a variety of different lines in your drawing by pressing harder or by lifting your pencil. Sometimes when an artist becomes deeply focused in a drawing, they can sometimes forget to vary the lines.
11- Keep a sketchbook with you wherever you go. Whenever you have a free moment, practice your drawing. It doesn’t matter if the subject is a light post, an insect or a garbage pail. The more often you draw, the more observant you will become.
12 – Do not over use smudging and blending techniques to achieve values in your drawings.
13- Make sure you are constantly focusing on the subject and draw what you see,and only glancing at your drawing
14 – How to hold your drawing instrument – Hold your pencil in a way that is most comfortable for you. Some hold the pencil just as you would hold a pen or pencil if you were writing. Others hold a pencil with the pencil between the thumb and index finger, with the rest of the pencil resting under the palm of your hand. Whichever method you use for holding your pencil, make certain that you do not hold the pencil too tightly.
15 – Practice the contour drawing technique – This very basic technique is simply drawing the outline of your subject without any shading to indicate form.
16 – Practice the hatching technique – This drawing technique uses a series of parallel lines drawn close together, in the same direction, which gives the appearance of value.
17 – Practice tonal or value drawing – In this approach to drawing we are indicating the various changes of light and shade in our picture without the use of strong edges and lines.
18 – Practice the blind contour drawing technique – Similar to contour drawing, only you do not look at the paper. The point of this exercise is to force you to better observe what it is you are drawing. You should have no concern over the outcome of your drawing so it is important not to peek.
19-Have fun with your step by step guide to learn to draw.
