2019-04-01_Artists___Illustrators

EXERCISES

T

he aim of these exercises is to build your confi dence

with your drawing materials and give you a set of

mark-making skills that will improve your drawing

• in particular your quick sketching skills.
  It is very important that you enjoy the drawing process.
  Any memories of previous failures are often associated
  with the material we have used before, so for these
  exercises I recommend starting fresh with a good quality
  colouring pencil, such as a Faber-Castell Polychromos
  pencil, rather than graphite. There can be some trepidation


• even fear – attached to sketching with the graphite line
  so try changing it to a coloured line. These exercises will
  develop your hand-eye coordination and get you to start
  thinking about how you can visually dissect a form.

EXERCISE 1: DYNAMIC LINES
Create seven straight lines, moving from a light mark to a
darker line. Maintain a straight, consistent and accurate
line by drawing from the elbow. Draw with a steady pace
and then try to speed up. Draw both short and long lines.
Repeat this exercise several times.

EXERCISE 2: ARCS
Using your natural radial geometry to help draw smooth
arcs, by locking your wrist and elbow. Create small arcs
with a wrist motion and large arcs from the elbow. Practise
repeatedly, so that you are able to create these marks
accurately without looking at the page.

EXERCISE 3: ELLIPSES
Freehand ellipses are the hardest part of these exercises
and will always be challenging. They are a fundamental
element of drawing biological forms. Go through the motion
and ‘air draw’ before your pencil touches the paper, so that
you are confi dent about the smoothness and symmetry of
the mark before you make it. You can sketch the fi rst line
lightly and then refi ne the ellipse. Make sure that the
shapes have round corners and are not spiky.

Lines

Try locking your arm at the

elbow to help draw straight

lines consistently. Arcs

Keeping your joints

locked while you

move your arm is

important.

Ellipses

You can start from the narrowest angle and then open

the circle wider, or work the opposite way around.

Ellipses

For this exercise, imagine a cylinder, such

as a cup, turning away from you, so that

the circle of the opening gets narrower.

Degree

The width of an ellipse is called the degree.

This is the angle of the circle relative to the

viewer. At 90° the circle is perpendicular to

the viewer, so the whole circle can be

seen. At 0° the circle is parallel to the

viewer, so the ellipse turns into a line.

The point of turn is

when the ellipse is

parallel with the viewer

90° 50° 20° 10° 0° 10° 20° 50°

Eye level