Develop drawing skills. Improving your drawing skills in Photoshop
1. Two points
We put two points on the sheet and connect them with one line. We try to keep the line perfectly straight. With each workout you will get better and better, you will begin to draw with a pencil confidently and clearly.
2. Hatching. Allows you to show the volume and depth of the drawing. Hatching is a separate topic in the drawing, but for the exercise we choose simple shading.
We draw identical sticks with an equal distance between them. Then we change the slope and draw the lines again.
Correct hatching has approximately the same length of strokes, slope and distance between them.
3. Inequality rectangle.
Draw a rectangle and fill it with intersecting straight lines so that all the areas of the internal figures are different. The quantity is not limited, but 7 different quadrangles will be quite enough.
The exercise develops a sense of volume and improves the eye.
4. Division “by eye”.
Draw a straight line and, without a ruler, try to divide it into two, four, etc. equal parts. You can then check yourself using the ruler.
Regular training will develop your eye.
5. Gradient or drawing tonal transitions.
We draw a rectangle, divide it into several parts, it can be 4, 10 or any other number. The more components, the smoother transition from lightest to darkest color.
We fill the areas with shading, skipping one of the zones each time. That is, first we shade all areas, then minus one, then minus two, etc. As a result, one area will be shaded more than the rest and will be the darkest.
The gradient shows the smoothness of the light and shadow transition. The more of these sequential shadings you can do without blurring the darkest one, the better skill you have.
All of these five exercises really help if you do them regularly, they are like exercise for a budding artist. Carry a notepad and pencil with you so that everything free time dedicate to artistic training: if you wait in line - draw, if you get bored on the road - draw, don’t know what to do - draw!
The craft of a good draftsman is based on 2 basic things: the ability to control your hand and correct vision. If you want to create or design websites, then you can’t do without special training.
The next 6 sections of the article are essentially the first step in in this direction— you will learn how to learn to draw and where to start. Immediately after this, proceed to the second part of the topic and go through some more.
This is a translation of a note from Medium by Ralph Ammer (all the graphics are his).
Advice. For the next 6 tasks, use one type of pen and one type of paper (for example, A5).
Dexterity of hands - two trainings
The first two techniques are about controlling your hand. You should train your hand, and also learn to coordinate the vigilance of the eye and the movement of the hand. Mechanical practices are great for beginners. You can use them later to try out new tools. They also allow you to relax and take a break from mental or physical work. So, how to start drawing correctly.
1. Many, many circles
Fill a piece of paper with circles different sizes. Try not to let the circles intersect.
Learning to draw circles is not as easy as you might think. Note that the more circles there are on the paper, the more difficult it is to add the next one. Draw them in two directions and as many as possible.
Advice. Shake your hand when it starts to cramp, do this after each approach.
2. Hatching - creating a structure
Fill a piece of paper with parallel lines.
Diagonal lines are the easiest for us, as they correspond to the movement of our wrist. Note that a left-hander prefers the opposite direction of strokes than a right-hander. Take a look at your favorite artist (in my case, Leonardo da Vinci) and try to guess which hand he wrote with?
Try different stroke directions. Enjoy the shading process. Combine different strokes and enjoy how the paper is covered with different shadow spots.
Advice. Do not rotate the paper. It is very important to train your hand in different directions.
So, after we trained our arms, we need to do some exercises for our eyes!
Perception - learning to see
Drawing is primarily about vision and understanding what you see. People often assume that everyone sees the same thing, but this is actually not the case. You can always improve and improve the quality of your vision. The more you draw, the more you see. The following four techniques will force you to expand your view of familiar objects. This is exactly where they start learning to draw in different courses.
3. Outline - show me your hands!
Do you see these different fascinating contours of your hand? Draw them on a piece of paper. Don't try to recreate everything, just pick a few of the most interesting ones.
Whether you're drawing a person, a plant, or your favorite animal, you're creating an outline of what you see. Contours define a body or object and make it possible to recognize a pattern. The goal is not to immediately display all existing distinctive features, but to learn to see them!
Even if you know the shape of an object, it's still worth taking a closer look and re-examining it.
4. Chiaroscuro - adding light and shadow
Draw a piece of fabric. Start with outlines, and then use your shading skills to find the light and shade transitions.
This exercise will help you learn how to convey light and shadow on paper. I must admit that this is not the easiest way for beginners. Keep in mind that you don't have to make perfect light and shade transitions. The fabric provides a playing field to practice the skills learned in previous lessons. Plus, you'll also understand how to learn how to paint chiaroscuro using just your hand.
Advice. You can do curved shading to create shape and cross shading to achieve more deep shadows, which resemble the structure of fabric.
Advice. Close your eyes slightly when looking at the fabric. You will see a blurred image of the fabric and enhanced contrast between chiaroscuro.
5. Perspective - cubes in three-dimensional space
Let's draw some cubes! Follow simple steps.
Perspective drawing is a projection of a 3D object into 2D space (your sheet of paper).
Building a perspective is a separate science that cannot be fully considered in one article. However, we can have a little fun within the confines of a simple technique that gives us an intuitive sense of the magic of drawing in perspective.
Step 1: Draw horizontal line. This will be the horizon.
Step 2. Place two points on the edges of the line - two invisible vanishing points.
Step 3. Draw a vertical line anywhere.
Step 4: Connect the ends of the vertical line to the vanishing points.
Step 5: Add two more vertical lines as below.
Step 6: Connect them to the vanishing points.
Step 7: Now use a black pencil or pen to trace the cube.
Repeat steps 3 to 7 as many times as desired. Enjoy the build! Have fun drawing, then you will succeed. You can shade the sides of the cube.
Advice. When you draw cross lines, it is better to slightly overlap one line over the other, this will make the shape easier to see.
Mastering perspective drawings will help you create the illusion of depth. And most importantly, you will teach your brain to see and recognize three-dimensional space. This is a great practice on how to start drawing from scratch without any skills.
Even if you decide to ignore the rules of perspective and make “flat drawings,” this knowledge will never be superfluous, but on the contrary, it will help expand your horizons and sharpen your visual receptor.
6. Construction of the composition - why here?
Make 5 different designs one object. Position the item differently each time.
As you create various options placement of your subject on paper, try to trace how this changes its connotation - meaning.
Author Ralph Ammer has several more interesting articles, but this is the one you need to watch first in order to understand where to start drawing with a pencil and more. In the comments I would like to see your opinion on the pros and cons of the presented methodology. Which exercises really gave you pleasure and which ones didn't? What else do you want to know on the topic or perhaps you have your own ideas on how to learn to draw from scratch - write it all below.
P.S. Free and complete SEO analysis of a website page - sitechecker.pro. In promotion, not only external factors are important, but the web project itself must be good.
It's never too late to learn. And even more so to improve yourself) Here are 9 tips for your attention on how to improve your drawing. I remembered and wrote down various kinds of advice that I was given at one time completely different people, teachers and more, and added something of my own.
I suggest you look through them and perhaps you will find something useful.
1. Work with different formats, do not use scraps of paper.
“In small drawings it is easy to hide big mistake, but the slightest error is clearly visible on big picture“,” wrote Alberti Leon Batista. Getting used to a certain format can be dangerous. It happens that an artist who always draws on scraps and napkins simply gets lost at the sight of a large surface. It begins to become shallow, the work lacks integrity.
It is important that the sheet is perceived as a space into which the composition should be entered (and not vice versa - cutting off the empty space); if you cut the sheet after you've finished the drawing, it's worth working on the composition.
Selecting the format (vertical or horizontal) - first important step in the leaf composition. The format has a psychological impact and visually enhances the emotional “sound.” Think about this before you start working.
Tip for beginners: build yourself a frame proportional to the size of the sheet. (these can be two L-shaped figures made of thick paper, they can be moved to form a frame) With its help you can determine the format of the composition, understand what is important and what is secondary in it, where is the center.
Don’t be lazy to spend 5 minutes thinking about the composition, it will save a lot of time and effort.
2. Making a “changeover”
When a drawing is already at the development stage, it can be useful to mirror it. Look at him in the mirror and you will immediately see his flaws. This tip is very useful for drawing portraits. Let's look at an example:
I painted the portrait for several hours and my eyes had already become blurry. When I mirrored it, I was able to identify inaccuracies in the anatomy: the right eye looks flat due to the lack of perspective, the same problem with the cheekbone, it is too wide, in addition, it would be nice to soften it so that it is not so contrasting with the background.
Sometimes it can be difficult to concentrate on the shape of an object, especially if it is a complex structure in perspective reduction. Try to look at it differently: it is often easier to see the shapes of the gaps.
I follow the same principle when drawing people. Using the example, I shaded the areas of the spaces whose shapes I was guided by. In order to draw realistically, you cannot do without knowledge of anatomy, the design of objects, and their perspective. And this method is a kind of test. Especially if there are doubts; but what exactly is wrong in the drawing, you cannot determine.
4. We combine 3 types of drawing: from life, from memory and from impression.
You've probably heard a million times about the benefits of drawing from life. And this the real truth) When studying an object from life, we pay attention to plasticity, volume transfer, remember proportions, and select true colors. But! Every memory needs to be trained. Try to draw from memory loved one(you see each other often? :) It turns out that this is very difficult. Having suffered through your work, you will find out your weak sides and from now on you will pay attention to them.
Another type of drawing is by impression. For example, try drawing an illustration for your favorite book. Coming up with a composition out of your head and creating realistic lighting is not an easy task. All these difficulties are an additional incentive for memory development.
5. Draw thoughtfully, set tasks for yourself, analyze.
Otherwise, there is a chance to end up with formal drawing and stylization. I often come across drawings online, about which the author himself writes that, they say, “it was drawn.” And there is a feeling that the author really stood somewhere nearby and took a very direct part in the drawing.
I don't argue, there are interesting works, which seem to be created by themselves from some abstract colored spots, lines, patterns. But nevertheless, if such drawing on “autopilot” fills most your notebooks - it's worth thinking about. Each drawing should be a kind of step forward, your growth. This won't happen if you don't set goals. How can you solve a problem if there is none?
Tip: Give your drawings light. Hang the work in a visible place for several days. As you pass by, each time you will note certain moments for yourself: here something was successful, but here it was not. A skewed composition will irritate the eye (very good!!), unsuccessful color combinations will want to be corrected (excellent!). Don't be shy about failed masterpieces.
Looking at you from the wall, they will provide you with an extraordinary service: you will look and think about how to avoid the same mistakes next time, and what successful solutions are worth taking note of.
6. Draw self-portraits.
There is no nature more patient and obedient than yourself. Who else will make faces for hours and stand in the right position?
In addition, proportions are especially important in a portrait; every line must be in its place. Working on a portrait is especially responsible and develops a keen eye.
Drawing self-portraits is not boring at all. Today is line drawing in ink, tomorrow watercolor madness, and another time - a stylized portrait in acrylic. As always, the choice is yours.
7. Continuing the topic of choosing material.
Experiment with techniques, materials, surfaces. The new and unknown always inspires heroic deeds. Be versatile and don't be afraid to look for yourself. Now on the market art materials— a sea of amazingly interesting things, for every taste: colored ink for interesting graphic works, oil pastel, whole briquettes of either pastels or watercolors (for real experimenters!), designer opaque gouache, felt-tip brushes, acrylic and a whole bunch of additives to it to create the most fantastic effects.
The topic of artistic materials can be continued endlessly, it’s better to just try it yourself :)
Sometimes nothing sticks at all. At such moments, a radical change of something helps me: technique, sheet format, material. The main thing is to do something, not to wait for the weather by the sea. During downtime, skills fade and mood deteriorates. So take note)
8. Collect a library of inspiring pictures.
Firstly, for the same case of waiting for a muse, and secondly, such a base is simply an indispensable assistant in drawing. Even the most trained memory is not perfect, and photographs will always tell you the correct proportions and interesting details. Of course, it’s useful to look at reproductions and albums and go to exhibitions. Try to understand why you like this or that picture, what is unusual about it?
Make copies. Study the style of your favorite artists, analyze the composition, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Copying is one of the very useful learning methods. But when exhibiting such works somewhere for everyone to see, do not forget to add which work you drew the copy from.
This is the only way you will learn to draw. No matter how expensive and high-quality your notebooks and brushes are, without your own skills, unfortunately, they will be of no use.
Draw on the subway, on vacation at the seaside, in cafes and clubs, in museums and shops. Wherever your attention was caught by someone's face or the plasticity of the body, a curl on the ceiling or a funny pattern on the tablecloth.
Get yourself a useful habit - keeping a diary in drawings. It's interesting and useful. A pocket-sized notebook and a capillary pen won’t take up much space;)
All our lives we learn something, complex skills, so to speak. For example, the ability to walk, read, drive a car, ski, skate. Just as we begin to learn to walk or read, drawing consists of several skills; once you master them, you can do them for the rest of your life.
Practicing drawing, improving technique, and being able to draw what is in front of your eyes are not actual drawing skills. These are perception skills: perception of outlines; perception of space; perception of proportions; perception of light and shadow; perception of a holistic image.
My drawing began when I entered art school; before that I had no particular desire to draw. I, like all the boys, ran around sports section, I went to music lessons with my mother, and I also had an inclination to play the piano, my teacher said. At first I dropped out of art school several times, especially in September, but over time I got involved and gained skills children's drawing I’m embodying it now, studying at university.
There are many techniques drawing - for example, various ways the use of materials and tools used in drawing. But those five skills provide the required perceptual training for skilled mastery of the ability to express one's perceptions through drawing. 
Anyone can learn to draw in a short time. You can acquire basic drawing skills in a week of intensive classes. The skills of reading and drawing become automatic over time, just as drawing becomes a need, but that’s me talking about myself.
Initial training is often a real struggle, first to master each of the component skills, and then to smoothly connect the learned components. I went through this struggle art school. One fine day you will just start drawing, just like, for example, one day you learned to walk and read. Then a person almost forgets how he learned to read, how he learned the multiplication table, how he learned to draw. 
The fifth skill, whole perception, arises from the acquisition of the other four skills. Consistently, studying one after another, we turn into a professional artist.
In the process of learning to draw, a person simultaneously learns to control how his own brain processes information. Using color when drawing is an excellent transition to painting. 
I determine that the logical sequence for a person studying drawing should be: line, value, color, painting.
The use of line is acquired through the outline depiction of shapes and spaces. The use of valerie (the art of painting, tonal nuance, subtle difference in lightness of the same color), is mastered through the transfer of light and shadow. The use of color requires, first of all, the ability to feel color. This ability cannot be acquired until a person learns to feel the relationship of light and shadow in the process of drawing.
As we develop our drawing skills, our brains connect with visual perception. The vision system, which involves the entire brain, collects visual information. All information changes, is interpreted and conceptualized depending on the person’s education.
Learning to perceive through drawing gives us direct vision. Having learned to draw, our brain is susceptible to empathy and excitement. Life becomes much more eventful. We see the world in a new way, one might say with different eyes. 
In conclusion, I will give a convincing argument that we must learn drawing skills in order to see the world with different eyes.
So, you already know a lot, you can do it, but you feel that you are marking time - what should you do in this case?
1. Explore the most basic fundamentals if you haven't done so yet. The theory of composition, color, knowledge of anatomy and proportions are necessary in practice. Alas, you cannot call yourself a competent artist until you have done this. Ideally, in addition to theory, all this knowledge should be put into practice, but many artists/illustrators neglect all this, considering it boring. By the way, I can say from my own experience that thoughtful study of the basics can really give you a bunch of ideas and move you forward.
2. Break out of your narrow-mindedness. If you are obsessed with anime, manga, comics, photorealism, or any particular style, but don't want to explore others artistic directions, styles, cultures and time periods, then you find yourself in a kind of tunnel, running in circles every time and doing the same thing. The most interesting thing comes from mixing different things and is at the junction different areas.
3. Don't be a mindless artist. This is perhaps the most important advice for most. Think about why you are creative (or whether you are creative at all). Is your only purpose in drawing something to show it off on Instagram or to sell it? Do you have anything to say? What if your “creativity” is completely disposable and meaningless? If you only served the most lower levels satisfaction without ever tapping into higher motives such as intellect or emotion, then perhaps it's time to dig a little deeper. You have a soul - use it. It's not just about abstract concept“depth” is about quality. Remember the difference between good classic comedies and cheap, stupid trash.
4. Don't mindlessly copy reality. To accurately convey the things around them, people created cameras, printers and scanners. An artist and illustrator is interesting because he can bring something new, show the world through the prism of his views, feelings and thoughts. We can stylize, exaggerate, simplify, idealize, use abstract and surreal approaches - so why not use all of this?
5. Don’t get hung up on how polished and flawless your work is.. Loose or clear brush lines, sketches or simple lines- your choice. Internal structure and basic knowledge are much more important. Drawing is a continuous experiment and is constantly changing and evolving. A good artist should be able to use all kinds of materials, different techniques work, different surfaces. By doing this, you will gain an understanding of how things work and will be able to express yourself more fully and variedly.
6. Don't train aimlessly. Mindlessly doodling in notebooks is relaxing and fun, but it's unlikely to take your skills to the next level. You must achieve what you cannot yet do, and not do what you can already do even with eyes closed. Find your weak points and systematically improve them, only in this case will there be growth. Analyze mistakes, avoid wasting time on things that don't serve an obvious purpose. Pay attention to structures and patterns - be they scientific physical laws our world (light, shadows, colors and compression tension of fabric points, etc.), or creative approaches, which give the most effective results(use of contrast in color, character of strokes, etc.).
7. Have realistic expectations. Even if you draw for 24 hours, you will not learn to draw in one day. It takes years of hard and smart work. Artists don't just draw a few dozen heads and then get qualified to paint portraits - they constantly practice the skill, study the form over many years, decades, and they don't do it mindlessly. And this is just a human head.
8. Learn to accept criticism. An artist lives among other people, receive comments, and if you cannot accept criticism you will be unhappy. Actually it's wonderful material for your growth. When you receive positive and negative comments, be grateful. If you cannot see anything beyond your ego, you will suffer in vain, and through your own fault and because of your stupidity.
9.Be a person with a broad outlook. Learn about the world we live in - history, politics, religion, economics, science, literature, music, photography, cinema... and a whole ocean of interesting things. You will be surprised how many things are interconnected, even if we don't notice it. An intellectually and emotionally undeveloped person has little to offer the world as a creator of art. Think openly, be sociable and educated.
10. You may not become good artist. If you are impatient, can't sit still, lose focus easily, get frustrated easily, have no motivation, can't take criticism, only want instant gratification, and are unwilling to work hard, then you will not become a good artist. “Talent” is not the deciding factor if you cannot work on yourself, persevere through the difficulties, disappointments, feelings of self-loathing, and discouragement that will determine your chances of success. You must mentally imagine the entire path. However, this does not make you bad person, you can do something else and have fun.
As you can see, these tips cover not only the practical issues of becoming a good artist, but also the emotional, psychological and philosophical aspects. The main goal is to be a thinking, holistic and adequate person, and this requires a lot of work on oneself and is actually very difficult.
How do you level up?
