The Basics

of
Drawing
WHAT IS VISUAL ARTS?
Visual arts are forms of art that you can see,
such as drawing, painting, sculpture,
printmaking, photography and filmmaking.
Today visual arts apply to many different
forms.
DRAWING
Drawing is creating a
picture with a variety
of tools, in most cases
pencils, crayons, pens
or markers.

Drawing of a lion by Rembrandt

PAINTING
Painting is often called the
most important form of
visual art. It is about
putting colours on a canvas
or a wall. Painters express
their ideas through a
mixture of colours and
different brush strokes.
Painting by Vincent Van Gogh
PRINTMAKING
Printmaking is art that is made by covering a plate with
ink and pressing it on the surface of another object.
Today prints are mostly produced on paper.

PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography is making pictures by letting light through
the lenses of a camera onto a film.
FILMMAKING
Filmmakers make moving images that they turn into films. It is
a very expensive and complicated form of art, involving many
tasks, for example scriptwriting, casting, and editing film
sequences before they can be shown to an audience.

COMPUTER ART
Computer art consists of a wide variety of different forms, from
capturing and changing sound to creating video games.
SCULPTURE
Sculptures are three-
dimensional pieces of art
that are created by
shaping various kinds of
material. Among the most
popular are stone, steel,
plastic, ceramics and
wood.
Michelangelo’s Moses
7 BASIC ELEMENTS
OF ART
LINE is the foundation of all
drawing. It is the first and most
versatile of the visual elements of
art. It can be used to suggest shape,
pattern, form, structure, growth,
depth, distance, rhythm, movement
and a range of emotions.
Leonardo da Vinci
(1452-1519)
SHAPE can be natural or man-
made, regular or irregular, flat (2-
dimensional) or solid (3-
dimensional), representational or
abstract, geometric or organic,
transparent or opaque, positive or
negative, decorative or symbolic,
colored, patterned or textured. The blue fan, 1922
TONE is the lightness or darkness
of a color. The tonal values of an
artwork can be adjusted to alter its
expressive character.

Girl with the Pearl

Earring, 1665
COLOR is the visual element that
has the strongest effect on our
emotions. We use color to create
the mood or atmosphere of an
artwork.
Autumn Landscape with
Boats, 1908
PATTERN is made by repeating or
echoing the elements of an artwork
to communicate a sense of balance,
harmony, contrast, rhythm or
movement.
Dream City, 1921
TEXTURE is the surface quality
of an artwork - the roughness or
smoothness of the material from
which it is made.
Detail of Bouquet of
Flowers in an Urn, 1724
FORM is the physical volume of a
shape and the space that it
occupies.

Tindaro Screpolato
(Tyndareus Cracked),
1998
WHAT ELEMENTS ARE OBSERVED
IN THE PAINTING?
INTRODUCTION
TO DRAWING
TYPES OF DRAWING MEDIA
Dry Media includes charcoal, graphite, chalks and pastels.

Wet drawing media traditionally refers to ink but really

includes any substance that can be put into solution and
applied to a drawing’s surface.
ESSENTIAL MATERIALS
1. DRAWING PENCIL
2. SKETCHBOOK/PAPER
3. ERASER
4. PENCIL SHARPENER
5. CHARCOAL
6. DRAWING PENS/INK
7. COLORPENCIL
8. ART PORTFOLIO
LESSON 1: HOW
TO SKETCH
It’s best to use free flowing lines that are loosely and
lightly drawn. To do that, adjust your grip on the
pencil so that your hand is relaxed instead of tense.

There are 4 ways to hold a pencil when drawing:

1. BASIC
TRIPOD GRIP
This grip allows tight
control over the pencil,
so is ideal for drawing
fine detail when
precision is important.
When using the tripod
grip, use your fingers
and thumb to control the
pencil's movement.
2. EXTENDED
TRIPOD GRIP
Holding the pencil in
the extended tripod grip
allows small finger
movements to produce
much larger movements
of the pencil-tip -- an
economical, efficient
grip for sketching.
3. OVERHAND
GRIP
The overhand grip is a
popular way to hold a
pencil for sketching. It
allows you to shade
with the side of the
pencil and is also a
useful pencil hold for
vertical drawing
surfaces, such as an
easel.
4.
UNDERHAND
PENCIL GRIP
The underhand pencil
grip is a very loose,
relaxed way of holding
a pencil. It is useful for
casual, broad sketching
and is a great way to
draw with charcoal.
LET’S DRAW
SOMETHING
TOGETHER!
STEP1. SKETCH A CIRCLE
LOOSELY
STEP 2. REFINE THE SHAPE
STEP 3: KEEP REFINING
STEP 4: DEFINE THE SHAPE
Activity #1
Find objects around and draw following
the steps in the lesson.
Step 1: Sketch Loosely
Step 2: Refine the shape
Step 3: Refine it further
Step 4: Define the desired shape
LESSON 2: LEARN
TO SEE THINGS
DIFFERENTLY
 BREAKING THE WORLD DOWN INTO SIMPLE SHAPES
EVERYTHING WE SEE AROUND US CAN BE BROKEN DOWN INTO A SERIES OF SIMPLE SHAPES.
WHETHER IT BE AN INDIVIDUAL OBJECT OR AN ENTIRE SCENE, YOU CAN BREAK IT DOWN IN
YOUR MIND WITH A LITTLE CONCENTRATION.
WHAT ARE THE SHAPES THAT WE
SEE IN THE PICTURE?
LET’S SKETCH TOGETHER!
STEP 1. SKETCH THE OVERALL
STRUCTURE
This is where you look at your subject’s form and sketch a simple
shape that represents the overall structure. The simpler it is, the
better!
STEP 2. IDENTIFY SECONDARY
SHAPES
STEP 3. DEFINE THE SUBJECT
Activity #2

Find objects around and draw following the steps in the

lesson.
Step 1: Sketch the overall structure
Step 2: Identify secondary shapes
Step 3: Define the subject
 LESSON 3:
GOING FROM 2D
TO 3D
WHAT MAKES A DRAWING LOOK 3D?
Planes
Each face is called a plane and each plane is facing a different
direction. Multiple planes on one object give the illusion of depth.
CONTOUR LINES
Contour lines can run in any direction along the surface of an object
to help you create the illusion of form, giving the object a more
meaningful shape.
HOW TO DRAW 3D?
DRAWING IRREGULAR SHAPES
Contour lines help you turn irregular 2D shapes into 3D. You can
influence the way a viewer perceives your drawing by manipulating
its contour lines.
Activity #3

Turn the objects below into a 3D sketch.

LESSON 4: HOW
TODRAW
ACCURATE
PROPORTIONS
Proportion simply refers to the size
relationships between objects. If you want
to draw a subject or scene with accurate
proportions, you must employ proper
techniques and train your eyes over time.
HOW TO DRAW WITH
CORRECT PROPORTIONS?
1. Measure with your pencil
2. CHECK RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN OBJECTS ON
THE VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL AXIS
3. CHECK ANGLES
 LESSON 5:
INTRODUCTION
TO LINE QUALITY
THE POWER OF LINES
The weight (or thickness) of a line is referred to
as line quality and can suggest material,
lighting, weight and more!
TEXTURE AND MATERIAL
LIGHTING
WEIGHT
Activity # 5
Go over your sketches and drawings
from the previous lessons and transform
them using what you learned in this
lesson.
 LESSON 6:
INTRODUCTION TO
SHADING
TECHNIQUES
HATCHING
CROSS HATCHING
CIRCULISM
SCRIBBLING
STRIPPLING
Activity #6
Draw and shade the subject below using the different
shading techniques that you have learned.
 LESSON 8:
LEARN HOW TO
SHADE
STEP 1: SKETCH THE SHAPE
OF THE OBJECT
STEP 2: ADD THE DARKEST
VALUES
STEP 3: ADD A LAYER OF
LIGHTER GRAPHITE
STEP 4: ADD THE MIDTONES
STEP 5: ADD SOME CAST
SHADOWS
STEP 6: ADD THE HIGHLIGHTS