A complete pencil drawing course. How to learn to draw beautifully with a pencil from scratch? How to learn to draw people's faces with a pencil: basic principles

Many beginners don’t know where to start learning to draw. The Internet is full of open source materials that are confusing. People also tend to have a fear of failure and doubt about their talent. Today, based on my own experience, I will tell you how to learn to draw from scratch.

First of all, I must say that it’s never too late to start drawing, there are many successful and talented artists who first picked up a brush in adulthood. Of course, it is easier to teach children anything, including drawing. But, if in your childhood your acquaintance with painting was limited to art lessons in the third grade, then it doesn’t matter! You can start in your 20s, 30s or 50s.

But where to start?

Drawing is a creative and quite labor-intensive process, so don’t expect masterpieces from yourself in the second lesson, but be patient.

First step- drawing from pictures, photos, video lessons. Yes, this is not exactly what they do in art schools, and yes, you won’t learn the basics of academic drawing, since you can do it yourself without help professional teachers It’s almost impossible, and it’s not necessary. Your hand is completely unaccustomed to a pencil; you do not yet know the proportions and shapes of objects. Sketching various objects with a photo will help you get better and understand the construction of objects.

To successfully pass this stage, you need to forget what exactly you are drawing. If there is a chair in front of you in the picture, do not think that you are drawing a chair, but simply copy the lines and shadows. Thus, your right hemisphere will turn on, which you now need much more than the left. And also, don’t try to finish the painting in one sitting; take breaks while working. When your drawings have become more or less “edible”, you can move on to drawing by, where you draw in parallel with the video.

Second phase- sketches from life. You're not ready for it yet large-scale work from nature, but start sketching, draw everything you see around. Pay attention to the proportions of the object and its location in space. Yes, you are not doing very well yet, but look at your first works. You will definitely see progress! In parallel with sketches, continue drawing from pictures, photos and video lessons. In principle, this is the beginning, nothing complicated, just work and patience.

Now let's look at it 6 main mistakes, which beginners often make.

  1. Buying too expensive materials. The way psychology works is that on paper for 3,000 rubles you are supposedly obligated to do something worthwhile and you have no right to make a mistake. This completely natural attitude creates a fear of drawing, so we don’t buy the entire assortment of the art store.
  2. Painful perception of criticism. Most likely, you will post your work on social media. network, where you will find a million evil critics, but don’t take anyone’s words to heart. Pay attention only to constructive criticism on the matter, and ignore insults and unpleasant statements about your work.
  3. The desire to embrace the immensity. Yes, I understand that you already want to draw views native village or a portrait of your beloved brother, but don’t rush. Taking on things that are too difficult for you will only lead to frustration and disappointment in your capabilities. Everything has its time.
  4. Reading books on drawing. It seems like what bad things can books contain? If you have just started learning to draw, then you do not yet have the knowledge base for all these books on color perception or anatomy to help you. These books are intended for students of art academies, and not for beginners.
  5. Rare or irregular drawing. Everything here is the same as in sports, in 10 minutes a day you will not achieve anything, draw at least 1-2 hours a day. And if you stop drawing for a week or a month, you will lose your shape and feel how unruly your fingers have become.
  6. Fear of new materials. On initial stages When drawing, your main material will be a simple pencil, but do not be afraid to draw with pens, paints, markers, etc. If the opportunity to work with any new material is given, do not miss it.

Create, work hard and everything will definitely work out.

Sooner or later, each of us asks ourselves the question: how can we learn to draw from scratch with a pencil, while having absolutely no experience and the necessary skills? It turns out that all you need is at least 30 minutes of free time and desire. Do you think this is not enough? Let's dive deeper into this topic! There are many courses in drawing, graphics and painting - learning to draw with the help of them is much easier and more interesting, since the process of completing the work is controlled by professional artists who will always tell you how to do it right.

Classes in art schools or with tutors usually do not raise any questions, but how can you learn to draw with a simple pencil from scratch at home? The answer is simple: exactly the same as in the presence of a mentor. Of course, you won’t learn how to draw just by picking up a pencil, but regular classes sooner or later will definitely lead you to success.

What materials should I use?

First of all, you should purchase materials with which you will work in the future. For beginners, any office tools purchased at the nearest store are quite suitable. However, if you are serious, you will have to think about buying more expensive and high-quality materials (for example, pencils from Koh-i-noor, high-density paper, watercolors from Nevskaya Palitra, etc.).

Pencils should be purchased in different hardnesses. Marking B means that the lines drawn with a pencil are very intense and dense. These pencils are great for shading or for creating quick, messy sketches. The H mark indicates thinner, faded and neat lines. To fully work with graphics, you will need pencils of different hardnesses.

You should choose paper based on its density. If your goal is graphics, regular printer paper, pages from a diary, etc. will do just fine. If your choice concerns paints, then in this case you should take paper with a density of at least 150 g/m2.

Where to begin?

To begin with, you need to decide what exactly you want to learn. Perhaps you are interested in the human figure? Or are these abstract patterns and ornaments? Or maybe it's Live nature and landscapes? Having set the initial goal, let's try to figure out how to achieve it.
But first, it's worth starting with the basics. Try to draw what surrounds you. Boxes, books, candy wrappers, pencils, pens - everything that catches your eye. It is important that you learn to see and feel the shape of an object. The basis of any thing is geometric figures: spheres, cylinders, cubes, prisms, pyramids and so on. Let's look at the example of a mug. It is based on a cylinder - volumetric figure. What to do if on paper the mug turns out to be more like a rectangle, and also flat? The answer is simple: you need to understand the basic principles of drawing.

So, what is the first thing you need to learn? The mug has the shape of a rectangle when viewed directly. If you move the viewing angle upward, it turns out that it is not rectangular at all, but cylindrical. Well, if you look at it from above, we will generally see a circle. You need to understand that an object looks different from different sides, and when drawing you should take this into account. To learn how to draw an object, you need to know what it looks like from all sides and be able to visualize it in your head.

How to quickly learn to draw a person with a pencil?

If you want to learn how to correctly draw a human figure with a pencil from scratch, you should start by sketching human figures from photographs. Precisely from photographs, and not from drawings of other people. The notorious ones may contain errors and irregularities in proportions and construction, which definitely should not be repeated.

Another effective exercise– sketches of people from life, sitting on a bench in a park or cafe. If you do two or three sketches every day, after a while, enough images will accumulate in your memory that you can later use to create your own original works. But you don’t think that sketches will be enough. This is just the beginning so that you can understand how the human body works and figuratively remember its proportions. The next step is to delve into human anatomy in more detail. Anatomical atlases and books are perfect for this, for example, Enyo Barchai “Anatomy for Artists” and Nikolai Lee “Fundamentals of Academic Drawing”. After studying this and other similar literature, you will know how the human skeleton is structured and how it can bend, you will understand how muscles work and how they are attached to the body. Thanks to the knowledge gained, you will be able to construct a human figure in almost any pose, without resorting to photo materials.

A similar technique can be applied to animals and nature. To begin with, it’s worth getting your teeth into the game with sketches and quick sketches, and after you get the hang of it, you can begin to study the details in depth. Will help you with this by Wilhelm Tank “Animal Anatomy for Artists”, M.Ts. Rabinovich “Plastic anatomy of humans, four-legged animals and birds and its application in drawing” and much more.

How to quickly learn to stroke with a pencil?

So, we figured out the basics of drawing. What should we do with tone?
First of all, you should arm yourself with well-sharpened pencils. A utility knife is perfect for sharpening. With its help, you can independently adjust the size and thickness of the lead. Sharpeners won't be able to achieve the same effect, so it's worth starting to learn how to use a knife.

Why does a drawing need tone? Of course, to create volume. Therefore, it is important to remember the existence of light and shadows. In addition to the main tone, the drawing must have a shadow - the darkest part of the drawing. In the shadow there must be a reflex - weak reflected light from other objects or surfaces. A halftone is in an intermediate state between tone and light. Knowledge of chiaroscuro will allow you to add volume to the image, which will make the drawing more realistic.

You should shade with quick and confident movements, each time lifting the pencil from the paper. Naturally, you can forget about shading and tint, but in this case it will be much more problematic to create volume.

Summing up

Learning to draw beautifully with a simple pencil at home is real, and most importantly, very simple, if you have at least half an hour of free time and desire. Try to start, and within a couple of months you will notice the result. And believe me, it will be impressive!

There is an artist in a person. If you feel that he has already woken up, hurry to develop your gift. This can be done easily by visiting the Moscow art workshop “Matita”. The art of drawing will not come on its own: it needs to be learned. But here it happens as if by itself, in a creative environment, together with talented teachers.

Every real artist sooner or later thinks about the question of how to draw a person from scratch. No need to reinvent the wheel: this technology has long been known to teachers art studio. Visit her master classes. Here they adhere to the principle that everyone can draw.

Learning to draw a person in the painting studio

This optimistic attitude is not an empty dream or a fairy tale: there really is real chance become an artist:

  • go to the company website;
  • wander around the workshop;
  • look at the work of course students;
  • awards at exhibitions;
  • read the reviews.

The whole atmosphere is thoroughly imbued with a love of art, the desire to become a real artist. This inspires the belief that everyone can draw, and you are among them.

Each next step gives birth to a masterpiece

The mere desire to draw a person will remain a dream if you do not study the technique of pencil drawing in a realistic manner. It consists of mandatory rules, having learned which, you can start drawing. They include required knowledge:

  1. How to make a sketch of a drawing correctly.
  2. Which point in the drawing should be the starting point, where to start:
    • from the whole or the particular;
    • above or below;
    • left or right.
  3. No need to guess: during the workshop you will learn:
    • how to correctly position a drawing on a sheet of paper;
    • how to shade it;
    • will explain and show in practice the order of dashed lines.

Start drawing a person from scratch, step by step and up to logical conclusion Any person can learn: adult or small, with skills and experience in pencil drawing or newbie.

We draw a person step by step, important points

Not everyone undertakes to draw a person. great artist, he sometimes spends his entire life creating a painting. For this purpose, there are university programs that are intimidating with their academic approach. Some great talents never revealed themselves, being shattered by this fear. At the Matita drawing school, students do not feel afraid of depicting a person. Here they teach fast and simple image human figures. For this purpose, a unique proprietary program has been created that allows any novice artist to draw a human figure in the first lesson, and then improve the drawing:

  1. Polish it, taking into account every little detail.
  2. Convey to the viewer all the details of a person’s pose and his clothing.
  3. Be able to portray a person in various poses.

Having attended the first test lesson, novice artists will draw a human figure on it, but in order for it to turn into a masterpiece, it is better to carefully study this technology by studying the following questions in the courses:

  • the ability to use the possibilities of shadow and light when creating volume;
  • have the skills to use artist's tools;
  • comprehend the secret of transferring proportions;
  • learn to make rough sketches;
  • learn techniques for depicting hair and skin.
  • comprehend the art of portraiture;
  • learn shading techniques.

The full course, which provides this unique knowledge and skills according to the author’s program, is designed for 10 lessons, each of which lasts 3 hours. There are shortened options where the program can be completed in 5 lessons. Beginning artists choose topics that interest them, human poses:

  • standing;
  • sitting;
  • in dynamics;
  • at rest;
  • other options.

Based on the first trial test lesson for course students, they select individual programs taking into account their wishes. The workshop teachers are professional artists who generously share their skills with beginning artists.

Step-by-step instructions for the correct image of a person

A teaching technique for novice artists, telling how to draw a person from scratch, creating a human figure is not so difficult. The main difficulty lies in conveying it on paper. Beginners wondering how to learn how to draw a person from scratch begin their work by creating basic lines or a skeleton. This is the most important and important part of the work. In our workshop, under the guidance professional artists it is carried out in stages. The secrets of the skill of creating a human figure, made using a simple pencil. Under the artist’s pencil, drawing in front of surprised spectators, the following appear:

  • landscapes;
  • still lifes;
  • portraits;
  • human figures in various poses.

Realistic graphics show such subtle skill of the artist that with the naked eye the drawing can be mistaken for a photograph.

Human figure in different poses using a progressive technique

Step-by-step instruction:

  1. The first step is to create an oval head.
  2. The most important step is choosing the person's posture (standing, sitting, moving). This is a crucial stage, because the image of the spine, which determines the pose, depends on it.
  3. The next step is to depict the angles of the pelvis and shoulders, which determine the position of the figure.
  4. After determining these positions, you need to proceed to the proportional arrangement of the legs and arms.

Excellence courses

To deepen knowledge, skills, and skills in performing any drawing from scratch, and to obtain the basics of artistic skill, the school offers an academic drawing course designed for 5 months. There will be 8 three-hour classes per month. This course includes all disciplines, after completing which students will master the basics of artistic creativity:

  1. Rules for constructing a real image of a drawing of any subject from scratch.
  2. Analysis of the design of any object.
  3. Laws of shadow and light (penumbra and reflex; transfer of volume through the play of highlights, light and shadow).
  4. Creating proportions.
  5. Building a composition.
  6. Linear perspective, the transfer of space and the location of objects in it.
  7. The geometric approach, which consists in drawing objects of varying complexity, which are based on simple geometric elements.

The teaching method (from simple to complex) will allow you to master basic knowledge and learn how to draw the following elements:

  • human head;
  • faces;
  • still lifes;
  • drapery;
  • ornament technique;
  • sockets;
  • basic geometric bodies.

Get the basics of creativity at the Moscow Art Studio


Call us. Check out our website. A convenient navigator will guide you through the most interesting pages site. We are waiting for you at a trial test lesson. It can become a path to Big world art.

Art therapy helps to get rid of stress, restore inner harmony, have fun and develop new talents. To learn to draw, you don’t have to attend an art studio. It is enough to spend a little time watching free video lessons on Youtube and practicing in your free time.

There are a great variety of materials for drawing: pencils, pastels, watercolors, gouache, acrylics and oil paints. You need to try them all and understand which method is closer. It's better to start with the most simple techniques. ALL ONLINE COURSES selected best videos drawing lessons for beginning artists.

Training your hand for drawing

Warm-up is an important part of any activity, be it singing, sports or playing the instrument. musical instruments. Before drawing, you need to get rid of tightness, get used to holding your pencil and hand correctly, and avoid overwriting the drawing. Exercises can be performed not only before drawing, but also at any other time, while talking on the phone or watching TV. When the hand performs the necessary actions more often, learning occurs faster.

Pencil drawing for beginners

Special exercises help you improve your skills and confidently draw high-quality drawings. When doing shading, the hand gets used to moving easily and correctly, adjusting the degree of pressure and color intensity. Mastering the six main types of hatching: vertical, horizontal, mesh, dot, multidirectional and spring is enough to complete professional drawings. With the help of some shading, you can convey not only the intensity of color, but also different textures: fur and wool, stone and egg shell. Exercises are performed from simple to complex.

How to learn to draw with a pencil step by step

One of the most complex species drawing - portrait from life. It is unlikely that a beginner will be able to draw a person the first time, but numerous attempts will give tangible results for the development of drawing skills. Artist and teacher visual arts Olesya Bershadskaya advises making sketches as often as possible, in public transport or a cafe. In the video lesson, she shows how to make sketches correctly and step by step, from transparent lines and shadows for clear drawing. The sketch is done without using an eraser.

10 watercolor techniques and techniques

When a drawing uses a variety of techniques, it looks more interesting and lively. You can achieve different effects by painting with a dry, semi-dry or wet brush on a dry or wet paper. You can create a uniform coating of paper with color, gradients - increasing tone from dark to light or smooth transitions between different shades. Or darken and lighten parts of the picture, draw lines with different pressure and tilt of the brush, realistically depicting tree bark, branches, grass, sky and ripples on the water. The techniques are easy to learn, and the drawings can turn out worthy of a frame and a place of honor on the interior wall.

How to draw a sunset with pastels (painting in 10 minutes)

Try drawing with pastel crayons. To work, you will need the actual crayons and fingers. The secret to the realistic drawing lies in multi-layering and competent shading with your fingers. At first the work seems childishly simple and unprofessional, but by the end of the lesson it takes on a magnificent look.

Chinese art


The art of the East attracts attention with its unusualness. Chinese painting is closely related to poetry and calligraphy, hence its fabulousness, mystery and graphic quality. She doesn't use complex color schemes and the lesson can be watched and followed with young children. Arm yourself with a larger piece of whatman paper, brushes of different thicknesses, a sponge, water, paints and repeat the poetic landscape after the teacher. Having mastered the technique, start painting original paintings. Study Chinese painting better with inspiring meditative music.

Draw a tree in 20 minutes. Simple and unusual technique

The technique of drawing with gouache is more complicated than pencil and watercolor: you have to draw without a sketch, there is no way to correct the drawing with an eraser or a wet sponge. It’s worth starting the lesson with a little training. At the beginning of the video, the materials for the work are described in detail. Before applying paint to paper, it must be mixed and tested on a separate sheet or palette, achieving a variety of shades based on only six colors. The painting process uses brush strokes, strokes and splashing techniques.

Drawing lessons for beginners: composition basics in 5 minutes

Composition is the foundation for fine art. It is difficult to imagine an artist without knowledge of the basics of composition. You can learn to draw well individual items, people and animals, but what’s the point if you don’t know how to put them together into a coherent picture with a plot? We recommend watching a short video about the rules for constructing the composition of a drawing. Using the techniques listed in the video, you can concentrate the viewer’s attention in the right place in the picture, attract and hold the eye, engage and create the effect of presence.

Simple drawings that anyone can draw 

Video for everyone who wants to draw simple and quick drawings with pencils, markers and pens. If you want to draw a postcard or coloring book for children with your own hands without spending a lot of time on the lesson, then this lesson is just the thing. Simple drawings Suitable for designing notepads, notes, notebooks. Balloons, many options for flowers and plants, cartoon cats - just watch it once and you’ll learn right away.

Through drawing, a person can learn to express his thoughts on paper and fully reveal his creative potential. Naturally, an unconditional artistic gift is a rare phenomenon. Much more often, in order to learn to draw, you only need to have the ability to do this activity, which you can easily develop in yourself. We will talk further about how to learn to draw from scratch.

How to learn to draw from scratch: stages of self-development

In order to learn how to draw from scratch, it is extremely important to familiarize yourself with the basic rules of fine art, as well as begin learning in stages: from easy to complex. The tips below will help beginning artists competently organize the self-learning process. So, in order to learn how to draw, you should:

  1. Read a drawing textbook that explains in an accessible form what composition, perspective, contrast, reflex, etc. are. The textbook should be intended specifically for beginners in drawing, and not for experts, since, in the second case, it may miss the main points. It is advisable that this be a self-teaching textbook containing exercises.
  2. Practice constantly. To achieve any visible results in the art of drawing, constant practice is necessary. You need to draw often, at any time convenient for this. To do this, you need to carry a small notebook with you, allowing you to make quick sketches in any conditions.
  3. Make drawings using various techniques: lines of different thicknesses, filled in silhouettes, with drawing of the main details. When making sketches, you should remember that they are done quickly - you should not work on them for a long time, carefully correcting the shortcomings. The purpose of sketches is to “capture” the most important things in nature. Unsuccessful works should not be erased; it is better to save them for later comparison with other sketches and evaluate your success.
  4. Learn to sketch. Copying someone else's work is good workout drawing skills. For copying, it is best to choose the work of a real artist, but not too difficult to copy.
  5. Develop your imagination. To do this, you need to learn to create images mentally, for example, learn to draw from memory, or try to draw something based on a verbal description (for example, draw a portrait based on a description of a person’s appearance from a book). You can read more about how to draw portraits in the article. It’s equally important to simply draw what you want: be it an illustration of something you’ve read literary work, decorative pattern or simply an abstraction expressing a mood.
  6. Draw, observing the rules of perspective, shading, correct display of light, shadow, penumbra, and highlights in the drawing. In this case, there is no need to rush. Detailed drawing An educational still life may take more than one day.
  7. Consult professional artists. It is very useful to show your work to someone with a professional art education and listen to his advice.

Naturally, it’s not enough to know how to learn to draw from scratch. In order to do this, you must have a great desire to learn how to draw and hard work.

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