Learn to draw with three exercises a day for a month
Contour, shading and proportion drills that build the fundamentals, whatever you eventually want to draw.
Drawing is a skill, not a gift. Fifteen minutes a day for a month will move you further than any book. Here's the routine.
Exercise 1: Blind contour (5 minutes)
Look at an object, your hand, a mug. Draw its outline without looking at the paper. It will look wrong. That's fine; it's training your eye to follow edges instead of drawing symbols from memory.
Exercise 2: Value spheres (5 minutes)
Draw a circle. Pick a light direction. Shade it as a sphere: highlight, mid tone, core shadow, reflected light, cast shadow. Use a 2B pencil and build up in layers. Do one a day and they'll be convincing by week two.
Exercise 3: Measured drawing (5 minutes)
Pick a simple object. Hold your pencil at arm's length to compare its height to its width, and mark those proportions before you draw anything else. Then check angles by holding the pencil along an edge.
Materials
HB and 2B pencils, a kneadable eraser, a cheap sketchbook you're not afraid of. Don't buy anything else this month.
Habits
- Draw from life, not photos, when you can. Photos have already flattened the problem.
- Sit up and draw from the shoulder for big shapes, wrist for detail.
- Date every page. Flick back after 30 days.
After the month
Try a 20-minute still life every weekend, then move to figure drawing sessions (many towns have life drawing groups) or urban sketching with a fineliner and a splash of watercolour.
Post your day 1 and day 30 mugs. It's the most encouraging thing you can do for someone starting.
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