How to Draw for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know

Learning how to draw for beginners is easier than you think.

All you need are a few basic art supplies and a simple step-by-step guide to set you up for success with your drawings.

In my opinion, the best way to get started is by simplifying the learning process to make it easy and approachable.

For that reason, I’ve created this detailed beginner’s guide to drawing to help you start your drawing journey with confidence.

In this ultimate drawing guide for beginners, you learn about:

• Essential art supplies that you need to get started with drawing
• Simple shapes and how to use values in your drawings
• Basic drawing techniques you need to learn
• A list of drawing ideas to inspire you to take creative action

By the time you finish reading this ultimate guide, you’ll feel confident to take action and develop your drawing skills!

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Choose Your Drawing Supplies

To start off, I’m going to help you decide how to choose the best drawing supplies that fit your budget and suit your personal preferences.

The goal is to make informed purchasing decisions that’ll give you the best value for your investment.

To accomplish this goal, I’ve broken down the art supplies into distinct sections. As well, I’ve highlighted the most important information relevant to each art supply.

By the time you finish reading this section, you’ll have a good idea about which supplies to purchase and add to your collection.

Graphite Grade

B GRADE	H GRADE
– This graphite is soft, black, & makes dark marks – It lays down smoothly and it’s easy to blend – Soft graphite becomes duller faster	– This graphite is grey, hard, & makes light marks – It’s perfect for sketching and planning a drawing – Has a sharp tip, but graphite is harder to erase

Graphite Pencils

TRADITIONAL PENCIL	MECHANICAL PENCIL
– Inexpensive and can be bought in versatile sets – Natural wood feels great and is easy to hold onto – Pencils wear down and need to be replaced	– Versatile: You can change the lead types – Doesn’t need to be sharpened and it’s refillable – Great for drawing but not very good for shading

Paper & Sketchbooks

DRAWING PAPER	SKETCHBOOKS
– Smooth tooth/texture is ideal and easy to draw on – Bristol or velum paper is recommended – Acid free paper is ideal; less likely to deteriorate	– Come in a variety of sizes and paper types – Mixed media sketchbooks are very versatile – Hard covers provide structure; they’re durable

Erasers & Sharpeners

ERASER TYPES	SHARPENERS
– Rubber erasers are standard but fall apart easily – Kneaded erasers are bendable & versatile – Stick erasers are great for precision & details	– Handheld sharpeners are cheap & easy to use – Metal sharpeners work better than plastic ones – Electric sharpeners are fast & efficient, but loud

Blending Tools

BLENDING STUMPS	TORTILLONS
– Made of compressed paper to blend graphite – Has two pointed ends that are used for blending – Come in a wide variety of large & small sizes	– Thinner, shorter, and only has one pointed tip – Smaller tip is great for precision and details – Perfect for blending and smudging graphite

Pens & Coloured Pencils

PENS & FINELINERS	COLOURED PENCILS
– Pen sets come in a variety of thicknesses – Great for creating texture & different line weights – Inks come in fineliners, nibs, dip and brush pens	– Wax-based pencils are better for beginners – Oil-based pencils are great but more expensive – They’re ideal for adding colour to your drawings

Understand Basic Shapes

When you learn how to draw for beginners, you should spend time developing your observational skills because I believe it’s one of the most important skills all artists should develop.

Being able to accurately perceive the subject matter gives you tons of visual information to help you nail the composition and proportions.

Therefore, taking the time to create this foundation will set your drawings up for success.

Here’s a simple step-by-step process to help you get started with a drawing:

1. First, break your reference down into large shapes. At this early stage, focus on capturing the overall picture rather than obsessing over the details
2. After you’ve sketched the large shapes and mapped out the composition, break the large shapes down into smaller shapes
3. Add only the most essential details to the drawing. Keep it simple and don’t overanalyze the reference image

Related: If you want to learn how to draw 3D shapes like the ones shown below, then check out these easy sketching tutorials for beginners.

Get to Know Values

Besides observational skills, I believe that value is the other most important element for artists to understand.

Value simply refers to the lightness or darkness of a colour.

An easy way to visualize value is by creating a value scale or a gradient. As a beginner, you should create value scales to train your eye to distinguish between light, medium, and dark values.

Doing so helps you understand how to use a full range of values in your drawings. Using a wide variety of values helps you create dynamic shading, realism, depth, and dimension in your artwork.

For example, the lightest values appear white. These values illustrate highlights or any area upon which the light source is shining.

Midtones are medium values that appear grey. These values illustrate areas that receive moderate light.

On the other hand, the darkest values appear black. These values illustrate shadows and any areas that receive little to no light.

Here is a guideline of how to apply pressure on your pencil to create different values:

• To create light values, apply light pressure on the pencil so that it barely touches the paper
• To create medium values, apply a bit of pressure while shading (as if you’re writing)
• To create dark values, apply a lot of pressure on the pencil and push down firmly on the pencil

Basic Drawing Techniques

You can’t learn how to draw for beginners without understanding the most common drawing techniques.

Therefore, in this section, you’ll observe 6 drawing techniques that you can use to create your drawings.

Each technique requires a different application. Thus, practicing all of them is worth your time so that you can seamlessly switch between them as you draw.

In addition, you’ll be able to create some interesting textures in your drawings depending on which technique you use.

Hatching is created by laying down many parallel lines in the same direction. Layering these lines builds up the shading. Adjust thickness and spacing for different results.

Cross hatching is created by layering lines on top of one another, but these lines point in different directions. It creates an interesting texture.

Tonal shading is created by applying different kinds of pressure on your pencil, thus creating light and dark values. Creating tonal contrast adds form and dimension to the drawing.

Stippling is created by using many small dots to build up the shading. The more dots you layer in an area, the darker the shading becomes.

Scribbling is created by using many overlapping circles and squiggles to build up the shading. It often has a chaotic, textured appearance.

Scumbling is created by using many small over-lapping circles to build up the shading. It often has a fuzzy, textured appearance.

3 Additional Skills

By now you have probably realized that learning how to draw for beginners is rather straightforward. You can start drawing and sketching immediately after reading this guide!

However, you should be aware that there are many more elements of art that you’ll need to learn in order to develop a strong and well-rounded foundation in drawing.

To cover them all is beyond the scope of this humble beginner’s guide. But I’d like to draw your attention to 3 additional skills that I believe will help you excel as a beginner artist.

Note: At the beginner stage, it’s not necessary to develop a signature art style. But if you’d like to learn more about this topic, check out this intriguing blog post titled The Truth About Finding Your Art Style (Find Out How).

Light and Shadow

Now that you understand values, the next step is to use a wide range of values to illustrate light and shadow in your drawings.

Therefore, it’s crucial to spend some time learning about light sources and how light bounces off objects.

By studying how light and shadows manifest on 3D forms, you’re able to create drawings with realistic shading that appears 3-dimensional. It creates visually appealing contrast.

As well, illustrating light and shadows accurately in your drawings adds depth and dimension to your artwork.

Composition

Learning how to draw for beginners is fun and exciting, but don’t forget to develop your composition skills!

If you want to create drawings that are visually appealing and well-balanced, you need to learn how to create good composition.

As an artist, it’s wise to plan your composition before you begin drawing so that you have a blueprint upon which to build your drawing. You do this by creating thumbnails.

Composition is important because it determines how visual elements are organized. It highlights focal points and gives structure to your drawings by emphasizing visual elements.

Play around with flow, contrast, balance, and movement to figure out the best composition for your drawing.

Proportions

Lastly, I suggest that you take the time to learn about proportions.

Proportions refer to the size of elements in an artwork and how those elements relate or interact with one another.

For example, if the proportions of a portrait or figure drawing are off, the viewer will likely think that the subject matter looks strange or disproportionate.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to learn how to accurately measure the subject matter in order to ensure that the height, width, and length are proportionate to one another.

List of Drawing Ideas

Are you having trouble deciding what to draw? Luckily, I have 2 solutions for you!

The first solution is to check out this blog post titled 5 Remarkably Easy Ways to Find Inspiration to Draw.

In this blog post, you learn about 5 effective strategies that help you find inspiration when your creative batteries are running low.

The second solution is to have a look at this list of drawing ideas to get inspired. I’m sure at least one of these ideas will spark the flame of your creativity!

• 3D shapes: Sphere, cube, pyramid
• Cats, dogs, or your pet
• Birds or simple feathers
• A tropical island seascape
• A rocky mountain landscape
• An enchanted forest by a lake
• A red barn in a peaceful meadow
• A haunted house with pumpkins
• Glossy raindrops on a window
• A silhouette of a city skyline

You’re in luck because I have a lot more creative drawing prompts than the ones mentioned above.

To get your hands on 100 exciting and inspiring ideas, download a free list of 100 drawing ideas by filling out the information below!

Conclusion

In this ultimate drawing guide, you learned about foundational skills and practical strategies to help you learn how to draw for beginners.

In a nutshell, getting started with drawing is as simple as:

• Purchasing basic drawing art supplies including graphite pencils, paper, an eraser, and a sharpener
• Learning about basic shapes and values
• Developing different drawing techniques
• Having a list of drawing ideas to spark your imagination

Now that you’re prepared, it’s time for you to take action with your artwork!

I’d love to know what are you going to draw or what skill are you planning to focus on as you start your drawing journey? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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