Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only €10,99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Just Draw!: A Creative Step-by-Step Guide for Artists
    Just Draw!: A Creative Step-by-Step Guide for Artists
    Just Draw!: A Creative Step-by-Step Guide for Artists
    Ebook177 pages58 minutes

    Just Draw!: A Creative Step-by-Step Guide for Artists

    By Susie Hodge

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    What's stopping you from drawing? Just Draw! A Step-by-Step Guide for Artists offers a simple and effective way to get going and learn to draw in a wide variety of genres.

    Divided into two sections and offering plenty of space for practice, you can develop your skills in the first section, learning how to plan a drawing with just lines, consider perspective and volume, and how to create different effects.

    The second section contains 11 step-by-step projects to complete, including landscapes, still-lifes, and animals. Starting from the simplest outline, you'll learn how to create shape and form and add finer features to quickly create an impressively detailed drawing.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcturus Publishing
    Release dateOct 1, 2023
    ISBN9781398827882
    Just Draw!: A Creative Step-by-Step Guide for Artists
    Author

    Susie Hodge

    Susie Hodge is an award-winning UK author, art historian, and artist who has written more than 100 books. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Susie runs workshops and seminars for various creative institutions and appears in TV documentaries as an expert commentator on the arts.

    Read more from Susie Hodge

    Related to Just Draw!

    Related ebooks

    Visual Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Let’s Draw!

      Jan 21, 2022

      Let’s Draw!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Try Something Different

      Mar 17, 2023

      Try Something Different
      5 min read

    • Article

      Along The Right Lines

      Jun 17, 2022

      Along The Right Lines
      6 min read

    • Article

      How To See Like A Pencil

      Jan 20, 2023

      How To See Like A Pencil
      5 min read

    • Article

      Watercolour Pencil Techniques

      Feb 15, 2018

      Watercolour Pencil Techniques
      2 min read

    • Article

      Time For Tea

      Oct 1, 2021

      Time For Tea
      6 min read

    • Article

      Life drawing IN PASTEL PENCIL

      Apr 14, 2022

      Life drawing IN PASTEL PENCIL
      3 min read

    • Article

      From The Drawing Board

      Oct 12, 2023

      Hi Brett, I can never “see” the right shapes drawing freehand? I can get it close but then always come up against a point when nothing I change or add seems to make the drawing any better, it’s so maddening I can see it’s wrong but just can’t make it

      5 min read

    • Article

      Drawing Wild

      Oct 11, 2018

      Drawing Wild
      4 min read

    • Article

      Layering Life Drawings

      Oct 21, 2022

      Layering Life Drawings
      6 min read

    • Article

      Colour With Confidence

      Nov 18, 2022

      Colour With Confidence
      8 min read

    • Article

      Magic Pencil Tricks

      Jun 21, 2019

      Magic Pencil Tricks
      8 min read

    • Article

      Sketchbook

      Feb 19, 2021

      Sketchbook
      3 min read

    • Article

      Hatching and Crosshatching

      Jun 7, 2018

      Hatching and Crosshatching
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Pet Penciller

      Jun 7, 2024

      The Pet Penciller
      4 min read

    • Article

      CREATIVE Sketchbooks

      Feb 21, 2020

      CREATIVE Sketchbooks
      4 min read

    • Article

      5. Atmospheric Perspective

      Nov 26, 2021

      5. Atmospheric Perspective
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Loomis METHOD

      Oct 29, 2021

      The Loomis METHOD
      4 min read

    • Article

      Beginner’s Watercolour

      Sep 16, 2022

      Beginner’s Watercolour
      9 min read

    • Article

      Art Journaling

      Feb 16, 2024

      Art Journaling
      5 min read

    • Article

      Painting Project

      Dec 15, 2023

      Painting Project
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Just Draw!

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Just Draw! - Susie Hodge

      Introduction

      Everyone can draw – we can all learn how to do it and all of us can improve our drawing skills. All you need is the will to try and the patience to persevere. Of course, not all of us will become great artists, but most of us can learn to make marks that create sufficiently convincing and pleasing images – and to improve on these with practice.

      Once you start creating those pleasing images on a regular basis, drawing becomes ever more rewarding. Those who are naturally skilled at drawing usually have excellent visual and spatial intelligence, and those who find it less easy simply need to spend more time developing and honing their proficiency. Research has shown that motivation is a fundamental factor in our ability to learn new things at any age. So, when it comes to drawing, a lot depends on determination and persistence.

      As children, most of us love to draw, but from the age of about eleven, many of us become self-conscious about our drawing abilities, noticing our shortcomings and losing confidence. We also become busier with other things. Later however, the urge to create often arises again, but by then, many of us have lost faith in our drawing abilities, or just don’t know how to go about it. Many adults unused to drawing feel unsure and inhibited. This self-doubt feeds itself into how individuals draw and can block progress, and it can feel frustrating when we can’t convey visually what we’re seeing or thinking. It’s not that we can’t draw, but that we are thinking and going about it in the wrong way. Learning how to draw and improving those skills can not only be rewarding in itself, but it can also have the benefit of boosting confidence in other ways.

      Drawing the right way

      Drawing can take up minutes, hours or even days of your time: it’s up to you how long you dedicate to it. As a skill that can be learned, any time spent drawing is useful. Even if you’re not pleased with the outcome at first, it is all worthwhile as you learn what worked well – or what went wrong. You learn where the mistakes occur and how to correct them, and the more you draw, the better you become.

      This book will help you to go about drawing in a positive and productive way, and to overcome any doubts or difficulties you may have. It shows you how to build on existing skills, as well as gaining new abilities and refining them. It shows how you can spend just 15 minutes a day drawing almost any subject you choose, and if you follow the advice, you will improve and learn not only how to draw, but how to draw well.

      Explore your creativity

      Every day we are all overwhelmed by images – moving and still, public and personal. Some we seek out – such as in social media, in magazines, in the artwork on our walls or in our local scenery, while some simply surrounds us – such as in mass media or on advertising billboards. Often, understandably, with this bombardment of the eyes, we mentally disconnect. Drawing – producing our own handmade images – can help to quieten our minds, to challenge ourselves, to explore our powers of observation and our own creativity, to express our emotions and ideas and to give us a sense of achievement.

      In this book, you will discover how different methods of making marks on two-dimensional surfaces can result in images that we recognise, that please us and others, and that we are proud of. There are demonstrations, tips, suggestions and step-by-step projects that you can follow, from first marks to final images. These will all help you to understand ways of looking and drawing, and to develop your own style as you progress from basic drawings to more complex and intricate images.

      How to Use This book

      Nearly everything manmade began with a drawing; from a toothbrush to a chair, a flowerpot to a spaceship. Drawing is the root of all art forms – a skill that all artists and designers need, whatever their specialism, and an essential and rewarding way to communicate visions, feelings and ideas. Drawing can open your eyes to many things. It makes you more observant and it makes you look at the world differently. This book is here to help you to draw, and to keep improving. You can follow it through, page by page chronologically, or you can dip in and out of it. The straightforward, page by page method will probably reward you with the most benefits soonest, but use it in the best way for you, depending on how much time you can afford. It should be fun and enjoyable. Learning to draw is a process and most of the drawings and projects included, can be drawn in minutes rather than hours. Fifteen minutes a day will be enough, although if you have more time to spare, of course, that will always be even more beneficial.

      Believe in yourself

      This book intends to help you draw with confidence. By the time you have read it and put into practice some – or preferably all – of the suggestions and projects, you should be able to draw anything with a belief in yourself and your own abilities. As you read

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1