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15 Tips to Improve Your Drawing Skills

february 1, 2024

People are born with innate drawing talent or they are not.
{Fact? Fiction? Urban Legend? Fairy Tale?}

s u b s cri b e to th e d ai s y yel l ow n ews l etter

post updated 02/01/24

drawing is making marks on paper. to draw well,

you've got to practice. that’s the o n l y s e c r e t .
When my kids were little, I was always looking for things to do while waiting
everywhere — swimming lessons, soccer practice, or dentist appointments. This was
15 years ago, so I brought along an iPod (loaded with podcasts and music), a
notebook, and some pens. I drew repeating patterns, alphabets, words, knots, and
mandalas. It never occurred to me that I would/could get better — I figured it was
something other people knew how to do.

What I learned? If you draw a lot, you get better. It might seem like magic that
involves charms and pixie dust and the perfect fountain pen — but honestly it’s
just about drawing.

If you are in search of tips for getting better at drawing (or if you are frustrated
because you feel you are not making progress), I’ve got a variety of starting points for
you to explore!

TL;DR

Some of my go-to pens for doodling & drawing & mark-making:

Faber-Castell PITT artist markers, Sakura Pigma Professional brush pens, Sakura
Pigma Brush Pens, Zebra Sarasa, and Uniball UM-151

Looking back now I think of years of drawing in coffee shops, in the carpool line,
waiting on hold, waiting in line at the DMV, at the breakfast table, on the porch, and
in book stores. Drawing in all sorts of notebooks and journals all over the world on
planes, buses, and trains. Most of what I draw is abstract but I’ve sketched
monuments and landscapes and cathedrals and people as well.

It’s easy to lose steam and think you’re not making progress. But it is happening!
Keep drawing and you’ll gradually feel more comfortable|confident with your
drawing tools and build fine motor skills.

d e v e l o p i n g d ra w i n g s k i l l s i s a g ra d u a l p r o c e s s
Look at your progress over a long time frame. If you compare your work today with
your work from a month ago, you probably won't see clear differences. But if you look
at a longer time frame - compare the drawings you did 1-2 years ago vs. current —
you’ll see a difference! Progress is measured not in hours, but in months and years.

Be patient with yourself. The more you draw, the better you will get. As I look back
through my journals, I see that every time I challenged myself to try a new idea, I
made a leap forward.

What paper to use? Try all sorts of papers and notebooks and gradually you’ll start
noticing differences. Paper & pen choices are so personal to the way you draw.
Usually, I use moleskine journals, field notes notebooks, loose watercolor paper, and
index cards.

Try index cards! Index cards are a key part of my creative practice - I write about this
and share examples in the simple beauty of index card art. Each summer, I facilitate
the Daisy Yellow Index-Card-a-Day Challenge which is a fiesta of creative fun (2022
was our 12th challenge)!

Think of drawing as making a series or collection of lines or marks. The art of

drawing is about moving the drawing tool and understanding how to
convey/transform what you see into marks on the page. I would first suggest working
on refining the fine motor movements involved in drawing by trying to capture the
essence (the idea) of simple subjects.

Things to practice in order to improve your line work. Mark-making, doodling,

sketching, scribbling, automatic drawing, contour drawing, gestural marks, and
hand-lettering. Oh, and early in the learning process, I made the decision not to use a
ruler to make lines - I figured that this would be a way to push myself to get better at
drawing them and I didn’t want to get too perfectionistic.

So how to decide what to draw? Look around — ideas are everywhere - you can pick
anything. I remember finding things to draw in my backpack, like bubblegum labels,
geometric designs, book covers, and even UPC codes! I never considered that my
style would evolve -- I was found the process intriguing. Waiting time FLEW by. I
liked drawing. After spending 20 years in the world of accounting and analysis, it was
refreshing to do art! It was like I was in high school again, drawing patterns in my
room late at night with Jackson Browne or The Stones playing on the radio.

fifteen (15) things to draw to improve your line

work

1. fill a sketchbook with freehand doodles

Start a drawing habit - dedicate 15-30 minutes each day to draw in your sketchbook.
Draw whatever you want to draw. The key is returning every day to keep those
creative wheels spinning!!! Here’s a flip-thru of Field Notes #1 where I just drew every
day for fun.

Draw as much as you wish, turning the page whenever it’s finished. If you don’t feel
satisfied or happy with the end result — as long as you love the process of drawing —
keep going! And it doesn’t need to be literally a page per day, because some things
take longer than others. Sometimes it takes me several days to fill two pages, other
days it’s something quick. Keep at it and do a bit each day. Try adding details and
changing things around, playing with new ideas that pop into your mind. Practice
developing different types of lines and patterns.

Flip-Thru: Field Notes 1

Watch later Share

Watch on

2. draw ordinary things

Look around your room and focus on one ordinary everyday item. After you sketch it,
you can jot notes about what you drew, the weather, your mood, using the
sketchbook page like a mini-diary. If you’re in the mood, you can add a little bit of
color with markers or watercolor.

3. draw circles
Circles are tricky. So here’s what you can do. Try working fast, drawing circles without
judging your results. You can do this with any drawing tool and each will work a bit
differently. You’ll find that this helps your dexterity and improves your precision
(while being meditative and calming too). Try not to evaluate everything you draw,
just draw. Get into the process. Throw some circles into almost any page, as part of a
pattern or to add playful bouncy energy. Keep experimenting and practicing! You can
draw overlapping circles. Or draw loose concentric circles by putting circles inside
and around other circles.

4. fill a grid with patterns, marks & symbols

In Drawing in Field Notes (video), I fill in this grid with marks, patterns, doodles,
whatever floats into my mind. Here’s a Mindmap of 24 Sources for Doodle, Design,
Pattern & Drawing Inspiration.

5. write words & lyrics on your sketchbook pages

Printing is a form of drawing — letters are shapes, after all! On these pages, I drew
block letters and added a little shading on one side to give them a little depth. You
can pull up lyrics, a phrase, a question, or a quotation on your phone as a reference
as you draw. Try filling a particular space with the words. It takes practice to string
series of words together first in a defined space, then in rows, and then a full page.
As you draw, you can toy with expanding or contracting the spacing between letters,
within letters, between words, etc.

6. fill an entire journal with letters of the

alphabet
One of my practices involves creating an entire journal filled with variations, just
brainstorming possibilities. I also dedicate full pages in my moleskine sketchbook to
quickly devising variations on one specific letter. The more letters you draw, the
faster the ideas will surface! Try writing the alphabet as many ways as you can. Here’s
more about my alphabet journal and a video where I brainstormed a page of letters
with a bunch of different pens.

7. draw faces
Portrait drawing isn’t something I do often - mine are wonky but better than when I
started! If I only drew faces, things would progress even faster. Draw faces on index
cards or draw a grid of boxes in your journal and fill each box with a tiny face.
Experiment with hair styles and expressions. How many little faces can you fit on a
page in your journal? Try not to evaluate the goodness or badness or anythingness of
your faces. I find faces really difficult to draw, but at the same time intriguing to see
the results. Details: 112 hours elapsed time, 100 faces, one ink

8. draw repeating patterns

Think of a little icon, pattern, motif, symbol, shape, or mark. Repeat it across the
page. Try to think of as many different shapes as you can. Here are pages of patterns
with various pens in a Field Notes. Look around the house and in the garden for
interesting ideas. Fabric, wallpaper, sea shells, tree branches, seed pods, whatever
strikes you as interesting. Then simplify to the essence (the idea) of what you see.

9. paint repeating patterns

At first it seems counter-intuitive — but painting with a brush can improve your
drawing skills!! I went through a period of many months where I was painting more
than drawing, and when I went back to drawing, I was SO surprised that my drawing
skills had not changed/declined at all, And I think it’s about using the fine motor
skills with both drawing tools and brushes. These shapes were painted in gouache
and a small brush.
 10. draw a shape that you find challenging
What kinds of shapes do you find most challenging or frustrating? That would be a
perfect theme for a sketchbook page. Study the components that go into the shape.
To get more familiar with how to draw vehicles, I drew the taxis swooshing into the
taxi stand as I waited for my brother to arrive at the airport. When you start, things
are always wonky, they aren’t going to be picture-perfect. I look back at these taxis
and I love this little collection.

11. draw knots

Knots are a great mental and creative challenge to draw. Invent a knot, or tie a rope
in a knot, and draw it.

12. draw everyday adventures

Take your journal with you in your backpack and when you are waiting, draw what
you see. What you draw will be a quick rendering, try to capture the essence or idea
of the scene rather than the precise scene. And it’s OK if it’s utterly inaccurate — it
still helps you with translating what you see into lines in your journal (plus
documentation is fun).

13. draw mandalas

Start in the middle with a circle or star and build outward, drawing freehand without
a ruler. The lines do not need to be absolutely symmetrical, try for sort-of-
symmetrical. Index cards are great for drawing small designs and practicing hand-
lettering.

14. experiment with different drawing tools

Use art materials such as charcoal, pastels & Neocolors. When you change your
drawing tools you’ll change your experience and naturally explore different kinds of
marks. Experiment by moving your entire arm to make fluid gestural marks. When
you go back to a pencil or pen you'll have new ideas and perspectives. Drew this
mandala in an altered children’s book on a surface of black gesso using Caran D'Ache
Neocolor Wax Crayons.

15. draw organic shapes

This example is from WAY back in 2012 — I walked around the garden drawing rough
sketches to try to capture the “idea” or essence of the shapes. I knew that I couldn’t
draw the exact shapes, so I relaxed and just played. Please don’t get discouraged — it
takes a long time to start seeing progress — keep going!

Comments (13) Newest First

Judith Cozon 7 years ago

Great steps to work on - thank you!

quinncreative 9 years ago

This is SUCH an encouragement. Love the variety and the idea that
drawing is just drawing. You don't have to frame it, sell it, or display it.
Just draw it.

Daisy Yellow 9 years ago

Quinn, Absolutely. Drawing for the sake of drawing, for the

experience alone. Yippee! Thank you for your kind words!

Pollyanna McKay 9 years ago

This is so great! I am going to start on it today.

Thank You

Daisy Yellow 9 years ago

Great news, Pollyanna!

Maria Levine 9 years ago

Great post love it. I have always loved to draw mostly by "copying"
comics and cartoon characters. I will definitely bookmark this post to
refer to. Thanks!!

Daisy Yellow 9 years ago

Maria, Glad to be of help!

Kathie Lostan 9 years ago

Lovely

Daisy Yellow 9 years ago

Thanks Kathie.

Christine 9 years ago

Thank you. I have this need to draw but was told I am no good while
at school. 50years later.....I have decided to draw for myself! Thank you
for these encouraging tips. I think this is the best and most
explainable lesson I have ever had.
xx

Daisy Yellow 9 years ago

Christine, Now you can approach the page in any way you wish,
because it's your page. Please stop back and let me know what
happens!

Marilyn 9 years ago

Excellent Tammy, thank you :)

Daisy Yellow 9 years ago

You are welcome, Marilyn!

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