Do you want to learn how to draw? Some people think they’re not “good enough” to make art, they don’t have time, or they don’t have enough money.

Art is, in fact, for everyone! The best place to start if you’re thinking about making art in any niche, is drawing. You don’t need much, and it’s a great gateway to other art forms. There was a famous French artist Ingres who said “learn to draw very well first for many years BEFORE you pick up a paint brush and then start painting.”  Sound advice.

Pick the Right Tool

The best place to start is to learn about pencil sketching. You can jump right in to simple pencil sketches with an old fashioned yellow pencil. The awesome thing about using pencils to learn how to draw is that 1) you can erase your mistakes, 2) you can create a variety of shades with one little pencil, and 3) they’re inexpensive and easy to carry around with you. So, to get started, grab a pencil, a piece of paper, and your imagination!
 

Start Simple

When you learn how to draw, many times you daydream about all the totally awesome things you’re going to create like robots, horses, seven-story tree houses, fairies and so on. While daydreaming is okay, don’t start out trying to draw these things which can be difficult like drawing the human figure –which is one of the most difficult subjects to draw, even for some professionals. If you do not get the basics so you know them without thinking, you’re going to get frustrated that you can’t quite do it and then throw your pencil away.

Instead, start simple.

A great first object to draw is an egg. Yes, an egg. It’s one color – white, ok sometimes brown – which means it’s easy to draw with a pencil, it’s an oval, which means you’ll get to learn about how lighting and shading creates shape in a drawing and gives the egg “volume” so you view it in 3D. Once you’ve mastered your egg, then you move on to more complicated things.

Practice, Practice, and yeah, more Practice!

If you want to learn how to draw, the most important thing you have to do is actually draw! If you don’t keep working at it, you’ll never get any better. So, do you have your paper, pencil, and egg? Find a comfortable spot with good lighting – preferably a lamp that’s pointed at your egg from an angle to create a lot of shadows around the egg – and sit so that you can look at both your paper and your egg without having to move your head.

Hold your pencil loosely. Now try to draw what you see not what you THINK is there! Give attention to how the light wraps around the egg, the shape of the egg, and where the egg connects with the surface it’s on. Look for the “bounced” light reflected off the surface. Once you’ve done it once, do it again.

Keep practicing! Now you’re officially Drawing.