Pencil sketches are the first step to mastering the fine arts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Any creative work begins with mastering the basics of the art form of interest. So, to play a musical instrument, you need to learn the notes and play a lot of etudes. Before you start dancing well, it is advisable to prepare your body with physical exercises. Fine art is based on acquiring the ability to transfer the world around on a plane. It can be paper, canvas, woodwork, metal, etc. The first step in mastering drawing can be pencil sketches on paper.

Preparation for work

The very concept of a sketch implies an image of something without drawing all the details. At the same time, the drawing itself should convey the essence, carry information. Emphasis of some details is allowed.

Before you start drawing with a pencil, you need to pick it up according to the level of hardness. There are three main types:

• Solid (TV, HB) - used for light, barely noticeablelines.
• Medium soft (TM) - they emphasize more prominent and clear elements.
• Soft pencils (M, B, 2B, 4B) - good for retouching (highlighting the darkest places and pronounced details).

The second thing to consider when working on sketches and sketches is paper. A very smooth, almost glossy structure will make it difficult to apply pencil lead particles, and a very rough one, on the contrary, will make the work look like embossing. If it’s still hard to determine “by eye”, then you can try to make a few strokes somewhere on the edge, choosing the best paper option for yourself.

Pencil sketches shouldn't take long. On average it is 5-7 minutes. It is better to start with simple elements. It can be a tree branch, a simple flower, a piece of furniture. The goal is to convey the recognition and meaning of the object being drawn in a few strokes. Don't worry if it doesn't work right away. Before the work is brought to automatism, enough time will pass, but it's worth it. And if talent is added to diligence, then the result can exceed all expectations.

Basic requirements for sketching

Start pencil sketches in the following order:

1. Select the angle, determine the location on the sheet, mark the size.
2. Having decided on all the parameters, it is necessary to outline the depicted object with a few strokes.
3. Use hatching to emphasize darker places (it can be a shadow orrecess).
4. If the object is in motion, try to indicate the direction.
5. To add realism, you can draw a separate detail, for example, eyes, a flower petal, the most prominent part of the subject.
6. Strokes are applied with a quick and precise movement. It is not allowed to trace, but it is possible to impose new lines on top of those already drawn.

When making sketches with a pencil, at first you can use an eraser, in the future it must be excluded (a characteristic feature of sketches and sketches is the lack of the possibility of erasing).

No need to be afraid of inaccuracies in proportions, drawing extra lines - everything comes with experience. With each subsequent work, the errors will decrease, the lines will become clearer. This is called "filling the hand." But even the first works done by an unsteady hand can come in handy.

Sketches as the basis for future paintings

The pencil sketches made at different times and places, despite their primitiveness and seeming incompleteness, can serve to create a complete picture. For example, from the sketches made of various colors, a good still life can be obtained. When looking at the sketches of flying birds, tree branches, memory will restore the missing elements of the surrounding nature, which will allow you to create a landscape.

Each sketch carries a piece of life, a small moment transferred to a piece of paper. Completed in a short period of time, it can become in the futurecanvas memory for years to come.

Positive aspects of work

If you often sketch drawings with a pencil, you develop your own technique, accuracy of movements, confidence in the result. With each subsequent sketch, the ability to see the main thing, not paying attention to minor details, improves. The horizons expand, observation is developed, visual memory develops.

Pencil sketches can be done by people of all ages, regardless of the type of activity and place of residence, income level and position in society. To do this, you only need the desire and desire to achieve a result, and everyone can find a pencil and a piece of paper.