by Natalya Andrex
All you need is a pencil and paper.
These five techniques are for fun and improving general art skills through rewarding practice!
One line drawing
Practice drawing without lifting your pencil from your paper.
Drawn here: Coffee cups
2. Draw without looking at what you’re drawing
Like it says! Draw while looking at something. Don’t look at your paper. Only look down when you’re done.
Drawn here: scissors, jar, fork and spoon
3. Draw with your non dominant hand
Draw with your non dominant hand. It might be frustrating because it’s awkward, but have fun making something silly!
Drawn here: mug, scissors, fork
4. Blind one line drawings
A combination of doing a one line drawing and not looking while you’re doing it. Very fun to do. Don’t worry about how it turns out, I enjoy doing this the most when I’m drawing something from life!
Drawn here: bowl with spoon, phone, scissors
5. Drawing the same thing from 10 angles
You might think this sounds boring, but it’s surprisingly informative by the time you're done. Take drawing a fork from ten angles, at first you’ll think it’s easy but by the time you get to drawing number four or five, you’ll be surprised!
Drawn here: fork
Here’s a list of common household items that could be used for these exercises:
Silverware
Glasses
Phone
Remote Control
Toothbrush
Scissors
Shoes
Cups
Flashlight
Vacuum cleaner
In all of these exercises, don’t worry about making a perfect finished project. These drawings are to help improve control and technique. If you end up with something funny and squiggly looking, don’t worry, because that’s the idea. I hope you enjoy finding different things around your home to draw, and have fun.
If you want to combine these five exercises in more ways than listed here, please do. If you know other techniques you think would be fun to combine with them, all the better!
Natalya Andrex is a Library Assistant at the Red Bank Public Library and an artist.