Learn To Draw: A Complete Course For Beginners To Improvers

Name: Learn To Draw: A Complete Course For Beginners To Improvers
Rating: 4.6 (252 reviews)

Learn the skills needed to be able to see the way an artist sees, including sketching, proportion, tone and much more.

Created byEmily Armstrong

Last updated 2/2024

English

What you'll learn

How to see the way an artist sees
Practical skills for sketching and shading realistically
How to measure proportions and angles and translate these into your drawing
How to look at a subject as a combination of lines/shapes/tones
How to build a drawing from start to finish
Sketching, shading, gesture drawing, contour drawing and more

Course content

6 sections • 51 lectures • 3h 34m total length

Introduction1:56
Welcome to Learn To Draw! I've been teaching this course in person for a few years now with lots of successful results. Through my teaching experience I've been able to develop and refine a series of exercises to teach anyone to learn how to draw. In this course I've taken what works best and put it together in a five part course to take you from beginner to improver! Even if you've been drawing for a while you'll find useful skills and practice exercises to take your drawing to the next level. Feel free to share your work with me along the way - Im always happy to give feedback.
Materials3:39
Understanding Pencil Grades1:37
Learn what the different pencil grades mean and what to use different pencils for.

Testing Your Pencils3:58
Test out the different pencils you have to see what each one can do.
Understanding Sketching1:43
Understand what is meant by the term 'sketching'.
Pencil Grip: 3 Ways To Hold Your Pencil1:46
Learn three different ways of holding your pencil and the benefit of each type of grip.
Sketching Basic Shapes1:26
Practice sketching basic shapes using light lines.
Exercise: Sketching 3D Shapes1:23
Practice sketching simple 3D shapes.
Exercise: Shading Tonal Values6:25
Understanding Shading and Tone1:48
Understand what tonal values are and the importance of highlight, mid-tone and shadow.
Exercise: Shading 3D Shapes7:49
Apply the tonal values you have learnt how to shade to the shapes you have sketched to give them a sense of weight and 3D form.
Exercise: Shading A Sphere5:30
Learn different shading technique suitable for a round object.
How To Use A Blending Stump0:37
Optional video on how to use a blending stump (sparingly) if you have one.
Project: Shading A 3D Vessel11:27
Find a simple cup or small bowl to draw and set it up next to a light source (or download the photo resource to draw the vessel used in the video). Draw along with the video following the steps to gradually build up tone to create the illusion of 3D form. Feel free to share a photo of your drawing for feedback!
Shading Summary1:11

Introduction to Part 2: Finding Edges2:13
Understanding Gesture0:39
Exercise: Gesture Drawing5:22
Set up a few different objects (or download the resource to draw the objects used in the video).
1 x gesture drawing with permanent marker
1 x 2 minute gesture drawing
1 x 1minute gesture drawing
Keep practicing your gesture drawing during the week.
Understanding Contour1:05
Exercise: Contour Prep1:57
Download the exercise sheet to get a feel for contour drawing before practicing with found nature objects in the next exercise.
Exercise: Blind Contour Exercise7:20
Have a go at drawing 'blind' using the contour drawing method and not looking at your page as you draw slowly with a single line - this is an exercise in looking and seeing!
Exercise: Modified Contour5:11
Try contour drawing now while looking at your subject and your drawing - try to switch into a different mode of seeing like an artist sees.
Contour Drawing Summary0:57
Understanding Negative Space0:51
Exercise: Negative Space4:45
Download the resource photo sheet to practice drawing negative spaces along with the video.
Understanding Upside Down Drawing0:43
Exercise: Upside Down Drawing4:38
Download the exercise sheet and take your time to copy the upside down drawing, using contour drawing and negative space drawing techniques. The more you practice the better you will get so be patient with this one, take a break when you need to and come back to this exercise to get plenty of 'looking' practice as you complete it.

You can try this with any other image you have by turning it upside down.

Introduction To Part 4: Tone & Shading1:04
About Using Chalk & Charcoal1:29
Experimentation: Charcoal4:34
Exercise: Shadow Shapes4:05
Download the Tone & Shading photos resource for this exercise and then complete the charcoal fruit project that follows.
Project: Charcoal Fruit8:47
Experimentation: Chalk & Charcoal2:28
Project: Tonal Drawing8:15
Use charcoal and chalk to practice looking only at tone and comparing tonal values. If you don't have gray/brown paper or charcoal and chalk, use this project to keep practicing your pencil shading skills.

Introduction To Final Drawing Project2:17
The final project! Now is the time to bring all the skills you've learnt together to draw a realistic eye. Download the photo and follow the steps with me and also work on your drawing in your own time between videos. Feel free to share your final work or work in progress for feedback. Good luck!
Final Project: Proportion & Sketching6:51
Final Project: Negative Space3:53
Final Project: Contour Drawing4:30
Final Project: Shading13:27
Final Project: Working On Pupil & Iris4:14
Final Project: Eyelashes9:14
Final Project: Eyelids9:18
Final Project: Timelapse4:30
Final Project: Last Steps2:53
Bonus Lecture1:07

Requirements

An interest in the fundamentals of drawing

Description

Have you always wanted to learn how to draw? Are you struggling to get better at drawing? Often artists appear to have a magical ability to see something – really see it – and draw what they see near perfectly. In this specialist drawing class we'll delve into those seemingly magical skills and learn how to really look at a subject and draw it.

I've been teaching Learn To Draw classes for a few years now with lots of successful results. Through my teaching experience I've been able to develop and refine a series of classes to teach anyone to learn how to draw. In this course I've taken what works best and put it together in a five part course to take you from beginner to improver! Even if you've been drawing for a while you'll find useful skills and practice exercises to take your drawing to the next level.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The aim of this course is to enable the student to change the way they see - to look at what they are drawing as a series of lines, shapes and tones and to be able to successfully translate this onto paper. Each part of the course below covers a key aspect of learning to draw and includes explanations, exercises and a practice project.

Part 1: Sketching and Shading Basics

Part 2: Looking at Edges

Part 3: Proportion

Part 4: Tone & Shading

Part 5: Final Drawing Project: The Eye

To succeed at drawing requires practice, practice, practice! - It's very similar to learning a musical instrument - you can understand all the theory in the world but to become competent at playing you need to put in the practice. To successfully improve your drawing will require a commitment to practicing and I suggest spreading this course out over 5-6 weeks with self-practice in between classes. I'm more than happy to give you feedback on your drawing or answer any questions you may have along the way!

Who this course is for:

Beginners interested in learning to draw realistically
Students who want to improve their drawing skills
People who want to gain a solid understanding of drawing concepts

Learn To Draw: A Complete Course For Beginners To Improvers

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Learn To Draw - Introduction & Materials3 lectures • 7min

PART 1: BACK TO BASICS12 lectures • 45min

PART 2: FINDING EDGES12 lectures • 36min

Part 3: In Proportion6 lectures • 34min

PART 4: Tone & Shading7 lectures • 31min

PART 5: FINAL DRAWING PROJECT11 lectures • 1hr 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: