A decent set of starter pencils, available at any art store, might include a 4H, 3H, 2H, H, HB , B, 2B 3B and 4B. [2] X Research source Play around with your new pencils to test how each one feels. Note the differences in the lines and try to incorporate different pencils into different drawings.

Make 3-4 timelines and practice transitions. How can you use each pen to shade the line from completely black to completely white?

Check your local art store, parks department, or community college for local drawing classes.

Practice recreating classic drawings to learn from the masters – da Vinci was the king of human anatomy, and his drawings have a lot to teach you. Never trace – you don’t actually practice drawing, just making lines.

If you are drawing people, invest in an illustrated book of human anatomy, or sign-up for drawing classes with a live model. If you are drawing animals, spend a day with your sketchbook at the zoo or purchase an illustrated textbook on animal anatomy. If you are drawing landscapes or city scenes, you should invest in a book about perspective to help you accurately create depth in your drawings.

If you cannot get a model, use a skeleton from your school’s biology department to learn proportions. They also make anatomically correct models of hands, heads, and the skeletal system as well, though they are often more expensive. Wooden dolls are a very useful tool for drawing, they are a great and cheap way of learning how to draw the body.

In general, contour lines are the first thing you do in a drawing.

You can also use your guidelines to help. What “box” of your guidelines does the subject fit into? Do they take up the whole page, or a third of it?

Make sure you make these marks lightly, so that you can easily erase them later. Make a small circle or dot for each joint to help you “move” arms and legs into accurate poses.

Once you’re happy with your new lines, erase away your light contour marks from underneath the new drawing. Work slowly, making each line carefully and erasing when you are unhappy. You need your contour to be accurate in order for the final drawing to improve.

Shading can imply lines as well. Think about the two small ridges between your nose and upper lip. While you could draw lines for them, that would make them unrealistically pronounced. Try shading them in instead, darkening the areas around them lightly to make them “appear” in the middle of the dark patches.

Direct light, like spotlights and clear, sunny days, creates dramatic shadows with hard edges. Indirect light, light far away lights, multiple lights, or cloudy days, create softer, muted shadows with faded edges.

Map out the highlights: where is the light the strongest? Is there any glare? Sketch out the shading: where does the shadow on each object start and stop? Contour any hard shadows. Are there any dark shapes created by the light, like a person’s shadow in the sun?

As you get more advanced, add in clear objects, complex shapes, or a second light to practice more difficult shading techniques. Shade in an old children’s coloring book, which are usually simple contour lines, for advanced practice.

Hatching: Single, straight lines create shadows. More lines make darker shadows. [11] X Expert Source Kelly MedfordProfessional Artist Expert Interview. 2 July 2019. Cross-hatching: Crisscrossing diagonal lines make up your shadows. The farther apart the lines are, the lighter the shadow is. This works well when shading something with lines, like hair or fur. [12] X Research source Stippling: A collection of small, black dots make your shadows. Adding dots makes it look darker, to the point where you may not be able to tell that there are dots on the darker edges. Circular Shading: Making small, overlapping circles around with your pencil, you trace out your shadow. The longer you spend in one area overlapping circles, the darker it will become. This is often the best way to shade with colored pencils. [13] X Research source