Ever wanted to get into drawing but have no idea how to begin? You’re not alone. Lots of people would love to be great at drawing or painting but an empty page can seem quite daunting. When we look at the works of other artists we have a tendency to think we can’t be as great as them. The truth is however that you can’t get good at something if you don’t practice regularly. Sketching art daily can really improve your skills and also be a nice visual record of things that you liked enough to draw in the first place.
Sorie Kim, an illustrator and instructor from L.A. gives some insight on the process of daily sketching. Since she likes to draw animals, plants and creatures, her sketchbooks serve as a visual diary, which she explains can be used to document a collection of similar style drawings for later reference, or show the progression of your skills over time.
What Does This Course Cover?
In this course you will learn the fundamentals of sketching – how to draw basic shapes which together make up more complex drawings.
You’ll also learn about the different types of sketchbooks, paper, pens and paints that you might want to experiment with. The instructor does mention some brand names if you’re interested but of course it’s a matter of preference in what you want to use and you certainly don’t need to purchase anything special to follow this course.
You will learn how light falls on objects and how shadows appear in order to sketch scenes more accurately and also give a sense of depth to your drawn objects.
You will be shown some drawing exercises which you should practice often to help better your skills (or acquire some skills if like me, you started with none at all!)
In addition, the instructor shows us how she paints with water colours, and it was a joy to observe the process of layering paints on top of one another to build up what starts as a simple picture into elaborately detailed works of art.
Notes About the Instructor
While taking this course I found the instructor quite pleasant to listen to. She spoke clearly and everything could easily be understood. It’s obvious that she knows the subject of sketching very well and this is displayed throughout as you see her drawing and painting with ease.
To sum up, this course is a great introduction to the art of sketching every day. And it will give you some tips on good drawing practices as well as show you what sort of tools are available to make it easy for you to do so.
The lessons are more about the process than the final product. If you practice the tips and exercises she teaches, then you should be on your way to sketching better in future. This course won’t immediately make you an expect on drawing but gives you plenty to think about when sketching your chosen subjects. It is quite amazing to see what a few strokes of pen or paint on paper can become.
If you’d like to take the course it can be found here.