Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pen And Marker Drawings - 5 Basic Steps How To Draw With A Black Pen Or Marker


Beginners love to draw with pen and markers. When you start to learn how to draw and you see you are already comfortable using the pencil and eraser, it is time to go ahead and add pen and markers to your drawings. It is easy because you don't have the colors to worry about mixing them yet, you just have one color - black, and one material - pen or marker.


Drawing with pen and marker is a very broad subject and it is difficult to cover up everything in one article, I will mention the basic steps so you can immediately start with these drawing materials. Now you can add tones, shadows and texture to your drawing to make them look real. I recommend you experiment with different pen nibs, styles and methods to decide what you like best. Try out your favourite pens in your scrapbook before you start on your drawing.

The 5 basic steps how to draw with pen and marker. I will explain each step shortly later in this article.

Draw the picture you want.
Erase all extra lines and leave only the outlines.
Go over the pencil drawing with a black pen or marker.
Add texture to the drawing.
Add tones for lighter and darker areas.
Draw the picture you want-when you draw, make sure your lines are gentle and light, don't overdo and don't add pressure to the pencil while you draw. Keep it clear.

Erasing - clean up your drawing using a good clean eraser. If your eraser is dirty it may leave a grey color where you used the eraser so clean it before using. Erase all extra lines and leave only the outlines. I must mention that erasing the pencil marks after you added the pen or marker can ruin your drawing.

Go over your drawing with your pen - make your lines even and give it a nice flow. It is time to relax and have fun! - don't feel nervous about it. It's just a drawing. There is no absolute way to do it and you can always make another one.

Add texture to the drawing - according to the surface of the object you are drawing you are trying to describe the texture if it is smooth, bumpy, rough, like wood etc. Use a variety of strokes. Some of the common pen and marker drawing strokes are hitch-hatching, cross-hatching, dotting and scribbling too. You may study different strokes first in your scrapbook before you use it on your drawing.

Add tones and shading to your drawing - these are techniques to add lighter and darker values of the black to show the form of the object you drew. there are light, medium and dark tones. The shading shows where the source of light is coming from. If the light is coming from the top left so you need to add shading to the opposite sides - the bottom right.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Begin To Draw - 6 Basic Components And A Tool List


How to draw is a question asked often among kids, students, mothers, teachers and more. So drawing skills can be accomplished just like writing. It may seem difficult to draw if you never really tried but as you practice you get better and better till you achieve success.


There are 6 components to learn before you start drawing and each one of them is extremely important when you are in the real beginning. So don't go fast with these, take a few days and train your eyes and hands.

6 Components to consider before when you begin to draw:

Lines - start drawing lines. No, I am not joking... take a pencil and paper and start drawing simple curved lines, straight lines, vertical, horizontal diagonal, swirls and spirals. This is also what I do as a 'warm up' every time before I start drawing.
Shape - draw different shapes. Use lines and 'close them up' make free shapes with curved lines or straight lines. Draw the basic shapes too - squares, circles, triangles ovals, rectangles, cones and more.
Form - turn your shapes into forms. A ball out of a circle, a picture frame out of a square etc,
Shading - turn your forms into 3D - make them look real as you add the shading. Add shadung according to the source of light on the form - object. If the light is coming from the top left so those parts of the objects will remain light and all right bottom parts of the objects will get the shading on them.
Cast Shadow - that's the shadow that falls on another surface because lack of light, just like your own shadow on the sidewalk at night when the street light is behind you.
Perspective - that is a formal way to draw what you see. Perspective determines how objects seem to diminish into a distance when you add height, width and depth. Its actual drawing the depth of the object in a right way.
Composition - adds dynamic to a drawing when you draw more than one object. Lets say you draw an apple, and 2 pears. Don't draw them all in a line nor place them in equal places on your drawing sheet. Think of an interesting way to lay them out.
Now that you know these basic components, you must be ready to start. I decided to explain the basic tools you will need for pencil drawings.

A variety of pencils: H2, 6B and 4B. These are different degrees of leads, the softer the lead, the higher the number. Harder leads are for drawing and sketching and softer leads are to shade your drawing.
An eraser: there are different types of erasers: kneaded and vinyl, these just lift the lead from your paper, you can mold them into a point to erase a tiny space or mold them into other shapes to make interesting textures. You don't need to scrub with them - just dab. Gum and rubber erasers are made to erase larger areas.
Paper: there are different kinds of paper for pencil drawings. They vary by colors, thickness, surface and texture. Start with smooth paper like bristol paper then experiment with more quality paper.
Paper Stump: that's made to create different textures in your drawings and also helps to blend.
Now that you know about pencil drawings it's time to sharpen up your pencil and start drawing lines and shapes to train your hand and eyes finding the basic shape of each object. Look at a book - draw it out of a rectangle, draw an apple from a circle and so on.