Start Sketching & Drawing Now

The bookazine you hold in your hands is designed to help get you creating art. Not tomorrow, or next week, but right now. This volume by Grant Fuller is dedicated to sketching and drawing and will teach you an array of different styles and techniques. If you’re new to all this, then it will have you making art in minutes. And if you’re already an artist, then you’ll hopefully pick up a few fresh ideas. Whatever your skill level, we hope you enjoy the book. Now go and grab your pencils and paper and get down to business! About the Author Grant Fuller was born in Winnipeg, Canada. During his early career as a commercial artist and an art director in broadcast production he worked throughout the United States, Canada…

Although I have had an affinity for drawing since the age of four, I did not become accomplished until much later in life. I never saw another person draw well until I reached art school and even then, it was limited to brief glances over someone’s shoulder. Drawing instruction in those days was more verbal than visual. After four years of art school, I was able to get work as a commercial artist. It was only then that I began to get the type of hands-on direction I needed to improve my drawing skills. Without proper instruction, natural talent will struggle and all too often fade, giving way to other pressures in life. But my opportunity to work closely with professional artists and receive personal demonstrations made all the difference…

Graphite Graphite is measured in degrees of hardness. The highest degree on the soft half of the scale is a 6B pencil – very soft; 5B is slightly harder, then 4B, 3B, 2B, B, all getting progressively harder until you reach the midpoint which is HB. On the hard side, the numbers progress from H up to 6H, which is the hardest in that series. Commonly called lead, graphite comes in various forms – wooden pencils, mechanical pencils and plain sticks. Graphite sticks are useful for applying tone to large areas or making wide lines. They come in several degrees of softness but not the full range. Mechanical pencils are available in different diameter leads – sizes .05, .07, .09 – and can be found in office supply stores. They…

How to Choose You will find an overwhelming number of strange new names for paper when you first venture into the local art supply store. Vellum – originally made from animal skins, now made from plasticized cotton or wood pulp mixtures; used largely for plans or diagrams. Bristol board – named after the city, this board has two workable sides. Illustration board – very heavy stock with one workable side. Cartridge paper – commonly sold in loose sheets for pencil drawing. Canson – a French-made, acid-free paper designed to hold pastel chalk, charcoal and more. As with many things, you get what you pay for. Don’t make the mistake of thinking, “I’ll wait till I’m good at this before I buy good materials.” Sketchbooks Price is a fair guideline for…

If you are new to drawing you will likely be concerned with proportion – getting shapes the right size, in the right place, and at the right angles and relationship to each other. Try to forget all that for now and just explore what you can do with a pencil. See what marks a simple pencil will make. The point leaves a certain type of line, the side a different mark. Different pressures and speeds have very different results. This type of experimenting might seem pointless at first, but you should be as familiar with the pencils you use as musicians are with their instruments. Doodling creates a connection with your eye, brain and hand that will be vital to your creation of successful drawings. This chapter will focus on…

The line is the main ingredient in a drawing. Start with good quality ingredients. Choose a simple household object to draw, like a coffee mug. Try to do the entire drawing without smudging. That means no blurring with the fingers to create light tones. Practice getting the different values (light and dark) just by changing pressure on the pencil. Don’t worry about erasing at this stage. It’s OK to show several attempts to find the right place for a line. Go lightly at first, then apply more pressure as you learn where the contours are. The lines should look as if the pencil was searching for the right place and then responded with enthusiasm when it was found. Too Sketchy A common mistake when learning to draw. The lines reveal…