Drawing is a skill that many people wish they could improve, but like any other skill, it requires time, practice, and a few key principles to master. Whether you’re a beginner or someone who’s been drawing for a while but wants to level up your skills, understanding what you need to focus on can make all the difference.
In this article, we’ll go over six essential tips that will help you become a better artist, no matter your current skill level. These tips will guide you through the process of refining your drawing technique and building a solid foundation.
1. Practice Regularly – Consistency is Key
One of the most important things you need to get better at drawing is consistent practice. You may have heard this a million times, but it’s true: the more you draw, the better you’ll get.
✅ Why it’s important: Drawing is a skill that gets sharper the more you use it. Just like any other muscle in your body, your hand-eye coordination, creativity, and ability to observe improve with consistent effort.
✅ What to do:
- Set aside time every day or a few times a week for drawing, even if it’s only for 15-30 minutes.
- Draw from life or reference images to practice different subjects, like faces, hands, or animals.
- Keep a sketchbook to draw casually and experiment without the pressure of creating a perfect piece.
💡 Pro Tip: Challenge yourself with small, daily drawing tasks like doodling, sketching objects around your home, or even copying your favorite artist’s work to learn different techniques.
2. Master the Basics of Drawing
No matter how advanced you get, mastering the basics of drawing will always be essential. This includes understanding form, proportions, perspective, and shading. These foundational skills will enhance every drawing you create.
✅ Why it’s important: Drawing is about understanding how to represent the world in a two-dimensional form. If you don’t understand the basic principles, your drawings will look flat or unrealistic.
✅ What to do:
- Learn basic shapes and forms – Everything you draw can be broken down into simple shapes like circles, squares, and cylinders. Start with these basic forms and build complexity from there.
- Understand proportions – Whether you’re drawing people, animals, or objects, it’s crucial to know how to measure and compare proportions. Learn the rules of human anatomy, or use grids to help with size and spacing.
- Study perspective – Learn the fundamentals of one-point, two-point, and three-point perspective to create depth and dimension in your drawings.
💡 Pro Tip: Use a reference grid or construction lines to break your drawings into manageable steps when learning new subjects or creating complex compositions.
3. Focus on Observation – Draw What You See, Not What You Think You See
One of the key skills to becoming a better artist is developing your observation skills. Drawing what you see, rather than relying on your imagination or memory, will help you understand the world around you more accurately and improve your drawing technique.
✅ Why it’s important: Our brains often fill in gaps based on assumptions, so it’s important to train yourself to focus on detail, shape, and proportion as they appear in real life. This is crucial for capturing realistic or believable drawings.
✅ What to do:
- Practice drawing from life rather than photos or online images, as it helps you pay closer attention to details and understand how light affects the subject.
- Take your time when observing objects, focusing on every angle, shadow, and texture.
- When practicing anatomy or objects, study them from different perspectives to improve your accuracy.
💡 Pro Tip: Spend 5-10 minutes doing gesture drawing to capture the basic shapes and flow of a subject before diving into the finer details.
4. Experiment with Different Mediums and Techniques
To get better at drawing, it’s important to experiment with various mediums (pencil, charcoal, ink, digital) and techniques (cross-hatching, stippling, blending). Each medium has its own characteristics and will help you understand how to create different effects and textures.
✅ Why it’s important: Trying out different materials and approaches will teach you new ways to express your creativity and develop your style. It will also make you more versatile as an artist.
✅ What to do:
- Use a variety of pencils (H for lighter, harder lines; B for darker, softer lines) to create different textures.
- Experiment with charcoal for bolder, more expressive drawings or ink for sharp contrasts and details.
- If you’re into digital art, experiment with different brush settings and effects in your art software.
💡 Pro Tip: Keep a separate sketchbook for experimenting with different techniques. Don’t worry about making perfect art; use this space to discover new ways of drawing.
5. Study Other Artists and Learn from Them
To improve your drawing skills, it’s important to study the works of other artists—both historical and contemporary. By doing so, you’ll learn different styles, techniques, and approaches to drawing.
✅ Why it’s important: Other artists can serve as inspiration and teachers, offering insight into how they achieve certain effects or tackle complex subjects.
✅ What to do:
- Analyze artwork by famous artists and contemporary illustrators to see how they approach line work, shading, and composition.
- Copy their work (while respecting copyright laws) to understand how they create texture, light, and form.
- Take classes or watch tutorials to learn specific techniques, such as perspective, color theory, or character design.
💡 Pro Tip: Create a visual library of your favorite artist’s work, and refer to it when you need inspiration or guidance.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
No one becomes a great artist without making mistakes. The key to improvement is learning from them and embracing the process. Mistakes are an essential part of growing as an artist, and you should never let the fear of making them hold you back.
✅ Why it’s important: Making mistakes helps you understand what doesn’t work and pushes you to find solutions, improving your problem-solving skills as an artist.
✅ What to do:
- Treat your sketches as a learning opportunity rather than focusing on creating perfect art.
- Use an eraser or undo button liberally while experimenting. The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become in your choices.
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes—every artist has made them, and they’re an important part of the journey.
💡 Pro Tip: Keep a sketchbook dedicated to mistakes—fill it with quick sketches and ideas that didn’t quite work out. You’ll see how much progress you’ve made over time.
Final Thoughts
Improving your drawing skills takes time, patience, and dedication. By focusing on consistent practice, mastering the basics, and embracing your mistakes, you’ll see your drawing abilities grow exponentially.
Remember, every artist starts somewhere, and even the most accomplished professionals were once beginners. So grab your sketchbook, experiment with new techniques, and keep practicing—you’re on the right path to becoming a better artist every day!
