Easy pencil drawings.

This will explain about how to do easy pencil drawings.

Easy pencil drawings are achievable, if you break it down, into the two main components, of making a good pencil drawing, these are the construction or outline and the shading.

Most people find shading easier and more relaxing, than constructional or outline drawing but the problem is, you can’t do the shading unless, you have done the outline first. This makes drawing difficult, for most people and so they never get to enjoy, doing the shading because they give up, before they have completed the outline, and it’s a pity.

Easy pencil drawings, can be achieved, it dose not have to be difficult because you can trace outlines and get them right every time.

People will say, that tracings are no good, as drawings because they are uninteresting, if they are just tracings and boring. I will agree with this but if you are, then going to complete the drawing, by doing the shading, then this is different, very different. For a start, by learning how to do easy pencil drawings, you will enjoy, your drawing more. You will find it easier, you will find it more relaxing, you will create better drawings, you will not take as long, in doing it, plus you will still learn about construction and proportional representation, the easy way.

If you learn to draw, by doing easy pencil drawings, in this way, you will also improve, in all those more difficult areas, of construction drawing, that hamper everyone’s progress, when they try to draw freehand, by sight drawing, which is drawing, by just looking. Sight drawing is the most difficult way to draw, of all drawing techniques, so it is little wonder, most people say they can’t draw because everybody try’s to draw, by sight drawing, when they start out, it’s not a good idea really. The fact is that nobody draws, by just looking, even when sight drawing. Sight drawing is just, a more difficult way of tracing, all drawing is done by measuring, comparing and struggling to get it right, making mistakes, and trying to hide them or erasing them, making your drawings and pictures messy. Learn to draw by doing easy pencil drawings and you will find that, the results turn out to be much better and a lot less messy.

Let me tell you a fact, I used to spend hours, constructing outline drawings, of portraits for people and make a right mess, most of the time. Then I used to trace that drawing, to get the outline, onto a clean drawing area, to do my final drawing, I had no choice because people want copies of photographs, not drawings, that look like drawing, nowadays. Today people want, photo realistic drawings, they want them to look like photographs, not drawings and they do not want, to sit for you, either.

So I stopped doing it the hard way and started doing easy pencil drawings. I traced the outlines from photographs to save myself at least half of the work. I was told it was not good to do this but that was what I was doing anyway but taking twice as long. I was told, my other drawing skills, would diminish and I would become less able to draw, without tracing but do you know what, it is not true because it is more enjoyable, it is so much better but I still become aware, of important learning.

Below you will find a video, of me drawing Kurt Cobain, who was once the lead singer and guitarist, with the Grunge Rock band, Nirvana. Please notice that I am not tracing and it is here, just to prove, that tracing does not take away, from your ability to draw. Perhaps I am unique and it only works for me but I don’t think so, I am just like anybody else, who likes drawing, who got good at it, through finding ways to do so. I am sure you will also by doing easy pencil drawings.

The truth is this, I got better, much better because I enjoyed it, so much more, doing easy pencil drawings but I still became aware, of the important learning, as well.

A picture of a car, a frog and a girl.
Louie, found on the Stumble Upon, website and lightly traced from my monitor screen.

Do you know what, you need to do easy pencil drawings first, then as you get better, you can develop, the other ways, that improve your sight drawing, when you understand it better.

easy pencil drawings a progresive drawing of a frog.
Easy pencil drawings, progressive drawings of a frog, tracing taken, from an image found online, to show you, how to draw easy.

7 thoughts on “Easy pencil drawings.”

  1. Hey.

    I have always been taught that tracing is like cheating because you didn’t really draw it on your own. Am I wrong?

    1. Hi Shelby,

      I know that people regard tracing as cheating but I also think that it is great way to get you started and I see many people using drawing grids which is just another way of tracing, when I went to university to do design I was completely shocked to see photo copy machines on every corridor. These machines where being used constantly for making copies for tracing so it is encouraged within state sponsored, higher and further education. I could talk for a long time on this subject but when you trace something unless the picture you are tracing in the first place is wrong then you can’t go wrong. If you get things right in the beginning then because of the way the brain working you continue to get them right but if you get them wrong you will also continue to get them wrong until you unlearn the wrong ways to replace them with the right ways which is much, much more difficult than getting it right in the first place. Drawing pictures is no different so by tracing and putting the correct information in your brain in the first place you are putting yourself on a good foundation for developing your skills. When doing design you can be doing the same drawing over and over to refine it, this would take you years if you couldn’t trace.

      Drawing is not just about drawing lines and tracing only enables you to draw lines so even when you trace a picture there is still a lot more work that needs doing before you end up with a good drawing.

      Hope this helps, thanks, Gareth.

  2. When I was in elementary school I traced a lot because my teacher told me it would enhance my artwork. I didn’t like tracing but it did show me how to shade. I could never understand shading very well because my mind is blocking the way I see it. By tracing I began to understand shading a lot better. When I started to draw things from my head I was better at proportioning and shading, all because I had a guide in the beginning which was done by tracing.

    1. Hi Shayla,

      Your comment is just as I thought, you see I learned to draw the difficult way, not through choice really but because I was told that tracing is cheating but I still became good at what I was doing it just took me 20 years to realise, when I went to university. Then I started cheating because it was encouraged if only to speed up the design process but I realised that I had been cheated, I realised great potential in tracing, I realised great value in tracing, I realised what you have stated and I realised what a brilliant way to improve your visual memory.

      I went to shaylafish.blogspot.com and I liked it, I hope more people go there, in fact I encourage them.

      Thanks, Shayla from Gareth.

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