I can't sketch without making a million lines.?

Question

Whenever I draw one of my pictures, my rough work looks so fogged because I go over lines repeatedly, even the anatomy guidelines.
If I move my pencil too slow the line gets wobbily, and too fast might make me lose control and mess up.

So in the end I make so many lines I lose the basic form of what I wanted in the first place.

Any techniques you've discovered that might help?

I pratice alot

Answer 1

You may be practicing a lot, but you are practicing incorrectly. Have goals in mind to change how you are drawing.

A cartoonist, as you notice, has fluid lines when they draw. Of course they use techniques in their final draft to hide the imperfections.

Use templates for curved and straight lines. There are even templates for circles, squares, parallelagrams, etc.

One of the best ways I have taught someone to draw a straight line is to place a dot where you want it to start and a second dot where you want it to end. Do not watch the line as you draw it, but instead keep your eyes on the dot it is going to. Practice this over and over, but while you are drawing a picture. If something doesn't work out you can erase.

Use ink pens to draw with. This brings out confidence in your art skills. Do the most difficult thing you can imagine to draw. Work at it with pens. Try different types of pens and learn techniques on your own. Soak some tissue with ink and see what it does when you tap it on paper, or drag it along for shading.

When I don't draw for some time, I find that I am at a loss on things I used to do. I pull out some of my work to remind me of how I went about some difficult habits.

Answer 2

Practice the heck out of your single line strokes. Make yourself sit down with a pile of scrap paper and make a LOT of quick sketches that you don't intend to use as a final drawing. Limit the time spent on EACH one to less than 30 seconds. Don't worry about the result. This is just practice. A world class athlete does not try to break records during training. He runs, jumps, throws, whatever to impove technique. That way when it's time for a meet, he is ready to go for his personal best.

YOU, as an artist needs to do the same thing.

By the time you get to the bottom of the pile of papers, you should find that your last images are better than the first. Don't expect anything like perfection after only one session. An artist practices for his entire lifetime.

Answer 3

The best solution for this is Blind Contour Drawing. This is where you chose a subject to draw and you don't look at the paper while you're drawing it and you don't lift your pencil. It forces you to be confident with your line placement.

At first when you draw, it won't look like what you're trying to draw but after a while you get better and your line quality improves and your confidence on where to place the pencil becomes greater.

You can then start to look at what you're drawing and draw a solid well formed line that does what you want it to. You have to practice though.

I recommend "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. She give some excellent exercises that help improve not only line quality but also learning to really see the details in what you're drawing and represent them in the drawing accuratly (Or stylized if that's you're style) It's a book anyone wanting to draw should read.

Answer 4

i do the same thing to this day, thats what sketching is, to me anyway. i will sketch an outline lightly then go back over it with a final dark line, it doesnt end up wobley because i use the light strokes as guidelines an i usually end up going through the middle of them, then just eraseing the extras

Answer 5

Use a light board that illuminates the page. It will clarify the movement of the line. Alternatively use several sheets of tracing paper until you create an image you are comfortable with. You could just integrate those lines into a personal style. Stranger things have happened.

Answer 6

I use a "clay" eraser to erase any guide-lines or unwanted lines after sketching out a picture, those erasers don't damage the paper & are sold at art & craft stores.

Answer 7

One of the best lessons I ever learned was from my first Life Drawing teacher. First, he tried to grab the pencil from me as I was drawing - he said if I was holding it too tightly, my drawing would look "sketchy" instead of fluid. He would sneak up behind us and snatch our pencils at random - and we soon learned to hold the pencil loosely and about 3 inches or more from its drawing tip.

Then he made us move back from the paper and "Draw from the shoulder" instead of the wrist. It was like a light went on over my head, and changed the way I drew - forever. I begin with a very light loose quick drawing to map out the proportions, then go over with a heavier line, correcting as I go. After that, it's important to know when to stop - go into tone & shading & leave the outlines be... the drawing will then fall into place on its own.

Like this:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/joyfulpaints/detail?.dir=4025re2&.dnm=ce35re2.jpg&.src=ph
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/joyfulpaints/detail?.dir=4025re2&.dnm=c423re2.jpg&.src=ph

Have fun!

Answer 8

This happens to me too. I make circles for the head and body and limbs, then I start to round out the general shape of the body. When it starts to look like the smoke coming of a bonfire, I run my eraser over the whole drawing , just lightly. It makes everything lighter and then I darken the important parts. Works for me.

Answer 9

Just as joyfulpaints mentioned above...
relax, hold your pencil with ease, let the motion come from your shoulder and elbow not from your fingers.

Be bald, drag your pencil across the paper without worry.

Answer 10

try one line drawings.... put the pencil down, and dont pick it up until your finished.. its a fun technique, and looks totally different than your friends ***** drawings..