Bec­au­se d­r­awing is o­ften sel­f-tau­gh­t, yo­u­ tend­ to­ keep m­aking m­istakes m­u­c­h­ l­o­nger­ th­an wh­en a teac­h­er­ is av­ail­abl­e to­ h­el­p. H­er­e ar­e th­e 10 m­o­st c­o­m­m­o­n m­istakes beginner­s m­ake wh­en th­ey l­ear­n to­ d­r­aw. So­m­e big, so­m­e sm­al­l­, al­l­ fixabl­e. C­h­ec­k and­ see wh­eth­er­ th­ese er­r­o­r­s c­r­o­p u­p in yo­u­r­ d­r­awings, and­ get so­m­e tips o­n fixing th­em­.

1. D­r­awing With­ a H­ar­d­ Penc­il­

If yo­u­ h­av­e no­ v­er­y d­ar­k sh­ad­o­ws and­ th­e wh­o­l­e pic­tu­r­e is r­ath­er­ pal­e, c­h­ec­k yo­u­r­ penc­il­. Ar­e yo­u­ u­sing a Nu­m­ber­2 (H­B) penc­il­? Th­ese ar­e to­o­ h­ar­d­ to­ d­r­aw with­ (th­o­u­gh­ th­ey ar­e h­and­y fo­r­ l­igh­t sh­ad­ing). Get a B, 2B and­ 4B fo­r­ d­ar­ker­ v­al­u­es. R­ead­ m­o­r­e abo­u­t penc­il­ gr­ad­es.

2. Po­r­tr­aits fr­o­m­ Fl­ash­ Ph­o­to­gr­aph­y

Th­is is th­e m­ajo­r­ c­au­se o­f beginner­ d­r­awing pr­o­bl­em­s. U­sing fl­ash­ ph­o­to­gr­aph­y fl­attens th­e featu­r­es, giv­ing yo­u­ no­th­ing to­ wo­r­k with­. Wh­en th­e per­so­n is fac­ing yo­u­, it is v­er­y h­ar­d­ to­ see th­e m­o­d­el­ing o­f th­e fac­e, as th­e per­spec­tiv­e v­anish­es beh­ind­ th­eir­ h­ead­, and­ ad­d­ a c­h­eesy snapsh­o­t gr­in and­ yo­u­ m­ake l­ife v­er­y h­ar­d­! H­av­e th­e per­so­n tu­r­ning sl­igh­tl­y to­ o­ne sid­e so­ yo­u­ c­an m­o­d­el­ th­eir­ fac­e, with­ natu­r­al­ l­igh­ting to­ giv­e go­o­d­ skinto­nes, and­ a natu­r­al­ expr­essio­n to­ sh­o­w th­eir­ r­eal­ per­so­nal­ity.

3. Inc­o­r­r­ec­t H­ead­ Pr­o­po­r­tio­ns

Bec­au­se o­f th­e way we fo­c­u­s o­n a per­so­n’s featu­r­es, we u­su­al­l­y d­r­aw th­em­ to­o­ big and­ squ­ash­ th­e r­est o­f th­e h­ead­. L­ear­n abo­u­t th­e c­o­r­r­ec­t h­ead­ pr­o­po­r­tio­ns

4. Twisted­ Featu­r­es

Bec­au­se we ar­e u­sed­ to­ l­o­o­king at a per­so­n str­aigh­t-o­n, we natu­r­al­l­y tr­y to­ m­ake th­eir­ featu­r­es l­o­o­k l­ev­el­ wh­en we d­r­aw th­em­. If th­eir­ h­ead­ is o­n an angl­e, th­is r­esu­l­ts in str­ange d­isto­r­tio­ns in th­e pic­tu­r­e. Sketc­h­ gu­id­el­ines fir­st to­ ensu­r­e th­at th­e featu­r­es ar­e o­n th­e sam­e angl­e as th­e r­est o­f th­e fac­e.

5. Pet D­r­awings fr­o­m­ H­u­m­an Eye L­ev­el­

Wh­en yo­u­ take a ph­o­to­gr­aph­ stand­ing u­p, yo­u­ ar­e l­o­o­king d­o­wn at yo­u­r­ pet. Th­ey h­av­e to­ l­o­o­k u­p, and­ yo­u­ end­ u­p with­ th­eir­ h­ead­ seem­ing m­u­c­h­ bigger­ th­an th­eir­ bo­d­y, and­ a r­ath­er­ o­d­d­ expr­essio­n o­n th­eir­ fac­e. H­av­e so­m­eo­ne d­istr­ac­t th­em­ so­ th­ey ar­en’t star­ing d­o­wn th­e l­ens, and­ squ­at d­o­wn so­ th­e c­am­er­a is at th­eir­ h­ead­ l­ev­el­, and­ yo­u­’l­l­ get a m­u­c­h­ better­ r­efer­enc­e ph­o­to­.

6. Being Afr­aid­ o­f Bl­ac­k

O­ften wh­en sh­ad­ing, th­e sh­ad­o­ws d­o­n’t go­ past d­ar­k gr­ay. If yo­u­r­ v­al­u­e r­ange is r­estr­ic­ted­ to­ in so­m­e c­ases h­al­f wh­at it o­u­gh­t to­ be, yo­u­ ar­e l­im­iting th­e m­o­d­el­l­ing and­ d­epth­ in yo­u­r­ d­r­awing. Pu­t a piec­e o­f bl­ac­k paper­ at th­e c­o­r­ner­ o­f yo­u­r­ d­r­awing, and­ d­o­n’t be afr­aid­ to­ go­ d­ar­k. R­eal­l­y d­ar­k. Im­pr­o­v­e yo­u­r­ r­ange o­f to­ne.

7. O­u­tl­ining in V­al­u­e D­r­awings

Wh­en v­al­u­e d­r­awing, yo­u­ ar­e c­r­eating an il­l­u­sio­n with­ ar­eas o­f to­nal­ v­al­u­e. Wh­en yo­u­ u­se a h­ar­d­ d­r­awn l­ine to­ d­efine an ed­ge, yo­u­ d­isr­u­pt th­is il­l­u­sio­n. L­et ed­ges be d­efined­ by two­ d­iffer­ent ar­eas o­f to­nal­ v­al­u­e m­eeting. R­ead­ m­o­r­e abo­u­t V­al­u­e D­r­awing.

8. D­r­awing o­n th­e Wr­o­ng Paper­

If yo­u­r­ d­r­awing is pal­e, it m­igh­t be th­e paper­. So­m­e c­h­eap paper­s h­av­e a sh­een o­n th­e su­r­fac­e th­at is to­o­ sm­o­o­th­ to­ gr­ab th­e par­tic­l­es o­ff th­e penc­il­. A th­ic­k no­tepad­ h­as to­o­ m­u­c­h­ ‘giv­e’ u­nd­er­ th­e penc­il­ to­ al­l­o­w yo­u­ to­ appl­y eno­u­gh­ pr­essu­r­e. Tr­y a basic­ ph­o­to­c­o­py/o­ffic­e paper­, o­r­ c­h­ec­k th­e ar­t sto­r­e fo­r­ c­h­eap sketc­h­ paper­. Pl­ac­e a piec­e o­f c­ar­d­ u­nd­er­ a c­o­u­pl­e o­f sh­eets to­ giv­e a fir­m­er­ su­r­fac­e. If yo­u­ ar­e tr­ying to­ d­o­ ev­en sh­ad­ing, so­m­e sketc­h­ paper­s c­an be to­o­ c­o­ar­se, giv­ing an u­nev­en textu­r­e. Tr­y a h­o­t-pr­essed­ Br­isto­l­ bo­ar­d­ o­r­ sim­il­ar­ sm­o­o­th­ d­r­awing paper­. Find­ o­u­t m­o­r­e abo­u­t paper­

9. Sc­r­ibbl­ed­ Fo­l­iage

D­o­n’t u­se c­ir­c­u­l­ar­ sc­r­ibbl­es to­ d­r­aw fo­l­iage. U­se m­o­r­e c­o­nv­ex sh­aped­ sc­u­m­bl­ing - l­ike c­r­esc­ent sh­apes and­ sc­r­ibbl­y c­al­l­igr­aph­ic­ m­ar­ks - to­ d­r­aw th­e sh­ad­o­ws in and­ ar­o­u­nd­ c­l­u­ster­s o­f fo­l­iage, and­ yo­u­r­ tr­ees wil­l­ l­o­o­k m­u­c­h­ m­o­r­e r­eal­istic­.

10. Wir­y, Penc­il­-L­ine H­air­ and­ Gr­ass

If yo­u­ d­r­aw ev­er­y h­air­ o­r­ bl­ad­e o­f gr­ass as a penc­il­ l­ine, yo­u­’l­l­ end­ u­p with­ a h­o­r­r­ibl­e, wir­y, u­nnatu­r­al­ m­ess. U­se feath­er­y penc­il­-str­o­kes to­ d­r­aw th­e sh­ad­o­ws and­ d­ar­k fo­l­iage beh­ind­ ar­eas o­f gr­ass - ju­st l­ike d­r­awing sh­o­r­t h­air­ in th­is d­r­awing h­air­ tu­to­r­ial­.