Drawing Lesson One –Adults “How to Draw”

Martha Kennedy 28 Comments

Some friends were interested in drawing lessons once I started with the kids up the alley. I love that!

Anyway, here’s adult lesson 1.

The only thing you need is a How to Draw book of things you like, some paper and something to draw with. One of the kids has a “How to Draw Animals” and the other has “How to Draw Trucks and Other Vehicles.” A friend who loves to ride has “How to Draw Horses.” There are dozens of these books on Amazon and the more basic the better. I think a “how to draw” something you like is the best choice.

Here’s the first adult lesson: Starting to Draw

1) Assemble your tools — paper, pencils and your “how to draw” book. You can draw with anything, and it’s actually better to learn to draw with a tool you cannot erase, like colored pencils, but this is completely YOUR choice because IT DOESN’T MATTER AT ALL!!!!

2) Find a space without distraction, someplace tranquil where you’re unlikely to be interrupted for 30 minutes. Tell your family members to stay the hell away from you because you’re about to engage in something SUPREMELY COOL and holy.

3) Put on some music you like, put in your earphones.

4) TURN OFF YOUR PHONE and all irrelevant alerts.

5) Get a beverage that you like — I drink water with ice in it or sometimes decaf but it doesn’t matter at all. It should be what you like. Wine is good for those who can drink it (I can’t). Poor me.

6) Open your “How to Draw Book” and don’t read too much. Find an image you like or start at the very beginning (It’s a very good place to start, la laa laa)

NOW this is the hard part (for adults…)

Do your best and don’t worry how it comes out. Nobody cares.

Draw for thirty minutes, and if you are still engaged, keep drawing. Do this every day for at least 30 minutes.

Drawing is seeing. It’s amazing how the more a person draws, the more of the world in general they are able to see. It’s better to draw without erasing, to look at your drawing after a day or two, and try again if you’re not happy. Why? Because, the more you draw, the more you’ll see.

I would love to draw WITH you and we can do this via Facebook messenger, Zoom or anything else. Let me know. I think it can be more relaxing for someone to learn to draw when they’re drawing with a pal. Let me know if you want to and when, and I’ll be here to go online with you. I love to draw and I’ll drop whatever I’m doing to draw along with you.

28 thoughts on “Drawing Lesson One –Adults “How to Draw””

  5. Well! I love your list of rules/steps. Very clear and concise and logical. It also makes learning to draw sound uncomplicated. Drawing something and having it look like what it’s supposed to look like seems impossible to me. But maybe that part doesn’t really matter. Mmm… Much food for thought here. 🙂

    • It doesn’t matter. when I was with the kids last week and we played the Drawing Game (everyone takes a turn saying what we are all going to draw) the kids said, “Yours is really GOOD!” Their mom said, “She’s practiced a LOT.” I said, “Yep. I’ve been drawing for 66 years. I started when I was 2.” The kids said, “that’s a long time.”

      I have a drawing from when I was 5 I’m going to show them 🙂

      I think people should draw not to get something right, but to enjoy the process. ❤

  7. Y’know…I’m one of those people who’s always said “I can’t even draw a straight line.” But you’ve intrigued me with this drawing stuff. Stay tuned. Who knows?

    • I made a video today. I’ll probably post it tomorrow. The person I made it for loves it and couldn’t wait to try it. There’s no harm in drawing badly, anyway. It’s the process that matters most and letting go of expectations.

      • I think I need to get to a creative space where I’m not manipulating language or scales, someplace where there are no words or notes, some place I’ve never been before. Just ordered a sketch pad, some pencils, and a book. If nothing else, maybe I’ll create some interesting paper for the outhouse. 🙂

        • the beach is good. A table outside is good. The kitchen table is fine, too. I have a special room but it’s because I paint and you can’t really do oil painting on the kitchen table safely.

          The transition for a musician is challenging because music has a lot of rules that you have to follow to make the music sound like it’s supposed to. So remember that when you start out; there’s no “wrong” when you draw. The friend I wrote this for is a musician. She has talent to draw, but she gets very anxious that it won’t be right. With drawing, even when you’re the “performer” you’re the audience of the world and you’re looking at it through your eyes and your hand. There’s just learning and seeing.

          Here’s the video. I misspoke a couple of times because I usually think of painting, not drawing but OH WELL. You can hear my dogs.

  9. You’ve sold me on grabbing my sketch pad and sharpening my pencil set… I have a nice set of graphite pencils in various hardness. I am my own worst critic so I doubt I’ll post anything but you never know. I’m wishing I was a kid and in that art class!

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