Basic Drawing for Beginners: Foundation for Coloured Pencil Art

Introduction: Why 'Drawing' Skills Matter for Coloured Pencils

Eager to jump straight into playing with all those gorgeous coloured pencils?

I completely understand – the colours are often what draw us in!

But can I share a little secret?

The key to creating coloured pencil art that truly impresses often lies in the drawing underneath all that beautiful colour.

If you're aiming to move beyond simple sketches and create realistic, compelling artwork (and avoid that feeling that your work looks a bit 'flat' or 'childish' ), then spending a little time on building some basic drawing skills first is invaluable.

It helps you bridge that gap between the picture you imagine and the one that appears on your paper.

Trust me on this – learning a few basic ways to really see your subject and sketch its structure accurately will save you so much potential frustration later on. It actually makes your colouring time much more relaxing and rewarding, because you have a solid foundation to work on!

The great news is that these are absolutely learnable skills, not some magical 'talent' you have to be born with.

You don't need any prior drawing experience.

This page will guide you through the essential first steps: learning to look differently, simplifying shapes, understanding basic proportion, and some practical tips for starting your sketches ready for coloured pencil work.

Let's build that foundation together!

Seeing Like an Artist: It Starts with Looking Differently

One of the first big shifts I encourage aspiring artists to make is learning to change how they look at the world around them, especially when preparing to draw.

It sounds quite simple, perhaps, but honestly, it's incredibly powerful!

Naturally, our brains are wired to quickly identify and label things – "that's an apple," "that's my dog," "that's a teacup." We see the 'thing' and jump straight to our internal symbol or memory of it.

The challenge for drawing realistically is that when we try to draw that symbol from our memory, our picture often ends up looking a bit generic, maybe even cartoonish.

It doesn't quite capture the specific apple, dog, or teacup that's actually there, with all its unique bumps, curves, the way the light hits it, and the shadows it casts.

So, how do we begin to 'see like an artist'? It means consciously training ourselves to look beyond the label and instead start noticing the purely visual information in front of us:

• Shapes: What simple, basic shapes can you see within the object? (Don't worry, we'll explore this in the very next section!)
• Lines and Edges: Forget 'apple stem' – just see the line. Is it straight? Curved? Thick? Thin? Are the edges of the object sharp or soft and blurry?
• Light and Shadow (Values): Ignore 'colour' for a moment. Where are the brightest highlights? Where are the darkest shadows? Can you see areas of mid-tone grey?
•  Seeing these 'values' is critical for making things look 3D. (We have a whole page dedicated to 'Understanding Value'.)
• Negative Space: This is a fun trick! Sometimes, looking closely at the shapes of the empty spaces around your subject can help you draw the subject itself much more accurately.

Learning to actively observe these fundamental visual elements, rather than just relying on your brain's pre-programmed symbol for "apple," is a cornerstone of basic drawing for beginners. It helps you draw what's really there, which is absolutely essential for creating realistic art.

Break It Down: Finding Basic Shapes in Everything

Now that we're practicing looking at things differently (as we discussed above), let's explore one of the most useful basic drawing techniques you can learn: seeing and sketching the simple shapes hidden within apparently complex objects.

This is a cornerstone of the basics of sketching and drawing.

It might seem a bit strange at first if you haven't tried it before, but trust me, almost everything around you, no matter how detailed it looks, can be simplified down into combinations of just a few basic geometric shapes.

Think about common examples:

• Spheres / Circles / Ovals: Fruits like apples and oranges, eyeballs, balls of wool, the main body or head shape of many animals.
• Cubes / Squares / Rectangles: Boxes, books, buildings, tables, phone screens, windows.
• Cylinders: Mugs, cans, bottles, tree trunks, arms and legs, some flower stems.
• Cones / Triangles: Ice cream cones, party hats, pointed roofs, some flower petals or leaves, the shape of fir trees.

Why is looking for these basic shapes so helpful, especially when you're leaning?

There are two big reasons I find this approach works wonders for beginners:

It makes starting much less intimidating! 

Instead of staring at a blank page worrying about drawing a perfect, complicated 'rose' or 'cat', you just start by lightly sketching a few simple circles, ovals, or triangles in roughly the right place. Suddenly, the task feels much more approachable and manageable.

It helps you get the overall structure and placement right.

By focusing on the big, simple shapes first, you ensure the main parts of your subject are positioned correctly on the page and relate to each other properly before you get caught up in rendering fur or petals. This creates a much stronger, more accurate foundation for your drawing.

Connecting this to your coloured pencil work: When you begin your artwork by lightly sketching these underlying basic shapes (using those light graphite lines we'll discuss soon), you create a reliable 'map' or framework on your paper.

You can then confidently build your details and carefully apply your beautiful coloured pencil layers on top of this solid structure, knowing that the fundamental form is sound.

It really helps prevent that sinking feeling where you spend ages on lovely colouring only to realise later that the initial shape or placement was 'off'!

So, the next time you look at something you'd like to draw – whether it's a simple object or a reference photo – actively try to ignore the details for a moment.

Ask yourself: "What simple shapes can I see making up this subject?" Sketch those first, nice and light!

This simple habit is key to drawing with basic shapes.

Getting Sizes Right: An Easy Look at Proportion

Okay, so we're learning to see differently and simplify things into basic shapes.

The next piece of the puzzle in creating accurate basic drawings for beginners is understanding proportion.

What on earth is proportion? It might sound a bit technical, but it's actually quite simple! Proportion is just how the size of one part of your subject relates to the size of another part.

Think about questions like:

• Looking at that apple, how wide is it compared to how tall it is?
• If you're drawing a dog, how long is its snout compared to the overall length of its head?
• On that mug you're sketching, how tall is the main body compared to the height of its handle?

Why does getting proportions right matter so much?

Honestly, getting the proportions even roughly correct is absolutely vital if you want your drawings to look believable.

If you're drawing animals or people, it's essential for capturing a likeness. It's very often when the proportions are 'off' that we get that nagging feeling that "something just looks wrong," even if we can't immediately pinpoint why.

Nailing the basic proportions is a huge step towards achieving that realistic look you're after.

An Easy Way to Check Proportions (No Maths Required!)

Now, the brilliant news is you don't need complicated measuring tools or confusing mathematical formulas for this! One of the easiest basic drawing techniques I often recommend is called Comparative Measurement.

Here's the basic idea:

1. First, choose one easily identifiable part of your subject (whether you're looking at it in real life or from a reference photo) to use as your basic unit of measurement. For example, you might choose the width of someone's eye, the height of one flower petal, or the width of a bottle.
2. Hold your pencil upright at arm's length (it's important to keep your arm straight and locked!). Close one eye to avoid confusion, and line up the top of your pencil with the top of the part you're measuring. Slide your thumb down the pencil until it lines up with the bottom of that part. You've now 'captured' that measurement on your pencil.
3. Keeping your arm straight and your thumb in place, now move your pencil across to measure other parts of the subject using that first measurement as your guide. How many 'eye widths' are there across the whole head? How many 'petal heights' make up the total height of the flower? How many 'bottle widths' equal the total height of the bottle?
4. Use these simple comparisons to check and adjust your sketch. Are the parts in your drawing the right size relative to each other?

This technique is all about using your own observation and direct comparison, not guessing.

It might feel a bit strange at first, but with a little practice, it becomes a really quick and effective way to improve the accuracy of your initial sketches!

For drawings needing very high accuracy, especially when working from photos, another fantastic tool is the Grid Method. That involves drawing grids over your reference image and drawing paper, which you can explore separately if that interests you!

But for general sketching and getting those basic proportions right, comparative measurement is a brilliant technique to learn.

Sharpen Your Eyes: Tips for Better Observation

We've now talked about simplifying subjects into basic shapes and checking their proportions.

Both of those techniques rely heavily on the next essential skill, which underpins all realistic drawing: learning how to truly observe.

Honestly, I believe that learning to draw well is perhaps 80% learning to observe well!

It’s not just about quick glances; it’s about actively looking and analysing what’s in front of you.

The good news is, like everything else we're discussing, observation is a skill you can definitely train and improve with practice.

Here are a few simple but effective tips to help you sharpen those observation skills:

Slow Down and Really Look

This might sound incredibly obvious, but it's amazing how often we rush this part because we're eager to start drawing!

Before you even make a mark, consciously spend a good amount of time – maybe even a full minute or two – just looking carefully at your subject.

Notice the little details, the subtle curves, the way light falls across it – things you might normally overlook in a quick glance.

Trace the Edges with Your Eyes

Imagine your eyes are the point of a pencil. Slowly move your gaze around the main outlines (the contours) of your subject. Follow every bump, every curve, every corner meticulously.

Doing this a few times helps to mentally 'imprint' the shape and its characteristics in your mind before your hand even tries to replicate it.

Actively Notice the Angles

Our brains have a funny habit of trying to 'straighten things out' or make assumptions about angles.

Consciously look for the actual angles and slopes in your subject.

Is that roofline truly horizontal, or does it slant slightly? How much does that flower stem tilt? Is that jawline sharp or gently curved?

Sometimes using the 'pencil sighting' technique we mentioned for proportion (holding your pencil out at arm's length) can also help you gauge tricky angles by comparing them against a true vertical or horizontal line.

Consistently practicing these simple observation habits – slowing down, tracing with your eyes, and checking angles – will dramatically improve your ability to capture the true character and form of your subjects.

This provides a much more accurate foundation sketch, making your coloured pencil work much easier and more successful.

Starting Your Sketch: Quick Tips for Graphite Underdrawings

So, you've spent some time really looking at your subject, you've simplified it into its basic shapes in your mind or on scrap paper, and you've checked the proportions.

Now it's time to get that initial drawing down onto your nice coloured pencil paper!

While some artists like to sketch directly with a very light coloured pencil (perhaps a pale grey or a colour relevant to the subject), many people (including myself quite often!) find it easiest to start with a light sketch using a traditional graphite pencil.

Graphite works perfectly well as a base for coloured pencils, provided you follow a few key guidelines.

These tips are specifically aimed at preventing common problems when you start layering your colours over the top:

Go LIGHTLY! This is the Absolute Golden Rule

Please resist the urge to press hard!

Use a harder grade of graphite pencil if you have one (something like an H or 2H is often better than a soft, dark B pencil like a 2B or 4B) and apply it with very light pressure.

You only need faint lines that you can see clearly enough to guide you – not dark, definite outlines.

Why is this SO important for coloured pencils? 

• Firstly, dark graphite lines can easily smudge and mix with your first light layers of coloured pencil, potentially creating dull, muddy colours where you wanted clean, bright ones.
• Secondly, pressing hard with any pencil, including graphite, can create indentations or grooves in your paper's surface. These tiny grooves will annoyingly show through your coloured pencil layers later, especially if you plan to blend or burnish smoothly.

Keep Your Sketch Simple:

Focus only on drawing the main outlines and the essential structural shapes you identified earlier (using basic shapes).

There's no need to add any shading or intricate detail with the graphite pencil – you'll be building up all the form, texture, and detail with your coloured pencils later.

Watch Out for Smudges:

Graphite is notorious for smudging!

Be really mindful of where you rest your hand as you draw.

It's often a good idea to place a clean, spare sheet of paper under your drawing hand to protect your work surface, especially in areas where you plan to apply light coloured pencil colours.

Easy Does It With Erasing

If you make a mistake and need to adjust your graphite lines, use a soft kneaded eraser if possible.

Instead of rubbing aggressively (which can damage the paper surface or 'tooth', making it harder for coloured pencils to stick later), try gently dabbing or rolling the kneaded eraser over the line to lift the graphite off.

Remember, those nice light lines you drew are much easier to lift if needed!

Whichever approach you prefer, starting your coloured pencil piece with a clean, light, and simple outline that's based on good observation and sound basic shapes gives your artwork the very best chance of success!

Practice Makes Progress!

And there you have it – some of the absolute basics of sketching and drawing that truly form the bedrock for creating realistic art, especially with coloured pencils! We've touched on:

• Shifting how you see, looking beyond the labels to notice shapes, lines, and light patterns.
• Simplifying complex subjects down into their core geometric shapes.
• Using simple comparative measurement to help get proportions right.
• Tips for improving your observation skills (looking carefully!).
• How to create a light, simple graphite sketch that works beautifully under coloured pencils.

Remember, these are all learnable skills. Nobody just picks up a pencil and draws perfectly the first time – I certainly didn't, and still have plenty to learn!

Like any skill, whether it's learning to cook or play an instrument, improvement comes simply through practice.

Don't feel you need to tackle highly complicated subjects right away to practice these basic drawing techniques.

Just start applying these ideas when you sketch simple objects you have around your home – grab a piece of fruit from the bowl, look closely at your favourite mug, sketch a book on the table, or try simplifying the shape of a plant pot.

Try consciously looking for the basic shapes. Try measuring the proportions with your pencil. Try keeping your initial sketch light and focused on the structure.

Please don't worry about making 'perfect' drawings, especially when you're just starting out or trying these ideas.

Focus instead on practicing how you look and how you approach the drawing process itself.

Every little sketch you do, even if it's just for 10-15 minutes, helps build those skills and your confidence over time.

Be patient and kind to yourself during the process – enjoy the learning!

Ready to take the next step in building your foundation?

Now that you have some tools to help you capture the basic shapes and proportions of your subject accurately in a line sketch, the next crucial element in making those drawings look convincingly solid and three-dimensional is understanding light and shadow.

Let's explore that together on the next page in our Foundation Skills Hub:

Understanding Value (Light & Dark)

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