As a beginner designer, we often spend too much time erasing.
We try to avoid making bad drawings and suddenly our drawing is a mess,
and our table has more “rubber dust” than actual lines left on paper.
With an eraser, we refrain ourselves from learning from our mistakes.
We make them disappear and forgettable.
If you follow me for a while, or follow my design course: Sketch Like The Pros,
you know my Number 1 tool is the Ballpoint pen.
The day I switched my pencil for ink, my students and I started to progress a lot faster!
That’s what I wanna share with you today, so as an upcoming Product designer, you can accelerate your progress too.
Why Sketch Without Erasing?
As a beginner, your focus should be on mastering basic shapes first like straight lines and circles. These shapes serve as the foundation for developing your sketching abilities and calibrating your brain’s connection with your hand.
So, you make sure you can draw the basic shapes as closed as what you have in mind.
Remember, a complex drawing, is nothing more than a succession of simple drawing movements: The 18 Sketching Lines to Master
Draw with a Ballpoint Pen
No eraser means also no pencil.
The drawing tool I recommend you the most is the Ballpoint Pen.
it allows you to draw with commitment, yet starting your sketches with a light pen pressure.
Whenever you do a mistake, you can draw on top with a bit bolder line.
Buy your pens in bulk
When you draw daily, you would be surprised how fast a ball point pen can get empty.
After finding the pen you like drawing with the most, you can consider buying it in bulk.
Draw with pen pressure
You can see in the picture below the variation of lines.
Basically, the construction lines are drawn light and thin, and the product lines are bolder.
Of course, you can draw without eraser for any art and design projects such as urban sketching, portrait, manga, fashion, car design… any theme is great.
Explore any art and design theme drawing with your ballpoint pen
While there are criteria to choose the right pen for you, don’t be too picky on it. Just take the first one available!
On the picture below, I was drawing with the ballpoint pen I got from the hotel room. It worked great!
Master the Basic Drawing Movements
The best way to erase less, is to practice simple drawing movements until it become intuitive to you.
Then, your brain will be able to focus on more advanced techniques such as perspective, 3d forms, and shading with hatching.
For example, I show you below How to draw with a standing posture:
Or here with a sitting posture, so your arm is free of movement:
The better drawing posture you get, the less chance you will be tempted to erase.
FUN FACT: Your body has the ability to memorise.
Think of Master Miyagi from Karate Kid when he teaches martial art movements through repetition and activate not only brain’s memory but arms’s memory too.
- Adopt the Right Body posture and Drawing Movements: Instead of aiming for perfect sketches from the start (which is by definition impossible for a beginner), concentrate on mastering the correct basic movements. Adopt the right body posture, and make sure you draw with your full arm, and not only your wrist.
- Emphasize Iteration Over Perfection: If you make a mistake, analyze it—consider factors like your elbow position, speed, and paper orientation.
Rather than erasing, retrace or create a new line with intention. This is what we call: Iteration. - Be ok at being imperfect. You will see later on during the journey how imperfection can actually be beautiful, or even a characteristic of your drawing style.
- Learn from Mistakes: Each error is an opportunity for growth. By not relying on an eraser, you train yourself to critically assess and learn from your mistakes, which can lead to faster improvement.
The more mistakes you do, the faster you will improve by eliminating what doesn’t work. Kimon Nicolaides (The Natural Way to Draw) talk about achieving the 10000 mistakes!
So yes, you have to master your basic movements, however like how my artist friend RENATA says:
“Be sweet to yourself”.
Do not raise that expectation too high from start or you may just face paralysis.
Enjoy drawing daily and become better day by day.
You can start learning the basics movements and perspective step-by-step with the Designer Starter Kit. (It’s Free!)
The Product Designer’s Perspective
In the world of design, professionals often work under tight deadlines with limited tools—typically just a pen and paper. The goal is not to create beautiful sketches immediately but to effectively communicate ideas.
- Focus on Ideas Over Aesthetics: A designer’s success lies in generating numerous concepts quickly rather than perfecting a single sketch. This exploratory phase allows for the selection of the best ideas through iterative refinement.
- Time Management by drawing Fast: If every sketch were treated as a final piece of art, productivity would plummet. Instead, prioritize exploration and idea generation to avoid wasting time on unselected concepts.
Conclusion
Practicing without an eraser can significantly enhance your drawing skills by fostering a mindset focused on growth and exploration.
Embrace mistakes as part of your artistic journey and watch your confidence soar as you develop a more intuitive understanding of sketching.
“Do you dare to learn how to draw without rubber? Share your thoughts in the comments!”
Happy Sketching!
Cheers,
Chou-Tac
PS: You don’t have to ban pencils and erasers of your art toolbox. These are an amazing drawing tools!
However, make a try drawing with a ballpoint pen for least 1 month.
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