Warm up drawing with a loose hand

When you start a drawing session, you may wonder why your first sketches are clumsy. Your hand muscles are not yet that agile. It’s good to start with a bit of warm up. For that, draw anything with a loose hand.

Warm Up drawing with a loose hand – Wacom Cintiq 22HD with Sketchbook Pro

00:01 Start drawing with simple shapes

00:04 Keep your hand loose

00:12 Draw with a moderate precision

00:15 We’ll adjust later

00:21 Use some light reflexion to the eyes

00:27 Add grey value using oblique hatching

00:31 Don’t follow the hair direction

00:42 Touch up to give more contrast

00:45 Using the bold pressure of the pen

Below is a quick tutorial on how I draw step-by-step.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-a

I start with a vertical axis

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-b

A simple circle for the head

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-c

I add the Chin.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-d

I like to continue with BOTH eyes. I don’t finish one eye to start an other. I purposely draw both together to make sure that both are aligned before adding more details in them.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-e

Then the lips and the nose.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-f

I readjust a bit the chin to make it more narrow.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-g

I start to give the rough shape of the hair style like a “block”.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-h

I draw the hair thinking of the weight. The hair start to curl below the chin.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-i

Ok ! We got our main shape. Time to add some details and add values.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-j

Time to ad some details to the eyes.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-k

Think of adding a bit of light reflexion. It’s just a blank ellipse that partly hide the pupils.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-n

A bit of touch up to give more contrast to the overall.

warm-up-the-Design-Sketchbook-Sketching-o

Voila, for the quick sketch of the day. I often start a drawing session drawing something that is not that accurate but beneificial for a good start.

If you havn’t draw for a while (few weeks for example), at the opposite you can plan to warm up with “precision exercises”. Instead of drawing with a loose hand, trace straight lines, ellipses and circles. You will help your brain to recalibrate with your pen.

3 comments

Cancel reply

Throw Away Your Eraser! Learn Product Design Sketching Faster! – ✏️THE DESIGN SKETCHBOOK says:

December 16, 2024 at 5:32 pm

[…] 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. […]

Reply
les images 2 Renata says:

January 29, 2015 at 2:52 am

I LOVE YOUR VIDEO!

Reply
- Chou-Tac Chung says:
  
  January 31, 2015 at 11:34 am
  
  Thank you very much ! :)
  
  Reply

Erick Bishop: “I’m trying something brand new to me, drawing.” Oct 2, 00:22
Toluwanimi: “I’m Toluwanimi and my nickname is Tolufunnel. I’m 27 years old and I want to learn to sketch to be…” Oct 1, 17:55
joseph uko: “I’m from Nigeria I’m 30 years old and I’m really much interested in leaning how to draw and design shoes,…” Oct 1, 05:19
joseph uko: “I’m really ready to learn and acquire knowledge on shoe designs I hope this platform will be be helpful to…” Oct 1, 05:15
David: “I am from Quebec, Canada and I am 22. I want to become an industrial designer. My teacher” Oct 1, 02:18
Nikicho: “Korea/hobby” Oct 1, 00:11
Varun: “Indi” Sep 30, 22:37
Ms Elephant: “I’m 41 years old. I am currently teaching design classes in high school in Australia. I hope to find a…” Sep 30, 12:33
Ms Elephant: “I’m 41 years old. I am currently teaching design classes in high school in Australia. I hope to find a…” Sep 30, 12:31
Han-Yin: “I’m 41 years old. I am currently teaching design classes in high school in Australia. I hope to find a…” Sep 30, 12:30
min: “Viet Nam 18. Learn new skills, help me in my study at school” Sep 30, 09:31
Kim: “improve my skills” Sep 29, 08:04
Leo Dohogne: “Chicago. 78. Hand eye coordination. Learn a new skill. Learn to see objects in 3 dimensions.” Sep 28, 02:04
Leo Dohogne: “Chicago. 48. Hand eye coordination. Learn a new skill. Learn to see objects in 3 dimensions.” Sep 28, 02:02
Miguel Bacelar: “Hello, I’m from Portugal and I’m very interested in learning more about the Design Thinking methodology.” Sep 27, 01:33
Yvonne: “I’m from China n I’m 51 years old. I am recently interested in shoe design n want to learn more…” Sep 26, 10:53
Vaibhav: “Thanks.” Sep 25, 10:42
Giulia: “Eyeglasses design student” Sep 25, 08:11
Tim: “Russia, 20. I wanna create great products and study industrial design. I discovered this blog on Pinterest.” Sep 25, 02:11
Sakshi bhootra: “India- 25 I need to my art and drawing skills better.” Sep 24, 07:45
Julie McIntyre: “Australia – 61 I have taken up drawing again and any tips are greatly appreciated the link appeared in my…” Sep 24, 03:27
aravindhan: “India – Age : 28 I Love product design, I feel sketching will improve my design journey. From google second…” Sep 21, 11:38
MAYANA: “Sou de João Pessoa, tenho 29 anos. Quero me tornar tatuadora. Conheci através do Ricardo Yamaguchi.” Sep 21, 01:46
Chou-Tac: “Awesome. I send you all me best encouragement. A trick when your babies grow up a bit more, is to…” Sep 20, 13:01
Chou-Tac: “Hi John, Hope you find plenty of valuable tip and tricks for your students :)” Sep 20, 13:00