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Which type of drawing is best?

The end result looks simple, but the technique is challenging. Architectural Drawing. Drawing architecture is a fantastic way to challenge your skills and three-dimensional perception. ... Geometric Drawing. ... Tattoo Drawing. ... Typography Drawing. ... Stippling, Hatching, and Scumbling. ... Diagrammatic. ... Anamorphic Drawing.

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Want to improve your drawing skills? Feeling stagnant in your style and keen to try something new? Experimenting with different drawing styles on a drawing surface is a fantastic way to hone your skills and improve your ability to capture imaginative imagery and develop your unique style. There are tons of different drawing styles to play with, but we've put together a list of epic drawing styles for you to explore and try out.

Interested? Keep on reading.

A Note on Style

From Leonardo Da Vinci to Pablo Picasso, the way an artist chooses to express themselves arises from many influencing factors. Your own particular drawing style will depend on your skills, your preference, the audience or brief you might be creating for, your cultural background, interests, and education. Finding the style you love takes exploration and practice. It’s also very much influenced by the medium in which you are working. There are tons of mediums you can use to draw. You caFrom Leonardo Da Vinci to Pablo Picasso, how an artist chooses to express their craft of drawing arises from many influencing factors. Your particular drawing medium will depend on your skills, your preference, the audience or brief you might be creating for, your cultural background, interests, and education. When it comes to art and accurate drawing, we all know what we love and what we hate. When roaming an art gallery, we also know the pieces that challenge us. These are the ones we often stare at the longest. We may not necessarily like them, but they capture our attention and get us thinking. Finding the craft of drawing style you love takes exploration and practice. It’s also very much influenced by the medium you are working with. There are tons of mediums you can use to draw. You can draw pretty much anywhere with pretty much anything. People have produced incredible artworks with sand drawings, pavement drawings, and even a digital drawing created with actual food. The most common drawing styles based on a specific medium and drawing mode are:

Pencil drawing (graphite, watercolor pencils, or colored pencils)

Ink drawing

Pen drawing

Chalk drawing

Crayon drawing

Digital drawing with tablets and apps like Vectornator and Procreate

Charcoal drawing.

If there are particular mediums that you love, you may go the route of choosing types of drawing to experiment with based on those mediums. Not all mediums are suited to all drawing styles. For example, crayons might not be the best choice for hyperrealism, and if you’re going for something that requires a fine point, like stippling, then messy charcoal might not be ideal. However, you might be more interested in a particular style itself and adapting your favorite medium to work for that. This skill is helpful for anyone who works in design to practice their drawing mode and skills. Industry experts make a conscious effort to keep their skills sharp and creativity alive by drawing. While it is an art form, drawing is also a technical skill. Some styles are more technical than others. Learning the technical side of things helps to prove design skills and artistic abilities because it helps to hone the detail, precision, and understanding of things that it takes to create beautiful works of art and design.

Drawing Styles To Try

Drawing Styles to Try

Within each drawing process and style, there are many different possibilities for how you can express that style. We have listed some drawing styles that will expand your drawing abilities both artistically and technically. From basic styles to complex 3D illusions – see what inspires you.

Pointillism

While we often associate pointillism with the post-Impressionist paintings of Georges Seurat, it's a technique and style that also works well for anatomical drawings. By stippling hundreds or even thousands of tiny dots, artists can build up light and shadow. The results can often be shockingly realistic, with viewers only realizing that dots, not lines, were used when looking at the finished artwork closely.

Fashion

Used by designers to get their ideas down on paper, fashion illustration often calls for quick, gestural drawings that convey the essence of a garment. These drawings typically feature long, elongated figures to mimic the height of models, and as the focus is on the clothes, not the face, facial features are often lacking or minimal. Within fashion illustration itself, there are many different styles, some rougher and others more polished.

Cross-Contour

Cross-contour is a fabulous way of creating the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional sheet of paper. It’s a popular and long-established drawing exercise taught in every AP drawing art school. But it’s also a style in its own right that can be hugely charming and make for very interesting pieces of art. However, it is not as simple as it may look. To learn it and reap the benefits, it is easiest to draw the outlines of the subject first, be it an apple (the most common way to learn the principle), a tree branch, or an animal. Once done, imagine the surface of your subject covered with wires as if a frame. The goal is to build a three-dimensional view simply by using a combination of curved lines to create the illusion of depth, rather than using any of our usual shading tricks. Remember that the space between contours won’t be the same everywhere – it depends on the perspective.

Quick Sketches

This is an essential practice for anyone who wishes to improve their drawing skills, for sure. The goal is to draw something fast, often much faster than you’re used to, to recognize and catch the most important drawing features of something, anywhere between a few seconds and a couple of minutes, depending on the subject. If you do practice this regularly, ideally daily, you’ll soon realize that it gives you the opportunity to catch more fleeting views in your sketchbook, such as passers-by on the street or animals that might be there one minute and gone the next. Really, the faster you can improve your drawing functionality, the more you can catch and immortalize the world.

Minimalist Drawing

Being able to recognize the most important, distinguishing features of a subject has been around since the dawn of art, quite literally. It used to be a crucial skill, in fact, as conveying meaning through a drawing used to be limited not only by skill but also by the materials available. Indeed, cave drawings were exactly that, a minimalist rendering or a subtractive drawing of these people’s everyday lives, showing themselves, animals ,and objects with limited lines and colors. Today, of course, we have all the time we want to create a subtractive drawing, the best materials, and so many possibilities to acquire the necessary skill. In drawings, as in life, we can have things as varied and complex as we like. And yet, minimalism, not just in drawing, is making a comeback. Why? Because sometimes it takes more skill to know what to leave out than to just add everything.

Caricature

A caricature drawing implements another one of those techniques that sound simple but really aren’t. Essentially, the goal of this form of art is to render your subject, usually a person, in a simple way but by exaggerating distinctive features. For some, that might be a large nose that'll turn into a huge one in your drawing or slightly protruding ears that’ll stick out in a more extreme form in your work. Sometimes, it can be a little difficult to select features, especially with very smooth and symmetrical faces, but there’s always something that can be used and exaggerated. Practicing caricature will help you understand the essence of your subject better, see what distinguishes it, and what makes it recognizable. Then you use this knowledge to go overboard with it. It can be a lot of fun, too. If you have trouble with the concept, it often helps to start with a more truthful drawing instrument of your subject in very thin lines, then enhance, reduce, and move features around, bit by bit.

3D Drawing

There’s realistic drawing, and then there’s 3D drawing. It’s honestly one of the coolest styles out there and never fails to entertain. Who doesn’t love a fun little optical illusion to trick the eye and amuse the mind?

Perspective drawing to create depth has been employed and developed since Roman times and was used in abundance during the Renaissance. It lets you draw pretty much anything in a way that it seemingly moves off the flat surface into a three-dimensional form – all of it an illusion, of course. While the most popular works usually include complex subjects and colors, you can practice quite easily with simple shapes in pencil only.

Doodling

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Doodle Doodle designed by Britt Edwards. Connect with them on Dribbble; the global community for designers and creative professionals.

Doodling is where it all starts.

Doodling is a very informal form of drawing usually created absent-mindedly (for instance, to keep yourself entertained in class). Doodling refers to rough scribbles and sketches of ideas. What you can do with doodling is limitless. Everything, from drawing a simple shape over and over to creating characters that spring to life off the page, is considered doodling. Many great works of art begin as just a simple doodle. And a lot of people discover that they love to draw by doodling as children. This drawing style doesn’t have to be treated as a form of drawing only meant for scribbles, however. Some artists choose to create their unique drawing style around the informal aesthetic of doodles. The simple or unfinished look of a doodle can be quite pleasing and works well for brands, too. Doodling whenever you have a moment is good practice for your drawing skills and will keep your creative juices flowing.

This one takes serious skill.

Are you up for the challenge? You might be inspired by artists who can portray such high levels of realism and wish to do the same yourself. All it takes is practice and dedication. Talent plays a role in drawing, but it’s practice and skill-sharpening that really leads to results. Realistic drawing sharpens your eye and improves design skills across all areas. It will help you become faster at producing more simple drawings, as well. Hyperrealism is the perfect style in which to indulge if you're interested in drawing portraits, as you'll learn to capture facial features in incredible detail, which can result in truly beautiful and moving portraits.

Cartoon Style

Characters Characters designed by Anjum Shorna *. Connect with them on Dribbble; the global community for designers and creative professionals. Cartoons are a more stylized approach to drawing, and even within this style exist many other styles. You could explore caricature drawing, cartoon strip, or comic book style, or you could come up with your own cartooned drawings. What really defines the cartoon drawing style? It’s usually a simplified, non-realistic style of drawing, often with exaggerated features. While cartoon-style drawings work well to create a cute and whimsical feeling, they don’t need to be child-like at all. They give you creative license to get really imaginative, and many professional illustrators have achieved great success through this style.

Line Drawing

Line drawing has become very popular in recent years, making frequent appearances on social media and online editorial design. Basic line drawing is aesthetically pleasing and makes for simple and elegant visual content. This technique can be particularly satisfying for beginners, as line drawings can be quick and uncomplicated to create. It’s also a fun way to turn a photograph or complex image into something more simple. You can also challenge your skills by applying the technique used in this beautiful line portrait, where you create an entire image from one continuous line (known as continuous line drawing). The end result looks simple, but the technique is challenging.

Architectural Drawing

Drawing architecture is a fantastic way to challenge your skills.

While architects learn to hone this skill to a highly technical level, drawing beautiful pieces of architecture is great for artists to learn about detail, perspective, and precision. You could copy photographs of beautiful buildings, draw them from real life if you have access to sitting near one, or you could draw your own piece of architecture from your imagination.

Geometric Drawing

There is a lot of variety under the umbrella of geometric drawing.

It could be anything that involves a geometric shape - from perspective drawing that turns 2D shapes into 3D illusions to images compiled out of combining geometric shapes. You could experiment with geometric patterns, or just practice your drawing skills by drawing shapes. The possibilities for the art you can create with geometry are endless, because everything we see can be boiled down to geometry. It’s essential for designers and artists to be able to break things down into geometric shapes so that they can both capture and build the real and the imaginary.

Tattoo Drawing

The first thing tattoo artists need to learn how to do before picking up a needle, is to draw. Every tattoo starts as a drawing, which then goes through the process of becoming a stencil which is transferred to the skin before being permanently tattooed. There are tons of different tattoo styles, so an artist really is at liberty to draw anything, but if you’re interested in becoming a tattoo artist or just enjoy the style, start following tattoo artists that inspire you and drawing the types of tattoos you love. If you’re geared towards the professional tattoo artist route, developing an authentic style of your own or niching down on a particular subject matter or clientele is important to think about, as these practices can advance your career significantly.

Typography Drawing

Typography design is a whole ball game on its own.

You might be a professional graphic designer who works with typography on a regular basis, or you might just love playing around with typography as an artist. Typography drawing could involve anything from drawing scenes inside letters, such as above, or creating an image out of wording, such as below. It’s really up to you to get creative and have fun playing around with lettering. Trying some calligraphy drawing might also be a worthwhile technique for learning about the world of lettering, mastering the medium of ink, and honing your precision skills.

Stippling, Hatching, and Scumbling

We’re giving you a three-in-one bonus here because all three of these techniques are quite similar; they just involve different patterns. Experimenting with stippling, hatching, and scumbling adds more creative diversity to your drawing skills and transforms simple, monochrome drawings into interesting, textured finished artworks. Stippling - Stippling was first created during the Renaissance era by an artist named Giulio Campangola, who used it for printmaking to give prints of one color more depth. Stippling involves creating a drawing from lots of small dots. The dots are grouped together to create images. An artist would create shading and gradients by either placing the dots closer together or spreading them out. You can get incredibly detailed with stippling, and it teaches you to be conscious of shading as well. Stippling might get confused with pointillism. The difference is that stippling is drawn with one color, whereas pointillism involves using a variety of colors. A fine ballpoint pen or sharp graphite pencil is best for stippling, as you need to create very fine dots. Hatching and cross-hatching - This is another drawing technique that is used to create depth, gradient, and texture without blending. Hatching involves filling in an image with closely-drawn parallel lines. Cross-hatching is almost the same, except the lines intersect and cross one another. Scumbling/ scribble art - is a shading technique that’s created in a similar way to stippling and hatching, but instead uses numerous small circles and scribbles to develop depth, gradient, and texture.

10. Diagrammatic

A diagrammatic drawing is a type of technical drawing that explains how something works - as you might assume from the word “diagram.” You could create a diagrammatic drawing of anything from a human to animal, interior design plans, and more. Diagrammatic drawing is a good practice for developing artistic skills. You can learn how to portray images realistically by focusing on details and understanding the anatomy of what it is you wish to capture. It also helps you plot out ideas from your imagination. Diagrammatic drawing on its own can make for beautiful works of art.

11. Anamorphic Drawing

The anamorphic drawing technique is really cool!

This drawing style teaches you how to create depth, and involves drawing 3D illusions with a 2D drawing. It varies from simple shapes that create the 3D illusion to complex drawings that look like they’re jumping off the page. Anamorphosis is a perspective technique in drawing that uses distortion to portray an illusion that is only observable from a specific vantage point. The image might look distorted and chaotic from most vantage points, but when viewing from the intended perspective, it comes to life as an amazing 3D image. This is a rather technical drawing technique that takes time to master, but you can start with simple 3D illusions like the square shown in this video below.

Tips For How to Draw Better

Most artists, whether they’re just starting out or they’re seasoned experts, want to know how to draw better. And it isn’t enough to simply have good drawing ideas – you also need the technical skills to help you improve long term. We’ve pulled together some exercises recommended by artists that will have you well on your way. But first, some quick tips to get you started. Armed with these drawing techniques, take some time to practice them to help you continue to improve.

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Exercise 1: Keep a Daily Sketchbook

Whether you use your daily practice as a therapeutic measure or simply as an outlet for your creative energy, you will find that both your drawing skills and your idea generation will improve when you put pen (or pencil) to a sketchbook on a daily basis. For those who are new to drawing, sketching regularly is a great way to hone your skills. And while sketching ideas for new artists isn't always easy to come by, an effective way to come up with good drawing ideas is to simply start with the things you’re surrounded by – people, places, or distant objects.

Exercise #2: Use Perspective to Make Drawings More Realistic

Especially if you’re trying to improve your realistic drawing skills, you’re probably familiar with the idea of perspective. Perspective is simply the angle from which you’re viewing and drawing a subject. If you are sitting on a park bench across from a fountain, for example, your drawing will be displayed from that angle: with a large fountain front and center, and the people and objects behind it much smaller. However, perspective can be one of the toughest skills to master, and it’s helpful to engage in exercises that will help you improve your grasp of perspective. Once you do, it’ll be easier to draw and paint more realistic images from your imagination.

Exercise #3: Improve Proportion

Much like perspective, correct proportions help make your drawings more realistic. Simply put, proportion is the relationship between height, width, and depth in art and helps scale the people, animals, and objects in your drawings. The grid method is a great tool to practice proportions. If you’re looking for a simple exercise to begin working with grids, begin with an image you want to draw, a ruler, your favorite graphite pencil, and an eraser. Then, draw vertical and horizontal lines across your image to mimic the look of traditional graph paper. One inch wide by one inch wide is a common measurement for the boxes of the grid. Once your grid is established, label the rows and columns with numbers (horizontally) and letters (vertically). Next, replicate the grid pattern on a piece of blank drawing paper, which becomes your drawing grid, and lay it next to the original image, side-by-side. Then get drawing.

Exercise #4: Perfect Working With Shapes

Shapes are some of the first things that people are taught to draw as young artists, but as you continue to develop your artistic skills, they take on a whole new value within your work. Shapes are important to practice drawing because they can help you create a more realistic design or help you develop intricate patterns and fill space within abstract pieces. But first, you need to master them. Shape exercises are simple yet effective techniques that can improve your drawing abilities. Shape exercises challenge you to examine photographs and drawings by identifying the basic shapes that make up their foundations. Once you train yourself to see (and sketch) the key elements of complex works of art, you’ll become better at understanding how images come together and ultimately end up drawing more proportionate pieces.

Exercise #5: Use Stick Figures

Though it sounds a little strange for an aspiring artist to draw stick figures, they’re an exceptional tool for helping to improve the art of figure drawing, both realistic and freeform. Stick figures provide the basis for our line figure drawings. When we begin with a simple object that we’re familiar with and are capable of drawing, it’s easy to turn these basic figures into more complex drawings. Even experienced artists use them in their work. Stick figures can also be a great starting point for sketching ideas for new artists.

Exercise #6: Spend The Week Improving Your Drawing

Improving your drawing skills takes time and commitment. Why not plan a week to see what you can accomplish in five days?

Another fun add-on to your week of drawing improvement is to catalog your art. By keeping a file of the pieces you’ve created, you’ll be able to study your drawings more closely and easily measure your progress. Pick up file folders, a cabinet, or a storage bin, and organize your drawings in folders by type, date, or by any other system that works best for you. Once monthly – or more often if you prefer – spend time reviewing your catalog and work. Take notes in your notebook and evaluate your strengths, areas of opportunity, and overall progress. Your catalog and drawing board will allow you to be closely connected to your art, which will help your draft drawing skills to evolve. The more often you pick up your pen or pencil to do things to practice drawing, the better you’ll become. Regularly work with these exercises, and you’ll be well on your way to improving your skills and becoming a better contemporary drawing artist.

Drawing Takes Practice

Different categories of drawing will resonate with different people. Even if you’re good at one style, you can always improve by experimenting with other anatomical drawings – and you might discover a new approach to your art that you love. You can improve your drawing by practicing techniques we mentioned above and others like gesture drawings, rangoli drawing, human anatomy, and triangulation. There are tons of ideas out there for what you can draw to practice your skills. You can check out our list of 99 drawing ideas if you need some inspiration. As you’ll have learned by now, there are many different approaches to drawing that can keep you busy exploring new avenues of this art for the rest of your life. Vectornator is the perfect vector design app to try out these drawing methods for yourself! Download it for free and test your skills.

In Conclusion

Drawing is as old as art itself. One of the earliest pieces of drawing was found in Indonesia. Archeologists discovered abstract zig-zag markings scribbled on a shell in an Indonesian cave. It is said to be over 500,000 years old. Today, there are many popular drawing styles. For an artist, influence from historical and contemporary styles of art plays an essential role in the development of one’s own artistic and visual style. When sitting down to start a piece of artwork, or approaching a prompt, topic, or subject matter, choose an art style to work with. Analyze the characteristics and find a way to incorporate some aspects of that style. This doesn’t have to be an exercise in making an accurate representation of that particular art style. Pull just one or two things from what you see and bring those into your art. This is an excellent way to help you develop your visual style. Experimentation with style is vital to your development as an artist. In the end, your style is a complex mix of your experiences, your skills, and your influences. So, never stop exploring. There is nothing mystical or magical about developing your art style. Style, like any other element of your artistic process, comes deliberately. It doesn’t need to take years or even months. Style is something you build, and you can build it in a week or so. Working a handful of useful sketching tips and tricks into your creative workflow will have rewarding results for you and your sketchbook. We know the pain of staring down at a blank page and not knowing where to start, with even the roughest of sketches feeling completely out of reach. So, it doesn't hurt trying out some of these sketching tips to help you get those first marks on the page. If you try one of the styles mentioned above on the Vectornator app, we’d love to see your finished drawing process and might share it on our social media. So, go ahead and share a pic on our socials!

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