Whether you’re new to drawing, or haven’t drawn in a while, and you’re feeling like you forgot how to draw in general, everyone hits that point where it can be hard to get started…

So, after lots of research, and good ole fashioned pencil to paper, I found 5 easy warm ups that will get you drawing.

Drawing is a fine motor skill that needs exercise. A good way to improve your drawing, or get back in the swing of things, is to do warm ups.

Just like all your other muscles, they need repetition to form muscle memory and get stronger.

These are a great to do when you’re settling in for some art time or just doodling. You can use an inexpensive sketchbook for these or just some copy paper.

First up..

• 1. Fireworks

These are fun and help with hand control. Just make a dot on your paper, and draw lines coming out of it like a firework or starburst. Try to make them as straight as possible and don’t move your paper. This helps to strengthen your muscles and give you more dexterity when drawing in odd directions.

• 2. Circles and Ovals

  

Draw from your shoulder when you do this, and make sure your pen is straight up and down. Draw circles or ovals and then draw more inside of them. Try to be as round and parallel as possible, but don’t stress about it, it’s going to loosen you up.

(I’m terrible at these😋)

• 3. Hatching and Crosshatching

You can cover a whole page in these! The length doesn’t matter, it’s more about the distance between each line. Draw the lines as straight and parallel as possible while making them as close as you can. This is a great shading method. Once you’re finished hatching, draw more lines going in a different direction on top of the first layer, now it’s crosshatching!

• 4. Shapes and Shading

  

Making 3D shapes was one of the first things I learned how to draw well. The purple lines are where the light is coming from, you can shade with whatever method you like, but I thought using the crosshatch in a drawing would help me work on it. This helps you think in a dimensional way.

• 5. Sketching

  

You can do a sketch in whatever style you like, using whatever subject you want. It can be as simple or complicated as you wish. I would suggest working in a sketchbook on this last one (just in case you like it).

Tips

Here’s some tips that go with these exercises.

• Use a pen

I’m normally a pencil gal myself, but use a pen with these warm ups because it makes it so you can’t erase things. You have to work with what you have.

• Do something you want to improve on

Work on something that you need help on. I’m working on fur, so I did a chipmunk, but the sky is the limit.

• Include these in your art routine

This is great to use with this post.

• Most importantly

Have fun with it, get creative, and enjoy your art journey.