Lesson 1 | How to draw a line

Hello and happy sketching!

Let’s start sketching. Actually, we start with the line. We start with how to draw a line.

Here I have a normal pencil of the grade HB. It is sharpened but not really ultimate sharp. We will see that we can do a lot with the width of the line, respectively with the width of the tool. Because the width of the line must always be chosen in relation to the sketch. Here an example: look at the presence of the image with a thick stroke … and with a thin stroke. This is absolutely something different.

Then a quick word about the paper. This is just an ordinary 80-gram piece of paper, as it is used in printers, or on drawing pads.

Whenever we sketch, we never sketch with a single sheet of paper on the table. The best surface for drawing is a bundle of paper. Every table surface has a texture, grain or is completely flat. Neither of these is suitable for us.

So now all is said and done. We can proceed. The shape-giving or the searching line should always be drawn only as fast as we master it.

I’ll do an analogy: you’ve probably seen children on the ski slope going down the mountain so fast that it makes us feel a little queasy watching. Although this usually works well with children. But there we clearly see that the speed is too fast and that the line can’t really be steered that way.

We lead the line deliberately, thoughtfully and agile. Agile is an important term. Because in the agility of the stroke, the observer recognizes the creator of the stroke. And it is precisely this human origin that fascinates us in the hand-drawn sketch. What could be more exciting than the human being for us humans? So, we exploit it and draw the line with great agility.

But agile is still an abstract term. What does it actually mean? It means being highly mobile, active and agile.

So, let’s take highly-mobile first. How much can we dare? I have now made some strokes here. All of them show flexibility. Some are perhaps too moved. It’s almost like a mannerist wiggle. Others are too straight. Or even boring. Yes, there are really boring strokes. I’ll try one here. Hm, not so easy for me. But maybe like this …

The term „alert“ for the stroke is exciting. Adapted by impulses, always different. Just not repetitive. Sometimes big and wide, sometimes calmer, sometimes almost shaky or annoyed. Just always in different excitement.

And still the third term „agile“. I describe it as „reacting quickly to appropriate handling due to special agility“. The nimble stroke thus constantly reacts to what is at hand. This can either be a cat, drawn while sitting, or an inner image of a bird, which we have to recall from memory. The movement of the hand must be constantly compared with the model. This is a quick back and forth. I feel this inner exchange between hand and head like a crossfire. But only in the first 20 seconds, because then it suddenly begins to take on a life of its own. We get into the flow: the creative flow. And this flow is then very calm and eternal.

This is exactly what you can practice while sketching. With the lessons and days, you will succeed better and better.

And of course, you are then in the flow as a whole person. That’s why it’s worth sketching ideas, because it tickles your brain and makes you creative.

By the way, this coming into the flow happens much, much easier on paper. Because on paper we can work directly connected – pen to the brain.

The reason why this is so important? We’ll get to that later.