25 Days to Better Drawings: Drawing with Lines

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This course features:
10 Hours of Instruction
25 Videos
24 eBooks
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Lesson Description

Learn the essence of drawing by balancing observation with mark making. Reinforce concepts with four drawing exercises.

Lesson Materials

Graphite drawing pencil and white drawing paper.

Lesson Resources

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Reference Image (Exercise #2 and #3)

Reference Image (Exercise #4)

Course Curriculum

Lesson 1: Materials and Mindset (10:07)Lesson 2: Drawing with Lines (25:29)Lesson 3: Drawing Ellipses (18:26)Lesson 4: Drawing with Shapes (15:56)Lesson 5: Line Quality (13:10)Lesson 6: Cross Contour Lines (11:32)Lesson 7: Shading with Line (38:49)Lesson 8: Value (10:52)Lesson 9: Light and Shadow (11:58)Lesson 10: Drawing Basic Forms (17:25)Lesson 11: Drawing with Forms (21:12)Lesson 12: Texture Study #1 (28:54)Lesson 13: Texture Study #2 (49:20)Lesson 14: Texture Study #3 (17:31)Lesson 15: The Illusion of Space (16:33)Lesson 16: One Point Perspective (46:39)Lesson 17: Two Point Perspective (48:35)Lesson 18: Three Point Perspective (54:30) Lesson 19: Sighting, Measuring, and Mapping (10:02)Lesson 20: Positive and Negative Space (8:13)Lesson 21: The Grid Technique (11:07)Lesson 22: Basic Facial Proportions (41:52)Lesson 23: Figure Drawing (1:03:53)Lesson 24: Drawing in Reverse (16:29)Lesson 25: Conclusion / Final Exercise (3:56)

Lesson Discussion

  1. Day 2 very interesting. I did not understand in exercise #4 why you had to keep your pencil down the entire time?
    I see how I have a whole lot to learn. 😀

    • Hi Julie,

      Thanks! These lessons are new, but the concepts of drawing remain the same. Some of the information from this course you may have also seen in other courses.

    • Hi Jo-Ann, The video is playing normally. It sounds like the video is buffering for you. This occurs when your internet connection is weak or your connection is inconsistent. You may try changing the video quality by scrolling over the video and clicking on the gear icon. Try playing the video at a lower resolution.

  7. Hilarious! I drew a sledge hammer >.< – Struggled with the continuous line drawing as I was drawing each item continuously :/ I needed to watch what the words actually meant. So I will attempt them again as suggested but drawing the form without taking my pencil off the paper. I think some of the struggle is that it does go against everything I thought I knew about drawing lines! So point to me for learning something new today 😀 Thank you very much for putting this course together. It works perfectly with two others I am currently observing.

  8. I love this course! But I would also be VERY exited if there would be a course like this i watercolour! I believe that there is not very much here on that subject….

  9. darn it I am having trouble with number 4 and not picking up my pencil while continuing the line. I am also having a hard time staring at the drawing and the paper because I want to stare at the paper more. I still have a lot to learn

  10. Dear Matt, I am very happy with the two lesson here, and I did the exercises, but I have a problem keeping the pencil on the paper because I’m left-handed, and the things sometimes are better from left to right. Please, give me an advice.

    • Hi Annette,

      This exercise is equally challenging if you are left-handed or right-handed. If the paper is moving or if it is difficult to make marks, you may try taping the paper to the surface that your working on. This may make it a little easier.

    • Hi Angela,

      All of our courses begin with the most basic principles. We don’t skip anything or make any assumptions. The lessons become more challenging as the course progresses.

  13. I really enjoy exercises like these, I’d forgotten! My brush handle and knife handle didn’t quite meet up in no 4, but never mind – onward and I hop upward.

  14. Olá Matt!

    Realmente o exercício 4 com a linha continua e o não levantar o lápis é o mais difícil pra mim. Mas, estou confiante e empolgada para concluir os 25 dias desenhando.

  15. I think I press down too hard. I used 2B should I go to another such as HB. My continuous line drawing still looked strange but I get the concept! Thanks. Really enjoy the instruction until I can get into another class here.

  16. This is a great lesson I’m on day 2 and I got to learn how to observe more of the details they’re just simply put them down I got to add the width on some of the tools. Matt I’m so glad you made the virtual instructor🤗

  20. WOW……….Day 1 and 2 were pretty amazing for me. I will be 76 next month and I can draw a shoe and hammer, well sorta of, but I am still excited for all of the next lessons.
    Thank You for making this learning program.

    • Hi Saiful,

      The Secrets to Drawing is great place for absolute beginners, but this course is also suited for beginners. 25 Days to Better Drawings is probably better for “advanced” beginners – if this makes sense. You’ll get quite a lot from either of these.

  24. Great lessons Matt. Think I will repeat day 2 again before moving on. I was way too slow on the continuous line drawing section and kind of messed up the relationship of objects. Will pause the video next time and finish the drawing before wrapping up the video lesson.

  25. very helpful, reminds me of the other times I’ve started to “learn to draw” and let it go. luckily I’m using my old sketchbooks so there is evidence of earlier efforts. a time i drew my shoe and it came out OK 🙂

  26. YES! YES! YES! Oh my gosh so challenging for me! 🙂 This is where I am!! I’m going to be able to learn how to draw! 🙂 Oh thank you. <3

  27. Day 2, It was good. I’m getting better but realized in exercise 1 with the 0% drawing, my hammer looks more of a cartoon. Besides that, Im having fun and I understand every that was explained. can’t wait for day 3

  29. OK, this may sound odd but, some of these exercises I find the subject of the drawing a bit boring so I very very quickly
    sketch and shade them out because I just want to get it done. I’m a beginner so not adept at all but I’m finding that the quicker I sketch the better the representation of the image I’m attempting to draw. What’s the deal with that? Should I continue to sketch quickly and avoid detail until the end. I realize we’re just doing exercises at this point but I can’t help but notice this. How and why does this happen?

    • Hi Celeste,

      Yes! This is likely due to loosening up. When we loosen up, our marks are more fluid and it can actually lead to greater accuracy, even though this seems counter to logic. Yes, continue to draw loosely in the beginning stages and tighten up as you go.

  30. Enjoyed the lesson. I am very novice artist with very little training. I think this course will certainly help me with learning the basics of drawing. I certainly learned that I need to practice, practice, practice!!

    Thank You!

  31. I know the obvious answer, but could you suggest homework with each lesson that will continue to build the particular skill that we are working? I know for the intended lesson ie. like circles and ellipses practice but I bet you can come up with some unique ideas to hone the skills even farther. I am tempted to just keep going to the next lesson as I have quite a bit of time. But something tells me I wouldn’t learn as much if I stuck with the practice of each particular lesson. Am I making sense? I must tell you i have ever enjoyed drawing so much. since I started these and other lessons you have taught. Thank you for the reasonable price for such quality education.

  32. Thank you very much for some valuable lessons. It is a wonderful challenge for myself who will be 72 y.o. Tomorrow. Having fun and truly enjoying myself.
    You are an excellent instructor.

  36. 1. Not too bad on the imagination, but a lot of detail left out.
    2. Really went off course on this one! Handle came to a point with a single line hook attached!
    3. I ended up with a double headed hammer. One directly below the other.
    4. Rather pleased with this as looks real good

  37. Got That wrong!
    1 Not too bad on the imagination, but lot of detail left out.
    2. Really went off course on this one ! Handle came to a point with a single line hook attached. So I repeated the exercise. This time coming up with a double headed hammer. One directly below the other. Oh well!
    3. Rather pleased with this as it looks really good.
    4. Quite frankly amazing! Looks good, and I made it without lifting pencil!

  38. Doing the 7 day free trial to see how I like it. Using an iPad and have excellent Wi-Fi connection. Video stops constantly and a loop shows on the screen, superimposed on the paused video. I am not computer savvy but wondering if problem would resolve if I formally join and pay and could download videos? Thank you.

    • Hi Mercedes,

      All of our videos are presented in High Definition by default. They do not buffer to a lesser quality automatically. Even the fastest internet connections are sometimes throttled or dropped which can cause buffering. You can change the quality of the video to a lesser quality by scrolling over the video and clicking on the small gear icon in the corner of the video. You can choose a lesser quality to stream and your internet will have a better time playing the video.

  39. Enjoyed that day

    Exercise 1 I was ok but very basic almost childlike drawing, I struggle with drawing from my imagination
    Exercise 2 was better than expected except the head was awful
    Exercise 3 not bad at all although struggled with the front of the hammerhead circle/eclipse was a challenge
    Exercise 4 very tricky but can see the benefit.

    Overall good and productive lesson thanks 😊

  41. My blind contour drawing of the hammer looks more like a hammer inside of a pouch where you can only see the hammer head. I tried it a couple of more times and it got better. Good observational skill building exercises.

  42. Hi there!
    I have a question regarding what you said about moving your eyes at the same speed as your pencil. Do you have any advice for someone with ADD/ADHD?
    There’s a few reasons I’m asking: sometimes it seems physically impossible to achieve actually moving your brain and body in sync when you have ADHD, especially when you’re trying to MAKE yourself focus. Lol They refuse to keep up with each other!
    Also when you’re trying not to look away it becomes above and beyond tempting to look. It’s like moths and flames. Focusing on not looking away to your hand makes you forget where you were with your eyes, and then it’s just utter chaos from there. lol
    Is there any way to try and compensate, or work around this little “glitch?”

    • Hi there, I don’t have ADHD but I’ve noticed when reading my mind and my eyes are on very different places sometimes. As if my mind is literally doing everything but be where the eyes are. Have you tried making a point to consciously bring your mind back to where you’re looking every time it focuses somewhere else?

  43. Wow iv been drawing for ages without too much success! This limits me to carry out more intricate paintings! So my goal is to improve my drawing skills to therefore improve my whole creative experience. I loved these line drawing exercises , you explain it all so well ! Thank you ! So pleased I made the choice to join .
    Looking forward to the next 23 days !
    Jan

  46. I am interested in learning to draw overhand for sketching. Should I be practicing that now with each lesson or use the conventional tripod way of holding a pencil? Thanks.

  48. Just finished the lesson and all the exercises and I am blown away by my results! For my level of experience (stick men level) I’m very proud with what I accomplished so thank you so much for these lesson! I know it’s only day two but after taking another art course I couldn’t find the joy in art and now I finally have and I’m super excited to continue! So thank you for helping me find the joy in making art and for sparking that passion in me again! Again thank you so much!

    • Hi Omar,

      I wish I could simply enable closed captioning. Unfortunately, closed captioning must be added through transcription, so every word must be typed and synced with the videos. I hope to add it in the future.

  52. I am 100% new to art of all kinds and am enjoying the course so far. Day 1 was stressful in that my drawing of the tube of oil point … oof! …. I didn’t do so well at getting all of those shadows and creases, but what I loved about the blind contour drawing in Day 2 was that it took the pressure of “oh no this isn’t looking like my reference photo” and just let the hand move without having any idea if it was “good” or not. Thank you for putting this course together.

  53. I would like to know if I have 25 days to complete the course, or 25 sessions. I have already missed 1 day. So I completed day 2 of the course. Should I move on to day 3 and catch-up, or can I wait until tomorrow and do day 3? So far I am enjoying the course. I think my drawings will improve, as time goes on.

  54. I felt really discouraged with my results. Anyways, I will keep practicing. I didn’t see all the lines and details I just did the outside lines without thinking in the internal ones in the last exercise. 😞

    • Don’t be too discouraged! The goal is to keep doing it because your hand will get used to it in little time if you just draw. At first things won’t look so good and that is perfectly okay ♡

  55. I knew the theory: blind contour, continuous contour… but you did a great job of going through them with the exercises which really made the theory become real. Thank you.

  56. Hi Matt,
    I have been starting this course because I feel like my 3d art is hitting a dead end i have always been a bit better at sculpting but absolutely horrendous at paper and pen drawing. never had any solid direction to work with. I’m grateful I ran into one of your YouTube videos. here is my question however aside from the lessons how much time should I bee spending a night on say “Homework” ? I can grind and grind but I fear burnout. What would be the recommended amount of daily practice you would advise to go with this course.. I hope to hear from you on this matter.

    • Hi Jason,

      This course includes accompanying drawing exercises designed to be completed within one hour. You may spend more time if you wish of course, but don’t over do it. Once you feel pretty confident with the concept taught, then you can move on to the next.

  58. My blind line drawing of the hammer looks like a Picasso master piece 😀 Definitely need more practice in that area. At least the other exercises look like the subject!

  59. I struggled with this exercise but feeling encouraged. It will probably take me a little more than one day to feel comfortable with this exercise. Giving the hammer-head a 3-D representation was a challenge. Tomorrow will be better.

    Thanks Matt. I like your teaching style and your pace when explaining.

    Until tomorrow my friend.

  60. This is my first lesson here and I’m having lots of fun! I’ve always loved drawing so I have drawn before, especially portraits. Although this is my first time being part of a community where I have access to courses I can follow. I’m very excited about it because I know with all these courses I will learn the foundations of drawing and painting. Also, drawing was never difficult for me but I stopped myself from doing it seriously before because I wasn’t “perfect” from the very beginning. Little did I know it’s just practice and it takes very little to see improvements :DDD

  62. Question one im overwhelmed. 1. How long should it take to draw one thing from looking at an image and not from imagination?
    2. What if you don’t have a reference photo and you have to use your imagination.
    Thanks

  64. This was so much fun, Matt. It is great to be able to laugh at my work and the 100% observation exercise made my 50% observation line just shine in comparison 🙂 Seriously though, I have noticed how much better I am seeing line when I look at things…I had watched and practiced a few of your free line videos prior to jumping into this course and the membership program. Thanks so much for your encouraging attitude about learning to draw….I wish my 8th grade art teacher had been the same!!

  68. Thank you, Matt, I found the day 2 exercise very insightful and now understand why I get so overwhelmed when drawing. Contour line drawing forced me to focus on a single line of an object continuously 🙂 rather than jumping around all over the place wondering where to begin. It gave me the direction I was missing.

  69. this is way to hard! I find myself distracted by your drawing which is infinitely better than mine. I thought this was for beginners like myself…it’s only lesson 2 and I’m discouraged

    • Hi Joyce,

      Don’t be discouraged! Trying new things can be challenge. Frustration is often a sign of growth. Sometimes things that are difficult at first become much easier through repetition.

  72. Hello,
    I view the list of materials for the course, I would like to know if you have a recommendation for a good “pencil sharpener…” I have an old school one that does not sharpen the thicker pencils.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

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