How to Draw Confident Lines - The Tapered Stroke

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How to Draw Confident Lines - The Tapered Stroke

226K
Mark as Completed
Course In Progress
Stan Prokopenko
Tapered strokes are super important to create confident and visually appealing drawings. By connecting lots of small, tapered lines we can construct one clean complex line. Also, tapered strokes are essential in gestural loose drawings that carry energy and have a playful charm.
Newest
The Drawing Sailor
Anyone have any advice on doing tapered strokes digitally? I’m using procreate and finding that all my strokes start light and stay thicker until the end. I can’t just get the middle thicker and the end light. Any suggestions? Thanks
@kalahatii
2mo
you need to check if your brush has pressure sensitivity as well as your stylus (if you are not using apple pencil), you may also want to check your pressure and smoothing setting, maybe something there is messing with your taper
@shrimp_fry
I am still a bit confused on how to use the tapered line to sketch. Do I sketch and use tapered lines to try to match the contour of what I see then try to stitch it together or do I simplify the shapes using the earlier methods ?
Hails
3mo
Really proud of this one! Still trying to get the hang of the speed and confidence but I drew this white pumpkin! I did a red block out layer, 2H CSI layer and then a 4B tapered stroke layer.
Hails
3mo
@andrea3101
Here are my attempts I am not sure if I am doing the strokes correctly. I also think I am bit too messy Thank You for any feedback
Ogechi Ike
3mo
Here's my first attempts at Tapered Lines. I think I need to work more on my confidence. Let me know what you all think!
Catherina Petersen
Hello everyone! I didn’t quite understand what I needed to do, but I tried my best and had fun doing it! In the first picture, I drew simple shapes, and in the second, I tried to do some gesture drawings using references of animals as a guide. Do you have any suggestions on practicing the tapered stroke? I am a bit confused.
@paperpumpkin
I’m not quite sure what it is that you are confused about, so I’ll mention a few things. Feel free to clarify if I misunderstood something. 1. You don’t understand how to make a tapered stroke. Practice drawing simple lines (straight or curved) and try different an amount of pressure pencil has on the paper. A tapered starts off light then increase pressure and then lights up again. The ends should have a faded look to it. Also don’t forget to use your shoulder. I find doing a quick and confident flick of the arm produces a better tapered line then trying to be slow and methodical. 2. You don’t know how to practice tapered lines on shapes Your animals have a nice gesture and flow to them, though your shapes look like you put your pencil down and never lifted it until the shape was finished. The nice thing about tapered lines is you don't have to do everything in one go. For warm-ups I would just draw a circle, but I wouldn’t complete the circle with one stroke. I would only do half or even less and then do a second stroke where the first left off, and keep doing it until the circle was completed. You can try other things more complicated or even something as simple as a line. Draw a line going in any direction that ends in a tapered stroke, begin another line starting where the first line had ended. Take up the entire page drawing swirls and lumps. These aren’t meant to look like a finished piece but they are supposed to look confident. 3. You want to use tapered lines for a more finished project, without the extra lines Tapered lines can help with making your loose sketch look like finished project. For practice I suggest tracing, like Proko did with the turtle. If you have a light box you can you that, or drawing software and tablet. When I was younger I would tape a picture onto a window during a sunny day and place a blank paper over it to trace. Again, this isn't about drawing it all in one stroke, but rather mulitiple lines. However, for this practice try to get the tapered ends to line up properly. I hope that helps some.
Isaac Russell
Of all the exercises I think line is gonna be my favorite as far as enjoyment. The art I do for work is very formulaic and doesn't lead to making a ton of expressive lines. But it's so much fun, maybe I'll get a client to get something a bit more experimental
Jon
3mo
this looks so cool
Isaac Russell
Jack Mills
5mo
I had a lot of fun practicing my line quality. would love to hear any feedback :)
Isaac Russell
Looks very nice! Super confident I wish I could be so confident in my anime stuff
Abhishek Mukherjee
I have been practising drawing confident lines for a few weeks now, I will see confident lines in my drawing someday in the near future :D :D
Isaac Russell
I like your pandas a lot lol. Very cool
Darion Matehuala
Po: Monkey, Mantis, Crane, Viper, Tigress, RAAAAAHHHH—!
@colorburn
8mo
I'm not sure if I'm doing tapered strokes correctly
@red1865
11mo
my first tapered stroke drawings definitely need a lot more practice
Yury
1yr
Tapered stroke is not easy. Some positions and angles are definately harder for my hand. It is easier to draw it from shoulder...
@karlyn
1yr
I connected the ends with another stroke to make it look like one long stroke. It seems that I could get the tapper part at the ends of my strokes and not the beginning. Guess I’ll have to practice this stroke more…
@wendoline
5mo
I have the same thing! It has been a while since you posted this, so did you find a way to practice the taper at the beginning of your stroke as well? It would be great to hear your experience. Thank you! Wendy
Menriv
1yr
My approach to the exercise involves using tapered strokes in a CSI pattern. This pattern consists of connecting a C stroke with an S stroke and then an I stroke, executed in random directions, sizes, lengths, etc.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
11/6/2023 This day I’m gonna take it easy and practice the tapered Stroke. Tell me how I did and tell me what I should be practicing within the (free) basic drawing course.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
8/6/2023 A little bit of practice today, feeling pretty good about it, however I should really study more often.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
2/6/2023 Decided to draw different shapes with the Tapered Stroke, tell me how I did.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
28/5/2023 I’m struggling greatly with the tapered stroke, also I think I should be doing something else a long with this.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
27/5/2023 I tried to do some tampered strokes with Proko’s example of random doodles, the trying to do it when shapes.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
I’ll be honest in saying I felt like I’ve wasted a lot of pages there, 2-3 at most should’ve been enough.
Change To ‘Atylass’ From The Game.
Sorry if it seems a little overwhelming with the amount of images, you don’t have to look at it if it overwhelms your senses.
Cindy Duflot
Hi all, I would like to check something with you. I notice that I have a very hard time drawing a tapered stroke when my pencil is too hard. Is this "normal"? Does it make sense? Is it particular to me? Thanks for the input!
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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