Warmups to Improve Line Quality
Warmups to Improve Line Quality
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Warmups to Improve Line Quality
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J B
Just wanted to share one thing that helped me with one of these. I had seen the connect the dots exercise on Draw A Box a long time ago and someone had suggested this to help others who were struggling with this one: Start by placing your pencil at the first dot and then, rather than watching the line as you draw, focus on the endpoint you're going to and kind of ignore the line itself as you're drawing. That approach really helped me a lot with that particular exercise, so I thought I'd share in case it could help others.
LESSON NOTES

Hey, welcome back. In this video, I'm going to introduce you to several line quality exercises that you can practice for 5 to 15 minutes before you begin a drawing session. When you start drawing, even simple lines will feel awkward, like your hand just doesn't want to do it. You have to battle through it, and over time your pencil will feel natural to you as if it's just part of your hand.

You can do these warmups in your sketchbook or just get some cheap printer paper. I want you to fill as many pages as possible. If doing these in your sketchbook will cause you to do less of them because you're trying to preserve sketchbook paper, then just use the printer paper. If you don't care about "wasting" a whole sketchbook on line circles and shaded squares, then let's go.

Throughout this course I'll be adding more warmup exercises into your routine for you to do before you start drawing. You only need to spend 5 to 15 minutes on these. But the key is consistency. Don't just do them once. That's like going for a jog once. Warmups are especially important for beginners to develop control and hand-eye coordination, but also to help you get loose and warmed up for a drawing.

Being too tense or having all these high expectations before you start your session can be damaging. These exercises are abstract little practices that are simple to do, but they build essential lifelong skills. Don't skip them.

Join us in the premium course for access to this warmup and all future warmups!

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ASSIGNMENTS

Fill at least one page for each of these warmups.

  • Page Skating
  • Light, Medium, Dark Lines
  • Straight Taper
  • Trace the Ruler
  • Connect the Dots

Remember the key is consistency, these are not meant to be done just once. Don’t be afraid to fill up a lot of paper. As you go through this course, do a page of warm-ups before you start drawing.

Newest
Ali
3d
Pretty nice warmup
@starlingwarlock
had fun doing these (i didnt have a ruler long enough for the ruler tracing lol) tried to challenge myself by drawing lines an at unusual angle and grip
Slava Fast
I started by creating those curvy lines, but then got carried away and painted the whole page :D I recently bought this charcoal pencil and I love it :D But it's really easy to smudge and get dirty
Alison Shelton
I really struggle with line control. I’m doing these warmup regularly. I can trace the ruler fairly accurately with some of my tools, like my blackwing pencils. But I found that that control isn’t universal. So, I bought an adult coloring book. What do you think about coloring as a warmup method? My first attempt was a little messy but I’m sure that I will improve with that as I do with anything else. (I used Copic markers here. The chunkiness of the markers feels so different than pencils!) I really want to improve my line quality. Any suggestions or reminders are always appreciated.
Chuck Ludwig Reina
Hi Alison! Love the drawing. Here are two things to help develop your line quality. One is technical, and one is more conceptual. From the technical side, I found what helped my line quality the most was to get out of the habit of drawing using just my fingers and my wrist, and instead using more elbow and shoulder. Even when I'm drawing small, or on my iPad I try to engage as much of my elbow and shoulder as I can. These large muscles will allow you to have more consistent control of your lines. To practice this, get some larger sketchbooks or even better use charcoal and smooth newsprint. From the conceptual side, an important thing to do is decide what you want your line work to look and feel like. Start collecting a folder on your computer (or an actual folder) of work from artists you love. Study how they make lines. Where do they leave gaps? How do they use line to show shadow, or overlap, or foreshortening. Through observation and practice over time you will take in all these different styles and come out with your own style which will both be consistent and totally yours. You got this!
@dbd1000
22d
My first approach.
Dani Torres
Keep it up 👏🏻😊
Chance Hilton
Good Warmups. Recovering from a cold. Little muscle and mental fatigue made it a little hard but nice to get something done. Critique is welcome.
@smileylemon
My first attempts of the warmups, I try correcting digitally the contrast so it's easier for you to check my work but for the "Light, Medium, Dark Lines" I couldn't do much
Alison Shelton
These improved my confidence
Rachel Dawn Owens
That’s great to hear!
Sebastian V.
Fun warmups! Kind of similar to some of the “draw a box” warmups but I liked the addition of pressure control and tapering focus. Using procreate so still adjusting some of the brush settings to fit but overall a good set of warmups :)
@silver847
2mo
I had fun doing this and I will come back to them as warmups.
@jtrigoli
3mo
just some fun CSI projects incorporating some of the exercises!
Rachel Dawn Owens
These are really cool to look at. And it looks like you had fun making them.
@treekin
3mo
Carlos Javier Roo Soto
Here're my first attempts to the warm-ups. What can you see I miss? Which one you think I need to work the most? I think the skating line, the hatching lines and the connect the dots, do you agreed?
Jim U
2mo
I like that you add notes to your assignments, like "remember—comfortable speed" in the first drawing. I think writing helps reinforce new habits, and serves as a great reminder for other students as well. Thank you!
Leonardo Socorro
it was a bit difficult deciding which sketching pencil to use since I’m doing this digitally, I’m still trying to figure my pressure curve for procreate. If anyone has any tips let me know
Michael Yoila
I don't know what most of those warmups are cos I'm not a premium student so I couldn't watch the video. Anyways I ended up only doing connect the dots and light medium dark lines
Tony Reza
3mo
I got the chance to try the warm up and I’ll say this, I did really enjoyed it and it did helped me a lot of my sloppiness for my art projects to practice on
Mal
4mo
Various warmups
Alonya M.
4mo
did these warmups with 2B and 3B pencils. Great exercises, The more I do these warmups I gain confidence in tapering my lines. Going to do some more now.
@andresarte2025
I found these warmups really funny, my favorite one was page skating.
Isabel Tang
I find it’s a little bit hard to use just the tip of the pencil to draw light lines while I am holding my pencil higher. I always end up using the side of the pencil, and my lines start to get thicker and the texture of the paper stands out more. I’m wondering if there’s any way that I can improve my light line quality.
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