Create With CoCo
How to Draw Realistically: A Beginner’s Guide
I have always had a deep passion and love for drawing and painting. When I was a toddler, I apparently always had a crayon in hand scribbling on whatever I could find. As I grew older, my fervor for art continued to grow. Creativity has played a significant role in my life; however, my mentors and instructors have played just as an important part of my artistic endeavors.
I have taken numerous classes, whether it was all of the extracurricular art classes growing up or the countless 4-hour studio courses needed to obtain my Bachelor in Fine Arts degree. I partook in art courses at the Parsons New School of Design, studied in Italy under renowned art historians, and learned from a number of other schools and instructors throughout the US.
Throughout all of my training, I have realized that there seems to be a lack of really learning the fundamental basics in drawing and painting in a realistic manner. I have always wanted to teach, and after much thought and consideration, I plan to teach aspiring artists how to create realistic artwork utilizing a streamlined, simplified process and method without having a formal art education.
If you would like to participate in a course like this, where I walk you through my exact process of creating realistic artwork, please enter your name and email to learn more!
Photograph taken by Kayla Snell.
Helpful Tips for Starting out:
Find objects & images that inspire you: I have folders full of magazine clippings and photos that my eye is attracted to. Whether they are subjects that I want to draw or a painting style I appreciate, cut out or pin photos of things that inspire you!
When beginning a drawing, study the shapes : let’s say you are going to draw lemons on your kitchen counter. The lemons are an oblong oval (not a perfect circle), so we will try to mimic that shape! Here is a quick video that I made of painting lemons to help better explain.
Make note of the shadows: shadows are extremely important and will make your subject appear more realistic and weighted by adding shadows.
Pay attention to what is light and dark: squinting your eyes will really help you to see what needs more darks compared to what needs more light. You can erase areas that have lighter values.
Add depth and dimension: objects closer to you will be larger than the objects further away.
Practice, Practice, Practice! The more you draw, the better you will get! It takes time and patience. Go outside on a pretty day and draw what you see or try drawing the cover of a magazine. There are many things out there that you can learn from that will help you to get better!
Photo taken by Kayla Snell.
FREE Watercolor Supply Guide
Looking to further your skills in art? In this condensed free guide, I provide everything I use in my studio when creating my watercolor paintings. You will learn which paints, paper, and tools I use and can start painting today!
I hope that some of these tips and tricks help you in preparation with drawing techniques! Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback in the comment section below, as I love to hear from you. I have always wanted to teach art, and I am so excited to shed my knowledge with you all.
Want to know what I’m up to on the every day? Follow along on Instagram at @cocozentner_art or on my Pinterest page. I love to post what inspires me, behind the scenes of my painting process, and my pup, Maudie!
Until next time,
To see more about what inspires CoCo, check-out her Instagram page at @cocozentner_art!