13 Drawing Exercises for Beginners (Absolutely Easy to Do)

You may think that you can’t draw. But I promise you you can get better with consistent drawing exercises, even if you’re only a beginner.

Every beginner is afraid of messing up and not getting the results they want.

Very few people are born with extraordinary talents. The rest of us need to practice and practice.

And by doing some basic drawing exercises on a daily or weekly basis, you must get better at drawing. You’ll see.

Now, let’s see what you can do to improve your drawing skills in your art journals or sketchbooks so you can make wonderful pages and enjoy every second of it.

Imagine yourself doing sports. With time, your body and muscles get better and you improve your skills.

This is because you train your muscles and they remember what they need to do.

The same thing happens with drawing.

The more you draw different things, the more your hand muscles remember the moves and strokes, and you simply improve.

That’s it. Drawing will then become more natural for you and you’ll feel more confident.

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Trust me, you need to train your hand to always draw a straight line. This is also true for any kind of line.

Drawing is all about the lines, so if you master this, you’ll be able to draw many things, like faces or animals and flowers.

Take your pencil or a pen and draw straight lines first. Start slowly and later try to draw the lines as quickly as you can but try to make them straight.

If you need more guidance, draw two dots and try to connect them with your lines.

Yes, you can repeat the same line over and over again if you want to practice drawing quick lines.

Then, start experimenting with long and short lines. Begin with short ones and once you feel up to it, continue with longer lines.

Also, what you can practice is the space between the lines. This will help you get the lines straight.

If you manage to keep the space even between all the lines, you’re close to mastering this.

This drawing exercise is a great warm-up exercise before drawing something more complex. Your hand needs to get warm and ready.

So, when you want to draw something, do these simple exercises to help your hand feel the vibe.

These lines are also important. Practice drawing them as same as the straight ones. Start with shorter wavy lines, then draw them longer.

Vary the lines in size, length, and the space between one another.

It might seem that anyone can draw a circle or an oval, but in reality, many people struggle with that.

For example, when I first started drawing faces, I struggled to draw the basic oval for the head.

But I practiced this shape and now I can draw it quickly and it will always look like an oval on the first try.

Do the same with circles and squares. Repeat the lines of one circle multiple times, then draw another one, but vary in size.

You’ll see how your muscles will remember this and soon you’ll draw any shape on the first try and it’ll be amazing.

Your drawing in this exercise will probably look funky and wonky at first but never mind that. Embrace the learning process. This is only a drawing exercise, not a drawing competition.

This exercise will spark your creative thinking and who knows what ideas you’ll come up with. It’s so much fun to think of new ways of doing something, right?

Imagine your view in a box/container and sketch everything you see. The important thing is to sketch, not pay attention to details. Just go with the flow.

Drawing mandalas is similar to drawing patterns. They’re round designs with repetitive elements.

So, start from a small point that will be the center in the end, and build around it. Fill the white space with smaller elements.

The easiest way to start is to draw a circle and then divide it into equally sized triangles that grow from the center to the outside of the circle.

Then, draw more circles inside the big, main circle.

Every face consists of the same features, that’s why I didn’t tell you to copy buildings, for instance.

There are so many different ones that your muscles won’t remember what you drew.

To start, just follow the lines on the magazine image and transfer them to your paper. Later, you can add more details to the paper drawing.

For example, if you copy 10 eyes like this, your hand will remember how you drew the eyes so it’ll be easier later. This is also true for any other shape.

This drawing exercise is easy to do and you can make as many as you want.

I know it sounds daunting, but it costs you nothing to try. I promise giggles with this one, too.

Your perspective will go crazy, your eyes will be all over the place, and your brain…totally and utterly confused. But it’s a great thing to step out of your comfort zone.

I’ve used two brands of black pens that I really love for drawing.

They come in different nib sizes and are waterproof, which is really important if you’re going to use your drawings together with wet media.

You can also use Posca pens which can be great for detailed work, but not so much for practicing drawings because you don’t want to waste them on practicing.

At least I don’t. When I practice, I use mostly the pencils I told you about or the fine liner pens.

Ink can be messy but it’s fun to try it. You can use a brush or a dip-in pen for inks. The brush is messier than the pen and will give you thicker marks.

I sometimes use chalk for larger drawings but not very often because its powder transfers to other pages.

If you still want to try it, maybe you can seal the drawing with a fixative. I’ve never tried any fixative, so I can’t recommend anything specific yet.

Or, you can tear out the pages, cut out the drawings and use them as stickers or elements on your other journal pages.

You can also color in those drawings.

There is so much you can do, so don’t throw them away. Be creative with them.

Don’t rush yourself into expecting spectacular drawings right from the start. Give yourself time and enjoy the process.

These simple drawing exercises will help you in the long run. Just don’t give up on them. Patience is key.

Also, these exercises are great for warming up before you start drawing more complex images. Take a few minutes to remind your hand of lines, shapes, etc.

Furthermore, be consistent. You don’t have to practice drawing every day if you don’t have time. But do something at least once a week. All you need is 10 minutes for one drawing exercise.

Your inner artist will thank you and you’ll see there are many ways of playing in your art journal.