The “How to Draw” Series, Part Six: Embracing Your Unique Drawing Style and Non-Dominant Hand Drawings

Thanks for stopping by my blog for another Friday "How to Draw" Lesson!

Embracing Your Unique Drawing Style

I think a big part of learning to draw is also learning to accept the way that you draw.  It may not be the way you want to be drawing, at least not yet, but you may start noticing a style developing with your drawings at this point. 

You might be starting to notice all of the little things that make your drawings look like your drawings.  Do you have a light or a heavy touch when you draw?  Do you draw in a sketchy manner with lots of little lines, or do you tend to draw with dark, even lines?  Maybe when you draw faces, they have a certain look to them so a friend can always tell that they are your drawings and not someone else’s.  

If your drawings don’t have a consistent look yet, that’s totally ok!  We are just beginning, and the more you draw, the more consistent your drawings will get.

On the other hand, if your drawings do have a consistent look, that’s great, but don’t get too boxed in by trying to make all your drawings look the same if you are just starting out learning to draw.  Be sure to still allow yourself to experiment and continue to try new things when you draw.  You might learn a thing or two by branching out.  You can read more about this idea by visiting my friend MacKensie’s blog.  I did a guest post on her blog yesterday called 5 Ways to Let Your Creativity Take You Wherever It Wants to Go.  It was such a fun article to write, and I hope you will enjoy reading it! 

Everyone’s drawing style is wonderfully unique.  Remember: no one can make marks exactly like you do, so be sure to share your unique drawing skills with the world and let them out by creating your artwork.  It’s exciting to see your drawing style change as time goes on and you begin to grow as an artist! 

Non-Dominant Hand Drawings

You are about to create a very odd and unique drawing – don’t forget to be proud of it when you are done…

Now, we are going to draw with your non-dominant hand.  Your dominant hand is the hand that you write with, while your non-dominant hand is, well, the other guy.  The one who doesn’t get to draw or do creative stuff as often…  Well, today is your non-dominant hand’s chance to shine! 

Grab an object or a photo to draw from (or you can draw straight from your imagination), your pencil, and your sketchbook or a sheet of paper, and let’s see what your non-dominant hand can do…

You will also need something to time yourself with – maybe you have an app on your cell phone for that?  Or a good old-fashioned egg timer will work just as well.

Set your timer for 30 seconds, and do your best drawing of object with your normal drawing hand.  Here’s how mine came out (I drew from my imagination):

Now set your timer for another 30 seconds, and do the best you can while using your non-dominant hand.  This is what my version looked like:

You may notice that your non-dominant hand will do some strange things while it draws.  Simply put, it may do things differently than your normal drawing hand does.  We tend to draw the same way every time we draw with our normal drawing hand, but drawing with our non-dominant hand shakes things up a bit and does not allow you to rely on your same old bag of drawing tricks.  Maybe you can learn a trick or two from your non-dominant hand!

I learned that my second drawing seemed a bit more soulful and honest than my first drawing, and it definitely gave me something to think about!

I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson!  What did you learn by using your non-dominant hand?

This post is part of the “How to Draw” Series, a free E-Course I offer on my blog with new lessons every Friday.  I create these totally free of charge in order to help get people making art and enjoying their creativity.  If you like these lessons, please leave a comment below or help me grow my audience by clicking the orange Stumble Upon icon below.   

Thanks so much for joining me!