Have you ever paid attention to your own hand while drawing? Which part of your hand moves more? and in which direction? There is no right or wrong way of moving or using your hands while holding your tool but most of the time you can feel your shoulder is the main part of your moves. Lets talk about other parts of your hand. Your wrist helps you to draw fast and control your lines whereas your shoulder helps to draw softer longer lines. When trying to draw a line using your shoulder movement, you will feel less control on the direction of your lines, this needs practice to become easy and enjoyable. Your elbow does something in between! I am more comfortable using my wrist and sometimes when I am standing, my shoulder is the most comfortable tool of drawing for me. What would be your choice? You need time and practice to find out! One of the most exciting and easy way to find out about your hand movements is to draw lines and shapes every single day! They do not have to be perfect or presentable, the aim of this exercise is to pay attention to the movement of your own hand and find out what is the best move for you. Each of us might come with different answers.
If you understand your hand movements, now try using various line thickness while drawing the same lines and shapes. This creates depth in your drawing where your thick lines will sit in the background and thin lines are in foreground. This technique will lead you to 3D drawings and world of creativity. While using various thicknesses make sure to use the movement of your shoulder and do not control your lines. For example if drawing a square, try to lose control and draw lines even if they do not touch each other, as long as the overall drawing looks like n square, it is totally okay! Here you are trying to come up with a concept drawing. Remember to always date your drawings and go back to them every few months. Doing this is so rewarding as you will see how creative you were and how conceptual you are now.
Draw in various sizes using either your shoulder or wrist. This will help you to decide on which size you want to demonstrate your concept and details. All these steps are helping you to become more familiar with your inner skills and understand your self in depth. Now lets change the routine! Draw with your pen as you will be not able to erase your mistakes. This last step will help you to think and control your sketch but at the same time use your shoulder. Doing this helps you to observe your own improvement. If you draw with pen and make a mistake, go to second page and start again, trust me after few pages going back to your very first page is very rewarding and so worth it! As always, remember to Scratch to Reality! Design N’ Construction team
References: Edwin schafer, Uwe Stoneman and Massiel Mejia
