30 minute sketch
© 2026 Scott Brock
Haven't posted here in awhile. A 30 minute drawing I did! Any feedback would be great!
Cheesy Art7
I think what would help loads is allowing yourself to become a lot more fluid with the way you sketch and allowing yourself to follow the curves of the body instead of sticking to the structural guidelines you provided for yourself. Sounds counterintuitive but knowing that the body very rarely has stiff lines and follows both convex and concave curves helps more when drawing gestures. Starting with the spine helps me define these curves the most.
Joshuah
This is Great Scott! Love that you added some value in this drawing. Don't be afraid to make a more detailed under drawing so that you can really nail the proportions. One thing I like to do is do a couple of quick gestural thumbnails of my reference before I hop into the a longer piece. It give me more confidence when I am approaching the figure.
Jcmlfineart
ScottBrock,
How are you holding your pencil? Are you using a writer's hold or a artists hold?
The reason I ask is that it looks rather stiff and consistent with a writer's hold. When you work from only your wrist, your drawings will be less dynamic and can make the figure look tenser than it is in real life, or in this case, the photo.
I'd also suggest working with different pencil pigment levels. Start with something like a 3H-HB and then work your way up to a 6B-9B pencil for core shadows and points of emphasis within the figure. I am suggesting this approach because it visually shows that your drawing has the same pressure around the figure's edges/areas of interest to you, in terms of line quality. By changing the pigment-to-clay ratio you use in your varied pencils, it can help you express light without changing your pressure levels. This is what I call 'The Sacled Pressure Method'. It is a great method for those coming back to the craft and for beginners.
Yes, adjusting your pressure levels also helps create more dynamic, fluid drawings. But by working in the Scaled Pressure Method, you can concentrate more on expressing light without the added difficulty of working on your tension and touch ratios, which is more of an advanced technique.
As you are coming back to the craft. I suggest you 'eat' some of your 'art veggies' and work on boring things like
None of this stuff is really pretty or satisfying to share. But they help you reacquaint yourself with your tools and become a better artist. Boring, but very useful.
I hope some of this helps.
All of the best
JCML Fine Art
How are you holding your pencil? Are you using a writer's hold or a artists hold?
The reason I ask is that it looks rather stiff and consistent with a writer's hold. When you work from only your wrist, your drawings will be less dynamic and can make the figure look tenser than it is in real life, or in this case, the photo.
I'd also suggest working with different pencil pigment levels. Start with something like a 3H-HB and then work your way up to a 6B-9B pencil for core shadows and points of emphasis within the figure. I am suggesting this approach because it visually shows that your drawing has the same pressure around the figure's edges/areas of interest to you, in terms of line quality. By changing the pigment-to-clay ratio you use in your varied pencils, it can help you express light without changing your pressure levels. This is what I call 'The Sacled Pressure Method'. It is a great method for those coming back to the craft and for beginners.
Yes, adjusting your pressure levels also helps create more dynamic, fluid drawings. But by working in the Scaled Pressure Method, you can concentrate more on expressing light without the added difficulty of working on your tension and touch ratios, which is more of an advanced technique.
As you are coming back to the craft. I suggest you 'eat' some of your 'art veggies' and work on boring things like
- shading scales from 1-10
- Playing: Thicker, Thinner, Darker, Lighter, the continuous line game,
- Hatching in little boxes with different thicknesses
- Shading basic shapes with 1-3 light sources
- Drawing basic shapes in one stroke, but starting with one type of pressure and finishing with the opposite pressure.
None of this stuff is really pretty or satisfying to share. But they help you reacquaint yourself with your tools and become a better artist. Boring, but very useful.
I hope some of this helps.
All of the best
JCML Fine Art
