How To Learn To Easy Drawing Tutorials With A Pencil Step By Step [The Most Complete Guide]

Maheen Naveed
21 min readDec 17, 2020

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Welcome to another quick guide to learn to easy drawing tutorials, this time we are going to focus on pencil sketch drawing. Mastering the pencil sketch drawing technique is extremely important as it will allow you to venture into another type of drawing tutorials later.

This will be a somewhat extensive guide, but the important thing is that you will find all the necessary tips to master the pencil sketch drawing tutorials technique.

easy drawing tutorials

First of all, we will start talking a little about the basic materials, then the techniques to achieve different finishes: drawings with shadows, realistic, landscapes, in 3D drawing, drawing animals, etc.

Drawing objects and people in such a way that they appear real is a very simple way to impress others, the basics are easy to learn and with practice, you will easily become a great artist.

Learning to draw in pencil is essential, as I told you it will serve as a practice to improve the techniques, and the best of all is that by drawing in pencil you have the possibility of erasing the lines and improving them.

After you master the pencil sketch drawing technique, you can begin to create impressive works of art with colors, do not worry that in this article you will also find tips for drawing with colored pencils.

And finally, after mastering the easy drawing tutorials technique with pencils, you will be able to dabble in paintings, watercolors, or charcoals …

The drawings with these last materials have slightly different techniques, so they will be discussion material for another occasion.

If you want to learn anything professionally, do not hesitate to visit this article step by step.

Now if … let’s get started!

Pencil Drawing Materials

You don’t think you only need a pencil, do you?

For cool drawing ideas with pencil sketch drawing to be perfect, you will need other essential materials, these materials will make your art look much more professional and you will also realize that your learning will be much more advanced.

Now I made a list for you so that you have the best drawing materials at hand, a list with which you can manage to have at hand those instruments necessary to become the best.

Materials to Learn to Draw with A Pencil

To start drawing with a pencil you will need appropriate tools and in addition to knowing how to use them exactly since it is useless to have all the materials and not know how to use them.

  1. PENCILS. The main tool is the pencil

These will allow you to easily draw shadows and add reflections or highlights, later I will explain how to add shadows and highlights.

It is also important that you know that pencils have different degrees of hardness (they use more or less graphite). The harder the pencil, the softer the mark you make. Use the different types depending on the shade you want.

Hard pencils are labeled with an H and soft pencils with a B. There is also a standard pencil… the HB.

2. USE APPROPRIATE PAPER

Depending on the medium you choose (pencil, color, charcoal, paints), you should make sure you get the appropriate paper. In our case, we will focus on the appropriate paper for pencil or colored drawings.

As much as possible, get acid-free paper, this will prevent the drawings from turning yellow over time or wearing out.

3. DIFFUMINATOR

A smudger is a pencil-shaped roll of paper with a rough tip. Its tip serves to blur the charcoal or pencil, forming soft degrees of shadows in the drawing tutorials.

You will need to polish it every time it gets filled with charcoal or graphite due to pencils.

4. DRAFT. When pencil drawings are made

The eraser not only helps us to remove errors, but it is also important to create shine.

The easiest to use is the plasticine pencil erasers, as they are easy to mold to erase small details.

How To Learn To Draw Well In Pencil?

The technique of pencil drawing tutorials is a technique that many begin, but in which few specialize. If done right and worked at, the results can be quite impressive.

Below I will list some tips for you to learn to draw well in pencil.

1. It is essential that you draw every day, even if it is 5 minutes or they are small drawings. Practicing daily will give your strokes greater ease, and will help you measure the force to apply to the strokes.

2. Evaluate your failures, most of the failures when we start to draw are in proportion, to better observe the failures, you can see your drawing reflected in a mirror or from other positions.

3. Try to carry a notebook and pencil with you whenever you can and at times when you do nothing, draw the first thing you see. This will have you exercising by drawing multiple pictures of different topics.

4. If your drawing is based on your imagination and you don’t have a clear model … Get inspired! Take inspiration from magazines, photos, or newspapers; the important thing is that you don’t try to copy it.

A better look at the details and the technique, so you will apply them to your next drawings.

5. Avoid using other instruments, such as rulers or compass, try to do the entire drawing freehand.

6. Make small sketches, this way it will be easier for you to see how all the elements fit together, evaluate the proportions and decide the size of each figure that will be in your final easy drawing tutorial for kids.

7. To choose the colors, it is better that you think of them as a whole, combine the colors not only by the tone but by their saturation, use the same range of colors.

All the previous tips are a small summary of what you must do to get started in pencil drawing. After you have mastered the techniques a little, you will learn to draw like a professional.

Techniques and Tricks To Learn To Draw With A Pencil

1. LEARN TO DRAW HUMAN SHAPES

If you intend to make a portrait or a full-body drawing, practice studying images from anatomy or gymnastics books, they are the best way to see the muscles and the true appearance of the human being.

As I always say, a good artist must know the structures he draws, and human anatomy does not escape from it.

2. USE THE PERSPECTIVE

The perspective or the apparent variation in size of an object as it moves away, is an important element when giving realism to a drawing, it might seem complicated but it is very simple.

To achieve this, you just have to draw the elements near or in the foreground larger and with more details, and those in the background or background smaller and with less detail, this mimics the way your eyes perceive objects, gives more realism.

3. USE A MODEL OR A PHOTOGRAPH

If what you want is to achieve a realistic cool drawing idea, the easiest way is to draw something that is in front of you, this will considerably improve your skills. It can be a model or a real image of the object or person to be drawn.

Try to do it as fast as you can, this will teach your brain to collect the most important information quickly and efficiently. Observe and draw basic shapes and proportions before details.

4. MAKE SKETCHES

Before you begin, create several sketches of how you want your final image to look, this will allow you to study the composition and details. Start with a miniature sketch, this will allow you to establish basic shapes.

5. SET THE BASIC FORMS

Basic shapes are the basis of your drawing, you should always start with them. All the things that exist are composed of one or more figures, these help you to give dimension to the drawing and to draw correctly.

6. PAY ATTENTION TO THE PROPORTIONS

Maintaining the relationship between the size of different objects is important to maintain the realism of your works, whether in compositions or drawing faces. In the latter case, you can use symmetry.

How To Learn To Draw Professionally In Pencil?

Once you have mastered the general drawing techniques, it is important to pay attention to details, as these are what will make your drawings look more professional.

To make more professional drawings use a fine-point mechanical pencil for small details, such as eyelashes and wrinkles, this will make them easier to draw and make them more real.

Practicing often helps you improve your skills quickly.

Faces are one of the most detailed structures, realistically Santa Claus drawing easy skin and hair is one of the most difficult skills to develop.

To draw the hair, remember to draw it in sections, as it grows that way, each section should have shadows and reflections to make it look more real.

Finally, one last tip to create professional drawings is to draw what you really see and not what you think you see.

You may wonder … How can I draw something different from what I see? Or what do I mean when I say draw what you really see?

It’s pretty simple, our brains tend to generalize images, so we generally view images without paying attention to detail.

This will help create more realistic and professional drawings, to improve the perception of details, I recommend looking at what you want to draw from a different point of view. This can be achieved by flipping the image or seeing it in its reflection.

If you want to draw something realistically, be sure to draw the elements that make it unique.

How to learn to draw shadows in a pencil?

Drawing shadows in pencil in your drawings will add depth, contrast, personality, and movement to each of your works. This will give them a more realistic appearance either for your fun or to improve your skills as an artist.

STEP 1. CHOOSE YOUR MATERIALS

I recommend using a soft pencil, that is, type B, since it is easier to blur shadows with a soft pencil than with a hard one. Another important thing is to choose a high-quality drawing paper to achieve the best results.

STEP 2. MAKE YOUR LINEAR DRAWING OR MAIN CHARACTER

This step in simple words is to make the pencil sketch drawing that you want to shade, start by making simple, easy, and everyday drawings; this will make it much easier for you to add shading and assess realism.

If you want to take a photograph as a drawing, I recommend you print it or find one that is in grayscale so shading will be easier.

STEP 3. PRACTICE YOUR SCALE OF VALUES

Sure, you wonder what is a scale of values?

This is basically establishing the levels of light and dark that you will use in your drawing, this will help you determine the different depths that you are going to use.

For the scale to be complete, these values must go from white to black, passing through various shades of gray, although most objects only require 5 contiguous values on the scale.

STEP 4. LOCATE THE SOURCE OF LIGHT

The light shadow will help you orient the shadows. The shadows that you draw will extend in the opposite direction from the light source, that is, the brightest or brightest parts will be closer to the light and the darkest will be the farthest.

STEP 5. CREATE A PRELIMINARY SHADOW

For this, do a very soft and subdued shading throughout your drawing, this will help you not to start from scratch when you add the darkest shading, it will also allow you to establish the areas of greater brightness.

STEP 6. ADD MORE LAYERS OF SHADOW

In this step you will gradually darken the shadows, adding light layers of gray successively one on top of the other, remembering that the darkest areas are the opposite of the light.

Be guided by your scale of values, which will allow you to be constant in the tones you use, an important aspect when shading is that little by little the contours of the drawing are lost since they become much softer.

STEP 7. BLEND THE SHADOW

This last step is essential to add a uniform touch to your drawing, thus softening the rough edges and obtaining a more gradual and realistic shading. For this, you can use a smudger, your fingers, or cotton swabs.

After blurring, use an eraser to rectify the brightness of areas that have been accidentally blurred.

GENERAL RECOMMENDATION. Place a piece of paper between your hand and the drawing to avoid spreading the grays and staining your drawing.

Place the pencil almost horizontally with respect to the paper, trying to make the shading with the flat part, thus you achieve a better effect without damaging the paper.

How to Learn How to Draw Realistic Faces in Pencil?

To draw realistic faces, it is important to know the proportion of each element of the face in an away drawing, so we will achieve a better finish.

Whenever we are going to draw a face, we are going to start by making a circle that we will divide in three by two horizontal lines, and in the lower part we will add a semi-conical curved shape, and we will divide it into two as well.

The eyes will be located right on the central line, taking care of the distance between them. The nose on the next lower line (between the middle and the bottom) and finally the mouth on the line that divides the last part in half.

The top of the eyebrows is at the same height as the ears.

For the width of the eyebrows and lips, draw two triangles, one that starts from the nose (vertex) to the outer edge of the eye and a second from the center of the eyes passing through the outer edge of the nose.

These are general notions but remember that if you make a realistic drawing the proportions should be as close as possible to the model face.

Another super important aspect to remember is that the proportions of the female face with respect to the male are different.

In men, the jaw is wider and square, the eyebrows are thicker and the nose and ears are larger than in women.

In addition, it is also important to take into account the age of the model since this also influences both the size of the face and that of the features.

How to learn to draw people in pencil step by step?

To draw people in a simpler way, you must start by choosing the sex of your subject and the position in which it will be.

Here I will show you a simple way to make a face without having a photo or a model, just respecting the proportions that I mentioned in the previous part.

STEP 1. BASIC FORMS

As always it begins by tracing the basic shapes. Make the contour of the face, the vertical axis of symmetry, and the lines of the eyes, nose, and mouth.

STEP 2. BASIC LINES OF FEATURES

For this, take the pencil and sketch the shape of the facial features, remember that the eyes do not always have that characteristic French lemon shape.

It delimits the hair, eyes, nose, and mouth; and finally, erase the guidelines.

STEP 3. ADD MORE DETAILS

With a soft pencil drawing ideas, for example, a 2B draw more details, such as the eyebrows, pupils, and iris of the eyes, facial folds, eyelashes, and other small details of the face.

STEP 4. MARK THE SHADOWS

Finally, we will achieve a realistic touch to our face by adding the shadows with the techniques that I explained previously. In the case of faces with a soft pencil highlights the most important points such as the pupils and eyelashes.

Highlighting the pupils and eyelashes will give more depth to the look of our character and much more realism. Also, mark the shadow of the cheek a little to refine the face.

How to Learn to Draw Portraits in Pencil Step by Step?

To draw portraits, the first thing we must do is have the original photo or portrait that we want to draw, since this will be the fundamental tool to start making our ideas drawing.

In the event that you want to make a portrait of a model in person, you should only apply the techniques of the previous part but this time observing very well the facial features of your model.

Now, let’s start with this step by step to draw portraits starting from a photo.

STEP 1. MARK A CHECK IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

Take your picture and with a ruler start marking spaces of the centimeters of your preference, to begin I recommend making measurements of 2cm. The smaller the paintings, the more attention you will pay to details.

Make these marks on each edge of the photo and then join the marks on the parallel sides, that is, right with the left and the top with the bottom, so that you create a grid on the photo.

Finally, list each box.

STEP 2. MAKE THE SAME GRID ON YOUR SHEET OF PAPER

To do this, measure the total length of your photograph and make the large rectangle and then divide it into squares of the same length as the ones in the photo, and list them in the same order as the ones in the photo.

STEP 3. MAKE THE PORTRAIT OUTLINE

After you have the grid, you just have to copy in each square the details that correspond to the square in the photograph, as you will see it is very simple, it is like putting together a puzzle, you only have to copy what is observed in each square.

STEP 4. HOW TO GET THE DETAILS?

If you find it difficult to make a specific detail or structure, you can make diagonal lines at each point and thus enclose that detail in more specific points for a better proportion.

After you have traced it in the photo, remember to apply it in the same way on your drawing tutorials sheet, that is, draw the same lines so that you can guide yourself perfectly.

STEP 5. BRING YOUR DRAWING TO LIFE WITH SHADING

If you have printed your photograph in gray it will be much easier, use the pencils and the smudger to give the touch of softness and realism at once.

Start with the eyes, remember to give the correct brightness, and the shadows will give a good impression of your drawing from the beginning. The soft parts such as the cheeks and the forehead will be achieved with the smudger, that is, soft gray tones.

Finally, locate the rest of the shadows, blur, and add the necessary highlights.

How to Learn to Draw Animals in Pencil Step by Step?

Drawing animals is a task that is somewhat difficult for many cartoonists but with this short guide, you will draw animals like a great professional.

When drawing animals, we are faced with something new… Drawing fur.

As you know, the vast majority of animals have abundant fur and this is precisely what is difficult for cartoonists.

To draw fur, you can follow two great techniques… The first is to draw hair by hair, which will give your drawing more realism.

The second technique is to draw on fur by applying shadows, with this technique you will finish much faster, but I recommend it only if you are going to draw animals with abundant fur.

In the case of feathered animals, the same technique is applied as for fur, it is necessary to draw the feathers together one by one, remember that the feathers are formed by a structure from which several “species of hairs” emerge.

In the case of animals with scales such as fish, snakes, armadillos, among others … The scales must also be drawn one by one, there is no easier way.

So, if what you want is to draw one of these animals you must arm yourself with a lot of patience and as always practice to achieve better results.

How to Learn How to Draw Domestic Animals in Pencil Step by Step?

Domestic animals are typically given by dogs, cats, and rabbits. These three animals have in common that their skin is covered by abundant hairs, so hereafter making the basic shape of our animal the technique will be the same.

In this case, I will teach you to draw a dog, since it is the most common domestic animal … It is man’s best friend.

STEP 1. BASIC FORM

We will start by easy drawing tutorials on the basic shape of our dog’s head, which in this case will be in profile.

Make a circle for the large part of the face where the eyes will go and to the right draw a kind of square for the muzzle.

After you have the base shape add the nose, eye, and ear shapes.

STEP 2. HIGHLIGHT THE CLOSE-UP

To highlight the foreground that would be our puppy, we are going to darken the entire background of our drawing, thus highlighting the drawing.

Use a smudger so that the background is not very solid.

STEP 3. BEGIN TO TUNE THE DETAILS

Begin by detailing the eyes, for this, we are going to refine the lines a bit with a 2H pencil. Then with a 2B or B, begin to define the eyes, remembering to add the point of light.

STEP 4. LET’S START WITH THE HAIR

In this case, our drawing is of a dog with little fur so we are going to use the shading technique to draw it.

Add dark shadow around the eye, largely darkening the upper arch where the brow is, and continue with the soft shading throughout the face.

STEP 5. LET’S DETAIL THE EAR

For this, we will make a gradient on the ear placing the darkest area at the top and a little strong shadow on the edge to create depth.

STEP 6. FINISH WITH THE NOSE AND THE REST OF THE COAT

Also, for the nose, use a strong shading and add a touch of light, this time towards the tip and the top.

And finally, finish the rest of the dog’s skin with the same soft shading, giving a little more contrast in the areas where the light does not affect.

How to Learn to Draw Wild Animals in Pencil Step by Step?

In the case of wild animals, exactly the same techniques apply. In this case, I will teach you how to draw a tiger, since it is an animal with a lot of furs.

STEP 1. BASIC FORMS

As we will always start with the basic shapes of our drawing, make a circle for the head and some curved lines like a kind of mountains for the back and body of our tiger.

STEP 2. OUTLINE THE FEATURES OF THE FACE

Lightly begin by outlining the lines of the nose and lips, adding some solid color to the inside of the nostrils and at the end of the lips.

Then go on to sketch the eyes, to do this, start with two small arches and under them draw the eyes, finish by closing the initial arc, and with this, you will have finished this sketch. How to draw a realistic bird step by step.

STEP 3. REFINE DETAILS OF THE JAW AND COAT

In this step we will draw the lower part of the jaw of our tiger, paying special attention to the fur. To add the fur, we will draw small uneven peaks.

STEP 4. EARS AND MUSTACHES

For the ears, sketch two triangles in the upper part of our tiger’s head, and inside these triangles draw other slightly smaller ones.

Remember to add other small spikes for the fur.

Then close to the tiger’s nose, draw a small black dot for the whiskers, and outline the stripes that will be the black part of the fur.

STEP 5. FINISH THE TIGER’S BODY

In this step, it only remains to sketch the true shape of the body of our tiger and add the body stripes that are in black.

Remember that when you go to draw the chest stripes you must follow a kind of scheme in which all the stripes are achieved on the inner or middle part of the torso.

As once these were techniques for the sketch, in the end just add details of the fur and shadows, and voila… In the same way, I leave you a video with the step by step on how to draw a tiger or wild animal.

How to Learn How to Draw Cartoon Pencils Step by Step?

An easy cartoon drawing is a portrait that exaggerates the characteristics of a person. A large nose, close-set eyes, or spiky hair are commonly used elements in cartoons.

To draw a cartoon, you have to find out what the person we draw has that makes them different from the others and what is considered “ideal”.

STEP 1. LOOK AT YOUR MODEL

In this step, you must evaluate well the facial features of your character, what is larger or smaller than normal, since it is these features that you will use to highlight.

STEP 2. START WITH YOUR DRAWING

In this second step, you should only start making your drawing by exaggerating the distinctive features that you observed in the previous step, remember to only make them a little larger, not distorted, since it could lose the resemblance to the original character.

First, draw the outline (the shape of the face). For this, you can also exaggerate it, if it is triangular, draw it quite triangular if it is rounded making it quite rounded, and so on.

Mark the facial features and draw them, place them in the contour of the face and draw them in the proportions you want, as a recommendation I tell you, do not exaggerate all the features, only some, otherwise, it will be recharged.

Finally, draw a complement or detail that reflects the way of being of your character or his hobbies, this will personalize them a little more.

How to Learn How to Draw Cartoon Pencil Step by Step?

When we refer to cartoons, we automatically think of Disney-type drawings, we remember our childhood and we think of those cartoon icons like Mickey, Donald Duck, the Looney Tunes, among many others.

Cartoons are characterized by having smooth curved lines, that is, in cartoons we rarely see straight or strong lines since curved lines make the drawings softer and more pleasant.

Another outstanding aspect of cartoons are the eyes, the eyes in this type of drawings tend to be large and striking, with which it is possible to express the feelings and emotions of each character.

Now that you know these general characteristics, I will leave you a video so that you can learn step by step to make cartoons.

How to Learn to Draw Landscapes in Pencil Step by Step?

When it comes to drawing landscapes, the first thing we must establish is the type of landscape we want to draw, forest landscapes and we know they are the simplest so it is good that we start by learning about them.

If we draw landscapes in pencil, we must be clear that we will rely largely on the application of shadows and highlights, with this we will achieve the natural and real touch of the drawings.

FIRST STEP.

When making a landscape it is important to establish the horizon, as long as there are no mountains in our drawing. The horizon is nothing more than a horizontal line that marks the limit between the ground and the sky, so to draw it you just have to draw a horizontal line.

SECOND STEP.

After establishing the horizon, we only have to mark the other elements as a sketch, with very smooth lines, so we can locate and establish the composition of our landscape.

THIRD STEP.

Finally add the shading, being a landscape, you must pay attention to the orientation of the lines, they must all go in the same direction, remember that in landscapes the wind influences the movement of the grass.

How to Learn to Draw 3D in Pencil Step by Step?

To make a 3D drawing with a pencil we are going to use the same tips above, that is, apply the shadows correctly to achieve realism.

Start by joining two sheets to have a greater field of work.

STEP 1. MAKE THE SKETCH

In this case, we are going to draw a hand coming out of the sheet. Sketch the outline of the hand in a fairly general way without much detail and mark an angled line coming out of the junction of both sheets, close to the thumb.

After you have the sketch cut out following the angled line and the thumb pull this will leave this structure out of the drawing, then shade the division of the sheet with the pencil.

STEP 2. ADD THE REFLEX SHADOW

This shadow is nothing but the shadow left by real objects when hit by light, this is what will really give the 3D effect.

Draw the shadow under the hand at an angle, following a little the inclination that the cut we made in the sheet gives us.

STEP 3. ADD DETAILS

Finally, add the details to the sketch of the hand that you made, that is, draw the folds and fissures inside and shade a little, as you know will give more realism.

And so, in simple steps, you will have made your 3D drawing in pencil.

How to Learn to Draw Realistic Pencil Drawings Step by Step?

To make realistic drawings basically, we must apply shading and lighting techniques to our drawings in case we do them in pencil.

Following the same tips as for adding shadows, start by setting a point of light and then gradually shading the entirety of your drawing.

Remember that in realistic drawings it is vital to pay attention to details, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.

If you want to make realistic color drawings, you just have to apply the color gradient with the same color or with different shades, remembering to apply more or less pressure to achieve light or dark areas.

As I have already explained how to make correct use of shadows, I will leave you a video on how to draw realistically in pencil, as a general review.

How to Learn to Draw with Colored Pencils?

To draw with colored pencils, you just have to follow the same techniques used to draw with a graphite pencil, that is, the techniques that we have been discussing.

The big difference when drawing with colored pencils is that with these we cannot erase, so we must be sure of the strokes that we make and the color that we are going to use.

If you are starting to draw with colored pencils, I recommend you, starting with soft strokes, so in case you make a mistake it will be easy to correct and perhaps you can erase the stroke you made.

I recommend you make the entire sketch of your work with light colors in a very soft way, and after you have the sketch made you can apply darker tones. Or you can make your sketch with a very light pencil and then add the colors.

When you draw with colors the blur can be done with the same color by adding more or less strength to the line or using different tones.

How to Learn to Draw Roses in Pencil Step by Step?

To drawing flowers, you must start by studying their structure, remember that the petals of roses are concentric and overlap.

Start by making a spiral and from this center add the petals one by one, so that they overlap each other.

After you have the sketch with the marked petals, start shading each one. The shading of the petals must be done individually and you must add some light to the free edge to give it more realism.

Since you know all the techniques to draw in pencil, I leave you multiple tutorials so that you can expand your knowledge of pencil drawings.

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