learning to sketch

8 min readFeb 4, 2021

Part of being enrolled in “Methodology of Visualization” means completing drawing exercises during and in-between classes.

Here, I will compile all of them.

2/3/21: stones, sticks, and leaves

focus: the lines and curves, not drawing the entire object

materials collected from my walk to Shadyside (s/o Arriviste and Caboodle!)

2/4/21: bad memory + some arcs

focus: relying on what I can visually remember and technique (using wrist vs. elbow vs. pen pivots)

2/6/21: practice pages

focus: altering movements (different muscle groups), contrast (light or heavy pressure), direction

page mixing arcs, straight lines, and round shapes

Note: It’s crazy how looking at this page from afar made me realize just how off my 90 degrees were. Up close, they looked fine. But, when you look at the page as a whole, it looks super wonky!

page of triangles (not my straightest lines)

Note: This page was tough because you had to either move your hand at the right angle or position the sketchbook perpendicular to your line. Both were difficult.

page of going from ‘round’ to more circular and larger shapes

Note: I still have to work on my circles. I wonder if using a different pen would help (currently using a muji 0.5 pen instead of a ballpoint).

2/9/21: circles and squares

focus: connecting points and using geometry

another way to make squares from circles

Note: this day, I used a mechanical pencil which led to quite a bit of smudging even though I really liked the pen feel (more control, contrast, and precise lines)

2/11/21: more shapes!

focus: not being afraid to utilize different tools and pens, also beginning to make drawings using division and expansion

2/11/21: 200 item gauntlet

focus: iteration through flat shapes

2/17/21: vessel study

focus: really trying to get the proportions right, using fractions (remember those?)

I think I got pretty close to the actual proportions (as close as you can get with eyeballing).

2/20/21: playground research

focus: finding interesting angles and perspective views that you might not be able to directly copy, but have to make up in your mind

super cool style, and one I haven’t really seen

some nice round shapes in a unique format

very modular, nice opportunity to imagine side views

some interesting ceilings and slide shapes

I liked how all the specs were all on one sheet

very simple top down view, to begin with

my initial attempts at varying perspectives, each was given around 10 minutes for observation and another 10 minutes for sketching

2/25/21: people!

focus: more proportions, especially as it relates to human bodies

3/1/21: people! on playgrounds!

focus: how people might fit into playground scenes, this is where I realized that kids have super weird proportions

3/2/21: even more people

focus: getting different angles and actions from human proportions

3/2/21: cylinders + people

focus: practicing how to draw cylinders (rounded edges, no corners, a wider circle base)

3/4/21: 2-point perspective

focus: trying to get the perfect cubes and cylinders

class drawings after a long day of zoom meetings

3/5–6/21: 50 cubes and 50 cylinders

focus: practice drawing symmetrical cubes and cylinders

3/9/21: cube critique + translation

focus: notes to help refine my cubes and cylinders, starting to combine old techniques (90 degrees + expanding sides)

3/11/21: human refresher + cube modifications

focus: more human sketching and imagining how to turn cubes into other shapes (rectangles, triangles, pyramids, cylinders)

human sketch warm-up and modifying cubes

3/16/21: 3D vessels

focus: starting to make non-basic shapes 3D!

3/18/21: some humans + movement

focus: drawing lots of people in short timespans and adding movement and play into the 3D sketches

timed human crowd drawing and some interesting 3D shapes

some initial play spaces that I tried, basically just starting to put different shapes on a surface

3/22/21: 3D modifications

focus: adding curves to the 3D shapes we know and an exercise in grids + tone

3/25/21: memory exercise

focus: try, try, try again when you don’t have a reference

Note: part 2 with my daily sketches day 53 — 54

3/27/21: one-pager

focus: creating a cohesive play space with specs of design details

3/30/21: collaborative play space

focus: sketching what our team designed in Miro (which was difficult btw)

3/30/21: kitchen specs

focus: figuring out measurements and the specs of my apartment kitchen

4/1/21: one-point perspective

focus: trying out a new perspective and how to draw spaces with it

Note: class sketches with my daily sketches day 58–59

4/6/21: food storyboards

focus: telling a story through sketches

4/7/21: the beginning of green onion pancakes!

focus: initial note-taking and information needed in order for me to sketch

4/8/21: HANDS

focus: learning how to draw hands in different poses

4/11–15/21: more practice

focus: getting prepped for my food sketching video

4/16/21: tool studies

focus: proportions of various tools I wanted to show

4/20/21: storyboard planning

focus: deciding what frames I needed to communicate my point

4/21/21: storyboards take 2

focus: trying some more interesting layouts

4/27/21: chairs

focus: seeing a picture from one perspective and being able to sketch it based off one’s imagination

5/6/21: last class!

focus: ~plants~

Thus ends this class. Thank you for reading. I’ll definitely continue sketching in the future. Watch out, world.

learning to sketch

Written by Cydney Vicentina