12 Drawing Exercises to Improve Your Art Skills! Warm-Up Practice

I wanted to have a list of all the exercises. I'm putting it here so y'all have it too :) 0. A nice stretch for your hands. 1. Free hand circles. 2. Crosshatching with different supplies. 3. Continuous line drawing. 4. Value scales. 5. Getting into the zone. 6. Use the other hand. 7. Quick drawings. 8. Line variation. 9. Silhouettes. 10. Creating grids and checker boards. 11. Hand eye coordination – symmetry. 12. Mix and match.

Yes totally agreed on the drawing exercise. People may feel this is quite " childish" by drawing circles, oval ,lines.But this is where foundation is! Awesome sharing Jess😊

As a woman in my 70's, I stopped drawing and painting years ago, but now I'm trying to start over again. My husband is an artist, and he always tells me less is more. I like it when you draw and teach, without speeding up the video. I learn more that way, and I feel if every artist who teaches would put less in one teaching video, us beginners would learn more.

As a self taught artist struggling with ADHD, I really appreciate these videos. I tend to jump into the piece right away. This is a great (and quite relaxing) reminder to be less impatient and let everything flow before I start creating. Thank you, Jess! Have a lovely day!

I'm a beginner and just this year I started to take art seriously, I got overwhelmed with all the things that I had to learn to get better and stopped doing anything in fear of not getting good. I didn't know how to get back on it, even to just start somewhere, but I will definitely try this exercises, thank you so much for the video, needed it. Love you keep the amazing work ! 😍

Just added timing to contents 0. A nice stretch for your hands. 1. Free hand circles. 2:37 2. Crosshatching with different supplies. 4:05 3. Continuous line drawing. 6:59 4. Value scales. 8:19 5. Getting into the zone. 9:26 6. Use the other hand. 10:29 7. Quick drawings. 12:10 8. Line variation. 13:19 9. Silhouettes. 14:35 10. Creating grids and checker boards. 15:15 11. Hand eye coordination – symmetry. 16:46 12. Mix and match. 17:35

As a newbie trying to learn how to draw (I have always said I can't draw), this video was exactly what I needed to try to gain some basic skills. When trying to draw things I can recognize, I find that I am missing basic drawing skills. I am hopeful that these training exercises will lead me down the path to actually be able to draw.

Many thanks for that video Jess. As a 70 yr old total newbie I can see a shed load good common sense measures to get beginners started and help keep more experienced artists in shape. Best wishes & more to your artistry.

I still do all these exercises everyday before I start drawing or when doing studies, it have absolutely helped me gain more confidence when doing my lines. Always a good way to warm up, will recommend other people if they haven't done this exercises yet.

I haven't drawn anything since I was 17 when an art teacher at sixth form college told me I was trying too hard to draw like my twin brother (who is incredible at art). It crushed me. I ditched art there and then. I'm 52 now and found this video. I've just done all 12 exercises! So freeing. Thank you.

You can not only do a drawing, you can also articulate how you are using your body to produce the effect. I took an art class at a local arts & crafts center and the instructor certainly could walk the walk, but he couldn't talk the talk. Thanks for sharing.

I am more of a cartoony artist that just starting to develop more and more…..but I’m glad that someone shares my same thought “ Everything begins with a circle!”

I was surprised by the exercise of drawing with the non-dominant hand. Since I couldn't control my fingers and wrist, I was forced to draw from the shoulders, so the drawing came out pretty good! What a lesson! Thanks 😊

YES!!! This video is the best. Our elementary school art teacher (1966-72) scared me away from art for life. Now I'm 60 and have decided I want to learn to draw. My daughter bought me a book, but this video is better.

A couple of years ago I did the “Draw a Box” course and doing their drawing circles and “ghosted” lines helped me so much. I gained so much confidence in my drawing just from those simple exercises. I look forward to trying these exercises as warmups and seeing where they take me. I think it would be fun to revisit the Draw a Box course, too, just as a refresher. Thanks for the inspiration and thoughts about how to continue improving my skills. Happy Holidays, Jess, and thanks for sharing your know-how with us!

WOW Some great ideas for practice. As a "new" artist (turning 70 in September) I'm thrilled at the opportunity to learn some new techniques, even if they're only practice. I started by learning to paint landscapes about 3 months ago. After a lot of successful feeling about the work, I'm finding that I need to progress, and such lessons as yours are invaluable to help me move on. Having such a lot of fun. Thanks

Hi Jess, I don't know whether this is also useful to anyone but as an artist who works in fine detail I discovered eye exercises a few years ago and have found these really beneficial as my eyesight was starting to deteriorate with the eye strain. They only take about 10 minutes a day to do and have been well worth while seeing a definite improvement. Thanks for a great video.

Yessss, cross hatching is all I needed you to explain, I love them so much but don't know where to apply most of the times

THIS is the only way to fight art block TYSM ✨

Thank you very much for this. I kinda lost touch in making drawings because of depression. It is kinda ironic because other people used it to have ideas to create more artistic stuff but for me I lost inspirations, ideas and in return lost interest. This exercise might slowly keep me in touch to the old me that I lost. I might be able to create artistic stuff again. This gave me hope. I will keep practicing this exercises to develop and enhance the talent again. Thank you very much, I really mean it. 😊