Sketch Like An Artist!

I have an empty space on my gallery wall and I’ve been looking for a simple piece of art to fill it. However, I have not been able to find anything that I love. So, I decided to try my hand at drawing. I’m not an artist and my skills are very limited, so I improvised! Here is a trick to make fake sketches that look like the real thing; you will not need to attend a class at the the School of Fine Arts, or spend your time on online tutorials to be able to draw like this. And although your piece of art will surely never make its way to a Sotheby’s auction, you’ll certainly have fun while making it!

Here is how to draw a sketch, the fake way.

You’ll need:

Chose a picture of something you like. It can be a person, your pet, the facade of your house, your garden, an architectural element, or something you just found on the internet (in that case, make sure that there are no copyrights involved and that it is allowed to reproduce the image). Print on regular paper or make a photocopy if it’s from a photo. Resize if needed. You can  use a color print but a black & white one will be easier to reproduce. I chose an animal of the wild – I’ve always had a love for elephants.

Next, slide a sheet of black graphite paper between the photo/print-out and the watercolor paper. I especially like watercolor paper with deckled edges. You can create deckled edges, too, by running a knife through folded paper. I also purposely used paper that has irregular dimensions, just as if I were an artist that was capturing the moment in the wild!

Trace the outline of the image on the photo/print-out (you can reuse the same graphite paper over and over again). It will transfer on the watercolor paper. Continue by creating shades: press the pencil more in the darker areas and less in the lighter ones. Before removing the photo and the graphite paper, make sure that you have drawn all the contour lines. Create more additional shades directly on the watercolor paper, if needed. Your art piece will be ready in less than 10 min!

Don’t forget your signature! And make it abstract to look really artistic!

Erase the shady spots that are not part of the image, but not all of them. After all, you’re still an artist for the day, with messy hands full of graphite.

Frame and hang!