Some time back I was asked a question that looks frequent among starter artists who just begin to learn drawing: " how and where to take the first step to drawing??" Don’t be misled into thinking this is a too simple and silly a question. Although the answer may seem obvious,  I've seen a lot of artists that are unsuccessful because they don’t pursue these principles.

 Once artists come up with a new drawing without an organized and structured format  they can fail. Not that I believe much in structures and strict rules.  Sticking to some really plain and obvious rules when preparing  a new drawing will make your work much easier.

Why are you drawing?

 First question yourself not only what you feel like drawing  but also why do you like to draw it? What is the message you’re trying to give the viewer?  Knowing the communication you’re trying to express  to your targeted people is a crucial first step. For example, imagine that you want to draw the picture of a dog then ask yourself why? Is it to show how cute he is?  Is it to illustrate how skillful a hunter he is?  To demonstrate how unsafe he is? Is it in memory of him?

 Having known what the message is  the next step is to consider how you can use the elements and techniques to convey it. You can use perspective, dark and shadows, colors, composition, add different details, use different drawing techniques etc.

 Next you should endeavor to find out where your picture is going  by drawing plenty of little thumbnail sketches.  Try numerous ways to create the drawing,  see what actually looks good and what doesn’t. Make these sketches quickly.  The initiative is to put the entire composition into place, so you don’t need to spend time adding a lot of details on them.

 It’s often very tough, even for professional artists,  not to jump in advance and start on the last picture before things are really reflected through.  But this situation often ends with that effort going into the drain  once you’ve realized that your first plan didn’t materialize the way you’d first contemplated. So it’s a very good idea to use the preliminary steps  when starting a drawing as it will prevent a lot of labor in the long run.

 Getting on track with drawing

You have finally sketched a composition you like to translate in a full-blown drawing?  Then it's time to move forward. This time it's not speed but beauty you want to strive for. And there are some tips that will help you to create the beautiful drawing you want to create– without too many unfruitful attempts.

 It's all in relation to the order in which to approach the different parts of your drawing ideally.  To sum up there are just two easy rules:

Start with light tones, proceed to darker tones

 This lets you to rectify little mistakes  you have done at the start as the darker tones can conceal any of your errors.

 Start with less details and focus on details later

 In the majority of cases the drawings get waste by indistinct size, perspective and composition.  So begin by positioning the entire drawing  with no details, just in faint lines. This makes sure you'll introduce all errors in perspective and proportion early in the process. If something goes really bad then, you can start over again without losing too much work. And all smaller blemishes  still can be remedied effortlessly as there are only faint lines and no details in drawing.

 Inspite of you being qualified and drawing for years,  it will be perfect for you to refresh your mind about these tips once all over again.  In fact I'm forgetting these guiding principles very often –  and bringing in errors into my drawings that could have been prevented.  And you'll notice these guidelines are even more helpful, if you've just set out to learn drawing.