How Do You Draw Like That?

The Question I Get Asked Most Often

“How do you draw like that?” It’s the question I get asked most often in regards to my animal portraits. Most of the time I just smile and try not to blush. Honestly, I never really know what to say. I never really thought about HOW I do it. It’s just something I’ve always done and that naturally progressed as I got older.

So I was asked again recently and this time, I really thought about the question. How do you draw like that?

How do you draw like that? (Photo credit: 123RF.com Image ID: 140419678 Copyright: koldunovaaa)

First of all, it’s not a super power. I started drawing at the same time that we all do. I didn’t always draw very well. But I always drew, nonetheless. Trust me. My mom has some drawings I did back in elementary school. The cat I drew had a tongue as big as its body and ears that looked like a giant horn. Seriously. But as time went on and my coordination improved, my drawings also improved.

Some would say I have natural talent. I’ll admit that it comes pretty easy for me. I had a knack almost from the beginning for seeing like an artist. This topic is covered in my Skillshare class, How to Draw: The Very Basics.  Basically, when I look at something, my mind breaks the total object up into much simpler shapes and analyzes how they relate to each other. It’s natural for me to see perspective, color, shade, etc. and translate all of that onto paper.

How though?

I remember a long, long time ago, back when people actually bought TV Guides. There was an ad for a drawing contest in the back. Some of you Gen Xers may recognize it. I think I drew Tiny and Tippy, but I don’t recall ever sending it in. I believe it was this same ad that had at one time been published with a grid drawing lesson. This is probably the biggest part of the answer to the how do you draw like that question. Generally, I can just eyeball it. But grid drawing is a method that I still use today if I want something to be ultra-precise.

TV Guide art contest

So, what’s a grid drawing?

In a nutshell, you draw a grid over your original reference. Then you very lightly draw a grid on your drawing paper. It can be the same size as the one on your reference, or bigger if you plan to enlarge it. The beauty of this method is, instead of focusing on the entire drawing at once, you focus on your drawing square by square.

It’s actually a great tool for enlarging from the original. For example, if the grid on your reference photo consists of half inch squares and you want our drawing to be twice as large, then make your grid with one-inch squares on your drawing paper. I’ve seen mural artists use this method. They have a grid over their original and another larger wall size grid on the side of a building. The size doesn’t matter, you’re still focusing on individual squares.

The grid is also an excellent tool for beginners because it helps you map things out easier. It slows you down and really trains your eyes how to see. Take the image below. We have a grid over the original image of Tippy. Create another grid on your drawing paper and begin drawing, square by square. Let’s start at the beak. We find the same square space on the empty grid as in the original (four squares down in the left column) and start there.

We can see in the original that Tippy’s beak is right on the bottom line of that square with the tip just poking beneath it. It also starts ever so slightly to the left of the center point of that line and it goes up pretty straight about half way up before curving towards the right. It crosses that top line right about the center of that line. If you do this square by square, you’ll get a line drawing that’s pretty close to the original. With a little practice your drawings will look more and more polished.

Grid over the original with blank grid being filled in one square at a time.

But how do I go from a line drawing to one that’s fully rendered?

That’s usually when I get the how do you draw like that question. It really is the same process. If I want my animal portrait to be super precise, I start off with a very light grid and very lightly sketch out the animal based on the grid over the original photo.

Keep your grid lines dark enough to see but more importantly but light enough to be erased easily or covered over by the drawing. Once I have a basic and very light outline, I start working on shading, or value. Technically, there are no lines in my drawings. I slowly build up the graphite until I get the value that I want by drawing tiny little repeated circles.

The entire time, I’m still mapping things out against the original. For example, I ask myself, where does this tiger stripe start and end within this square? That whisker starts here in this square but ends up two squares over and one row down. Am I making sure that it crosses each square in the same spot as the original?

The image below is an in-progress tiger portrait that I’m worked on a few years ago. There might be some very slight variations where I’ve taken artistic license, but overall it’s pretty precise. For example, I’ve added bamboo to my drawing. With photos that I find online that are not royalty free, I always change just a little bit just in case. It might not protect me 100% from copyright infringement, but I do try to alter things just a bit.

You might have to really look closely to see the grid lines on the drawing. I make them pretty light so that I have no problem covering them up as I go along.

Tiger grid drawing (Art work: Myra Naito)

Practice with this method often enough and it won’t take long before it starts getting easier. You’ll notice that your eye will naturally start to analyze things faster and more accurately than before.

The problem with most non-artists and who have not been trained is that they try to see all things at once. That doesn’t work because being able to draw is a process. Part of the process is starting with the basic shapes first. Being able to break down complex objects into simpler shapes first is crucial. The details are always added afterwards. Everybody wants to get to the details first and that’s not how it works. You have to have the tiger’s body down before you draw the stripes!

Think about it this way…

Let’s say you have the plans to build your dream house. Do you install the details first, such as the fancy windows, doors, trim, etc. before the foundation, framework, and drywall? No, of course not. You have to have to construct a solid foundation, framework, and walls first. The windows and doors are like the stripes on the tiger. Don’t rush things. Take it step by step.

The rest is just practice. Nobody is born an expert!

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If you’re interested in learning how to draw and have other people ask you, “How do you draw like that?”, check out my Skillshare class, How To Draw: The Very Basics. It really is the very basics because you have to start somewhere. And like everything in life, there is a foundation. This class covers the basic elements of art. The class is free and if you upgrade to a premium membership, it’s only .99 for three months!

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