Lines and Circles

A quick 'warm up' exercise which, if practiced regularly, will develop confidence in sketching.

Take a sheet of paper . . . any size, any type . . . but preferably one with a bit of 'bite' or roughness so the pencil does not slip and slide about . . . A4 size is OK.

You can try cartridge paper, 'sugar' paper or the reverse side of brown wrapping paper for example - photocopy paper is not so good but if you have nothing else you will just have to use it.

Take full length pencil . . . never try to draw with a short 'stub' of a pencil. Experiment with a range of grades but start off with softer ones such as HB or 2B.

• Start by drawing lines free hand across the top of the sheet with one continuous movement . . . how straight can you get them? . . . how close together can you draw them? . . . can you vary the pressure or angle of the pencil to make some thicker than others?
• Now do the same but vertically down one side of the sheet - don't turn the sheet around : that's cheating smile
• In the centre of the sheet draw a circle free hand with one continuous movement . . . now draw other circles inside and outside the first one - i.e. concentric circles . . . how close can you get them to each other? . . . can you vary the pressure or angle of the pencil to make some thicker than others?