Freehand sketch 101
¡°What types of pens you use to do sketches?¡± ¡°Can you recommend any books on freehand sketches? ¡°I want to improve my drawings, but I don¡¯t know where to start.¡±¡ If you have similar questions, you might be able to find some help from this article.
Freehand sketch is an excellent tool, not only in recording the first sparkle of design ideas, but in recording the feeling of spaces. In this article we¡¯re not going to talk about specific drawing techniques. We only hope we can help you to get a quick start..
We¡¯ll start with basic equipment. For me, a roller-ball pen and a sketch book with good quality paper is a must. Considering the time constraint of freehand sketching, the size of your sketch book shouldn¡¯t be too big. (8.5x 11¡± the maximum I think), I like to use roller ball pens with pre-filled ink because they¡¯re easy to carry around. Traditional fountain pens can cause you some trouble when the nib is clogged, but the variation of stroke weight makes your drawing interesting. Both roller ball pens and fountain pens are good at representing details. Pencils are ideal for adding rich grey tones to your drawing. Charcoal is a quick media to use alone I think; I had trouble combing it with other medias. To preserve your pencil and charcoal drawing, a spray fix is a must; Now what we¡¯re missing? Color! Color is a very important way of representing building environment. Art marker is quick and can be combined with pens or use alone;. Other things I would recommend are: a telescope for observing details when you¡¯re standing too far away; a small camera and a bottle of pepper spray.
Now we¡¯ve everything we need, let¡¯s get into the street and get started! The first thing you¡¯re going to face is fear. People are curious; they¡¯ll make comments and ask you different questions. Believe me, keep practicing, some day, on the street, they will ask to buy your drawings.
