A drawing for kids guide with graphite tips and techniques!

Every great artist develops their skill and passion somewhere. We create premium art supplies specifically made to artistically inspire kids and encourage their creativity. Graphite sketching is not just for adults. We have easy and fun tips and techniques to help your young budding artist learn how to draw and feel confident in their work.

Getting Started with Learning How to Draw and Sketch

Just like learning how to write, drawing for kids is a unique expression of their individual style, personality, and imagination. Learning how to draw and sketch is a great foundation for kids to learn the elements of design. Sketching is done using simple shapes and quick, free form lines. Together, they create the foundation for the drawing. Beginning to learn how to draw and sketch starts with learning how to hold a pencil. It is important for your child to understand – there is no “right way” to hold a pencil, rather the way they hold their pencil affects the outcome of their drawing.

Perpendicular: Hold the pencil straight up and close to the tip using the point to draw crisp, tight, dark lines and details. This grip is also good for filling an area with fun tiny swirls or zig zags.

Free stroke: Hold the pencil lightly at the end and make light sweeping, swirling marks.

Underhand: Hold with palm facing up and grab the pencil as if they are shaking hands with it. Try drawing on a vertical surface using a large sheet of paper. This position will feel odd to kids at first, but it will help loosen up their strokes.

Overhand: Keeping the same grip, rotate hand so the palm is down.

Sideways: Use the side of the lead, holding the pencil almost parallel to the paper. This grip is good for doing rubbings, creating shadows and filling in large areas.

Drawing Warm – Up Challenge!

Take your pencil for a walk along your paper. Do this by drawing and creating swirls around the paper without lifting the pencil. Finish your masterpiece by filling in some of the spaces with dots, lines, and other shapes to create an abstract design.

Techniques:

Once they are comfortable with how to hold their pencil, kids can let their creativity come to life with a few of these basic techniques. Let them get familiar with the qualities of each different pencil by scribbling and doodling. A kid’s love for scribbling is a great way to learn shading and depth later on in their process of learning how to draw.

Kid’s can easily learn how to draw with detail and dimension starting with a few easy techniques.

Smudging: Time to get a little messy! After drawing graphite marks, kids can use their fingers to smudge the graphite to form shapes and add shading.

Hatching: Draw parallel lines very close to each other. Cross hatch by drawing parallel lines that overlap. Now add lines that cross at an angle. Last, create varying degrees of darkness by applying more lines in some sections. This drawing technique is not only fun but is also a great opportunity to teach kids degrees and angles.

Dots and Dashes: Also known as stipple marks! Use dots and short dashes close together to create a shadow.

Texture: Make drawing an outdoor activity. Kids can find their drawing tool in nature such as a leaf, stone, or tree bark and place their paper and draw over that tool to create texture.

Take it to the Next Level

These easy techniques are only the beginning. Kids can learn how to draw and sketch further with more advanced techniques including: erasing, emboss, 3-D art, contour drawing, forms, creating shadows, portraits, perspective, and more. Faber-Castell Do Art Drawing and Sketching and Sketch Basics kits can further teach your kids how to draw with these easy techniques.

Do Art Drawing and Sketching includes: 4 Goldfaber Graphite Pencils, 3 black pens, a plastic zippered storage pouch, a 20-page spiral bound sketchbook, 6 sheets of colored drawing paper, 8 sheets of vellum paper, a plastic copy grid, one eraser, and one sharpener, and instructions.

Sketching Basics set includes: 4 premium pencils including both soft and hard leads (6B, 2B, HB, and 2H), a 20 page 4” x 6” sketch book, instructions, sharpener, an eraser, and instructions.

Both kits include the tools and tricks that make drawing for kids easy and fun giving them the creative confidence to artistically grow.