Drawing is more than just picking up a pencil and scribbling. It's an art form with its own rules, techniques, and styles.
The best way to learn them all is practice but in case you're looking for some direction, here are five tips that can help you improve your drawing composition:
Light
Light is one of the most powerful tools in a visual artist's arsenal. It can be used to draw attention to certain parts of a drawing, create shadows and depth, and even affect the mood of your piece.
The placement of light sources can give you a sense of where it is coming from the direction it's traveling in and how bright or dim those lights are.
This will have an impact on your composition as well: if you want to show that something is hidden behind something else, by placing your light source off-camera (behind), then moving it closer as it goes up into the sky; this will create enough shadow that things become more visible but don't reveal too much about what's going on behind them yet!
Composition
Composition is the arrangement of elements in a work of art. It can be as simple as arranging shapes on a page, or it can be more complex and involve the arrangement of colors and textures.
Composition is important because it helps you create a visual balance in your artwork. If you don't have proper composition, your work could look too busy, unfinished, or even chaotic.
Anatomy
Anatomy is the study of the human body, including its structure and function. It's important for artists to know anatomy because it can help them draw better.
The terms used in anatomy are often confusing, but you don't have to be a medical student or attend university to learn them!
You can find plenty of resources online that explain simple concepts like muscles and bones in a way that's easy for anyone to understand.
With this information at your fingertips, you'll soon be drawing more natural-looking bodies—and with the right materials, maybe even get started on some anatomical drawings!
Perspective
Perspective is the art of making objects appear to recede into space. It's a way of drawing objects so they look realistic and as though they are in front of you.
To better understand perspective, it helps to imagine yourself standing at some place in your drawing (the viewer's viewpoint). The lines that intersect in three-dimensional space are called "vanishing points," or "VPs." These VPs act as milestones for objects in your composition:
Anything above or below those VPs will appear higher than the horizon line; anything between them will appear at eye level; and anything behind them will seem closer than anything else—even if everything's on the same plane.
Depth
Another key to creating depth is overlapping objects. The more elements you can put into the same space, the more dimensional your drawing will be. A lot of times we use this by putting background objects behind foreground objects, but we also use it to create visual interest and a sense of perspective.
For example, in this drawing of a ladybug on a leaf there are two elements that overlap: the ladybug's face and body (which is partially hidden by its head) and the leaf's stem (which appears above her body).
This creates an impression of both layers being slightly out of focus at first glance because they're both equally important—the stem gives us spatial context while her face provides us with emotional context.
Drawing is more than just expressionist scribbles.
Drawing is a skill that can be learned. You don't have to be born with it, and you don't need special talent or artistic ability. Drawing is a way of seeing the world around us, through the eyes of a painter.
It's not just about making marks on paper; it's about seeing what you see and then recreating it using lines, shapes, values and colors in such a way that others can experience what you observed firsthand--in essence recreating the world in your own unique way for others to enjoy!
Conclusion
The post is meant to be a guide, not a rulebook. Drawing is fun, but you shouldn't feel pressured to follow the steps in a strict order or do them all at once.
If you're feeling stuck on one particular stage of your drawing, move on to another and come back later! The important thing is to keep at it—and have fun doing so.