How to Draw Straight Lines (Freehand)

Hi Sketchers!

Are your sketching lines feels clumsy?
Let’s start to enhance your drawing skills rapidly by focusing on your line quality.
After this video, you will be able to draw straight lines freehand!

4 Simple Exercises to Master Freehand Straight Lines

Today, we improve your sketching skills with these
four easy-to-practice techniques for drawing straight lines without a ruler.

These exercises can be done anytime you have a spare moment,
helping to train your muscle memory and enhance the coordination between your brain and arm⁠.

Even 5 minutes a day is great!

The 4 common mistakes

We will first cover the common mistakes to avoid:

• The Curve: Having the elbow touching the table, which restricts movement and results in curved lines.
• The Shy line: Drawing very slowly and inaccurately due to lack of control.
• The Furry line: Drawing small lines with hesitation, resulting in an uneven, fuzzy appearance.
• The overconfident: Trying to imitate professionals without enough practice, leading to inconsistent line quality.

The 4 exercises

Grab a pen and paper, and try these methods to solve these:

1. The Ghost Drawing: A method to improve line precision⁠
2. The Constellation: A technique for connecting points⁠
3. The Star: An exercise in creating lines⁠ with various angles
4. Pen Pressure Sensitivity: Learning to control line weight⁠

These 4 exercises will help you develop steady hand control
and improve your overall sketching ability to draw with confidence.

Exercise 0 – Before starting, check your drawing body posture

For aspiring industrial design sketchers, a crucial yet often overlooked aspect is body posture⁠.
Many beginners make the mistake of drawing primarily with their wrist or elbow, resulting in stiff and awkward sketches⁠.

To achieve fluid, dynamic sketches:

• Engage your entire arm and body in the drawing process⁠.
• Ensure your shoulder is actively moving while sketching⁠.

Be mindful that poor sketching posture can significantly impact your progress over time if left uncorrected⁠. Developing proper technique from the start will lead to more natural, expressive drawings.

• Do not lift your shoulder.
  Make sure your chair is at a proper height.
• High enough to draw with your full arm (and not your wrist).
  Your arm should be relax and free of movement. You should have a wide range of motion.

Exercise 1: The Ghost drawing

The goal of ghost drawing is to simulate the movement before actually drawing, allowing for visualization and practice of the right motion to achieve confident strokes.

To do:

• Simulate the straight line movement first.
• Make sure you draw with your full arm and not the wrist.
• Visualise your line and let your nib touch the paper gently when you feel confident.
• I recommend you to train drawing with a 45degree angle only. Get good at this angle first.
• Turn your paper when needed.

Benefits

The ghost drawing technique offers several benefits for designers and artists:

• Improved accuracy: By simulating the movement before actually drawing, you can better visualize and plan your lines, leading to more precise sketches⁠.
• Better control: It helps you focus on using your whole arm for drawing, rather than just your wrist or elbow, which can result in smoother, more controlled lines⁠
• Increased confidence: Practicing the movement beforehand can boost your confidence in executing the final stroke⁠.
• Versatility: The technique works for various types of lines, including straight lines, circles, ellipses, C-curves, and S-curves, making it a versatile tool for different sketching needs⁠.
• Momentum building: Ghost drawing helps you build momentum before putting pen to paper, which can lead to more dynamic and fluid lines⁠.

Exercise 2: The Constellation

The exercise is considered “pretty easy” and focuses on connecting each point without overthinking it⁠⁠.
You can practice it anywhere and use it as a drawing warm-up.

• Add 2 dots randomly on your canvas
• Connect them with a straight line

• Focus at looking at your second dot to cross it.
• Feel free to draw beyond

Benefits:

• Improving hand-eye coordination
• Practicing drawing straight lines between specific points
• Developing precision in your sketches
• Building confidence in your line work

Exercise 3: The Star

The star exercise helps in developing better control and confidence in drawing straight lines in various directions, which is crucial for creating more complex sketches and designs.

To do:

• Draw a straight line
• Turn your paper
• Add a second straight line crossing it
• Repeat crossing the intersection

Benefits

• Improving precision in drawing straight lines at various angles
• Practicing turning the paper effectively while sketching
• Drawing stars of different sizes from various angles

Exercise 4: The Pen Pressure Sensitivity

Start with light pressure and gradually build up to darker lines as you gain confidence in your sketch⁠⁠.
This practice can significantly enhance the quality and expressiveness of your drawings.

To do:

• Practice various pen pressure sensitivity by increasing the pressure slowly for each new line
• Start exploring different angle or arm movement

Benefits

• Improved line quality: You can create a range of line weights from light to dark, adding depth and dimension to your sketches⁠⁠.
• Better control: It helps you develop finer control over your pen, allowing for more precise and intentional strokes⁠⁠.
• Increased sensitivity: Your brain learns to intuitively gauge the pressure needed for different effects, enhancing your overall drawing technique⁠⁠.
• Versatility in sketching: You can create gradients, shading, and textures without changing tools⁠.
• Preparation for professional work: Designers use pen pressure variations to create more dynamic and expressive sketches⁠ (Line-weight).

You build long-term drawing confidence

At the end of this video tutorial:

• You will gain great confidence using the basic movement of sketching.
• You will get ready to go further to make your first steps in perspective drawing.

As soon as you master this, it will become intuitive. You will be ready to level up!

• You will start sketching much faster
• Get more precision for your sketches by drawing quality perspective lines.
• You will see progress appear earlier and enjoy drawing more daily.

TIP: Practice straight lines anytime as a warm-up

Professional designers still like to draw straight lines as a good warm-up before a sketching session alongside drawing ellipses and circles. It helps to warm up your hand muscle and start with good motivation! : )

Like how my friend and member of my course Sketch Like The Pros, JonhgHo Lee,
Director of programs and professor at the Samsung Art & Design Institute (SADI) says:

Sketching is like body language (…)
It is all about learning the right movement in a step-by-step procedure.

JonhgHo Lee, Director of programs and professor at the Samsung Art & Design Institute (SADI)

Let’s start drawing!
It is gonna be a really fun journey! 🙂

Cheers,
Chou-Tac