Everything You Need to Know About Free hand drawing

If you are a beginner in art, it might be tempting to keep depending on mechanical tools such as rulers, stencils, grids, or compasses to draw. Tracing or copying drawings from other pictures may appear to be a relatively easy, risk-free task compared to free hand drawing.

Credit: Robert Rosenthal

Although this can be a useful starting point if you’re new to drawing, constantly relying on other references or instruments leaves little scope for growth. As you evolve as an artist, it becomes vital to hone your skills and master freehand drawing. But what does freehand drawing mean?

What is Freehand Drawing?

By definition, doing something freehand or free hand means doing it by hand, without support from guiding aids or measuring instruments. This means no tracing another image or using any tools, including a ruler! But, of course, using an eraser is an exception. Freehand drawing essentially refers to sketching with only your hands, pencil, and paper, observational abilities, and imagination.

Freehand drawing dates back to the Italian Renaissance. It was a fast sketching way to capture motion and feeling. The freehand style can be relaxing to do. But, if need be, it can be an elaborate and detailed technique to create realistic drawings. Most artists aim to master freehand drawing ultimately.

Credit: Jean-Baptiste

Why should emerging artists experiment with freehand sketching? It enables them to get an improved grasp of proportions and perspective, especially in the case of 3D visuals. Freehand drawings let the artist experiment without stringent limitations and develop their own unique art style. Such images are more likely to reflect their personal expression rather than simply replicating an image.

Essential Freehand Drawing Techniques

It is entirely acceptable for beginners or even experienced artists to use specific mechanisms for aiding or enhancing their drawings. Irrespective of how one produces it, ethically created art is valuable. But learning how to do freehand drawings instills excellent drawing skills in you and can also be a confidence booster.

Courtesy of Dom Publishers

Once you get the hang of it, you can draw beautiful sketches anytime, anywhere, without needing a bunch of apparatus or references. Many art styles come under freehand drawings, such as sketching, doodl