Creating a Line Drawing

Having Line Drawings can be incredibly useful for painting with any art medium. It means that if you make a mistake, you have a back up of the outline and can start again. Of course no one wants to make a mistake but it's good insurance.But what are the different ways to create a line drawing?Use the Reference PhotoProviding your reference picture isn't a glossy photo or an important copy, you could place it on top of your paper with a carbon in between, and trace it through onto the paper. I recommend you to use a hard pencil - HB or HB1 for this technique.Square DrawingYou can use my Square Drawing Transparent Grids to do the drawing onto normal cartridge paper then use a carbon to trace this onto pastel paper. Using the grids will also improve your free hand drawing.Problems with CarbonsIf you are going to use a carbon, I recommend a good quality black carbon. It won't rub off onto the paper then. However there is a down side to using a carbon, the line is indelible so you can't erase it.The Solution - TracedownThere is a better product out there which is better than using carbons, Tracedown It's Wax Free, Pure Tracing Down Paper and the best thing? You can erase the lines. Which means after you've done the transfer, you can go back over the lines and even change things.With all our art courses, we provide you with a line drawing which you can transfer to pastel paper (we recommend Ingres Fabriano Sand Coloured 160gm paper) or you can print it directly using your home printer. For more information about becoming a member of Colin Bradley Art and to see what you can get, click here.