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  • Are you tired of messy, wobbly lines? Tired of not having any control of your pencil?

  • Are you only capable of using a series of short strokes? Well don’t throw in the towel

  • just yet! Try drawing from the power of your shoulder! With just a few short years of practice

  • you can draw gestural, fluid lines like you've always wanted. By using this patent-pending

  • new arm motion we guarantee youll be able to complete that curve with one beautiful

  • stroke! Stay tuned to find out how you can CHANGE YOUR LIFE!

  • There are two common ways to hold your pencil while drawing:

  • Tripod Grip - Holding the pencil with your thumb, index and middle fingers, like writing.

  • This grip is more comfortable for using the tip of the pencil. Not practical to use the

  • side. It’s also comfortable to control with your fingers to draw very small precise lines.

  • So, it’s good for small strokes and thin lines that are uniform in weight.

  • Overhand Grip - Holding your hand over the pencil. Your hand should be relaxed with the

  • fingers and thumb lightly holding the pencil. You can still use the tip of the pencil by

  • one of two ways. If drawing on a horizontal surface like a tabletop, simply bend the wrist

  • forward a bit. If drawing on a vertical surface such as a pad resting on your knees or an

  • easel, you can flip your wrist upside down to use the tip. Along with the tip, the overhand

  • grip allows you to use the side, which is much more versatile than the tip. You can

  • get thick soft lines, thin lines, and a transition between the two.

  • Controlling the Pencil

  • Since grade school we are accustomed to using the pencil for writing. Since writing only

  • requires our wrist, we have decades of muscles memory developed for handling the pencil with

  • our wrists. Though there’s nothing wrong with using our wrist when it makes sense,

  • we would be limiting ourselves if we didn't go beyond the wrist.

  • The wrist serves well for small strokes and details.

  • The shoulder serves well for short AND long strokes. It’s much better for steady lines

  • and fluid gestural lines.

  • Your shoulder provides a greater range of motion than your wrist. So, when drawing larger

  • shapes, curvy lines, use your shoulder. This is especially useful for gesture drawing.

  • Once you need to add some little details, you can switch to the tripod grip. Again,

  • it’s ok to use your wrist and hold the pencil with the tripod grip for smaller details,

  • but watch out for this...

  • Since using your wrist doesn't allow longer strokes, we end up drawing a bunch of short

  • lines to create one longer line. This can get messy and you may end up with hairy lines.

  • Using the Overhand Grip

  • Holding the pencil overhand allows you to use the side of the pencil. When sharpened

  • correctly (as I explained in the pencil sharpening video..) this allows you to get larger strokes

  • of tone. If you press lightly and layer one stroke over another, you can get soft gradations.

  • You can roll the pencil forward or backward to control the thickness and edge quality

  • of the line. Use the area closer to the tip for a thinner sharper line and use the middle

  • for a thicker softer line. And everything between..

  • Also, you can change the angle of your stroke to control the line thickness. Stroking perpendicular

  • to the length of the pencil creates a thick line like I just showed. Pulling the pencil

  • downward, parallel to the length of the pencil creates a thin line. So you don’t need to

  • use the tip, though you can.. With a slight turn of the wrist while youre pulling the

  • stroke, you can create a line that changes from thin to thick. This variation in line

  • weight adds a good dynamic to our drawings. It’s kind of like using a calligraphy pen

  • instead of a ballpoint pen.

  • The combination of an overhand grip and using your shoulder allows for the widest range

  • of motion and line type. Most of the drawing can be done this way.

  • Muscle Memory

  • When we first start holding it like that it feels weird because we don’t have good control

  • of our shoulder. We've only practiced using our wrists to write. We need to train our

  • shoulder. It’s like playing sports. Repeat the motion so many times that it becomes intuitive.

  • Our friends at Wikipedia say Muscle memory is "a form of procedural memory that involves

  • consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When a movement is repeated

  • over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be

  • performed without conscious effort. This process decreases the need for attention and creates

  • maximum efficiency within the motor and memory systems.”

  • So, at first, drawing in this new way is a distraction. Our mind has to focus on moving

  • the shoulder correctly instead of making decisions about the drawing. Fight the temptation to

  • revert back to just using your wrist with the tripod grip. Overtime as you develop the

  • muscle memory you won’t need to think about it and youll use the pencil like a Jedi

  • master.

  • Exercises

  • Start training you shoulder by filling pages of curves, circles and straight lines. Draw

  • two dots and connect them with a straight line to train your hand eye coordination.

  • Or draw 4 dots and connect them with an ellipse. Tryghostingthe lines first by practicing

  • the motion before making contact with the paper. This is a great warm up before starting

  • your drawing session.

  • You can also practice controlling your line weight by shifting your curves from thin to

  • thick.

  • Or if you struggle with filling in large areas with clean tone, then draw a 6x6 inch square

  • and fill it in with a clean tone. It helps to shade only on the down strokes and lift

  • the pencil off the paper on the way back up. Focus on keeping the distance between each

  • stroke consistent and using the same amount of pressure each time. A very good exercises

  • for hand-stability and pressure sensitivity. If you end up with dark and light lines, it

  • means either your stroke distance or pressure is inconsistent. btw, a well sharpened pencil

  • helps a lot

  • ***

  • I think you should check out the premium courses. Head over to proko.com/store for the full

  • line up. Youll find cool things like Portrait Drawing, Figure drawing, Art Model Poses and

  • a poster of Human Proportions. Whaaat?!

  • If you like this video, share the wealth, tell your friends. Post it on your favorite

  • social network. Subscribe to the Proko newsletter if you want to be updated about new videos.

  • Buh Bye!

Are you tired of messy, wobbly lines? Tired of not having any control of your pencil?

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