See Better, Draw Better: Exercises for Beginners

Course Overview

Train your hands and eyes to work together for fantastic drawings! Guided by Kateri Ewing, this course offers thoughtfully crafted exercises designed to create harmony between your observation and hand movement. Boost your drawing skills with step-by-step lessons in seeing, gestural drawing, contrast, tonal control, and bringing finished, realistic drawings to life.

Video Lesson List

1. Introduction & Starting to See

Discover why truly “seeing” is the foundation of great drawing. Kateri explains this essential concept, reviews tools and materials, and leads you through a blind contour exercise to highlight common beginner challenges and how to overcome them.

Duration: 19 min

2. Loosen Up! Simple Hand/Eye Training

Learn to relax and synchronize your hand and eye with gestural drawing exercises. Explore a variety of mark-making techniques to add energy and realism to your work.

Duration: 22 min

3. Contrast: Create the Illusion of Light & Form

Unlock realism by working with contrast! Use charcoal to explore tonal range, practice reductive drawing, identify light sources, and add highlights and detail for dynamic images.

Duration: 24 min

4. The Dark Side: Shadow Shapes

Master shadow shapes for greater dimension. Kateri demonstrates techniques for identifying and rendering shadows, refining drawings with dark values, and adding precise detail.

Duration: 20 min

5. Losing the Lines: Refined Tonal Drawings

Combine your skills to approach more complex subjects, such as a bird. Focus on blending, developing realistic form, and navigating subtle shifts between light and dark for soft, natural edges.

Duration: 20 min

6. Putting It Together: Realistic Drawing

Bring all your practicing together by adding details and texture for a lifelike drawing. Learn techniques for reflective eyes, feather textures, and dramatic contrast to complete your artwork with confidence.

Duration: 29 min