Ultimate Guide To 31 Drawing Styles For Beginners

As a beginner in the world of drawing, it’s important to know a few major drawing styles that can help you better understand and appreciate the art form. There are hundreds of drawing styles out there, but we’ll just focus on a few for now!

Line Art

Let’s begin with one of the simplest and most fun drawing styles – line drawing! All you have to do is start with a single line and never lift your pencil off the paper. It’s amazing how just one line can turn into anything you want to draw, by curving and bending in different ways.

You might worry about making mistakes and ruining your progress, but don’t worry! With line drawing, there’s no right or wrong way to do it, and you can always change the direction of the line if you need to.

In fact, mistakes can be opportunities to create something new and unique. So don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. Remember, there are no limits to your creativity!

Pointillism/Stippling Drawing Style

It may seem simple, just using dots to create a picture, but it actually requires a lot of patience and attention to detail. This may be challenging for beginners who are short on patience, but practicing pointillism can teach you the value of patience in the art world.

Creating an artwork using pointillism involves making thousands to millions of tiny dots on the canvas, which eventually form a cohesive image. It’s a very meticulous and precise form of using paint on canvas.

Many of the masterpieces we admire took countless hours of raw talent and hard work to create. Having the talent and skill is great, but it’s the time and effort invested in refining those skills that truly make an artist stand out.

Doodling

Not all drawing styles are focused on drawing some planned, detailed and careful art making. Some are just to pour out spontaneous thoughts then and there. This is much like rapping, but with a pencil.  So, let your hand flow freely on the paper, and you might be surprised at what your subconscious mind produces. It’s a great way to relieve stress and let your emotions flow through your art. Plus, it’s a fun way to explore your creative side without worrying about the outcome.

Doodling is a style that allows you to experiment with different shapes, and create something that is unique to you. Don’t be afraid to use bold lines, vibrant colors, and various textures to make your artwork stand out.

So, if you’re feeling stressed or just need a break from the routine, grab a pencil and start doodling. Who knows, you might just discover a new style that you love!

Cartoon Drawing

We are a generation who all took inspiration from certain cartoon characters in our childhood, making them a subconscious part of our personality. I mean, who can deny being inspired by the Pocahontas, looking up to Simba, or wishing luck to Courage the cowardly dog? All those cartoons are the result of artists’ creativity and imagination that breathed life into those drawings and left unforgettable impressions in our early days.

Drawing your favorite cartoon characters is not only a fun and creative exercise but can also help you develop your skills in character design and animation. By practicing drawing these characters, you can gain a better understanding of their unique features, shapes, and movements.

Moreover, you can also use this as an opportunity to add your own personal touches and create unique versions of these characters. You can experiment with different colors, outfits, and facial expressions to make them your own.

Let your imagination run wild and create your own versions of your favorite cartoon characters. It’s a great way to have fun, be creative, and improve your drawing skills.

Anime/manga Drawing style

You must have heard people call them “Japanese Cartoon”, which is true in a sense, but the art style is different. And this is the art style that concerns us as artists. Some of your favorite cartoons like Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z are examples of anime.

Anime has gained popularity worldwide due to its unique characteristics such as big eyes, exaggerated facial expressions, and dramatic storylines. It offers a wide range of styles, from cutesy and whimsical to dark and dystopian.

Anime, or Japanese animation, is an art style that has gained popularity worldwide due to its unique characteristics such as big eyes, exaggerated facial expressions, and dramatic storylines. It offers a wide range of styles, from cutesy and whimsical to dark and dystopian.

Here is a cool tutorial by Zan Draw Art of a cute anime drawing:

Photorealism / Hyperrealism Drawing

We know how to take a picture with a camera in our hands, but you might be surprised to know that there are people who can take, I mean make, pictures just with their hands. They are hyperrealism artists, who want to replicate the power of their eyes with their hands.

Hyperrealism can be a challenging form of art that requires a lot of patience, attention to detail, and practice. If you don’t get it right the first time, don’t lose hope. It’s important to remember that not everyone needs to be a hyperrealism artist to be considered an accomplished artist. There are many other styles and techniques to explore, and finding the one that resonates with you is what matters the most.

And if you think it is for you, practice and practice, I’ve seen people improve with each drawing (yes, I’m people 😃)

Architectural Drawing

Did you know that architectural drawing can also be a fun hobby to pursue? Many artists on Instagram draw beautiful architectural designs as a hobby and not just as a profession.

But don’t be fooled, architectural drawing is also a real job in the civil engineering field, and those who are skilled in it can earn a good income. To be good at it, you need to have a solid understanding of measurements, depth, angles, and perspective.

So if you enjoy working with numbers and have an eye for detail, architectural drawing could be the perfect hobby or even career for you!

Fashion Drawing

You must already know about fashion designing, well a necessary part of it is to first sketch their designs on paper. By drawing characters wearing different outfits straight from your imagination, you can bring your ideas to life and create your own unique style. Who knows, maybe this could be your start to becoming a fashion designer!

Academic drawing style

Did you know that in medical, engineering, and other academic books, there are often sketches, diagrams, and pictures alongside the text to help readers better understand the content? These drawings fall into the category of academic drawing style, and while they may seem conventional, they play a crucial role in making complex ideas easier to comprehend.

If you have a passion for drawing, you can even specialize in a specific subject like human anatomy or architectural drawing. Who knows, maybe you could even turn it into a career by drawing pictures for the press or authors!

Classical drawing style

Did you know that classical artworks all have one thing in common? They all capture still human emotions in some way, shape, or form. Whether it’s through a single still image with an expression of human emotion or a more complex composition, classical art is known for its ability to evoke powerful feelings and emotions.

While many drawing styles have been used to produce classical masterpieces, classical art is more focused on the subject matter rather than the style itself. Sketching, in particular, is a simple yet effective style that is often seen in classical art.

There’s something truly captivating about classical drawing style that continues to inspire artists today. Those old pieces of art, with their eyes devoid of expression yet full of emotions, speak volumes without saying a word. If you’re drawn to classical works of art, why not try replicating them yourself? It’s a great way to get started before moving on to creating your own unique artworks.

Sketching

Sketching is all about drawing an image outline and shading it to create depth and dimension. It is one of the first skills every artist learns to be able to understand other drawing forms. The art of shading is the essence of sketching, but it takes practice to master. If you’re a beginner, don’t worry – shading is a skill that can be learned!

To start, try shading basic shapes like spheres, cubes, and cones. These simple forms will help you get a feel for how light falls on different surfaces and how shadows are created. You can also experiment with different shading techniques like cross-hatching, stippling, and blending.

Remember, the key to mastering shading is practice! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and keep trying until you find a technique that works for you. With time and dedication, you’ll be able to create beautifully shaded sketches that bring your drawings to life!

Comic drawing styles

What is better than storytelling? Story showing. This is what comics basically are. If you too have a story that you want to tell visually, then you must try this genre. Though the art style is relatively simple in comics, it is the story and dialogue that makes it great. However, you can only use the drawing style to master it first, and then maybe hire a writer to write a story?
Impressionism

In this, small yet discrete strokes of the thin brush are used to make the whole artwork. This technique results in the unique visual of unblended color and sharp light. This requires a lot of patience and artistry to know when to draw which like and with what intensity.

Realism Drawing Style

Drawing anything as it is, or how it exists in reality, is realism. Drawing two men shaking hands, drawing little birds sitting on a branch, or a herd of sheep grazing in the pasture are all realism drawing styles. Many people like to follow this niche as they are realists themselves, considering it a kind of deception and unnecessary convolution to draw things in a complex way.

Surrealism Drawing Style

This is the opposite of realism. In this, inexistent yet imaginable and explainable things are drawn. Like a man with his face removed, a tree with a human face, or a spider with human legs. All these things seem like they were taken out of a nightmare.

As a matter of fact, surrealism is often explained as “drawing your dreams”.

Now, if you too are someone who goes too far away while in your thoughts, then try drawing something from your dreams.

Pop Art

The modern world is full of bright colorful commercial snippets, but then why should the art be dull, gray, and shadowy? This is exactly what a Scottish artist named Eduardo Palozzi thought in 1952, and decided to give an art style that we otherwise see as daily life content. And this is how pop art was introduced.
This art style includes the everyday commercial arts and assimilates them into artworks, that’s all, nothing special, just uniqueness that makes it stand out from the traditional drawing styles. If you’re someone who likes to go a little unconventional, then pop art is the way to go.

Cubism Drawing style

Ever got perplexed by the mind-boggling art pieces of Pablo Picasso, the ones you can’t get right no matter how you look at them? Those are the cubism art style examples. These arts take the real things and turn them into what you’d consider another dimension.

In this type of art, all perspectives towards an object of focus are shown from a single one. Think of an opaque cube, and try to draw it in a way that all 6 of its sides are visible to the viewer; quite impossible without distorting its shape, right? Yeah, you got it.

Art Nouveau drawing style

Are you a plant lover, an anthophile, or simply someone who admires nature, and who also happens to like art? If yes, then I’ve good news for you. Art Nouveau combines both of your interests to create a beautiful and related drawing style that shows flowers, plants, and nature in a mosaic and interconnected way.

Art Nouveau drawing style feels classical in a “natural” sense, connecting the artist back to nature, where we all come from. You can feel that by drawing simple things like leaves and flowers give a lot different experience than drawing artificial things.

Expressionism and Neo-Expressionism Drawing

Sometimes, a walk through the meadows might feel dreadful because we are gloomy. And sometimes, a walk in rain during a thunderstorm feels good because we’re adventurous. So, our enjoyment is dependent on what we are feeling rather than what we are experiencing. How do we say this in art? By Expressionism.

Gesture drawing

How did books teach dancing and exercising before the camera was invented to show pictures of real moves? Yes, through art; and that art is called gesture drawing. In this art style, the artist depicts accurate gestures by a mere outline of the body showing the movement of appendages and pose of the body.
If you like drawing such tutorials as dance moves or exercising in an artistic way, then gesture drawing might be your thing to try.