Do not rotate your paper for these activities. Your goal is to simply discover your natural hand movements.

Caution!

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.

Resource: 1.1.R14 Examining Diagonal Lines of Masters

Supplies: drawing paper, 2B pencil, and a pencil sharpener

Find Your Natural Hand Movements

Discover your natural hand movements for drawing straight and curved lines

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 10.4Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: 52.2Drawspace Curriculum 1.1.A5 - 3 Pages and 5 IllustrationsLevels: Beginner to Advanced

There are three basic types of straight lines: vertical (straight up and down and at a right angle to a horizontal line); horizontal (level and at a right angle to a vertical line); and diagonal (slanting or sloping at an angle).

As an Aside

Straight lines can be drawn in any direction. However, the individual lines in these sets need to be parallel to one another.

Tip!

For Drawing Straight Lines 1. Draw several sets of straight

lines in your sketchbookDraw each set of parallel lines in a different direction thereby continuously changing the slant of your lines (refer to Figure 1 for ideas).Pay attention to how you feel as you draw the lines. Some directions will feel awkward, but there will be at least one motion that feels very comfortable. This is your natural hand movement, and you should try to use it for future drawings whenever possible.

2. Mark the set (or sets) that you found the most natural to draw.

3. Draw a few more sets of straight lines to confi rm and become comfortable with your natural hand movement.

2 Drawspace Curriculum 1.1.A5

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.

For Drawing Curved Lines1. Use your index fi nger to follow the outline of

the fi rst circle in a clockwise motion (Figure 2).

2. Now use the same fi nger to follow the outline of the second circle in a counterclockwise motion (Figure 3).Whichever feels most comfortable is your natural hand movement for drawing circular shapes and curved lines. For most right-handed people this movement is clockwise. Conversely, left-handed individuals are more likely to begin drawing curved lines in a counterclockwise direction. And some people fi nd both movements equally natural.

3. To confi rm your natural movement, run your fi nger along each line in Figure 4. If your instinct is to begin at A, your natural hand movement is probably clockwise. If you prefer to begin with B then your natural hand movement is likely counterclockwise.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

ISBN: 978-1-927365-15-1Copyright © 2011 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transferred, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including

electronic, digital, mechanical, recording, photographing, photocopying, or otherwise, without the purchase of a licence from drawspace.com or the prior written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing.

3Drawspace Curriculum 1.1.A5

It makes absolutely no difference what your natural hand movements turn out to be. What’s important is to know which movements are natural to you. Knowing whether you naturally incline toward clockwise or counterclockwise movements will improve your drawing abilities by telling you which way to rotate your paper when you draw curved lines and circular shapes.

As an Aside

4. Draw a few curved lines to confi rm and become comfortable with your natural hand movement for drawing curved lines.Refer to Figure 5 for ideas.

Figure 4

Figure 5