How to Draw: Basket Weave, Gesture & Stippling

Is your pen sketching technique in a rut? Maybe things look too “scribbly,” you find yourself using the same types of marks over and over, or you just want to add a bit of variety to your sketches. In this lesson with instructor and sketch artist Paul Heaston, you’ll transform haphazard or repetitive mark making by adding just a few easy-to-learn techniques to your skillset.

Paul will guide you through three specific types of mark making. First, master the multidirectional basket-weave method—a great option for covering areas that would benefit from a uniquely dense, solid quality. Next, watch as seemingly aimless scrawls add interest to negative spaces with gestural mark making. The last technique you’ll explore with Paul is stippling, which is a technique created by using a series of tiny dots. This type of mark making is an excellent option for spaces in your work where you want to describe incredible detail, velvety textures, or depth.