You may think that warming up is just for athletes. Otherwise, starting training on a cold body leads to bad results and injuries. Although not warming up before a drawing session isn’t quite as dramatic, it can still end in a lot of frustration and a waste of time and paper. Especially if you haven’t been sketching for a while. It is recommended to practice between 10 and 30 minutes before progressing to the actual work.
The best warm-up exercises are those that help you practice your muscles and your brain at the same time. They should be useful but not too difficult or complex. If you work every day or so, you tend to need less time warming up, due to your brain being more used to thinking (and thus seeing) like an artist. However, muscle memory can take an obscene number of repetitions to build up. You will need to practice certain shapes and techniques over and over again hundreds of times in order to improve your art.
Below are some common basic techniques:
Lines:
You’ll be surprised how wonky they can be for the first few minutes of practice. Draw your lines towards you and away from you, from left to right, and vice versa. Also, try different angles.
Swirls and Loops:
It’s so much fun! While this isn’t necessarily a shape you’ll come across in many of your drawings, doing a few simple swirls and loops is great for physically warming up that stiff shoulder of yours.
Squares and Rectangles:
You’ll come across a lot of parallel lines and need to practice that. Draw them fast, but try to keep the opposite lines as parallel as possible. Make sure to create right angles.