Have you been\u00a0working away on improving your sketching, and looking for ways to up your game a little? If that’s the case, grab a marker and some paper, and try these 5 easy ways to add more life and character to your sketches. Actually, it\u2019s more like 5.5 ways… You\u2019ll see…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Surprise is always a great trick to help embed your message or idea deeper into your viewers\u2019 brains. Push your powers of imagination a little further, and add something fresh and unexpected to an otherwise regular icon to enhance the meaning, or hint at a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sketching things that look like they\u2019re moving always adds energy. What would the thing you\u2019re sketching look like if it were stretching, or bouncing? Wiggling, or racing ahead at break-neck pace?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whatever you\u2019re sketching, think: what could I exaggerate to add more interest? Think about the relative size of some parts, or the pose of a figure, or even the texture of an object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any sketch is going to be more eye-catching with a splash of colour. You don\u2019t have to go overboard; even just one colour can turn a humble hat from \u201cho-hum\u201d to \u201cHUZZAH!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s worth paying attention to the way you apply the colour: strong decisive areas and lines are much more visually appealing than thin scratchy marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here\u2019s the bonus half a tip: dial up the contrast with areas of black, or dark colour. Our eyes are drawn to areas of\u00a0high contrast<\/strong>; if you\u2019re sketching in black, don\u2019t be afraid of using strong areas of black. This will really make your sketches more eye-catching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever since I saw\u00a0that Portlandia episode<\/a>, I\u2019ve always remembered that phrase \u201cPut a bird on it!\u201d. Just like putting a picture of a bird on any\u00a0objet de home d\u00e9cor<\/em>\u00a0makes it more hipster, putting a face on any inanimate object instantly adds charm and character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s the magic:\u00a0we can\u2019t help<\/a>\u00a0seeing\u00a0faces in things<\/a>, and as soon as we see a face on something, we can\u2019t help but attribute a personality to it, depending on the face\u2019s expression. So, make your sketches and whiteboard drawings instantly more fun, attention-grabbing and memorable with faces!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try these tricks out today. The more you bring life, story and character to your sketches, the more people will take notice of them, and the more they\u2019ll remember them, and therefore the more they\u2019ll remember your message and your ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have fun with it, and don’t be shy about letting me know how you went with applying these tips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you ever wonder why some sketches have a way of jumping out at you and grabbing your attention? By trying out these ideas in your sketching, yours can do that too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[84,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-fun-and-creativity","7":"category-sketchnoting-graphic-recording","8":"tag-drawing","9":"tag-visual-storytelling","10":"entry"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"sidebar-featured":false,"genesis-singular-images":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ben Crothers","author_link":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/author\/prestosketching_uao6s0\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Do you ever wonder why some sketches have a way of jumping out at you and grabbing your attention? By trying out these ideas in your sketching, yours can do that too.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prestosketching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}5. Put a face on it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n