Project | Ballerina Drawings

I was in need of some decorations for my new bathroom, so I turned to Pinterest, of course. I found  two beautiful ballerina drawings and decided to replicate them. In the photos below, you can see my drawing in the foreground and the original behind it. I had recently taken a course on charcoal drawing and we learned how to "draw shapes" using live models. I employed some of those skills to draw these dancers. For more detail on the drawing strategy, scroll to the bottom.

Here's what you'll need:
Thick stock paper
Ball point pen--you want one that is a little "inky" so that you can smear it

Here are the two pictures side by side in the bathroom! I love how they turned out.

Drawing Tips:

1. Make a light mark at the highest point of the figure, the lowest point, and the left and right most points. You have outlined the area in which your drawing will take place.
2. As my art instructor said, you are now imagining that someone placed a large bag over the model and tied it at their feet. What shape would that bag make? When you're first practicing this method, go ahead and draw that bag. In the picture below, my sketched lines would start at the extended hand, go down to the left most part of the tutu, down to the tow on the ground, out to the other toe, and rounded up to the head. 
3. Start with the shoulders, and now you're looking for lines that extend throughout the whole body. In the photo below, you can see that the extended hand can be connected with a line down to the toe on the ground.
4. As you add these long lines throughout the drawing, the figure will start to take place. 
5. I added in shading at the end for the finished picture.