Drawing and Sketching for Designers (and Everyone Else!) (Udemy.com)
Establish a strong foundation for graphic design by learning how to effectively draw and visually communicate ideas.
Created by: Chad Neuman, Ph.D.
Last updated August 2023
What you will learn
- Effectively communicate visually with drawing.
- Drawing gesture drawings, structural drawings, product sketches, and more.
- Apply appropriate value (lighting and shading), texture, and line in drawings.
- Apply effective composition in drawings, designs, and logo designs.
- Apply dozens of types of mark making methods with a variety of materials (pencil, charcoal, and conté).
- Draw form-based products with appropriate mark making and shading.
- Combine various shapes and forms to produce more complicated drawings of objects and products.
- Draw the head and face with appropriate proportion.
- Draw objects and a scene in one-point perspective.
Course Description
Would you like to learn how to effectively communicate ideas in visual form? Would you like to learn how to draw? Would you like to draw interesting and aesthetically pleasing art and designs, including products, scenes, various objects, and more?
In this course, you will learn how to draw effectively as a strong foundation for graphic design and other types of design. This course is for anyone who wants to learn how to visually communicate and draw effectively.
Some graphic designers start immediately on the computer, but drawing first by hand is a common practice at many top design agencies, advertising firms, and other types of design businesses. This process is also taught at art colleges, universities, and other institutions. Graphic designers and other designers benefit from learning how to draw in order to brainstorm, sketch, visually communicate ideas, and design.
Regardless of whether you are working on a logo design, editorial design, advertising design, digital design, or other types of design, drawing as part of the design process is an established practice that can help you more effectively produce clear and beautiful designs.
In this course, you will learn about materials and how drawing can benefit designers. Then you will learn how to draw in various sections:
Mark Making Exercises - Learn many different methods of mark making in the context of drawing and design.
Gesture Drawing - Draw an organic object, a video game controller, a Holga camera, and a paintbrush using gestural drawing methods for quick drawings to capture the essence or gesture of an object or scene.
Drawing Basic Shapes Effectively - Learn various ways to draw basic shapes which can be used in line drawings and structural drawings later.
Structural Drawing - Learn how to draw a sphere, cone, cube, and cylinder, and also start to draw structure-based objects such as a vase.
Drawing Structure-Based Products - Next, use what you have learned so far by drawing structure-based objects, including a tennis ball (sphere-based), a funnel (cone-based), a makeup applicator (cylinder-based), and a GameCube console (cube-based).
Value, Lighting, and Shading - Learn how to add a lighting source, highlights, and shadows for depth and form in drawings.
Composition in Drawing - Apply effective composition in drawings and logo designs. Examples include the rule of thirds, focal point, formal subdivision, drawing an asymmetrical logo, and much more.
Product Sketches - Apply structural drawing and value practices in order to draw products sketches such as a still life and a power drill.
Drawing the Head and Face Fundamentals - Learn the basics of drawing facial proportions, for those instances where drawing people is required in designs.
Drawing in Perspective - Learn how to draw a cube, sideways cylinder, and interior space using one-point perspective. Follow along in additional exercises in two-point perspective in the included book.
Enroll today and get started learning how to draw for design!
About the Instructor:
Jonathan Simon is a fine artist, illustrator and university professor. He holds a B.F.A in illustration from Memphis College of Art and a M.F.A. in painting from the New York Academy of Art. He has studied with a variety of talented artists in both accredited programs and private apprenticeships, including Tony Ryder, author of The Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing, Jacob Collins and Michael Grimaldi of Water Street Atelier / The Grand Central Atelier, and Frank Porcu at the Art Students League of New York.
A studio artist for more than 26 years, Jonathan is also an experienced art educator who has held full-time faculty positions teaching intermediate- to advanced-level drawing, figure drawing, painting and illustration classes at colleges such as the New Hampshire Institute of Art. He believes in sound, proven methods, materials and approaches.
Instructor Details
- 4.7 Rating
210 Reviews
Chad Neuman, Ph.D.
I love seeing students succeed in their designs, photos, productions, artistic work, and careers.
Do you want to learn become a better designer or communicator? Do you want to learn industry-standard editing and effects in Photoshop? Do you want to create logos for your brand or for clients? Do you want to learn new skills that are in demand in the new digital economy?
I'm passionate about communication, writing, art, and design education, and I'm currently a full-time professor of communication and digital media. I've developed curriculum and taught classes on design, photography, and writing for over a decade. My university students have become full-time, award-winning photographers, web designers, creative specialists, reporters, and layout designers. And now, you can learn from me as well!
Get started by enrolling in my courses, learning new skills and knowledge, and asking me questions in the courses and forums.
My Three-Part Qualifications to Teach You (Professional Experience, Education, and Experience Teaching):
More courses by Chad Neuman, Ph.D.
Photoshop In-Depth: Master all of Photoshop's Tools Easily (2024)
4.6 (8,041 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 5.3h
$89.99
Photoshop for Beginners: Zero to Hero in Photoshop (2025)
4.3 (6,623 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 3.1h
$124.99
The Complete Drawing Masterclass: From Beginner to Advanced (2020)
4.5 (3,359 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 19.8h
$109.99
Graphic Design Masterclass: Learn Graphic Design in Projects (2020)
4.4 (2,749 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 3.9h
$109.99
Adobe Illustrator CC Mastery: Zero to Hero in Illustrator (2020)
4.5 (2,172 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 3.3h
$84.99
Logo Design Masterclass: Logo Design, Illustrator, Dimension (2025)
4.6 (1,929 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 7.8h
$119.99
More Drawing courses
The Art & Science of Figure Drawing: GESTURE (2021)
4.9 (5,038 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 13.4h
$129.99
The Art & Science of Drawing / FORM & SPACE (2017)
4.9 (3,390 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 2.9h
$109.99
Drawing Fundamentals 1: Basic Skills & Sketching Accurately (2022)
4.9 (1,593 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 3.1h
$94.99
Art for Kids & Beginners: 17 Easy Drawing & Painting Lessons (2026)
4.9 (1,063 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 3.7h
$69.99
The Art & Science of Drawing / SHADING: BEYOND THE BASICS (2018)
4.9 (993 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 1.6h
$59.99
Draw Islamic Geometric Patterns With A Compass And Ruler (2019)
4.9 (842 Reviews)
Provider: Udemy
Time: 1.4h
$69.99
Reviews
By Joshua Amaro on 8/10/2024
I value opinion and strategy. Good lecture on product drawings and perspective.
By Ziyad Khan on 1/26/2024
I think this course is must for anyone who wishes to learn drawing and sketching to become professional artist or a graphic designer.
By George McKenna on 9/21/2023
I am at the beginning of the course and find the learning material is excellent at this stage and it looks promising for the ongoing learning sessions.
By Haja Alaudeen on 6/12/2023
I recently completed the Udemy course you mentioned, and I was thoroughly impressed by its user-friendly approach. The instructor's clear English pronunciation and meticulous step-by-step explanations made even the most complex topics understandable. Although the course featured three substantial projects, I do agree that the addition of more simple projects could enhance the learning experience further. Overall, the course effectively delivers its content, and a greater variety of projects could contribute to an even more comprehensive understanding.
By Faith Okedele on 6/30/2022
Amazing course!!!!! I enrolled in the course so I could sketch my design processes and now at the end of the whole course, my skills have greatly improved.
By Anonymized User on 4/18/2022
During the course my creativity increased when it comes both to drawing and surprisingly also in other fields. The course gave me new tools and some of the techniques (or even many) were new to me, although I have some experience in arts. Thanks for this solid information!
By Muhammad Haq on 4/17/2021
I am a professional graphic designer but new to sketching, so far I found this course very interesting and value to my knowledge and skills.
By Bric Balmforth on 3/5/2021
The instructor explains the different materials used in the course and provides options and substitutes that can be used. The explanations are clear and fairly concise.
By John Douglas Rogers on 2/26/2021
Excellent. It covers all aspects of the drawing techniques necessary and gives one the confidence to strive for accuracy in one's designs.
By Jessica Chapman on 2/19/2021
The instruction is great, it is informative, detailed and very helpful. The course is well structured and full of great lessons as well as exercises. I love the PDF book as well. Jonathan is a great instructor.
Quality Score
No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.
Overall Score : 94 / 100












