Create a Minimalist Drawing

Hello everyone!
Today I'm going to teach you how to create a minimalist drawing. But what is it exactly?

A minimalist drawing focuses only on the essential forms of the element to be drawn so that it has maximum impact without unnecessary details. When thinking about minimalist drawing, it is mainly very clean line drawings that come to mind. It is these that I will talk about.

This drawing style allows for a lot of spontaneity. I will mainly give you keys to observation and advice on concepts not to forget in order to create a beautiful minimalist drawing. Ultimately, your minimalist drawing can be the result of several attempts "by feeling," but based on solid observation of your initial subject.

There are still different methods to choose from:

1) Drawing using the least possible number of lines (ideally just one). Follow the main shapes, omit the superfluous details, and don't hesitate to make loops. This method often requires multiple attempts.

2) The "classic" drawing, but where parts are erased to only leave what you want to highlight. You can detail more or less, but you need to properly analyze the shapes to achieve a minimal synthesis.

3) The mix of the two.

 

 

1. MINIMALIST DRAWING OF A CAT

We will use the example of the cat to better understand how we create drawings like those in the introduction.

To create a good minimalist drawing, you first need to understand what you will be drawing. I recommend using a photograph or starting from a more detailed drawing that you have previously made. You will need to analyze your base.

Here we've chosen a photo of a seated cat. In a minimalist drawing, we want to discard any unnecessary details. The little bumps, the tiny hairs, we set aside! You need to visualize the main shapes, observe where the curves and straight lines are. Blurring the model (filter-->blur-->Gaussian blur in Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint) or squinting can help with this if you're having trouble. Next, divide the model into simple, geometric shapes. This will allow you to visualize the main shapes and lines and keep them in mind. You can do several different trials by simplifying more or less.

Let's get down to the actual work!

If synthesizing seems complicated at first , we can simplify it step by step until we reach our minimalist drawing.

It's not mandatory, but if you have difficulty taking the first direct synthesis step, you shouldn't blame yourself for making a first step that is too detailed. It can help to familiarize yourself with what you want to draw.

First synthesis. Draw all the main shapes while smoothing out the small bumps and shapes. We are looking for impactful lines. For this, a good contrast between curves and straight lines is needed. So, you'll need some very regular curves and some straighter line areas. We must already remove details and base on the first exercise of geometric shapes. Small tufts of hair inside, whiskers, and hairs in the ears are superfluous.

Once we've smoothed out our cat, that's when we can start erasing lines to keep the most impactful shape possible. We want it to be immediately recognizable from a distance. Erasing a good part of the internal lines is often a good idea to start. You must dare to erase things that seem necessary (if worse comes to worst, you can try again). For example, here we erased between the legs. It’s not realistic, but we still understand it with a simpler shape.

But there are a multitude of possibilities: you just have to think about what you want to highlight. Here we have emphasized the curves and straight lines more and left more facial details. We can erase, redraw pieces, experiment! And there you go!

What you especially need to avoid in minimalistic drawing are the shaky lines that follow every small shape. Even if you erase lines, without clean and effective strokes, it won't work well. You don't have to get it right the first time, you can start with a tentative sketch and then refine it.

 

2. MINIMALIST DRAWING OF A FLOWER

The basic principles have been explained with the cat, the process is the same, but there may be subtleties depending on the elements to draw. So, I will show you 2 more examples in addition to the cat. Let's start with the flower.

Just like with a cat, you must start by analyzing the shape to better understand it. A bit of blur if you will, and then, we'll break down the shapes. To avoid confusion when drawing a flower, you must observe which elements overlap others. I therefore made simple shapes for the petals, and the dots show transparently how the petals pass underneath each other.

Let's get down to business! If we want, we can start with realistic observations that take into account folds and details. For the first synthesis, we smooth out the petals a bit and remove some details.

Tip: Don’t insist on sticking too closely to the template! Is a petal turning over bothering you because you don't understand it? Remove it or reinvent it by drawing it differently. The final drawing just needs to be pretty; it doesn't matter if it matches the template exactly.

The first synthesis is already quite nice as it is. Since the flower is seen up close and has many elements, it’s normal that we see more details than for the cat. But it is possible to go even further by erasing lines (last drawing). You can remove pieces of petals, sides of stems... Don’t forget that you can do tests.

We are moving on to drawings with just a few lines! The first one was done in 2 lines, based on simplicity. Not focusing too much on the details allows us to accept that we do not see all the petal separations, but still keeps the essence of the flower.

For the second one, we notice loops in the petals, with all the petals being completely drawn as if they were transparent and not hiding each other. This detached effect from realism can be used for many flowers.

3. MINIMALIST DRAWING OF A WOMAN'S FACE

Last example! Something common in minimalist drawing: faces! This, of course, requires a good knowledge of portraiture.

We add some blur or squint our eyes once again for those who need it. For a face, we will need to observe the different sides of the face, so it will be a bit more elaborate than just some geometric shapes. A structure will be helpful. Pay attention to the proportions, of course. We outline the nose, the mouth, the eyes, but also the entire area around the eyes. Depending on the model, it may be important to highlight their specific features, which could be the chin, the hollows of the cheeks (as shown here), the forehead etc.

For the more classic method, we do as with the other examples. Make it realistic if desired, then remove the superfluous details. Next, remove the details and some elements by choice. For faces, we can often see drawings that remove a large part of the features: the eyes, one side of the face, etc. Since the face is our identity, removing a large part can give the drawing a mysterious aspect.

And lastly, the loops! Here again, we can remove pieces, suggest others, add irises or details later if we want. With the different elements (head, hand, shoulders), it's complicated to do everything in a single line, but you can always try! The idea with the face is to mark not only the external contours but also the internal volumes (those seen in the observation stage), like the cheeks, chin, and eyebrow arches.

There you go! I hope some people will be tempted by minimalist drawing! Don't hesitate to make lots of attempts and to experiment! This tutorial was mostly made up of advice rather than precise drawing instructions, but I hope to have provided you with the tools to express your own sensitivity in this discipline 😊 Teaching you to copy a line would be less interesting, so take your own models and try!

 

Illustrator and writer: Natacha Peaster