Croquis 2026-04-15
© 2026 Moh6an
Here’s a drawing I spent some time on today
40 min * 1
Jcmlfineart
Moh,
Okay, I have a great exercise for you that will teach you how to control your tools. I use it all the time, and it helps me keep to a one-stroke method. It's called The Poke a Dot exercise. My professor has tons of notebooks just full of this one exercise. Seeing his progress is pretty impressive since he has years of examples.
It is simple. It requires verry little time. You can pick it up and drop it as needed, say, like if you are in a meeting at work and need a moment to think before answering your boss or colleague, add one shape to the exercise. Or say if you're waiting for a buddy at a cafe. Do 5-10 shapes instead of scrolling on your phone.
I am assuming you have spare paper or a sketch book. Keep your tools with you at all times and try this exercise. Maybe have a book just for this one exercise, so you can see your progress at the beginning and at the end of each book.
But it is hard, and depending on the medium you use, it requires a promise to yourself not to cheat. If that means you know you can't trust yourself yet, use non-erasable materials.
The Poke A Dot Exercise.
Draw the most perfect circle you can in one stroke of your drawing implement. Do it in the middle of your page.
It works with any kind of implement: Pens, pencils, ink, paint, whatever you are working with or have on you at the time. If you work with brushes, this is an even harder exercise, but it will also teach you how to keep the most control. But other materials, such as charcoal, pastels (Oil or Water), or chalk, are easier since they're usually in stick form. But they smudge, so be careful where you rest your hand. A pen is the simplest, and unless it is an erasable pen, it won't allow you to cheat. I mention this because you may be tempted at first; if erasing is too great a temptation, then a permanent ink medium is the best solution.
Then, in a space about one circle away, create the exact same shape, the exact same size. If there is not enough room on the page for a full shape, leave that area blank. Repeat until you have a perfect poke-a-dot pattern.
Once you have a full pattern, go back to your original shape and make another circle about one millimetre smaller inside that original circle. Then repeat for the whole page. Do this until you can no longer compleat the task on that page.
You can use other basic shapes as well, like squares, rectangles, triangles and parallelograms. But as you become more advanced, you can try this with more organic shapes, such as cells or spirols.
However, when the above is just too much. Keep it simple. Take a hot moment. Stop what you are doing and draw a perfect circle on whatever you have in front of you, wherever there is room. (Well, as long as that is a permissible thing to do. Don't get too cheeky.) Then move on with your day. Or keep the exercise with you and have it open so you can just make one.
If you do this in one session, you'll probably be very mentally tired. The Poke A Dot exercise is desptively simple. But it is helping you understand spacing, control and compostion in a very forceful way. Because when you make a mistake, you'll really see the repercussions that a simple error has. Once you notice you are getting well off, don't sweat it, just start over on the next page.
This has been the main exercise that has helped me improve my figure drawing this year. I am very impressed by the results when I keep at it.
I hope this was helpful. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
All of the best,
-M
Okay, I have a great exercise for you that will teach you how to control your tools. I use it all the time, and it helps me keep to a one-stroke method. It's called The Poke a Dot exercise. My professor has tons of notebooks just full of this one exercise. Seeing his progress is pretty impressive since he has years of examples.
It is simple. It requires verry little time. You can pick it up and drop it as needed, say, like if you are in a meeting at work and need a moment to think before answering your boss or colleague, add one shape to the exercise. Or say if you're waiting for a buddy at a cafe. Do 5-10 shapes instead of scrolling on your phone.
I am assuming you have spare paper or a sketch book. Keep your tools with you at all times and try this exercise. Maybe have a book just for this one exercise, so you can see your progress at the beginning and at the end of each book.
But it is hard, and depending on the medium you use, it requires a promise to yourself not to cheat. If that means you know you can't trust yourself yet, use non-erasable materials.
The Poke A Dot Exercise.
Draw the most perfect circle you can in one stroke of your drawing implement. Do it in the middle of your page.
It works with any kind of implement: Pens, pencils, ink, paint, whatever you are working with or have on you at the time. If you work with brushes, this is an even harder exercise, but it will also teach you how to keep the most control. But other materials, such as charcoal, pastels (Oil or Water), or chalk, are easier since they're usually in stick form. But they smudge, so be careful where you rest your hand. A pen is the simplest, and unless it is an erasable pen, it won't allow you to cheat. I mention this because you may be tempted at first; if erasing is too great a temptation, then a permanent ink medium is the best solution.
Then, in a space about one circle away, create the exact same shape, the exact same size. If there is not enough room on the page for a full shape, leave that area blank. Repeat until you have a perfect poke-a-dot pattern.
Once you have a full pattern, go back to your original shape and make another circle about one millimetre smaller inside that original circle. Then repeat for the whole page. Do this until you can no longer compleat the task on that page.
You can use other basic shapes as well, like squares, rectangles, triangles and parallelograms. But as you become more advanced, you can try this with more organic shapes, such as cells or spirols.
However, when the above is just too much. Keep it simple. Take a hot moment. Stop what you are doing and draw a perfect circle on whatever you have in front of you, wherever there is room. (Well, as long as that is a permissible thing to do. Don't get too cheeky.) Then move on with your day. Or keep the exercise with you and have it open so you can just make one.
If you do this in one session, you'll probably be very mentally tired. The Poke A Dot exercise is desptively simple. But it is helping you understand spacing, control and compostion in a very forceful way. Because when you make a mistake, you'll really see the repercussions that a simple error has. Once you notice you are getting well off, don't sweat it, just start over on the next page.
This has been the main exercise that has helped me improve my figure drawing this year. I am very impressed by the results when I keep at it.
I hope this was helpful. If you try it, let me know how it goes.
All of the best,
-M
Are you working physically instead of digitally? If so, I think this is a good choice for you. Your work is much more expressive than what I have seen you do in the past.
Great work!
All of the best,
JCML Fine Art
With traditional art supplies, since you can’t make corrections, it’s really hard to produce results that look good.
Croquis 2026-03-23 by Moh6an