How to draw a perfect circle free hand.
We all know we can grab a lid and trace around it. But you may want to be an expert. And with expertise Comes training.
When I was in art school I could not believe my college level of homework. It was to draw 100 circles. This seemed a little juvenile to me. I mean I am paying a lot of money to go to college and I have to draw circles? But the thing about drawing a hunderd circles is you’ve practice a 100 times all at once. Your body gets used to certain movements and as you move your arm in a circle will realise you might need to move a little bit more to the left at this point a little bit more down at that point.
When I drew 100 circles in college my 1st circle was a little wonky looking. As most people’s generally speaking are. I actually used a circle maker to make my 1st few circles said could practice making a very exact shape. I would trace and trace and trace. And eventually I could see how my arm needed to move to make that smooth perfectly round circle.
Yes drawing a hunderd circles may seem pointless it may seem juvenile but in reality it allows you to gain control over your movements.
And for all you geometry teachers out there. This is a way to really impress your students. Shout out to my geometry teacher, who could draw perfect circles connecting three dots, and perfectly straight lines on a graph.
Step by Step
1. Hold you pencil or other writing utensil firm but not tight. You do not want it to wiggle, but you do want to keep the rest of your arm loose.
Hold it at an an so you can see the tip touching the page.
2. Use a template (or a jar lid) to draw a perfect circle. You will use this as a guide to build you muscle memory.
3. Trace the circle with your pencil using your whole arm to make the movement. Memorize how your arm needs to move to make that shape. If you just use your wrist, it will be more difficult to get a smooth result. And it be a bigger adjustment when creating larger circles.
4. Now that you have a pattern developed in your short term muscle memory, go to a clean section of the page and draw the same circle. Draw it multiple times. It is very important to already have a drawing spot set up so you retain you short term muscle memory.
5. You may notice your circles start to get lopsided again. As soon as this happens, go back to the original circle you were tracing, and repeat step 3 the 4.
6. Now use your template again (or a different size jar lid) and draw another perfect circle. And repeat steps 3, 4 and 5.
The more you practice the better you will get. But a good rule of thumb is to 4 different sizes of circles with about 25 freehand of each size.
And there you have it, you’ve freehand 100 perfect circles!