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Aroha Ngata
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Aroha drawing at a window table in a timber cottage.

Drawing teacher for beginners

Learn to draw with one pencil and a sketchbook

I'm Aroha. I teach drawing from your very first line, with free lessons every Sunday, a video course, printable practice sheets and a small kit list.

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The kit, one thing at a time

Nine things I use, and the lessons that need each one. Start with the pencil and the sketchbook, and buy the rest when a lesson asks for it.

Pick a piece to see what uses it

Start here

  1. On the checklist: HB pencil
  3. On the scale: 6B pencil
  5. On the checklist: A5 sketchbook

HB pencil The everyday pencil: light lines and the first sketch in 4 lessons. On the checklist

2B pencil A softer pencil for the middle greys in 3 lessons.

6B pencil The darkest pencil, for shadows and roots in 4 lessons. On the scale

Kneaded eraser A soft eraser you can shape to lift out light in 3 lessons.

A5 sketchbook Smooth paper, about 120 gsm, small enough to carry in 7 lessons. On the checklist

Fineliner 0.3 A waterproof pen for lines that stay under a wash in 4 lessons.

Water brush A brush with water in its handle, for washes outside in 2 lessons.

Black ink A small bottle of ink, watered down for greys in 2 lessons.

Blending stump Rolled paper for smoothing a shadow into a half-tone in 1 lesson.

Every free lesson

Pick a thing in the kit to see the lessons you can do with it.

  1. Wordless print design: a tangle of tree roots

    15 min

    A tangle of roots from memory

    Drawing the roots from last week again without looking, then checking the study for what I missed.

    • HB pencil
    • 6B pencil
    • Kneaded eraser
  2. Mossy tree roots beside a clear forest stream.

    24 min

    A tree root study in pencil and ink

    Roots by the stream, blocked in with a 2B, darkened with a 6B, then lined and washed with ink.

    • 2B pencil
    • 6B pencil
    • Fineliner 0.3
    • Water brush
    • Black ink
  3. A wet green-grey ink wash spreading under a brush.

    16 min

    Ink wash with a water brush

    Three greys from one bottle of ink, and how to lay them down without a muddy edge.

    • Fineliner 0.3
    • Water brush
    • Black ink
    • A5 sketchbook
  4. Ink fern drawings pinned to a studio wall.

    14 min

    Hatching and cross-hatching

    Lines close together for a mid-tone, lines across them for a dark one, all with one fineliner.

    • Fineliner 0.3
    • A5 sketchbook
  5. Wordless print design: a curling fern frond

    18 min

    A fern frond in fineliner

    Drawing a frond from the stem out, one pair of leaves at a time, without a pencil first.

    • Fineliner 0.3
    • A5 sketchbook
  6. A misty bush track with tree ferns and a footbridge.

    12 minStart here

    Drawing outside: a five-minute sketch

    A small sketch on a walk, with the pencil, the eraser and the sketchbook in a jacket pocket.

    • HB pencil
    • Kneaded eraser
    • A5 sketchbook
  7. A tablet with an ink wash beside printed fern study sheets.

    21 min

    Shading a sphere by the window

    One orange, one window and the five values: light, half-tone, core shadow, reflected light and cast shadow.

    • 2B pencil
    • 6B pencil
    • Kneaded eraser
    • Blending stump
    • A5 sketchbook
  8. Ink fern drawings pinned to a studio wall.

    11 min

    A value scale in five boxes

    From white paper to the darkest 6B, in five even steps, and why it matters for every drawing after.

    • HB pencil
    • 2B pencil
    • 6B pencil
    • A5 sketchbook
  9. A fern frond drawn in ink beside the real frond.

    9 minStart here

    Your first marks: lines, loops and pressure

    Holding the pencil loosely, then pressing harder and softer until one pencil gives you six greys.

    • HB pencil
    • A5 sketchbook

Downloads, a course and merch

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A sketching kit open on a river boulder in the rain.

About

About me

I live near Wellington and teach drawing to grown-ups who were told at school that they could not draw. Most of my students start with a pencil, an eraser and a cheap sketchbook, and that is all they need for the first month.

I draw ferns, roots and leaves from the bush near my cottage, so those are what we draw in the lessons. Every lesson says what you need for it, and I add one new thing at a time, so you never buy a box of materials you do not use.

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Sunday Sketchbook

A short letter every Sunday: this week's lesson, the one thing in the kit it needs, and a drawing to try before next week.

One email every Sunday. Unsubscribe any time.