Depressive drawings for copying with a pencil about unrequited love, sadness, sorrow

Psychologists claim that drawing depressive pictures can help ease mental suffering. To learn create sad drawings, a novice artist needs to look at several detailed descriptions of different ideas, and also choose an image to copy.

What you need for drawing

To make beautiful drawings, the artist should have a set of 4 pencils with different lead hardness on hand.

Pencil hardness rating	Designation
Solid	T or H
Hard-soft	TM or HB
Soft	M or B
Very soft	M6 or 6B

Hard pencils are used to create sketches and to shade light areas of the drawing. Soft pencils are used to outline, highlight shadows, and draw small details. Hard-soft pencils give a medium shade between hard and soft lead. The color of the lines is moderately saturated, but not very bright. Such tools are used to draw some individual elements and also to shade transitions from shadow to light, so that they are smoother.

You will also need a good eraser for the work. It should not smear the pencil on the paper and crumble too much. The eraser will be needed to remove auxiliary lines, as well as to create highlights.

The paper for drawing with simple pencils should be smooth and light. You can use sheets of a sketchbook or album. Printing paper and drawing paper will do. You can also draw with pencils on watercolor sheets, but keep in mind that it will be more difficult to shade the lines on a rough surface.

For shading, it is better to use cotton pads, tampons, scraps of paper or cotton buds. If you rub the strokes with your fingers, the drawing will look less neat. In addition, hands stained with graphite can put a stain on the finished work. It will be extremely difficult to remove dirt from the light parts of the drawing, where small details have already been drawn.

It is also important to have a good sharpener on hand. All pencils should be sharp. It is impossible to draw thin and elegant lines with a blunt instrument. To avoid the debris that remains after sharpening pencils from getting in the way on the table, you can buy a sharpener with a container.

Further in the article you can look at several master classes on drawing sad, depressive pictures, and choose pictures to copy.

Lonely girl on a swing

Loneliness and sadness after parting with a loved one is always painful. Such pain can be reflected in a picture by depicting 1 person and an empty space next to him. It would seem that this space should be occupied by someone so that the picture looks harmonious, but alas... This happens in life when something is missing for harmony.

How to draw:

1. Place a sheet of paper vertically on the table.
2. Using a hard pencil, draw 4 parallel lines. These will be the chains on which the swing hangs.
3. Draw rectangular edges of the seats.
4. Mark the attachment points to the chains.
5. Draw a flat surface to sit on.
6. On the swing on the right, mark the position of the girl's body.
7. Draw a round head.
8. Draw a schematic representation of baggy clothing.
9. Finish drawing the legs.
10. Draw boots and soles with a small heel.
11. Schematically depict the shape of the girl's hairstyle.
12. Use an eraser to erase all unnecessary lines.
13. Use a hard-soft pencil to draw the folds on the girl's clothes.
14. Select large strands of hair.
15. Draw folds on the boots.
16. Shade the sole.
17. Paint the swing seats. Blend the strokes.
18. Highlight the shadows on the girl's clothes and shoes.
19. Darken the slow strands of hair.
20. Blend the strokes.
21. Use a soft pencil to draw the rings of the chains.
22. Draw folds on clothes and shoes more clearly.
23. Select thin strands of hair.
24. Show shadows on swing seats.
25. Use a very soft pencil to outline the drawing.

Darken the ends of the hair, draw small, curly locks.

A man in the power of a woman

Depressive drawings for copying can reflect the essence of abusive relationships. This picture shows a male silhouette, which is carelessly held by a large female hand. The man is a reflection of the state of a person who is a victim of an abuser. He is exhausted, drooping, showing no signs of life. The hand is a symbol of the abuser's great influence on the life of the victim.

How to draw a picture like this:

1. Place the sheet of paper vertically.
2. Using a hard pencil, draw a thin wrist in the upper right part of the sheet.
3. Mark the position of the hand and fingers.
4. Give the hand volume. The bends should be angular. The joints on the fingers should be highlighted, depicting them as large. The fingers should be thin and long. This drawing will create the image of a scary "witch's" hand.
5. Draw long nails.
6. Draw a round head next to the thumb and index finger.
7. Schematically depict the body and hanging limbs.
8. Draw the shape of the clothes.
9. Highlight the folds on the collar that your fingers hold onto.
10. Using a very soft pencil, outline the drawing along the contour.
11. Add some hair hanging down on the man.
12. Shade the silhouette.
13. Mark out the folds of fabric on the collar.
14. Darken nails and fingers.

There is no need to blend the strokes. They should remain rough and clear.

Girl in the noose

Depressive drawings for copying can reflect unbearable pain that a person decides to get rid of by making a fatal decision. In real life, such an outcome is not the best way to escape from your own feelings. You can always find a way to cope with problems and continue a happy life. Creating such drawings can help with this.

How to draw a picture like this:

1. Place the sheet of paper vertically.
2. Using a hard pencil, draw a taut rope from the upper right corner.
3. Draw part of the loop and the knot.
4. Schematically depict the position of the girl's body. Draw the head, arms and legs.
5. Draw the collar and sleeves of the dress.
6. Finish drawing the hem.
7. Depict folds on clothes.
8. Draw hair.
9. Draw a discarded toy below.
10. Use an eraser to remove excess lines.
11. Highlight the shadows on the folds of the dress and tights.
12. Blend the strokes.
13. Use a hard-soft pencil to show the shadow on the hair.
14. Darken deep folds in clothing.
15. Show shadows on the lower parts of the toy.
16. Shade the rope along the edges.

Using a very soft pencil, trace the outline of the drawing, draw the folds of the fabric and the patterns on the collar.

Hands with cuts

This drawing can convey the same meaning as the previous one, or demonstrate a mental disorder called self-harm or self-harm. Attacks occur due to severe mental pain. In order to ease it a little, a person tries to turn mental suffering into physical. Psychologists and psychotherapists are sure that this way of "relieving the soul" is very dangerous. It turns into an addiction, which leads to fatal consequences.

How to reflect this phenomenon in a drawing:

1. Place the sheet of paper vertically.
2. First, you need to draw the hand that is located on top. To do this, at the bottom of the sheet, using a hard pencil, you need to draw a small horizontal oval. This will be the base of the wrist.
3. From the oval, use lines to mark the position of the fingers.
4. Draw small circles where the joints will be located.
5. Connect the figures with smooth lines.
6. Finish drawing the fingers of the other hand.
7. Draw the continuation of the arms.
8. Use an eraser to remove excess lines.
9. Paint your nails.
10. Use a hard-soft pencil to highlight the shadows between the fingers and along the edges of the hands.
11. Blend the strokes.
12. Trace the outline of the drawing with a soft pencil.
13. Draw large cuts. The lines should not be straight. They should be thicker at the center and thinner at the edges.
14. Use a very soft pencil to draw small cuts and blood stains.

Use a hard pencil to shade the background and blend these lines.

Mask painted on the face

Depressive drawings can show how a person masks their emotions. This picture for copying shows a girl in clown makeup. Her eyes are painted black, making it hard to see her real look. The smile is also fake. It's all fiction, the same kind that a smiling person creates when suppressing their negative emotions.

How to draw a picture like this:

1. Using a hard pencil, draw the outline of the girl's face.
2. Divide the face into 4 parts with thin horizontal lines. The top line will serve as a guide for drawing the eyebrows, the next one – for the eyes. The location of the wings of the nose and the corners of the mouth can be marked with short lines.
3. Draw the bridge of the nose and the tip of the girl's nose. Draw the wings of the nose.
4. Draw thin eyebrows. Their inner corners should be slightly lowered.
5. The girl's eyes will be closed, so it is enough to draw the eyelash growth lines.
6. Draw a nostril in the nose.
7. Finish drawing the lips. The corners should be turned down.
8. Draw a smile above your lips.
9. Use an eraser to remove excess lines.
10. Draw hair.
11. Darken the space between the eyebrows and eyes. Blend the strokes.
12. Use a hard-soft pencil to draw more hair.
13. Darken the inner corners of the eyes.
14. Show the shadow under the nose and on its tip.
15. Accentuate the chin.
16. Use a soft pencil to draw eye makeup.
17. Highlight the shadows on the lips.
18. Darken the corners of the lips and the edges of the fake smile.
19. Use a very soft pencil to fill in your eyebrows.
20. Darken the eyes. You should try not to touch the drawn eyelash lines. They should remain slightly lighter than the makeup so that they are clearly visible.
21. Darken the lips and edges of the fake smile.
22. Draw some paint drips on the cheeks and tears.

Draw in thin strands of hair.

Sad still life

Depressive drawings for copying can reflect spiritual emptiness not only in emotions, but also in sad, gray still lifes. Torn wallpaper on the wall and a withered, broken flower are symbols of emptiness. They demonstrate a lost and depressed state of mind.

How to draw a picture like this:

1. Using a hard pencil, draw a horizontal line at the bottom of the sheet. This will be the boundary between the floor and the wall.
2. Draw the gaps between the boards on the floor. Closer to the wall, the distance between them should be smaller than in the foreground of the drawing.
3. Draw a vase.
4. Finish drawing her neck.
5. Draw a broken flower stem in a vase. Draw the leaves.
6. On the floor, depict a bud with a remaining piece of stem.
7. Draw the wallpaper seams.
8. Shade the wallpaper on the wall schematically.
9. Draw torn pieces of paper at the seams.
10. Use an eraser to remove any extra lines, if any.
11. Use a hard-soft pencil to draw veins on the boards.
12. Shade the boards near the wall. The strokes should be applied crosswise.
13. Use cross hatching to show shadows on the wallpaper, on the vase and underneath it.
14. Using a soft pencil, apply a few more dark strokes over the aunts.
15. Paint the stem, leaves and flower bud.
16. Highlight the gaps in the floor.
17. Draw the joints of the wallpaper.
18. Draw the petals on the bud.

Using a very soft pencil, without pressing on the tool, outline the drawing along the contour, highlighting all the dark areas.

Suppressed Tears

Depressive drawings (you can use someone's portrait for copying) can reflect suppressed emotions not only in the form of a mask. A very interesting example is presented above. The guy inhales air to calm down. He really wants to cry, but he is a man, so he has to hide such strong emotions to seem strong. In fact, he is "drowning" in his tears. People like this are also called: "Crying inside himself."

How to draw a picture like this:

1. Place the sheet of paper vertically.
2. Draw the guy's oval head, tilted slightly back.
3. Draw the neck schematically.
4. Draw the man's profile. Highlight the forehead, bridge of the nose, tip of the nose.
5. Draw convex lips, highlight the chin. Clearly draw the cheekbones.
6. Show schematically the outline of the hairstyle.
7. Draw an ear.
8. Draw the auricle.
9. Draw lips.
10. Draw an eyebrow and a closed eye.
11. Draw the wings of the nose and the nostril.
12. Give the neck the correct contours. Highlight the muscles.
13. Draw the collar of the shirt.
14. Draw large strands on the hair.
15. Use an eraser to remove excess lines.
16. Use a hard-soft pencil to highlight the shadow in the inner corner of the eye. Blend the strokes.
17. Highlight the shadow behind the wings of the nose and under the nose.
18. Darken the edges of the lips.
19. Draw smaller strands in the hairstyle.
20. Draw a horizontal line across the face from the lower lip to the middle of the ear.
21. Draw the outline of the drowning person's hands.
22. Thickly shade the lower part of the face and neck.
23. Blend the strokes very well.
24. Draw tears flowing from the eyes. Shade the lines.
25. Use a soft pencil to highlight the shadows on the water.
26. Draw the muscles on the guy's neck. Blend the strokes.
27. Darken the edges of the cheekbones and chin. Blend the strokes.
28. Use a very soft pencil to outline the drawing.
29. Highlight the shadow on the shirt collar.
30. Darken the ends of the hair closer to the face and the back of the head.
31. Draw a few small hairs on top.
32. Highlight the guy's eye. Draw eyelashes.
33. Fill in the eyebrow. Draw in the hairs of the eyebrow located on the other side of the face.
34. Show the shadow at the top of the nostril.
35. Show shadow on lips.
36. Paint over the drowning man's hands.
37. Draw their reflection in the water.
38. Draw circles on the water.
39. Show the shadow under the cheekbones.

Use an eraser to clean the background.

The pain of betrayal

Seeing a loved one in someone else's arms is an unbearable feeling that breaks the heart. They can be shown in a drawing by depicting the girl's eye, which reflects what she saw.

How to draw a picture like this:

1. Using a hard pencil, draw the shape of the eye.
2. Draw the iris and pupil as circles. The iris should be slightly covered by the upper eyelid.
3. Draw the eyelids at the top and bottom.
4. Mark the location of the eyebrow. Its inner corner should be slightly lowered.
5. Shade the location of the eyebrow. Blend the lines.
6. Apply shading to the lower and upper eyelids. Blend the strokes.
7. Using a hard-soft pencil, draw 2 dancing silhouettes inside the eye. One of them should be taller. The other one should have visible long hair and a fluffy dress.
8. Draw the inner corner of the eye.
9. Finish drawing a tear flowing from this side.
10. Draw houses inside the eye schematically. You only need to depict the outlines of houses with sharp, domed and flat roofs. Draw windows in the houses.
11. Draw the ground under the dancers' feet. Shade it.
12. Draw tears at the outer corners of the eyes.
13. Shade the iris of the eye. Blend the lines.
14. Use a soft pencil to outline the houses.
15. Darken the pupil of the eye.
16. Select the shadow on the upper part of the iris.
17. Draw the corner of the eye and highlight the shadows.
18. Show the shadow at the bottom of the tear.
19. Draw the tear more clearly at the outer corner of the eye.
20. Color the houses that are drawn in the area of ​​the iris of the eyes.
21. Color the clothes of the dancing people.
22. Outline the eye. Blend the lines.
23. Draw hairs on the eyebrows.
24. Using a very soft pencil, draw even more hairs.
25. Darken the crease of the upper eyelid. Blend the lines.
26. Highlight the shadow on the eye, closer to the lash line.
27. Darken the upper part of the pupil.
28. Color the hairstyles of the dancing people.
29. Trace the drawing located inside the iris of the eye along the contour.
30. Draw the eyelashes. They should be thicker at the base than at the ends. The long hairs should be located closer to the outer corner of the eye.
31. Outline the pupil and iris.
32. Outline the tears.
33. Darken the lower eyelid with broken lines.
34. Highlight the shadow in the corner of the eye.

Use a hard pencil to color the upper part of the drawing without pressing on the tool. Blend the lines.

To draw a depressing picture, you need to come up with a plot. The character depicted in the picture must experience negative feelings for some reason, be it betrayal, longing for a loved one, or sadness from loneliness. Beginning artists can use the work of more experienced colleagues for copying.

Author: Frolova Ekaterina

Video about depressive drawings

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