How to Transfer Your Line Art to Your Surface | Tips for Artists

How can I get my line art onto my surface? This is a question I get asked all the time, and there is a really simple technique for how to do it, so let me talk you through it!

First you want to print out your line art onto a regular piece of paper. I have a video about how you can create your line art here if you are unsure of this step.

Once the line art is printed, you want to flip the paper over so that the blank side is facing you, and cover the back of the line art in graphite. You should be able to see the line art through the paper to ensure you’re covering the whole image.

Once this is done, you can turn the paper back over and gently lay it onto your drawing surface, making sure the line art is positioned where you want it on the surface.
You can then take a relatively sharp pencil and draw only over the lines of your line art. This will transfer the graphite onto your surface leaving you with a faint outline of you image, ready for you to start your artwork.
Just a little note, make sure you’re not pressing too hard with your pencil as it will cause you to indent your surface below. Just apply enough pressure for the graphite to transfer.

To see how I do this, make sure to watch the video at the top of this blog and if you would like to complete the tutorial, that I’m creating the line art for in the video, you can complete the tutorial for free here.