The Art of Visual Notetaking

by Emily Mills

  What is this?

  Clearly, this is a house too, but the drawing is more advanced.

  Our brains are capable of identifying images whether they are simple or complicated. Your brain might not remember the details, but it knows there was a house pictured.

  Remember: the most important thing is to prioritize accurate information above illustration.

  The most important lesson I want you to learn from this section is that you need to go for recognizable over realistic when it comes to your drawings.

  With that in mind, let’s dive in to drawing!

  One more time… What is this?

  This wasn’t a trick question! If you answered “a house,” you’re correct!

  THE BASICS

  All drawings can be condensed into three elements: dot, line, and shape. You can combine each element together to create anything!

  DOTS A dot is single point on a page—simply putting pen down to paper. Use a lot of dots together for shading and texture, and space them out in a gradient for smooth transitions.

  LINES A line is simply a dot that extends out in any direction. Lines can be straight, curvy, or crooked. They can be parallel, perpendicular, or overlap.

  SHAPES A shape is a line that comes back to its point of origin to become enclosed. It can be curvy or straight, solid (filled), or empty.

  IMAGINATION AND ASSOCIATION

  Illustration starts with imagination. If you can dream it in your head, you can draw it. Our brains are also really good at association, or finding something familiar in something unrelated, like seeing a dog shape in a passing cloud. Let your creative mind loose to see new possibilities in the most basic shapes, and you can grow your imagination and improve your drawing skills.

  EXERCISE

  Draw some shapes in your notebook or on a sheet of paper, and add dots, lines, and other shapes to show what they could be. There are no right or wrong answers—it’s all in what you imagine! Keep it simple. Go for recognizable over realistic.

  If you get stuck or can’t draw something, remember your arsenal of tools! Get out your smartphone and search the Internet for images of what you’re trying to draw (i.e. “light bulb drawing”). One trick I use is to add the word “clip art” after the search words. While clip art isn’t very good quality, it’s a great method for simplifying ideas into images you can easily recreate. Just be sure to never copy someone else’s work and pass it off as your own! That’s called copyright infringement.

  When I teach visual notes workshops and illustration classes, I often have people practice drawing in groups, because you can learn a lot from others. Nearly everyone draws the same object in a different way, in their own style. If you’re stuck or looking for a new way to draw something, ask a friend or family member to draw it for you—you’re sure to get some ideas!

  LEVELING UP

  It’s time to introduce “leveling up!” This is the term I use when I add to or improve a drawing. Consider the house example from earlier.

  The simple house on the far left could be level one. Each time you finish a drawing, ask yourself, “Is there anything I can add to improve this?” If there is, add it! If not, that’s okay too. Each time you add something, consider leveling up. Don’t add on for the sake of adding on, though. Each addition should be intentional and make the drawing more recognizable. It’s okay to start simple, but try to grow and “level up” as your confidence and skills increase.

  Here are some ideas for leveling up your drawings:

  • Add more dots, lines, or shapes

  • Add shading

  • Add details

  • Add context (Who, What, When, Where, How, Why)

  • Ask a friend for tips on how they would make it better

  • Add color

  • Change an existing element

  • Add dimension or change the angle

  • Add a label or caption

  FIGURES

  Drawing people can be intimidating for some. It’s important to learn to draw people, because that’s mostly what we talk about: ourselves! Our brains are wired to respond to faces—even infants can recognize faces before learning to identify other objects. Remember, go for simple and recognizable, not realistic.

  In your notebook, copy these examples. Remember to level up your drawings as you improve and practice! Each example shows ways to level up as you move to the right.

  STICK PERSON The stick person is the most familiar, and you probably have a drawing from grade school using this method! Start with the figure on the far left, and see if you can level it up! Notice the progression; the basics are still there, but it’s improved upon for added recognition.

  STAR PERSON Another recognizable shape is the star! Using a star can be a great tool to draw people. Start with the basic shape and add to and change it to make the best star person you can!

  “A” PERSON

  Draw a letter A, and then add a head, feet, hands, and even clothes! Keep leveling up and changing it to improve!

  OVAL PERSON

  The oval person consists of circles and ovals connected by lines to show body position.

  FACES

  Faces are the best way to portray an emotion or reaction. Drawing the whole body isn’t necessary when you can focus on a person’s head and face to get the point across.

  Faces don’t always have to be human. Humanizing your drawings with faces can help convey emotion. Putting a smile on a dog or a sad face on a rain cloud might not be realistic, but remember—we aren’t going for realistic! As long as a face adds clarity and improves the recognition and understanding of what’s happening, go for it!

  EXERCISE

  Practice drawing a human face. Draw 10 to 15 circles, and then pick emotions from the list below to draw in each circle. Remember—you don’t have to be realistic!

  AFRAID

  ALIVE

  ANGRY

  ALARMED

  CONFUSED

  DEPRESSED

  GOOD

  HAPPY

  HELPLESS

  HURT

  INDIFFERENT

  LOVE

  OPEN

  POSITIVE

  SAD

  STRONG

  AFFECTION

  ALOOF

  ALONE

  BRAVE

  CLEVER

  COMPOSED

  DREAD

  ENVY

  FRUSTRATED

  GLOOMY

  HATE

  HURT

  INFURIATED

  INTRIGUED

  JOYOUS

  MOURNFUL

  NERVOUS

  PANIC

  PLAYFUL

  RESENTMENT

  SERENITY

  SHY

  SKEPTICAL

  TENACIOUS

  THANKFUL

  UNCOMFORTABLE

  VEXED

  VICTIMIZED

  Other things to consider:

  • Intensity: Are they a little sad or REALLY sad? Can you tell the difference?

  • Age: Is the face old, young, or ageless/neutral?

  • Angle: Faces don’t always have to be drawn straight on! Consider a three-quarter or side view.

  • Extras: Is there anything else you can add for context and to improve understanding? For instance, drawing tears on a sad face to convey woe or drawing hearts around a happy face to convey love.

  Can’t figure out how to draw an emotion? Cheat and look at the emoji on your phone for ideas!

  HANDS

  Drawing hands is the most requested demonstration during my workshops and classes. Whether we’re using sign language or making a simple gesture like pointing, hands are a big part of how we communicate. It’s no wonder people want to draw them in their visual notes!

  Hands can be easy to mess up because of all the parts that move in very specific ways. Fortunately, you’re going for recognizable—not realistic. The first step is to break down all those complicated parts into three things: the palm, the fingers, and
the thumb.

  STICK HAND This is one of the easiest hands to draw. Simply pick a point; then draw a short thumb out to one side and three or four lines on the other side. The lines can be straight, curvy, or crooked. Since it’s a recognizable (not realistic) hand, you don’t even always need all five fingers. I think three is the minimum needed.

  To level up the stick hand, draw a box for the palm. Add the thumb coming from the base of the box, and then add the fingers on the top edge. The box method usually looks best with four fingers.

  THE MITTEN Another simple hand is the mitten. Simply draw a large oval with a smaller oval connecting at the base. The downside with mitten hands is you can’t be very specific, like holding up three fingers. These mitten hands are perfect for stick people and oval people.

  BASIC HAND A more advanced way to draw hands is like you might see on a cartoon character. Draw one continuous line for the hand shape, covering the three basic parts: thumb, palm, and fingers. If you draw these three things, you’ll make a recognizable hand! If the palm is facing you, level up and draw the curved thumb crease, and even the crease under the fingers.

  LEVELING UP

  Perhaps you’ve been drawing recognizable hands for a while, but there’s still something “off” about them and you want to be more accurate. Striving to improve your drawings to be more accurate is just fine, as long as drawing more realistically doesn’t take away your focus from actively listening! Here are some things to look for when you’re ready to level up.

  The mitten hand is more accurate than you may realize! Fingers are not all the same length.

  The bottoms of the fingers also don’t connect in a straight line. Think of the palm as a square with bulging sides.

  The thumb connects at the base of the hand, but it doesn’t actually come out directly from the connection point. Note how it comes out in the middle of the palm at an angle. Don’t forget to curve the inside of the thumb!

  Don’t make the thumb too long! The tip reaches just a little bit higher than where the fingers connect to the palm and moves in a downward arc.

  EXERCISE

  Put your non-drawing hand in the following positions and draw each one using any of the drawing methods:

  • Open hand, fingers apart

  • Open hand, fingers together

  • Pointing one finger, fingers facing you

  • Hand holding a writing utensil

  • Making a fist, thumb over fingers

  CARTOON-STYLE FACES

  I love drawing cartoon faces in my sketchnotes because they are fun and familiar to people. Cartoons also alleviate pressure you might put on yourself to be more realistic in your drawings.

  Anyone who has read comics knows there are unlimited ways to draw cartoons—everyone has their own style. Practice some of these concepts, and feel free to come up with your own cartooning methods that are quick and easy for you.

  HEAD

  Some people like to draw the head before the face, and some like to draw the head after the face. I do both. Sometimes I get inspired to draw a face, and then I have the creative freedom to come up with a head shape to match. Other times, I know exactly what the head should look like, but not the face. Here are a few basic head shapes to get you started.

  THINGS TO TRY

  • Change the width at one end (i.e. wider at the top than the bottom)

  • Try a front view of each shape, in addition to a side view

  • Add a chin

  • Go back to line basics: try straight, curvy, and crooked parallel lines to draw different styles (and lengths!) of necks

  EYES

  If there’s one thing you should practice a lot, it’s the eyes! The eyes are the most important part of a cartoon face—they help convey much of the emotion or action.

  ADD-ON

  • Eyebrows

  • Eyelids

  • Eyelashes

  • Glasses (can also BE the eyes)

  If you’re drawing an elderly person, there are a few ways to tastefully add age in the eyes. You can add slight bags below, draw crow’s feet on the side, or add relaxed eyelids.

  THINGS TO TRY

  • Change the distance between the eyes

  • Change the size of the eyes

  • Change the size of the pupils

  • Change the placement of the eyes on the head (high, middle, or low)

  • Rotate the eyes in their place

  NOSES

  There are many ways to draw noses, and these examples are the quickest and simplest. As you grow in confidence and speed, level up!

  THINGS TO TRY

  • Change from front view to side view

  • Change the position on the head

  • Change the size

  • Try straight, curvy, and crooked lines

  One of the quickest ways I tend to mess up my drawings is by adding nostrils to the nose. Whenever I add them, it ends up looking like a pig nose. My solution? I don’t draw them!

  MOUTHS

  Mouths also convey a lot of emotion and action, and the shapes vary widely for what you want to convey. Look in the mirror. Make faces for different emotions and see what your mouth looks like. When you draw it in a cartoon style, exaggerate it further for clarity.

  ADD-ON

  • Lips

  • Teeth

  • Tongue

  • Facial hair

  If you’re drawing an elderly person, the mouth is another area where you can show age. You can add lines that go directly from the sides of the nose to the sides of the mouth (A), add straight lines on the sides of the mouth (B), and even small wrinkle lines on the lips (C).

  THINGS TO TRY

  • Change from front view to side view

  • Change the position on the head

  • Change the size

  • Try open and closed mouths

  EARS

  Ears are naturally positioned on the side of the head between the tops of the eyes and the bottom of the nose, but since we’re cartooning, you can move them around a little.

  If you’re drawing ears from a front view of the face, simply add some shapes on the side of the head. If you’re drawing a side view, you can add a few details, but don’t overcomplicate. If I’m drawing a detailed ear, I only draw the top ridge (the helix) and the little bump next to the opening (the tragus). Any more than that is often too much detail for a cartoon.

  THINGS TO TRY

  • Add earrings

  • Change the position on the head

  • Change the size

  • Change how much they stick out

  HAIR

  Hair is one of the most defining features of a cartoon character. Even if every facial feature you draw looks the same, changing the hair will make each face look completely different.

  There are infinite ways to draw hair. To get started, look at the examples here and try to replicate them. Next, observe the people around you and try to draw those styles.

  FACIAL HAIR

  I enjoy drawing characters with facial hair, because it creates good visual interest and contrast. Facial hair is also often in style, so drawing characters with crazy mustaches or big beards isn’t far from reality! Look at the facial hair examples here and try to replicate them. Next, observe the people around you and try to draw those styles.

  THINGS TO TRY

  • Mustaches

  • Beards at different stages of growth

  • Goatees

  • Making the beard and mouth work together (i.e. making a mustache the top line of the mouth)

  PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

  Now that you’ve practiced drawing different head shapes, eyes, noses, mouths, ears, and hair, it’s time to put it all together in one drawing.

  EXERCISE

  Draw eight different head shapes, either front or side views. Next add eyes for each; then add the nose, mouth, ears, and hair. Mix and match different styles of each feature to find what works best for you. When you f
inish, look at each character you’ve drawn and write down what you do and don’t like about each one. As you narrow your preferences, you’ll begin to find your own unique cartooning style.

  VISUAL DIRECTION

  As you take visual notes, you need to include elements that help with the way your notes are read—in other words, the visual direction. You don’t want the notes to look overwhelming, and these tools help create balance by distinguishing the path of content and signaling to the reader where to look next.

  CONTAINERS

  Picture this: You’re taking visual notes during a lecture. The presenter gave a recommendation, said something profound, shared a quote, or made a related side-comment. You want to capture it in a special way, but what to do? Use a container!

  Containers help separate content in your visual notes. They can draw attention to big ideas, or they can separate the lesser points from the larger flow of information. Containers can be subtle, or they can be big and bold.