To start, there are simple shapes you need to draw almost anything, want to see?

First, remember two things…

1. We all start at “meh" 

What dissuades us from any challenge is realizing it’s going to take longer than we think. Weight loss, writing, sketching, doesn’t matter.

So let’s start small and simple. I’ll teach you how to begin sketchnoting with simple shapes, and how to use them today. The first couple of books I read on sketchnotes and "doodling" were The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde and The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam.

Both Mike and Dan showed how simple shapes could be used to communicate almost any idea! Combined with lines, arrows, and dots, the possibilities were truly endless.

I want to start with the simplest and most important shapes that I've distilled from their initial teaching.

 Circle - Rectangle - Triangle - Square - Blob

With these shapes, you can create sketchnotes. Honest.

The challenge is start and continue practicing. Early attempts will look “meh”, but it doesn’t mean you suck, it means you have to practice more.

With these shapes, I can sketch 3 people of varying sizes, a dog, a tree, and the sun. See?

The good news is you don’t need to practice these shapes! You know them! What you need to practice is putting them together.

Here's the first bit of practice for your own sketchnotes:

Draw the 5 shapes and create a simple sketch. If you’re stumped, just copy the one I created above. Don’t worry about details today, keep all the people without hair, hands, or feet.

Finally, please remember this when you’re creating sketchnotes…

 The Goal is Communicating Ideas, not Creating Fine Art 

I’ve come a long way, and you can too.

Matt