Tips to Improve Drawing Skills for NID Exam 2026: Pattern, Important Topics and Practice Questions
National Institute of Design Entrance Exam 2026 ( NID Entrance Exam )
Exam On - 8 Mar '26
Preparing for NID DAT 2026 and worried about how to brush up on your drawing skills? Let's see in the article how to improve drawing skills for the NID DAT Prelims Entrance Exam.
NID DAT Drawing Tips
NID exams are very near, and you must have plenty of syllabus left to be finished.NID Prelims is the first step in the NID Entrance Process, and it includes two parts. Part II has subjective-type questions related to writing and drawing. There will be 4-5 questions in the second part of the NID DAT Paper. Drawing and writing question will carry around 75 marks. The exam will be conducted as a paper-and-pencil/pen test. There will be no negative marking.
NID DAT 2026 Registration form is open for B.Des and M.Des programmes from September 11, 2026. The last date to submit the application form for NID DAT is December 1, 2025.
- NID DAT 2026 Exam Pattern - Prelims
- Tips to Improve Drawing Skills for NID DAT
- Important Topics for NID DAT Drawing Questions
- Practice Questions for NID DAT 2026
NID DAT 2026 Exam Pattern - Prelims
The exam pattern for NID DAT Prelims is
| Particulars | Description |
|---|---|
| Exam Duration | 3 hours |
| Mode of exam | Offline |
| Maximum Marks | 100 |
| Maximum Questions | 26 |
| Type of Question |
Objective and Subjective type questions
|
| Language | English |
There is no negative marking in NID DAT 2026 exam. The candidate is recommended to go through the detailed exam pattern to get insights into the question paper structure, including types of questions asked, sections, etc. The DAT Prelims exam for the B. Des programme has two parts. Part I will include 22 objective-type questions, whereas Part II will include 4 subjective-type questions. Objective-type questions carry 1-2 marks, while subjective-type questions carry 15-20 marks. The total marks for the NID DAT Prelims will be 100 marks.
There is no negative marking in NID DAT Prelims.
So, the candidate may attempt all the questions. If the wrong answer is selected, the candidate won't be penalized. However, if the correct answer option is selected, the candidate may get some free marks.
Note that the DAT Prelims exam will be conducted in an OMR-based mode. The candidate will need a blue/black ball-point pen for filling the OMR sheet.
Tips to Improve Drawing Skills for NID DAT
NID drawing part will have questions that will be based on sketching, human figures, color schemes, scale, proportion, design solutions, and more. You should be able to present your ideas on the paper.
1. Practice Human figure drawing: This is one of the most important parts of the NID Drawing questions. Practice hands, fingers, head, etc.
2. Practice Line practice daily: Start with horizontal lines and then vertical lines, slanting lines. Practice without lifting your pencil.
3. Work on proportion and composition: Composition is very important for drawing, and it can be achieved only by practicing daily.
4. Be consistent. Practice drawing daily. Imagine any situation and draw it to check your creativity.
5. Get inspired: Observe and appreciate art. Spend time on Pinterest, Instagram, and comic books to view artistic things, observe them, and take inspiration from them. Try to notice small details.
6. Develop Visualisation: This is the key skill for any drawing exam. Have a clear picture of anything before drawing it. Practice by taking a random picture of anything and then drawing it. This will help you in developing an eye for observing objects.
7. Use Simplification Technique: Every object can be reduced to simple shapes. It will make drawing easy. Observe shapes in every object.
8. Work on Line Quality and Neatness: This is the most effective and oldest technique. Keep a newspaper under your hand while sketching to keep the other area clean.
9. Draw from observation: Observe and practice drawing from different angles. For example, a view from the top, a view of a room from the window, etc.
10. Practice without Eraser: Erasing the drawing takes a lot of time, smudges your work, and makes it unfit to render later on. It leaves an adverse impact on the person checking that drawing.
11. Understand Memory Drawing: Memory drawing is one of the important parts of preparation for the NID DAT test. Most aspiring students can do excellent copy drawing, but find it difficult to draw from memory. One can start developing observation skills and lots of practice. Live sketching will also help refine this part.
12. Shading - Shading is not an important part of the design exam, but you should know the basics. Practice reflected light, full light, case shadow, halftone and shadow edge.
Important Topics for NID DAT Drawing Questions
Some of the topics and questions on them for NID
| Topics | Questions |
|---|---|
| Conceptual Drawing | Make an AI driven Hospital or classroom |
| Memory Drawing | Make a scene for the last independence parade you saw |
| Perspective Drawing | Draw a living room from a kid's perspective |
| Design/Drawing Solution for Real world problems | Design a jacket for people on mountains |
| Colour Theory | Design a T-shirt for Halloween |
| Sequential Drawing | Draw steps showing: making of French fries from potatoes |
Yes, under unforeseen circumstances, the National Institute of Design reserves the right to change the nature and structure of the NID exam. This means all tests can be conducted online or offline, or a combination of online and offline, depending on how the National Institute of Design deems it fit.
So, the candidate is urged to keep looking up this space for all the latest on the NID 2026 exam.
No, there is no negative marking in the NID Studio Test. Candidates will be evaluated based on their thinking and creative skills. Studio Test will carry 40% of the total Marks for the NID Mains Exam.
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Practice Questions for NID DAT 2026
NID writing and drawing questions will carry 75 marks. So one must practice them thoroughly.
1. A thirsty crow is looking at the juice kept in a shop. The juice shop is located in a market.
a. Imagine you are the crow and looking at the juice shop, Draw the shop from your perspective
b. Draw a poster about crows deserving to have juice from juice shop.
2. Rajiv and Sudip share a common wall. There is a neem tree in Rajiv's yard that tilts into Sudip's yard. When the tree sheds its leaves, it gets difficult for Sudip to clean the garden. He tells Rajiv to cut the tree but he refuses. Give 4 solution for this problem through illustration.
3. Create a product to carry 20 liters of water in a mountainous area. Explain how a person can use this designed product effectively.
4. Draw 3 key steps for the process given below.
- Potato to chips
- Bees to candle
- Mango/fruit to pickle
- Seashell/beads to jewelry
5. A. Draw a room for a person above 50 years old or a child aged 6-10. Show where they would be positioned in the room. Write a key function / purpose of any product in the picture you draw. Describe ways to improve the functionality of the product.
Also read:
Sayeba Naushad is a commerce postgraduate from Banaras Hindu University. She has over five years of experience in content writing and editing. She has a nose for current events in design field. At Shiksha.com, she s
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 5 days ago
If there were any clashes of the interview dates with the college/ university exam, then candidates could inform the NID before February 23, 2026. Candidates needed to attach a copy of the timetable attested by the principal and a letter from the principal confirming that the examination dates clash
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
NID will not release any Answer Key for B.Des or M.Des programme. It opens a rechecking window with the result.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
Yes, NID has a rechecking Window for the NID Result. This window will check whether all answers are checked or not, and whether the total is correct.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
NID will release the result for B.Des on April 07, 2026. The result be released on the website of NID.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
NID Studio Test for M.Des carries 40% of wieghtage and Interview carries 60% wieghtage. More emphasis is given on the interview by NID.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
No, there is no negative marking in the NID Studio Test. Candidates will be evaluated based on their thinking and creative skills. Studio Test will carry 40% of the total Marks for the NID Mains Exam.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
Yes, NID Studio Exam is a bit tough because it will check your creativity and imagination. You can learn some formulas here and apply them to get the answer. The main objective is to evaluate technical skills and critical thinking skills. So, it is said to be a bit tough.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
It is not at all necessary to take coaching to get a good rank in NID Entrance Exam. It is because the entrance exam will test creative, drawing, and innovative skills of the candidate. Now, a coaching institute can't teach you to be creative or become innovative. But you can take coaching classes f
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
National Institute of Design (NID) will release the NID DAT 2026 admission cut-off for the B.Des and M.Des programmes at the time of seat allotment, around May-June 2026. The cut-off will be released as the rank and score of the last candidate admitted to the M.Des program.
NID DAT cut-off for B.Des
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 6 days ago
NID DAT, along with NIFT and UCEED are among the most competitive national-level entrance exams in the country. The fact that there are only 425 seats for the B. Des and 347 seats for the M.Des programme makes it very competitive. But that being said, if the candidate prepares well and with the corr
S
Contributor-Level 10
The NID DAT 2026 (Prelims) exam will be conducted on December 21, 2025.
As per the official pattern, the DAT Prelims exam wil be conducted offline and will be of 3 hours duration. The test will be conducted in English language and include a maximum of 26 questions. The question paper will include both subjective and objective-type questions. The paper will be for 100 marks. Candidate who qualify in DAT Prelims have to next appear in DAT Mains.
The candidate needs to consult the exam pattern along with the syllabus to prepare for the NID that exam. Note that the National Institute of Design also has the authority to make changes to the exam pattern.