Learn to… Art!

Inspiration à la Kyla Tomlinson

Aug 3, 2011 Drawing

I love this, people sharing their work with everyone else! Kyla Tomlinson is an animator and illustrator. Her illustrations are dynamic and full of character; you can see her drawings come to life. Here’s what Kyla has to say about her work:

I’m really keen to develop a stronger approach with the use of mixed media in the character work that I’m doing.  So many character designs for commercial animation are brilliant and beautifully executed, but have a very typical and generic look.  I want to experiment and try something different.

I love that Kyla is stepping outside the box and and doing something different. We need more artists like her!

Check out some inspiration from Kyla, and let me know if you want your art featured!

Drawing, There’s More to it Than Just Pencils

Jul 25, 2011 Drawing

Think drawing is all about the pencil and paper? Think again!

Sure, the pencil is the most traditional of drawing tools, along with charcoal and and ink, but there are many other mediums that can be used for drawing, including materials you might think are reserved for kids. Don’t limit yourself to tradition, try something new:

1. Coloured Pencil - Pretty much the same as pencil crayons, these let you build up luminous layers of colours, resulting in vibrant and rich works. Check out a some coloured pencil inspiration to see what can be achieved.

2. Pastel - Pastels are available as dry, dusty chalk, or thick, wet oils. Each has its own benefits and each can create beautiful pieces. Have a look at what you can do with chalk pastels and oil pastels.

3. Watercolour Pencil Crayons – Similar to coloured pencils, these are unique in that they are water soluble. You can create a water-colour effect by painting water on top of your drawings, allowing you to blend your colours. Here is an example of watercolour pencil crayons.

4. Crayons - Not just for kids! Crayons are a perfectly legitimate medium to work with, especially when you’re playing around. Remember that you can layer colours to get more variations. Check out this crayon drawing.

5. Markers – Used a lot in illustrations, markers are great for a clean, graphic look. Copic markers are relatively new on the market; they are pricey but they allow for blending. If marker is your thing, check them out! Here’s a drawing in copic marker.

6. Paint - Don’t be fooled, paint can be used for drawing! It’s all in the application of the paint. Using different tools can help you get away from the more traditional painterly approach; try things like sticks, sponges, stamps, strings, etc. Take a look at this painted drawing.

There are a lot of different materials out there. The trick to finding the ones that suit you best is experimenting. Try as many different things as you can and you’ll soon find the ones you are drawn to.

Tags: drawing, drawing materials, drawing tips

More Inspiration from Andrea Hupke de Palacio

Jul 21, 2011 Drawing

I got a message yesterday from another long time reader, Andrea. Andrea is an artist and blogger in Paris who does the cutest illustrations based on her observations of the city. She also paints and is experimenting with new media, a great way to get out of a rut!

Andrea says:

Congratulations for your marriage and I’m glad to see you back in the saddle (this is an expression we use in Germany too:) and to have your posts again in my inbox.

I have been away from blogging myself for some time now, but am trying to hop into the saddle too lol.

Enclosed please find a picture with my latest work in process, I’m working with new techniques including
egg-tempera and pigments, in a new environment, new home new studio:)

If you like to share it on your blog, please go ahead,
I wish you all the best for you and your art and your life,

Andrea, best of luck to you getting back into the swing of things. Perhaps we can motivate each other!

Below is Andrea’s egg-tepera work in progress, called Singing Bodies. The rich colours remind me of fall; I would love to see the finished product!

Tags: inspiration

Anatomy of the Eye.. and How to Draw It

Mar 9, 2011 Drawing

What is more alluring than the eyes? For many portrait artists, it’s the eye that is the main attraction, the feature that drives us to draw portraits at all. There is the intricacy of the structure to master, and then there’s the challenge of capturing something as elusive as emotion.

I’ve talked about drawing eyes before. I’ve covered tips for drawing eyes, as well as done a full tutorial on drawing and shading the eye.

Today, I am going to take a more general approach on how to draw the eye from a knowledge of basic anatomy. An awareness of the structure of the human eye will help you in achieving a realistic likeness in your portraits no matter what your reference image is like.

1. The Tear Duct

Often over-looked, this tiny little apparatus is essential! While the outside corner of the eye is pointed, the inside corner forms a little round nub. Next to the tear duct, before the white of the eye, there can often be seen several tiny folds of skin. Of course, if your portrait is quite small, you won’t need to worry about these details.

2. The Iris

This is the exciting part of the eye. The coloured area, it is actually a muscle that relaxes and contracts in order to allow certain amounts of light to pass through your pupil. When drawing the iris, you need to take into consideration the colour of the eye. Blue eyes will be shaded lighter, brown eyes shaded darker. Don’t forget to add some detail in the form of striated, radiating patterns. Also, the outer edge of the iris is often darker than the rest.

3. The Eyelid Crease

Often, all we see of the eyelid when the eyes are open is the crease above the eye. Sometimes, we see the entire crease and sometimes the fold overlaps the outer edge of the eye. These details are a huge part of creating emotion and individuality in your eyes. Although we see the crease as a line, don’t forget to add some shading to create a short, but smooth transition to the lighter areas of the lid.

4. The Eyebrow

This is another key element for showing expression. In general, men tend to have thicker, straighter brows that are lower (closer to the eyes). Women’s brows are thinner, more arched and placed higher on the face. Check out my eyebrow tutorial for more details on how to achieve the right texture.

5. The Whites of the Eyes

Scientifically known as the sclera (my day job keeps me refreshed on grade eight biology terms) the whites of the eyes are not actually white! Like any three-dimensional object, the whites of the eyes vary in value. Under the eye-lid, the eyeball is a sphere and should be shaded accordingly. The whites are often darker in the corners of the eye, lightening towards the middle. They are also darker right under the upper eyelid, as the eyelashes cast a shadow.

6.  The Lashline

The lashline, or the edge of the eyelids, define the shape of the eye. In general, the eye is widest where the iris is. When drawing the lash line, your technique depends on the size of your drawing. For very small portraits, a slight darkening of the upper lash line is sufficient. For larger portraits, you will want to draw the individual eye lashes. To do this, use short, quick, curved pencil strokes. Start at the eyelid and pull away, creating a tapered line that mimics lashes.

7. The Highlight

This is the point of the eyeball where the light is hitting it directly. Because the eye is wet and shiny, the highlight is often quite hard-edged. The shape depends on the type of light source. For example, light from a window will create a square highlight. This part of the eye should be significantly lighter than the rest of the eye, pure white if possible. The highlight gives your eyes sparkle and makes your portrait come to life. Even if your reference doesn’t have one, add it in!

8. The Pupil

One of few objects in nature that is perfectly round and symmetrical, the pupil is the actual hole in your eye that allows light to enter. If you want the eyes to be the focus of your portrait, make the pupils the darkest value. Also check out this post by portrait artist Gwen Seemel where she explains that larger pupils are more attractive.

Tags: better drawings, draw eyes, drawing tips

Tips for Drawing Dogs (and Other Furry Critters)

Jan 5, 2011 Drawing

But first… did you remember to fill out my survey? Thanks!

This year I had the opportunity to do a few commissions for dog portraits. Surprisingly, I found that I really enjoyed it.

A change of subject matter help improve your overall drawing skills by giving you new challenges. If you’re getting comfortable with drawing people, or even if you’re just starting to learn how to draw, try your hand at a dog or other furry creature. The following tips will help you in your venture!

Drawing dogs employs the same principles as people portraits: identify darks and lights, accurate line drawing, appropriate values, etc. The extra challenge? The fur. Drawing realistic fur is very different from drawing smooth skin; it’s also different from drawing human hair.

Fur is incredibly cool to draw. You’d think it would be boring and tedious, but it’s really quite meditative. The keys to drawing realistic fur are layeres, texture and value.

Layering pencil strokes to create the illusion of dog fur.

 Fur is made up of layers of many hairs. Therefore, your drawing of fur must be made up of layers of many pencil lines.

Short, hatch-like marks for short fur (left), and long, fluid strokes for long fur (right).

If you are drawing short fur, your lines must be short. If you are drawing longer fur, your lines need to be long.

Start with a line drawing, then map out the fur using a 2H pencil. Fill in the mid-tones with a B pencil, then darken the shadows with a 2B.

To really build up layers, start with a fairly hard pencil. Use a 2H to map in your values and the direction of fur growth. Then layer a B on top for the mid-tones, and last create your shadows with a 2B.

Using a 2H pencil, you can create texture on white fur or highlights.

Even in the lightest highlight, you will see some hairs. This is because the light is reflected off each hair rather than smooth skin. Here you see the 2H pencil lines showing through. This goes for white fur, too. Even when a dog’s fur is white, you need some faint lines to show the texture.

Hair grows away from the eyes, down the face and up the ears.

Pay really close attention to the direction of fur growth, especially around the face and chest where the direction changes a lot. Getting this accurate goes a long way towards creating a believable likeness. On the face, hair tends to grow away from the eyes and the nose.

When you can't tell how hair growing in different directions transitions, create some ambiguous shading.

Unless you have an excellent reference image, there will likely be areas where you can’t identify where the change in hair growth occurs, areas where the hairs seem to collide. When you draw this, create some ambiguous shading to allow for a smooth transition.

The soft, but sudden transition from light to dark creates the illusion of a shiny fur coat and defines the shape of the dog's skull.

Another characteristic of dog fur is its shine. Make sure you retain your highlights and realize that you may have very light areas right next to very dark areas. This shine is what communicates the musculature and structure of the dog underneath the fur.

Hopefully these tips will help you as you learn how to draw dogs. Challenge yourself and give it a try!

Tags: drawing dogs, drawing fur, drawing tips