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How To Draw Figures | Human Figure Drawing Tutorial

Did you know that you can learn to draw a figure without attending to figure drawing classes easily? The most comprehensive drawing figure tutorial by Todd Harris is now online and available for instant download for people looking for figure drawing help.

Learn Todds Figure Drawing Techniques and Tips At Home

With the figure drawing techniques revealed in this figure drawing eBook, it will be possible to draw pencil drawings of the human figure with ease whether beginner or advanced.

One of the best thing about this downloadable figure drawing course is that even if you could easily spend thousands of dollars on figure drawing class at an average university, you can save your thousands with this special eBook which reveals all the figure drawing techniques including the figure drawing without a model.

Proven Figure Drawing Lessons To Master The Human Form
Learning the human form is really difficult, time consuming and tedious task for the most of the beginner artists. Being the most critical of all elements, human form must be very well understood whether you want to be an accomplished artist, portrait artist, video game artist, film artist, or a commissioned artist.

Learning how to draw the human form is fully covered in this eBook with great detail. The powerful figure drawing lessons which will teach you everything you need to know about the human form will bring you to new arenas of your hobby, career, or training you thought unimaginable.

Best Figure Drawing Pdf Guide
If you want to learn the techniques outlined in this figure drawing pdf guide, you would need to purchase around 6 other human figure drawing books which would cost you around $200. Todd Harris has made a great job for preparing this eBook pdf on figures drawing.

This all-inclusive guide to figure drawing for beginners will combine techniques of the masters, to tricks on how to draw people right the first time. This online figure drawing lesson is a great opportunity for getting a steal of a deal in money and time.

Free Figure Drawing Book Download
This figure drawing guide eBook comes together with 5 free figure drawing tutorials to help you understand the figure drawing basics in depth. These are the best free figure drawing resources online:

The Art and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed: which will help you to learn the secrets of drawing straight from the masters.
One Piece Portfolio Review Submission: which will let you to submit a piece of artwork and have it evaluated and reviewed with a critique sent back to you.
Getting Started: which will teach you the basics of the block-in method and line variation and contour drawing.
The American Drawing Book by John Gadsby Chapman: which give you tips from the basics to advanced techniques.
Pen Drawing An Illustrated Treatise by Charles Maginnis: shows you everything you need to know how to make beautiful pen drawings.
Learn Figure Drawing Tips With Ease
Indeed every artist operate a little differently. This learning program fits any artists learning style. You can easily learn figure drawing step by step by choosing the program which fits your style.

Even if you you are not sure which kind of artist you are, thats okay. You will still have complete description and will benefit from learning the teachniques that are made for the type of artist you are.

Learning figure drawing tips and the human form has never been that easy with this online figure drawing secrets of the masters. Discover the secrets of experienced illustrators and masters with step by step figure drawing instruction.

You will get the best figure drawing eBooks full of advice, tips, instruction and illustrations on how to draw figure drawing delivered instantly at your fingertips. Learn to draw figures with a system right for you. Download this best figure drawing book here and learn how to draw figures step by step.

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For more information on how to draw figures, visit my site to learn human figure drawing tutorial

How to Draw Drawings Creatively

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Drawing is the art of genius undoubtedly. It cannot be manipulated by someone who is less intelligent and doesn't know how to use his or her artistic knowledge to create a staggering masterpiece. Despite of that, drawing can be only manipulated by someone who is intelligent and better knows how to use his or her commonsensical knowledge artistically. If you are an artist and want to create something an imaginative masterpiece you will have to use your own knowledge and drawing skills in style so as to produce something a stunner for the audiences. That is why you have to better know yourself how to draw drawings artistically.

The truth is that drawing has become a professional activity nowadays. It needs your commonsensical knowledge, artistic knack, and strong imaginative power how to draw a drawing. If you want to enhance your drawing skills and efficiencies, you will have to make full use of latest drawing tools and methods. As a matter of fact, there are a wide range of drawing tools such as graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, pastels, markers, stylus, silverpoint, and many more. When it comes to the drawing styles, they are many for example marbling, mannerism, modernism, minimalism, gothic, impressionism, expressionism, symbolism, realism, romanticism, and so on.

If you want to create a stunning looking masterpiece, then you will have to go through most popular works of drawing such as Mona Lisa painting, Atlanta painting, Monet paintings, Gogh painting, and many more. Open your mind up always for the reason that an increased use of your intellectual capacity can certainly take you to produce a creative sketch, painting, picture or drawing. Do not get bogged down at all because lack of confidence does not exist in the world of art, drawing and painting. Stay cool as a cucumber all the time for the reason that it will definitely help you how to draw sketch heroes artistically.

Finally you should have enough knowledge, information, and facts about the most contemporary and ex works of drawings as they will provide you a detailed guideline how to draw paintings creatively. Read plenty of latest articles on modern contemporary and Paleolithic art on the internet for the reason that they will of course play a mandatory role in the enhancement of your intellectual capacities. Last of all, you should ever give a huge round of applause to your senior drawing artists if you want to really get excelled in the field of art and drawing.

In short, drawing is a creative activity that absolutely needs you to make full use of your artistic knowledge and various drawing techniques so as to create a stunning masterpiece. Interestingly online drawings company offers the best drawing services to its valued customers worldwide in style.

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To Learn How to Draw Online Sketch heroes visit here sketchheroes.com/

Make Money Drawing Online

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Let me ask you, would you like to:

Get paid from multiple streams of daily income?
Recieve huge notoriety as an artist?
Keep your copyrights?
Have fun while making your money as an artist?
Use your cellphone or camera as an profit tool?
Quit your artist job and make your own hours?
Get paid residual income from every photo you submit?
Buy a nice home and car and retire early?

Its no secret, the Internet is a great way for people to exploit their talents. There is no other place in the world where we can have our talent's seen by so many like minded and interested people.

If you own or have access to a scanner, or even are able to upload quality pictures of your drawing's , than check out how Jules' system lay's out the exact avenue's for getting your drawing's in front of willing buyers. And plenty other great benefits.

Have you been looking for a solid way to make a real living using the internet? Were you aware that you could be submitting digital files that you drew as a sketch or took as a photo, and getting paid good money for them? That's right: Jobs for artists are not what they used to be! Well you can, and it is easier then ever! GetPaidToDRAW will enable you to make automatic money on the Internet, using nothing but a pencil, or your camera and a computer.

Jules Camber isnt the first to discover the "Paid To Draw" market. She isnt even the first to make ton's of money doing it - BUT, Jules is the first person to thouroughly examine EVERY SINGLE avenue of income for the online drawing market. No one else has ever put together such an extensive collection of drawing options for those that are ready to make some money on the Internet.

Here is what the "Make Money Drawing Online" guide is about:

Where you can begin to submit files , so that hundreds of people can download them, and you will get paid every time! Now there are different option's and site's that offer artist's a chance to show there work to potential buyer's, Jules will show you the fast track to finding the best sites and getting your work out in front of all other drawing's.

Logo's Are HUGE!

New companies are big on presentation. Not only is a name important, but the smartest companies know how professional a custom Logo look's, and they are willing to spend VEREY good money for solid work.

Find out how you can work with these companies to come up with Logo's that make them happy and make you look good. Logo's are one of the better opportunities for you to show off your creativity and your drawing skill's.

And that's how you build a name.

But that's not all - I know that after I began to find my passion for drawing, it seemed like it opened up a whole world of artistic expression. From dark lead's, and painting, to ceramic's and photography. Drawing is just a fraction of what alot of us love to do.

That's why this is a great guide for us artists. Not only can you present drawing's and painting's, but photo's are a great option too.

People LOVE real photo's. You can make some great money. And most of the time, people really just want some basic shot's, like house's in the country, or nature shot's.

Usually it's about being one of the first photograph's or drawing's that are seen. And you will learn the right way to be seen with the "Make Money Drawing Online" guide.

And you can do it anywhere - either with a Laptop -or taking pictures with a basic camera.

Hey, this is a little known market right now. If you love to draw or take photo's, give yourself a real chance at doing what you love for a living. I would never under estimate taking college or art school classes, but why wait around when you can get the best experience available.

Check out this awesome Paid To Draw Guide, it's honestly a great idea for all artsists:

Author Description :

Make Money Drawing Online - Its fun and you will LOVE doing it.

The Secret of Realistic Drawing

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The Secret of Realistic Drawing:

What really is realistic drawing? there are so many different styles of art out there now, that I can understand if you are a bit baffled which way to turn.

So lets get down to it, and unravel the mystery in getting Realistic Drawing on track.

Realistic Drawing and You

There are enough styles of drawing, modern, surrealism. But the most pure of all art is the reproduction of realistic likeness. What does this mean to you?Realism is the reproduction of something that is the same likeness of what you see; what is real.

I heard people say that "if you draw or painted something that looks just like a photo, why not just take a photo instead". That art is perceived in layman's-terms as "The Artists Interpretation of art itself". So does that mean that we; as artists should not interpret an object to the closest exactness to what we are drawing......

Sometimes I wonder if this isn't an excuse to be able to make mistakes; that an artist shouldn't try to make an exact replica to an object or living thing. Or is it a scape-goat, being the way to excuse an artists talent if they cant replicate likeness in their art?

I for one don't agree, and there are enough artists doing realistic drawings out there to also support my own values. And there are allot of artists that can bring to life, drawings of things, that just take your breath away.

So is this the way you want to go with your drawings, or do you want to tackle a few different styles. So if you want to draw really good realistic drawings; making that decision is a big step.

Realistic Drawing Expectations

I think most artists look at realistic artists drawings; the really good ones. And think wow!

Most artists who do fine art, think seriously about doing realistic drawings. I know I do, and always have. So there are different stages, different capacities at just how good you want to be. Do you want your drawings to reflect the subject you are doing. The same exact image.

I would love that myself; what you need to ask yourself is that, do you have the devotion and time to become a really good realistic drawing artist. I myself have found that I have a special talent in doing sculpture, and I do realistic sculpture most of the time. So I don't have the necessary time to become one of the masters in the field of realistic drawing. It would be nice.........

I don't just mean doing a drawing that is just a likeness. I mean doing a drawing that is so close to the real thing, that you have to look hard to see if it really is a drawing or a photo.

Is Realistic Drawing Right for You

Do you want to be one of these artists? when you have seen these sort of drawing in art shows, magazines etc... Do you think that this artist is really talented and you wish you could draw like they can. Art needs a certain amount of talent. There are the natural artists, and also there are artists that have to take the long road by going to art school and studying their new trade.

But I can tell you now, this sort of drawing doesn't just come, you need to be prepared to put long hours of practice and study to getting to this stage of near perfection in the art field. And be prepared for a lot of frustration and many lessons. You could be looking at a year of practice to get to this standard. But the self satisfaction and amazement at what you could do by your own hand, will outweigh all that time you took to get to this stage.

And just like an athlete, you will need to work at it to keep a standard. Yes, even artists get a bit rusty after a while. If they haven't been doing their drawing for a while.

Mindset and Your Drawing

When you you do enter the world of this sort of standard in realistic drawing. Your mindset needs to get over the feeling that in order to reproduce an image down on paper. You need to think that you have no other cause; than to reproduce what you see.

And you will need to do your homework first. Look at pictures of the subject that you are going to do. Find different angles and go and see the subject in real life if you can. I know if you want to draw say... a big cat. Its not always so easy to go and see it fin real life. I am faced with this too.... Distance and geography lends a factor to not being able to just go and see your subject. So it comes down to finding pictures and studying. Staring closely at these pictures, and soaking in the detail, texture, and shape. All must be thoroughly studied, and familiar in your mind before you put your pencil to paper.

Reproducing realism, is most probably the hardest thing you can do in art. Because you have a measurement to come up to, "natures work itself". Or man made. With more modern art work, you don't have to follow something to the exactness, therefore you cannot be judged if it is really right or not.

If you can commit to this, and knowing that it wont be an easy road, I guarantee. When you do reach the standard of being able to look at your work in its realistic brilliance. You be so glad you did go through all that practice and lessons. When you know it has all paid off in the long run.

The road to drawing realistic art may not be the easiest one. As we have discussed. And I don't want you to go into such a decision half-heartedly. Are you suited to this sort of art, or do you follow other styles of art. Being an all rounder in art is fine. But to really be the best at one style takes allot of time. I am an all rounder in art myself, I chose to mainly concentrate and specialize in sculpture. And have seen how; through the years my sculpting has improved. You never stop learning in art.

Being faced with what you need to achieve, the goals in realistic drawing might be a bit daunting. But if your interest is such that you know its right for you. And now you know what you are in for. Making the decision to not just draw what you see, but becoming a master at it. Will be your own reward.

Permission to reproduce if byline stays intact, courtesy copy appreciated; not required.

Pencil Portrait Drawing Tips on Supplies

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Whether or not your pencil portrait turns out to be a masterpiece depends to a large extend on the type and quality of your drawing tools. This is, of course, true for any craft. In this article, I will present an overview of the tools the professional pencil artist uses when drawing a pencil portrait.

What do you need to draw pencil portraits? The bare minimum is a pencil and a piece of paper. Needing hardly any equipment is an advantage but also a disadvantage. Drawing is to the arts what boxing is to sports. The fewer tools you have the more skilled you need to be to stand out. Therefore, as a pencil artist, it is particularly important that you use the right tools of the right quality.

Below, I present just about every piece of drawing equipment you will ever need. Study the list and then pick and choose depending on your style and ambitions:

* Pencils. Drawing pencils, in general, come in degrees of softness and hardness:

9H, 8H, ..., 2H, H, F, HB, B, 2B, 3B, ..., 8B, 9B

where 9H is the hardest and 9B is the softest. The F pencil is the odd duck in the line. It yields fairly fine and soft lines and is often used to draw hair. The HB pencil separates the hard H pencils from the softer B pencils.

To start, you may want to try the 2H (hard), HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B (soft) pencils. Later, with some experience, you can always reevaluate your choice.

* Paper. Try out a number of differently textured papers. For portraits, I prefer a 2-ply Bristol, acid-free, heavyweight, smooth surface. But your choice should be dictated by your own style or just by whether or not you enjoy a particular paper surface.

* Drawing Board. A 1/4 inch tempered Masonite or Plexiglas board of at least 16 x 20 inches will do.

* Clips or Masking Tape
. You use these to fix the paper on your drawing board and come in handy in all sorts of other situations. I use a lot of them.

* Maulstick. This stick is used to steady your hand and to avoid smudging of your work.

* Broom. A desk broom is used to occasionally brush debris off your work. This also avoids smudges and save time because you have to erase less.

* Sheet of Bond Paper. You put this sheet under your drawing hand, again to avoid smudging your drawing while you are working.

* Pencil Sharpener. You will need a sturdy small one for the road and an industrial strength electric one for your studio.

* Workable Fixative. This is a spray used to fix the finished portrait. This protects the drawing and makes it safe for future smudging.

* Erasers. You need two types: 1. A vinyl one and; 2. a kneaded one. A vinyl eraser is the usual hard rectangular kind. A kneaded eraser is the gray kind that acts like putty.

* Ruler. A regular 12 inch metal ruler will do. Make sure you can easily read the divisions on the ruler.

* Blending Tortillons. These are spiral-wound cones of paper used to blend a darker region into a lighter one.

* Paper Tissue. You use tissue paper as another blending tool.

That's about it. As you practice (yes, practice), you should try out some of the above tools and see if they fit with your mode of drawing. Be flexible but try to work towards a final style of pencil portrait drawing that feels comfortable to you and involves a subset of the above mentioned tools used in a practiced and almost unconscious manner.

Remi Engels, Ph.D., is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter. He is also the author of a popular Pencil Portrait Drawing Course. Get Your Free copy here: Remi's Pencil Portrait Drawing Course while supplies last.

Top 20 Drawing Tips for Beginners

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Learning any new form of art is always a challenge, and as a beginner, I am certain you have many questions about drawing. We all need a helping hand when just starting out, so I put together this list of handy tips to help you on your way to becoming a better artist.. I hope you enjoy!

1 - If at all possible, always draw from life and not photographs.

2 - When drawing, less is sometimes better. Do not attempt to draw every line and detail that you see or you will give your viewer too much information to absorb.

3 - Do not try and get all of the information in your drawing completed at one sitting. Drawing is a process. Layout the general idea of your drawing and then slowly add in your details.

4 - Do not be overly judgmental about your drawing before it is completed. This may cause you to become discouraged and give up.

5 - Do not take on subjects that are too complicated at first. This will certainly cause you to become discouraged if the drawing isn't as good as you expected it to be. Start with simple subjects that you know you can complete and then progress to more complicated ones.

6 - Forget everything you already know about a particular subject before you start drawing it. Draw what you see in front of you and not what you know already about that subject.

7 - Make sure you have excellent lighting. Nothing is more frustrating to an artist than poor lighting. If you can't see you can't draw. If you do not have a well lit room with natural sunlight to work in, then check your local art supply store or search online for full spectrum lighting products that mimic natural sunlight.

8 - Get yourself a pad of newsprint paper. Its very cheap and great for practice and doing preliminary sketches.

9 - Keep your pencils sharp. There are drawing techniques that require a blunt pencil point , but for the most part, you should keep your pencil points sharpened.

10 - Vary the weight of your lines. Use a variety of different lines in your drawing by pressing harder or by lifting your pencil. This may seem like an obvious thing, but when an artist becomes deeply focused in a drawing, they can sometimes forget to use this simple technique.

11- Keep a sketchbook with you wherever you go. Whenever you have a free moment, practice your drawing. It doesn't matter if the subject is a light post, an insect or a garbage pail. The more often you draw, the more observant you will become.

12 - Do not over use smudging and blending techniques to achieve values in your drawings.

13 - Never throw out any of your drawings. Keep a neat portfolio of everything you draw. This is an excellent way to see your progress over time.

14 - Avoid looking at your drawing too often. Make sure you are constantly focusing on the subject and only glancing at your drawing. By doing so, you won't constantly judge your drawing, or think something is wrong or out of place. Focus on the subject and draw what you see.

15 - How to hold your drawing instrument - Hold your pencil in a way that is most comfortable for you. Some hold the pencil just as you would hold a pen or pencil if you were writing. Others hold a pencil with the pencil between the thumb and index finger, with the rest of the pencil resting under the palm of your hand. Whichever method you use for holding your pencil, make certain that you do not hold the pencil too tightly.

16 - Practice the contour drawing technique - This very basic technique is simply drawing the outline of your subject without any shading to indicate form.

17 - Practice the hatching technique - This drawing technique uses a series of parallel lines drawn close together, in the same direction, which gives the appearance of value.

18 - Practice tonal or value drawing - In this approach to drawing we are indicating the various changes of light and shade in our picture without the use of strong edges and lines.

19 - Practice the blind contour drawing technique - Similar to contour drawing, only you do not look at the paper. The point of this exercise is to force you to better observe what it is you are drawing. You should have no concern over the outcome of your drawing so it is important not to peek.

20 - Practice the upside down drawing technique - Drawing upside down is a wonderful exercise to awaken the right side of your brain. When you turn an image upside down, you are making it somewhat abstract and unrecognizable. This forces you to draw what you see as opposed to relying on your memory to draw something.

Ralph Serpe is an artist and webmaster of two fantastic websites for beginner artists. Follow the links that follow for more information: Follow this link now to learn how to improve your drawing with free lessons and tips at CreativeSpotlite.Com... Follow this link now to learn how to draw online at the Creative Spotlite Art Instruction Blog....

How to Draw Some Tips for Young Artists

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If you want to learn how to draw, you don't just want know how to do "nice" drawings, and you don't want to learn how to copy somebody else's drawings. You want to create great drawings of your very own, don't you?

So what does it take?

It actually takes less magic than most people think.

I don't know who started the myth that only a few especially talented people can learn how to draw. There are even some art teachers out there who believe that.

But if you learned how to draw the alphabet, and are able to write a sentence that other people can read, you can learn how to draw. It just takes lots of practice, and some guidance from people who have learned a few tricks.

In a way it's a lot like learning to play baseball - you need to train your eye to see better than you ever have before, and you need to train your fingers and hands to move the way you want them to.

The first time you took a swing at a baseball, you probably missed. So don't expect to become a professional artist overnight.

Now, does that mean that everyone who has the patience and the willingness to learn will become a famous artist?

No, not necessarily. It means that if you are willing to practice and to make mistakes, you will very soon be drawing far better than just about anyone you know, and your friends and family and teachers will be amazed.

People may even ask you for copies of your drawings, beg you to make special ones just for them, and request that you make drawings for the school newsletter or your club's brochure.

So even if you don't become world famous, you can still get a huge amount of personal satisfaction from your drawings. You can also give wonderful, thoughtful gifts to people you care about, without spending hardly any money.

Soon, your drawings, (after you have practiced just a little), will seem almost magical to the people who see them.

Materials

It doesn't cost hardly anything to learn to draw and create wonderful works of art. To start out, all you need is some cheap paper without lines (copy paper is fine) and some pencils. The #2 pencils that are used in schools are perfectly OK - you don't need to go to the art store and buy special ones.

You should find a good eraser, though, because the ones that come with your pencils are not big enough, and soon wear out.

That's it! That's all the materials you need to draw.

What's the first thing you need to do? Find something that you would enjoy drawing. It should be something fairly simple, like a cup or a book.

Sit and look at this object very closely, and notice things you usually don't see - things like where the shadows are, and how the shapes look different from different angles. Learning how to see is probably the most important skill for any artist.

Then start putting on paper the things you see.

When you have one drawing finished, draw another one. Keep practicing, just like you would if you were going to try out for the school baseball team.

You can't expect to create a masterpiece on your first try - after all, even Michelangelo had to practice before he was good enough to paint the Sistine Chapel.

If you keep at it for at least 30 minutes every day, you'll probably find that you want some help. Your local school or city library should have some beginning drawing books.

Avoid books that teach you how to copy someone's cartoon. Even if you want to become a cartoonist someday, you still need to be able to create your own.

Choose a book that shows you how to see shadows, and how to know where to put the parts of a face, and how to make a drawing look 'alive.' These are the lessons that will make you a true artist someday.

Another way to learn how to draw better pictures is to search the Internet for websites that show artist's drawings. Pay attention to how different artists show shapes and shadows and expressions. Then see if you can make your own pictures feel that way.

And be sure to show your drawings to your friends and family. Showing off your creative spirit is what it's all about, isn't it?

BlueWaterArticles.com: - How to Draw Some Tips for Young Artists

About the Author

You can learn how to draw the mythical, magical animals from the world of Harry Potter at Jonni's website, http://www.drawfluffy.com

Tips to Instantly Improve Your Figure Drawings

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Drawing the human form is no easy task. In fact, it's probably the toughest task an artists can try and master. Why? Because every person is different and each stroke of the pencil represents the model and the observation of the artist and their interpretation. There are a few principles to keep in mind as an artist that can help you with your observation and skill in figure drawing.

Now, that is big! When you are drawing, there are so many different things to think about. The techniques of block-in, contour, shading, and bringing the figure to life, isn't just about the paper and the pencil. It's about your awareness, observation and communication of the awareness through the paper and pencil. I will keep saying this over and over through this article that careful observation can make or brake any figure drawing. As artists, we need to be able to think of many different things while drawing but keep our focus on observation.

Are you remembering to consider gesture while hatching? Are you considering where your light source is coming from while you are shading or shaping your light? Remembering all the little things while drawing figures can be difficult.

Drawing, good drawing, comes down to increasing our observation and attention to our drawing, and of course, practicing.

Drawing the human form comes down to these principles. First, you need to have passion in you and desire to express life and beauty. This is non-negotiable, without it you won't be a great artist. Next you actually have to do it. Next is practice. Practice drawing anyone, everywhere. Draw the people on the bus as you go to work. Draw kids at the playground, draw people in your community or church, or anywhere. Wherever you are there are plenty of drawing opportunities. Take a sketchbook with you everywhere.

Practice drawing quick sketches, gestures, studies, anything you can think of. Have a particular feature of the human form that you tend to struggle with? Are hands tough for you? Maybe a mouth? Draw several studies of the feature you struggle with till you are confident in your strokes and anatomy of that feature. Do as many studies as it takes.

It's wonderful to see your figures take shape and come to life through your pencil. These tips on awareness and study should help. Passion and practice will bring about good skill. Remember that with good observation and careful awareness the door opens for making good art and bringing the figure to life.

Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com

Todd Harris is a master artist who is currently working as a concept art director for a multi-billion dollar corporation. He is trained in the Florence Academy Method. Learning2draw.com is a resource based website devoted to aspiring artists wishing to master figure drawing. Visit www.learning2draw.com to get tips, tricks, and techniques to master the human form.

Trust Your Own Eyes When Painting And Drawing Perspectives

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When you want to learn about perspectives you will find hundreds of art books to show you how...

For an artist they are a valuable guide to help an artist gain the skills of realistic looking drawings and paintings. Using horizon lines, vanishing points and view points you are helped to master your perspective awareness.

Better still, an artist gains the knowledge of recreating 3-dimensional physical form in 2 dimensions. With full knowledge of perspective drawing a good artist can create a painting that will look lifelike...

* Even if your picture has been created on a flat surface, it looks as if it has depth

* Mood and atmosphere is captured by your pencil drawing

* Your portrait painting looks as if the subject could leap from the canvas to shake your hand

Yet, for an art beginner, perspective drawing can seem to be a mystery.

Even top professional artists are guilty of relying upon perspective rules too much. The best of illustrators can find that the paintings they produce look artificial...

* Objects look distorted

* Extreme flatness is the overall effect

Recognizing your own unique artistic viewpoint is the key to getting the best from perspectives.

You see the world differently from the person standing next to you. Here are some of the reasons why...

* You could be taller or shorter

* Each person has different eyesight... You could be long-sighted while the person standing beside you could be short-sighted

* Everyone sees colors differently... You could have perfect color vision... Other people's color vision could be impaired

Your emotional response to the art subject also affects the resulting drawing and painting. If you have a passion for the subject your interest levels will be high. The finished picture will be better.

The great advantage of knowing that everyone sees the world around them differently is that you can justify your art. Whatever art critics might say about your painting and drawing, you will know your art is your own view of reality...

Enjoy your painting and drawing... "Your Art is your own perspective on life!"

Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com

Using simple and relaxed first steps Michael Dale helps to develop your painting and drawing expertise with your free drawing lesson and learn to paint watercolors plan.

By: Michael Dale

Learn to Draw and Paint at a High Level

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Everyone, at some time in their life, wants to learn to draw and paint. Really watch children and you'll soon see that this skill set attracts and entices them during their developmental years. However, not everyone desires to draw well or become a good artist. Not everyone takes their own artwork seriously. And, as adulthood draws nearer, even fewer follow the call of the pencil and paper. Even so, should you wish to develop any innate artistic skills, it's very achievable. Here are a few of the basics that you must know in order to succeed:

Drawing vs Painting

An important element, one that people don't always understand is that drawing and painting are not the same. Thus, should you desire to learn how to draw and paint, you'll be required to learn and develop two separate skill sets. Drawing is more often than not characterized as rendering a subject by the use of lines. Then again, painting constitutes the art of covering any surface with paint (oil, water, or acrylic) for artistic and/or functional intentions.

Therefore, the medium you use plus the process itself will become the main difference. Even so, these two disciplines are all the same associated and very often combine to make a work of art ... work. Much of the time, though not always, drawing is a prerequisite to painting.

Drawing Basics

In order to expand on any inherent drawing skills, one needs to constantly exercise the hands and eyes. This can be accomplished by sketching for a set amount of time each day. Sketching in perpetuity comprises the best way, maybe the only way, for you to accelerate the "learn how to draw" process in a more artistic and professional manner.

Recall that drawing skill develops via ceaseless practice using both your hands and your eyes, your ability to observe. Such a skill does not improve by merely reading a book or acquiring a plethora of available book-based knowledge. Thus, practice your hand to draw and practice your eyes to see. Be ever attentive to your surroundings. Try sketching inanimate objects or people during any idle time. Taking this approach can turn a worthwhile hobby into a well-paying job in the future.

Copying, replicating someone else's work, is an important stepping stone in the drawing process. Acquire a model or small mannequin and copy it using pencil and paper. It's quite all right to make mistakes and eraser marks. It's exactly what erasers were invented for in the first place. Likewise, eliminate the opinion that you need professional materials only in order for your work to look professional. Hogwash! A simple sketch pad plus a number two pencil with an eraser will work just fine.

Painting Basics

To the contrary, painting does entail making use of professional-grade materials so your finished work is of a high quality. A painting project requires a couple of different sized brushes. Such a task also requires a variety of colored acrylic paints, and, most importantly, you'll need your primary colors, black and white, in tubes larger than any of the other colors. However, should you not want to buy a black tube, you can simply create your own by combining all the primary colors. For all intents and purposes, investing in a large tube of acrylic black paint, if you can afford it, will be the easist solution.

Starting with Acrylic paints is the best option because, being water-based, they are the easiest with which to work. That said, the pervasive stages of painting development are mastering acrylics first before aspiring to acquire the necessary skills for either oils or water colors. Also, this kind of paint mixes easily with water. All that's necessary is a glass of water used for thinning the paint and cleaning the brush. Water can also be utilized to moisten your paints while working on your project since acryllic paints have a tendency to dry up rather quickly. Also, a pallet on which to mix your paints is also quite handy. Should you not have one, you can easily improvise using a paper plate covered with aluminum foil.

Before you begin painting, you must first sketch an outline of your proposed work on a piece of canvas. Lightly sketch your subject and other particulars of the pictures’ surroundings. Following this, start adding color using your paints. Practice blending Keep on practicing by choosing different subjects. Also, try to experiment with the colors you’ve got.

Make full use of your pallet to mix paints creating various color shades. Continue sketching and painting on a regular basis and your skills will develop quickly.

About the Author: An artist at a young age, Eric Weeks always emphasized the importance of practice if he hoped to learn to draw and draw well. Though Eric no longer draws, his brother Lee is a Marvel comics artist who knows how to draw cartoon people and popular action heroes. Lee learned his craft via constant, ongoing practice and hard work. Study this article to discover what you must do to improve your drawing ability.

Learning to Draw? You're going to need a Pencil

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If you're going to be doing any pencil drawing you're going to need a pencil. I know, I know, thank you captain obvious.... But, in this article I want to talk about some of the different options available.

Here are some of the options:
Mechanical Pencils, Lead Holders, Woodless Graphite, And ofcourse traditional wooden pencils

Mechanical Pencils: You're probably familiar with these. They're the ones that hold the lead (graphite actually) inside and when you push on the eraser more lead comes out. What you may not know is that, like traditional wooden pencils, the leads are available in various degrees of hardness which can be used to achieve lighter or darker tones as needed. We'll talk more about that later.

Lead Holders: These are somewhat similar to mechanical pencils in that you can use various leads with them. But rather than push a button to release more lead, these pencils actually have sort of a claw that grabs onto and holds the lead. Hence the term "lead holder".

Woodless Graphite: These pencils are basically a piece of graphite in the shape of a pencil. There are also some woodless graphite pencils that are encased in a laquer coating rather than wood.

Wooden Pencils: Okay. We all know what a wooden pencil is. It's the yellow one with a pink eraser on top and a number 2 on it. You know, the ones we used to fill in the little circles on our multiple choice tests in school.

Well yes, those are pencils, but a set of good quality drawing pencils comes with a lot more variety than that. All of the pencil types mentioned above come in varying degrees of hardness and are labled with a number and the letter H or B. The pencils labled H are on the hard side and the ones labled with a B are the soft ones. I don't know where the "B" comes from but that's the way it is.
Pencils range from 9H (the hardest) to 9B (the softest).

The number 2 pencils we're so familiar with are right in the middle in terms of hardness. They're equivalent to an HB pencil. If you're just starting out drawing or you're just doing some doodling or sketching an HB or #2 will work just fine for you. But, if you want to get a much more interesting drawing you'll have to have some contrast between lights and darks. If all you've ever drawn with before is a number 2 pencil, the way you achieve your darker tones is simply to press down harder.

But there is a better way. That's where the softer pencils come in. After #2 in terms of softness comes B then 2B, 3B ect. all the way up to 9B. Although many artists never use anything softer than a 6B. With a 6B you can get some very dark tones and it's not going to be as soft and thus crumbly as a 9B.

For the harder pencils, I rarely use anything harder than a 2H and that's usually just for the initial line drawing before any shading takes place. Doing the initial line drawing very lightly allows you to erase any mistakes you might have made. Once your line drawing is acurate, it's time to get the softer pencils out and start shading.

So to wrap this up, if you're planning on getting a little more serious with your drawing you'll want to get a set of pencils. There are some sets out there that have just 4 pencils in them. So if you're strapped for cash this is an option. Pencils are also available individually so you can pick and choose whichever number / letter combo you need.

I prefer traditional wooden pencils for my drawings and my brand of choice is Derwent. They make sets of 12 pencils that range from 4H to 6B or from H all the way up to 9B. And, you can get a set of 12 pencils for about $12 - $15 so it's not terribly expensive to get into drawing.

So now go out, get yourself some good pencils, and start drawing....

About the Author: Adam Valentine is a professional artist specializing in realistic graphite pencil drawing. His work can be seen online at http://www.adamvalentine.com He also has instructional DVDs available for anyone that wants to learn to draw.

Drawing Hands Made Simple, Great Tips to Help You Master Hands

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Artists consider drawing hands one of the hardest parts of the human form to draw. It takes a lot of practice to master drawing hands, however, it can be learned and less daunting than the task seems. Hands are a very expressive part of the body, much like the face, this is why it is sometimes so hard to draw. There is a formula to the process that makes it easier for artists to master drawing hands. Let's take a look at the process.

Start with blocking in the hand. Artists do this differently, do it the way you feel comfortable. A quick block-in might look a little like a fisted hand outline, with fingers outstretched.

When you are drawing the hand, you do not have to worry about all of the detail, this will come later. You always want to start with the overall shape and then work the finer details last. Break down the hand with simple shapes.

Then form the fingers. Notice the shape of them and the space between them. Make sure your proportions are correct. Once you have everything in the right position, then and only then, can you begin to refine the hand. Make sure the thumb is in the right position relative to the other fingers. You can use the thumb and pencil method to check these proportions.

Once your block-in or lay in is complete, you can finish with some shading and refining. Draw the main visible wrinkles, shadows, nails and then refine the lines.

Add some rough shading to bring the form out. Then refine with more subtle shading while observing the fine lines of the hands. It's good to know where your light source is coming from so you know where the shadows will fall on each finger.

There are some tips that you can consider when drawing hands that are helpful. First, draw your own hands. Set your hands in various poses and look for how the light falls on them. Next, know what's underneath the hand. Have a good understanding of the structure of the hand from an anatomical view point. This should give you a good understanding and help you with how the shading should be handled.

Start with easier poses and then work on more complex poses as you become more familiar.

Get critiques of your drawings. Feedback is very important when learning to draw anything. Get new perspective from others comments and don't be afraid to try them out.

Lastly, drawing takes a lot of practice. Don't get discouraged if your first few hands don't turn out. You'll get it, with persistence and practice, you'll be mastering hands in no time.

About The Author

Todd Harris is a master artist who is working as a concept art director for a multi-billion dollar company. He is trained in the Florence Academy Method and loves art. Learning2draw.com is a resource web site devoted to aspiring artists wishing to explode their figure drawings to new heights. For more information on how to draw people and faces visit http://www.learning2draw.com. You can also sign up for a free newsletter with hundreds of tips, tricks and techniques of the masters.

3 Rules For Sketching Outstanding Realistic Drawings

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Even expert artists occasionally struggle with crafting realistic three-dimensional pictures. Naturally they know the fundamental principles and produce naturalistic drawings intuitively. Only occasionally even the most experienced discover parts in their work that look distorted and unnatural.

For novices it is even more difficult, they have to exercise hard to climb a steep learning curve. It's long-familiar that good drawing skills are the result of hard exercising. Instead learning the three most crucial rules of third-dimensional drawing will make things easier for you. They will be a shortcut to better drawing skills and help even experienced artists to pinpoint elements that need a makeover.

So what makes a picture look naturalistic and three-dimensional? There are three rules that contribute to the realistic outlook of your pictures. Each of them has to be understood thoroughly. Collectively they guarantee outstanding outcomes:

* Composition
* Perspective
* Lighting and Darknesses

Composition

Does composition actually contribute to the three-dimensional appearing of your drawings? Naturally! The three-dimensional outlook of any picture is strongly influenced by the relation between the different objects within the picture. You can produce an image consisting of objects that all follow the laws of perspective and have perfect lighting and shadows. But a bad composition will spoil most of the three-dimensional appearance.

There is just one crucial composition rule: let your picture's objects intersect! Frequently I see beginners averting to let elements in their pictures intersect , because they're afraid to mess it up.

Indisputable - if your picture has lots of overlapping parts it is more difficult to depict. There are more shadows and also perspective and proportions of the objects must be much more exact.

That is demanding indeed. Tightly arranged elements in your picture will relentlessly uncover all weak points. On the other side when you manage to get the perspective, lighting and shades right, a closer composition will beef up the three-dimensional appearance.

So have bravery to arrange your picture's elements nearer together. Let them intersect and demonstrate how good you are able to draw them following the rules of three-dimensional pictures.

Perspective

Creating a drawing employing correct perspective is the moment where a bit bit maths comes into play. No need to worry - no complicated know-how, simply drawing some additional lines.

When producing a picture keeping the laws of perspective in mind you ensure that:

* your drawing's elements have the proper proportions and size
* your drawing's elements have the proper deformation according to the distance of the viewer
* your drawing's elements are correlating properly to each other

All this is accomplished by employing one simple rule:

" Objects and parts of them get smaller the further they are away."

This rule cannot be emphasized too much. Once you fail to apply it properly, your drawings will appear warped and awkwardly. So drawing some additional lines will help you to apply this rule properly.

Light and Shadow

The proper lighting and shading is the 3rd vital law for realistic appearing three-dimensional scenes. It's because of the lights in your drawings that shades emerge. And shades are necessary for a realistic appearing drawing - except you depict "gray rainy day" scenes only.

To craft realistic shades there are some rules you have to consider:

* you must recognize where exactly the illumination originates from
* this enables you to find the right size of the shadow
* the right bearing and direction for the shadow
* and the proper silhouette of the shadow

Unluckily realistic dark shades aren't that comfortable to create. But there are some helpful tricks. Just in this moment I'm writing on a tutorial revealing these methods stepwise. It will follow here soon.

About The Author

This is just a draft of my conceptions on how to learn drawing.

You find updates, a comment area and perspective drawing tutorials on my Website.

http://drawingsecrets.com

How to Draw Graffiti Names

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Graffiti art has, over time, become a form of artistic drawing. In another article, I've captured the main characteristics of artistic art in more detail but let's do a quick review here.We know that graffiti art is often loud (meaning brightly colored), has a 3D look and feel to it, and looks mostly stylish. One might even classify graffiti art as contemporary art. Everything about graffiti is an expression of the culture of some group or country.Although graffiti art is most widely known as art drawn by vandals on public walls with spray cans, the same term can be extended to represent art with similar characteristics as mentioned above.You may be drawn to drawing graffiti names because graffiti art looks stylish with its bright attractive colors, and that applies to graffiti texts as well.To start drawing graffiti names, you need to prepare the following drawing tools. You need a light pencil, preferrably HB, and a set of permanent magic markers with a variety of colors.Next, you need to decide on the style of the texts. There are literally thousands of styles to choose from. Just take a look at the thousands of font types available freely on the Internet for download. You may want to visit one of these websites and choose a font design that you really like. You'll be using this as your reference. Some websites even allow you to create a preview image with the selected font type. Simply save the image to your computer for reference.Start drawing with your pencil on the surface. Draw lightly at first so that you can erase any mistakes you make. Sometimes, your texts may be too big or small, and you can easily rectify this by using a dust free eraser.Once you're satisfied with how the graffiti name looks, trace the outline with a fine magic marker. The shapes will start to emerge now. Then start filling in the different letters with colors. Be bold and creative here. After all, it's graffiti texts, so you want it to come out attractive, bold and stylish.Use a different color to create some shades just inside the outlines. This will create the illusion that the texts are 3D. If you're familiar to using Photoshop or any image editing software, this is similar to creating the emboss effect.Drawing the drop shadow is optional but if you want your graffiti name to look more alive and realistic, by all means give your graffiti name a light shadow below.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources.For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit MyArtPassion.com for free online drawing lessons.

Graffiti Writing: Learn to Draw Graffiti Letters

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Graffiti as an art form has existed since ancient days in the Greek and Roman empire. This style of street art refers to forms of lettering usually scrawled on the surfaces that is particularly considered as public property. Although graffiti lettering is considered to be an act that is thought to be disgraceful by many, the various styles that have emerged over the years has turned it into an art form. Graffiti letters are used to decorate cars, bikes, walls of homes or even as a part of interior decoration. Graffiti is an important part of youth culture and also signifies an act of rebellion. The hip hop culture is also closely associated with graffiti. This is so evident with the kind of music videos that always had hip hop artists rapping or break dancing against a backdrop of beautiful lettering styles. Thus emerged a style of graffiti writing which many tried to emulate. The bright, flashy colors combined with an elaborate, illustrative style is something that requires pure talent! Let's check out and learn to draw graffiti letters with the compilation of these basic instructions. Graffiti Writing: Learn to Draw Graffiti Letters Begin by observing and studying this art form meticulously. Every artist can develop his/her own style eventually, but to begin with the basics, you need to develop your own powers of observation. Take a look around the town. Study some music videos. (The video, 'Nothin' my Love Can't Fix' by Joey Lawrence is interspersed with images of beautiful graffiti on the walls.) You can even browse online to take a look at the various forms of graffiti lettering styles. Before you begin practicing graffiti styles, you also need to gather the right materials for this art. Make sure you equip yourself with colored pencils, round and flat brushes, pencils, poster colors, spray gun, paper, eraser etc. Practice drawing names on paper. You can opt for various styles from large to bulky forms. Draw pencil sketches initially. Try various compositions. Once you try various layouts, you can select the one that you like best. Paint with colors of your choice and experiment with different color combinations. Apart from 2-dimensional designs, you can even try a 3-dimensional look. This will make the lettering stand out. Practice these steps till you learn the knack of drawing graffiti letters. Keep altering the pressure applied on the pencil. This will help you to achieve different lines of thickness giving a certain depth to the lettering. Make the line thicker in some areas. This style provides a sense of perspective to the entire design. Add shadows and work on the shading. This can display some surprising effects. Once you get the basics right, you can add other elements in the design. Bubble lettering is one of the most commonly used ideas in graffiti writing styles. Lettering styles can also be exaggerated to form new shapes and designs. Drawing elements inside an alphabet is another style of detailing that can give an artistic look to the graffiti lettering. The style of graffiti lettering varies according to every person. However, while discovering your creativity, ensure that you do not destroy public property. With practice, you can develop an original style. There would be no stopping you then!
By Kashmira Lad

Drawing Graffiti Letters

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While many people associate graffiti with tasteless vandalism, it is also an art that has been appreciated since antiquity. Art has always been, and will always be, a form of self- expression. Through it, one can convey one's thoughts and feelings to other people. It is one form of self- expression in which a person does not have to be called an artist in order to make use of it.
Graffiti follows along the same line of self-expression, in that the creativity and expression of art is personally evolving and color, design and complexity developing. The Italian word from which the word graffiti was derived, coming from Greek graphein meaning "to write," was first applied to writing on walls in Roman times. Modern graffiti artists have applied their own self-expression on a lot of walls and buildings, following the ancient Romans, as witnessed by many today. It can however, be done in a way that does not vandalize or violate the law.
Over the years, distinctive styles have evolved that can be instantly recognized as graffiti, even when the writing is on a piece of paper. As with any art, there is no right way to draw graffiti, and you need to develop your own style. There are beginning points and ways to develop learning how to draw graffiti letters.
The subject of Graffiti is limitless; it has taken on many forms and styles. Each of these forms and styles is different from the other and appeals to many different individuals. The creativity of individuals leads to different tastes, likes and dislikes, it is not surprising to find so many different people drawn to a certain art form with limitless boundaries.
Of all the art forms created, none has met with such considerable resistance from a lot of individuals as graffiti. Graffiti is heavily criticized as vandalism and as a contributor to visual pollution. So great is the resistance for this art form that governments in certain countries around the world created laws or policies in the hopes of controlling, if not eradicating it. Certain laws were made and passed that stipulates the capture and imprisonment of the individual in the process of doing the art form. These are just examples of what critiques of this art form did, and of how much length they would go just to drive it into extinction.
Most serious graffiti artists start by developing a unique signature. They start by choosing a style for their name, of which bubble letters are especially popular in graffiti, because it seems to be easier to draw, but there are other styles, too. Once the letters and signature have been selected you need to add color, to fill in your drawing. You can use colored pencils, marker or crayon. Again, it's a good idea to look at examples before doing this, but really you can do anything you want.
A very simple graffito (a single work of graffiti) can have only one color. You can also easily do each letter in a different color or make the added details a different color than the letters. Graffiti artists traditionally had to work secretly for fear of getting caught--many still do--and so they could carry only one or two different colors of spray paint at a time--a lot of very good graffiti is just one color.
Graffiti today has gone way beyond simple letters, transforming to various styles such as the Tag Style, Throw-up, Blockbuster, and WildStyle. There is even the use of polka dots, checkers, crosshatches and the like, to add color and depth and size to the graffiti art.
About the Author
draw alphabet graffiti letters
www.howtograffitiletters.com
TJ has spent most of his life studying the techniques of drawing, graffiti, custom painting, airbrush, and chalk. He's drawn in street festivals and has taught kids and adults alike.

Children'S Portraits

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drawing graffiti lettersFor years I've been teaching workshops on the subject of painting figures in watercolor, and invariably I hear the same questions over and over again from students. Their questions are usually not about getting a likeness but rather about how to get children to sit still, how to work from photographs, and how to decide on a background color. For many students, the biggest stumbling blocks are simple procedures that shouldn't be obstacles at all.
Let me try to help move some of those stumbling blocks out of your way so you can enjoy and profit from the business of painting children's portraits in watercolor.
1. GET TO KNOW YOUR SUBJECT. The most successful portraits are always those that capture the personality of the child. They show a certain tilt of the head, a smile, or a gesture that's characteristic of the individual. Discovering these special qualities can be accomplished in a very short period of time if you know how to handle yourself during the first meeting with the child. I always make a point of going to the client's home, whether it's down the street or on a buffalo ranch in Wyoming, rather than asking them to come to my studio. While my studio is certainly better equipped and more comfortable for me than the client's home, I need to see the children in their own surroundings: It gives me a more accurate sense of their character and the opportunity to select more meaningful props and background material.
I also prefer going to clients' homes because it makes them feel more at ease. When children are relaxed and comfortable, their expressions aren't strained. It's important for everyone to be cheerful and optimistic during this first encounter, so I talk to the children and reassure them that what I'll be doing will be easy and fun for them. I need to help them get over the fears any person might have--whether young or old--about being painted.
Before I begin making sketches or taking photographs, I walk around the house with the children, asking them to show me their bedroom, favorite toys, and pets. I take mental notes about any repeated expressions or gestures, and I evaluate the possibility of using objects and decorations in the home as props or background material for the painting. No matter where I'll be working, I make it plain I don't want any other family members in the room with me. The "helpful" participation of parents can be an annoying distraction to both me and the children.
Most importantly, I focus on the children and watch what happens. I don't go into portrait sessions with preconceived notions about the poses or props. Children have a wonderful ability to be free and open about the way they present themselves. If I ask them to sit the same way they do while watching television, they're only too happy to oblige. Or when I ask children to show me their favorite "lookout spot" up in a tree, they'll climb up faster than a cat and, without prodding, show me how they can hang upside down. (Just try getting a corporate executive to do that!)
2. MAKE CHARACTERISTIC DRAWINGS. When I travel to a client's home, I carry a hardbound 11"-X-14" sketchbook, a variety of drawing pencils ranging from 2H to 5B, a small pencil sharpener, and a kneaded eraser. The sketchbook is durable and easy to carry, and after it's filled it becomes a record of the many people I've had the good fortune to meet.
When drawing children's portraits, I keep in mind their overall body proportions (as illustrated in Figure 1) and the ways in which they differ from the proportions of an adult. (Figure 1 omitted) For example, the head of a child is bigger in relation to the child's body, and the features of the face dominate the lower haft of the skull. While adult hands and feet are comparable in size to the face, a child's hands and feet are smaller when similarly compared.
I ask my subjects to pose in a well-lit area, and I try to have the natural light coming in from one side of the body to make the shapes and contours of the face more discernible. I need to be at eye level with the children, so if they're more comfortable on the floor with a toy, I sit on the floor with them.
I keep my sketches quick and open-ended, and I like to work on two or three at once. It's unfair to ask children to sit perfectly still, and if they freeze up I run the risk of missing their spontaneous and animated expressions. I draw them from whatever angle is comfortable for them. If one happens to be a real wiggler, there's nothing like a television program or videotaped movie to settle the child down. I often have a couple of videotapes of children's movies in my tote bag for just such an occasion. I used to carry a cast-iron frog named Fred with me, and he almost always guaranteed me twenty minutes of drawing time. As I draw, I add written notes about my client in the margins of the notebook. These notations about personality and special features become invaluable to me later.
There's no way to compensate for a lack of drawing ability--especially when dealing with children's portraits. A quick pencil sketch of posture, hand position, or shading can be the most valuable reference an artist can have when painting. That's why I encourage all my students to enroll in a life-drawing class and attend regularly. The skills you learn will be quickly put to good use when you try to draw a five-year-old who moves even faster than his golden retriever. And when the child's mother asks you to put the retriever in the painting, you'll be especially glad you learned how to draw quickly and accurately!
3. TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOGRAPHS. Even the best-natured children become weary, restless, or downright cranky after posing for a couple of hours. That's why the camera has become an essential tool for almost every artist who paints portraits of children.
There are several common mistakes artists make when taking pictures of children. One is taking the picture with the children too far away from the camera, and the second is taking it from a position too far above them. In the first case, the resulting photographs don't offer enough useful information about the subject, and in the second the figure is totally distorted by the radical angle of the shot.
A third common mistake artist make when taking photographs is not posing children in proper lighting. These pictures turn out either too dark or too light, or there are strange shadows cast by the nose and chin. Using a flash can result in lifeless photographs and, ultimately, lifeless portraits. A flash aimed straight at a child's face will flatten all the features and burn out any delicate color changes. Working from photographs taken by a professional studio photographer can be equally disappointing because the lighting used during the shoot is meant to soften contours and remove color "imperfections," leaving little for the artist to work with.
The best lighting for natural skin color and descriptive contours is soft or diffused daylight; a hazy, slightly overcast day produces soft shadows and is therefore ideal. The light available during either the morning or late afternoon is preferable for outdoor photography since too much sunlight can yield severe shadows and squinting eyes. If I have no choice but to work in the middle of a sunny day, I pose the children in a shady area under trees or a porch roof.
It's important to keep the photo session casual and fun. If I can get the children to play with me while I'm taking photographs, the results will be much more satisfying. I use a 35mm Nikon camera with a standard 50mm lens and Kodacolor 100 film. When I'm working away from my studio, I take along a small Olympus camera just in case something goes wrong with the Nikon. Using both cameras, I take between 70 and 100 photographs, being careful to include profiles, close-ups, and hands. If there's a family pet or a specific background that has to be included in the painting, I take ample shots of that as well. In short, I take more photographs than I think I could possibly use. Nothing is worse than beginning a painting and discovering I don't have enough information to work with.
Occasionally, a client will request a portrait painted from an existing photograph that the family is especially fond of. Frankly, I see little merit in copying someone else's work. I let my clients know I prefer the intimacy and originality that comes from using my own photographs and sketches.
4. KEEP THE COLORS CHILDLIKE. Watercolor has always seemed the perfect medium for children's portraits because of its pristine colors. I organize mine in the compartments of a John Pike palette so I have a choice between a warm and a cool version of each. Here are the tube colors I use most often:
Reds
Warm: scarlet lake or cadmiumred medium
Cool: alizarin crimson or permanent rose
Yellows
Warm: cadmium yellow medium
Cool: cadmium lemon
Blues
Warm: cerulean blue
Cool: phthalocyanine or Winsor blue
Browns
Warm: burnt sienna
Cool: raw umber
In addition, I use lots of raw sienna and yellow ochre for the flesh tones, and I make my darkest values by adding Payne's gray to other colors. There are many suitable colors, but I find the transparent colors best for skin tones since too much opaque color can make skin look chalky and dull.
One frequent mistake made in painting children's skin is using too much blue or gray. The liveliest sense of color is achieved when a harmony of warm and cool colors are used. Remember, however, that blue skin tones become more pronounced when placed next to warmer, rosier tones.
I avoid using dark gray in recessed areas like nostrils, inside the ear, and in the folds of the skin around a smiling mouth. Although these areas appear darker, they're warm tones that are generally not as dark in value as you might think. I paint all the shadow areas of the skin with subtle veils of color, and I consciously avoid the tendency to make them too dark and heavy when working from photographs.
Choosing a suitable background color for the painting can be confusing. When selecting any color for a painting, I consider the focal point and the overall look of the picture and ask myself whether a color would reinforce or detract from that focal point. I often use color swatches I pick up at paint and hardware stores to help me make better choices. I can hold the chips up against the painting to better judge both the color and the value.
5. KEEP THE BRUSHWORK LIVELY. When working on children's portraits, the key is to keep the colors and brushwork as lively, fresh, and spontaneous as the personality you're trying to present. For this, there's no better medium than watercolor. However, fresh and lively colors become dulled and muddied when too many corrections are made. To avoid the common problems of dull and muddy color combinations, overworked brushstrokes, and harsh edges, you have to learn the best way of handling the medium and you have to plan ahead. Let me describe the procedures I've developed during many years of practice.
After meeting with my client, I take my photographs and sketches back to my studio and do some compositional studies of how I might arrange the figure, props, and background in the painting. Regardless of the medium you're using, I recommend making a thumbnail sketch before beginning the finished painting to indicate general masses and values. You may have a good idea about the character of the features, but how much of the figure will you show? What about the hands? What color is the background, and what additional items will be included in the painting? All of these questions (and more) should be considered before the brush touches the paper.
After I've made my thumbnail sketch and settled on a plan, I draw those elements lightly in pencil on a sheet of watercolor paper that I've previously soaked, stretched, and allowed to dry. I produce a fairly detailed drawing on the watercolor paper, putting down all the shapes I see, from the shape of the small highlight on the nose to the shapes in the background. I never work from just one photograph but from several photographs and sketches.
I never project my photographs directly onto the paper, but I often put a sheet of gridded tracing paper over my best photograph of a child's face, draw a corresponding grid pattern on my watercolor paper, and then carefully transfer the lines indicating the outlines of the facial features. This procedure helps me get a better likeness of the child and avoid drawing too many pencil lines on the paper.
I almost always work with the painting surface tilted in an upright position because I find that the pigment settles more cleanly and easily when it's pulled by the force of gravity. I also like being able to step back from the painting and see how it's progressing. Since the finished picture will be viewed from about eight feet away, I make a point of looking at it from that distance as I work.
For portraits I recommend using a paper that can take scrubbing and erasing. Even the best-laid plans sometimes require change. My favorite paper for watercolor portraits is Arches 140-lb cold-pressed paper because of its workable, textured surface and the slightly warm white hue that complements skin tones. Generally, I paint with a one-inch flat and a No. 10 round sable brush. The collection of brushes I use includes some Pro Arte brushes and one Utrecht Giant round.
I begin by painting pale washes of the skin tone and then apply light washes to indicate the clothes, props, and background. If I'm unhappy with the color combinations or placement of elements, I can adjust them at this early stage.
The next three hours of the painting process are the most critical as I move from painting soft wet-in-wet shapes to more sharply defined facial features. Rewetting the paper so my brushstrokes have soft edges and easy transitions between colors, I bring up the values in the face from light to dark. If I paint a feature and it looks too hard and lifeless, I paint over it with a brushload of clear water to soften and blend the edges.
I continue working on the clothing, props, and background--everything in the picture except the person's eyes. I leave the eyes for last since they're the smallest and most crucial details of the portrait. By the time the portrait is finished, I've usually worked for a total of 12 hours over two or three days.
On average, one out of every three or four portraits turns out to be a failure, and I have to tear up what I've done and start over again. I don't hesitate to do that if I have any serious doubts about a painting.
DEMONSTRATION: CHRISSY
Step 1. Here are the photographs and sketches I made while visiting one of my clients. In all of them, I was trying to capture the child's natural gestures and posture while she sat in sunlight outdoors.
Step 2. After photographing and sketching Chrissy, I soaked and stretched a piece of 140-lb Arches paper and, once it was dry, made a light drawing of the figure with a No. 2 pencil. I then painted light washes of color over the entire picture. By keeping the skin tones light at the beginning of the painting process, I can easily make corrections later without sacrificing the freshness of the watercolors.
Step 3. Keeping the paper damp so the shapes I painted would have soft edges, I put down all the lights and middle tones. I made a point of keeping the brushstrokes quick and broad to give the portrait all the vitality of an active young girl.
Step 4. I always save the detailed work of rendering eyes until the last stage of the painting process. I rarely use masking fluid because I prefer to paint around light areas such as whiskers and loose strands of hair.
The completed painting: Chrissy, 1992, water-color, 20 X 17. Private collection.
FIVE TIPS ON BUSINESS PRACTICES
1. CONFIRM YOUR APPOINTMENTS. A few weeks in advance, confirm the portrait sitting in writing and make note of the date and time, the price, medium, and approximate size of the painting, and the deposit required. On the day before or the morning of the sitting, call again to reconfirm the appointment.
2. BE ON TIME. Frazzled nerves created by being late for a portrait sitting can interfere with concentration--both yours and the client's. Timeliness is also important in meeting a delivery deadline. If the family wants the painting completed within a time frame that doesn't work with your schedule, be up-front and tell them you can't meet the deadline. Then tell them when you will have it ready. If the painting is to be given as a gift on a date you can't meet, make up a gift certificate the client can present instead, stating that the portrait will be ready on a specific date.
3. BE FLEXIBLE BUT NOT SUBSERVIENT. Clients have every right to be pleased with the finished product, but don't compromise your integrity. If they ask for something you feel you can't or won't do, offer recommendations of other artists who may be better able to meet their requests.
4. BE OPEN TO CRITICISM. After the painting is completed, listen to any suggestions or criticism offered, even from the child. Clients may not be artists, but they'll pick up on a drawing error or missed judgment call. Many of these points can easily be corrected and then mentally filed for future reference. With every suggestion or criticism made, see the opportunity for growth.
5. LOOSEN UP! Many artists say that accepting commissioned work inhibits their spontaneity. It needn't. If the painting is going badly or the client is unhappy, loosen up and start over. Very often, all that's needed is to schedule another portrait sitting. Few clients remember the inconveniences of portrait sittings when faced with the finished painting of someone they love.
Mary Whyte graduated from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has earned a national reputation as both a landscape and portrait painter in watercolor and oils, and her paintings have been included in juried shows organized by the American Watercolor Society, Allied Artists of America, and The Greenwich Workshop in Southport, Connecticut. She teaches portrait- and figure-painting workshops throughout the United States and maintains a studio on Seabrook Island, South Carolina.
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