Go to www.pencildrawingmadness.com

Perspective Basics part I

2006-02-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

Just finished seeing the Godfather trilogy, love those movies by the way, and I decided to scan some of the perspective drawings I made for this blog. The tracing of perspective is used vey often when drawing. That is the reason why all the theory and concepts of perspective should remian pretty clear for artists. Thanks to its application the artist will have a better understanding of the models and will be able to portrait different situations even without a model, but capturing the depth. It would be helpful for this matter, to imagine that there is a plane (the canvas plane) between the artist and the subject. The size of a projected object will decrease in size as the object moves farther from the plane. And at the same time it will be biggger if it comes closer. This means that equal measures of an object will vary depending their proximity to the plane. Fundamental elements of perspective These are the technical terms used when talking about perspective: Horizon - This line indicates the height of the artists eyes. It will vary depending at what height we are situated when drawing. Point of View - Represents the situation of the artist left or right of the model. The distance from this point to the horizon is called "visual distance". The perpendicular projection form the horizon is called the main point. Vanishing Points - They are located on the horizon and all the parallel lines on the model join in them. Types of Perspective (click to enlarge pics) 1. Depending on the position that the artist takes facing the model, we can distinguish 3 types of perspective. First we see the forntal or parallel perspective, this uses only one vanishing point, that coincides with the main point.

2. The two point perspective uses 2 vanishing points located on the horizon when you prolong a 90º angle having as the vortex the point of view. (The 90º measure is determined because the angle of the cube is 90º)

3. Finally the 3 point or aerial perspective uses 3 vanishing points. When the horizon is too low or too high, the lineas become distorted by perspective and we need an external third point in an auxiliary horizon.

The Art of Pencil Drawing - Book Review

2006-01-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

If you need those silly little breakdowns that some people think are teaching aids then go for a Hammond book or one of the lesser pencil artists because this gem is for the serious individual who wants to learn and master the technique of pencil drawing with values. Watson's writing is as precise and clear as is his drawings and it is here that you will find real teaching in the art of how to see and how to translate what you see into truly beautiful drawings. GET THIS BOOK FOR THE PICTURES , THE TEACHING AND ABOVE ALL THE EXAMPLES OF FRESH, CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL PENCIL WORK!!!!! His technique and use of a value palette of light to dark strokes from different grade pencils is nothing short of remarkable and his enthusiasum for the student learning the many so-called tricks of the trade is metered with wisdom and stunningly skillful examples of this available medium. I had this book at the beginning of my journey as an artist and I bought it here on Amazon in a fit of nostalgia. Well just the chapter on how to get into and out of a sketch gracefully was worth the price. I forgot how wonderful leaning over the shoulder of a real master was with all the systems and idot proof methods totally dependent on only photographs that proliferate this genre Well, this wonderful book brings pencil drawing back to its rightful place at the head of the artists list of cheap and marvelous tools. You have all the needed information plus the techniques for drawing clean clear crisp pencil work well illustrated and tempered by knowledgeable paragraphs on compoosition and lighting, handling your pencil with the spepcial point he shows how to make, as well as examples to follow and apply eventually in plein air sketching. Buy The Art of Pencil Drawing

For those of us who love comics

2006-01-31T08:22:00.000-08:00

I know some of you out there love comics. Hey! I love comics myself :) So I'm leaving you a link to a Step by Step Process of the making of A Copper Comic by Kazu Kibuishi. It's really useful an amazing to see, you go from the first phase after the ide is donde to the finishing touches and color in a digital medium. Copper Step-by-Step

Facial Expresion Anatomy - Artnatomy

2006-01-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

I found this wonderful website, a site you can't miss if you are serious about drawing faces. Artnatomia is a spanish website developed by Fine Arts students and figure drawing artists. The creator of the site is Victoria Contreras Flores and the site allows to locate the head muscles that are involved in facial expressions. It is made in flash, and it is completely interactive,with detailed descriptions. Jewels like this are found in websites form all countries, but don't worry it has an english translation. ;)

Stuck in Drawing

2006-01-18T12:07:00.001-08:00

Have you ever reached a point where you think you are not drawing any better? Chances are you are wrong. Sometimes you just need to take a look at your drawing form the past months to check on reality. But…well sometimes you indeed are stuck in the evolution of your drawing or walking the line too slow.

Why does this happen? Well, yesterday I read a little of Glenn Vilppu’s Drawing Manual ( I tried to read more but I was just too tired ) and it said something very true. Learning to draw is a process, in order to make really great drawings we have to build our skills layer by layer, we can’t pretend to make a finished masterpiece if we have no knowledge of lighting, structure, composition, etc. And we have to consider that understanding lighting, structure, composition, etc involves having previous basic knowledge. So..think it as layers. Maybe your drawing does look awful because you concentrate too much on rendering completely ignoring underlying structure, relationships and proportions. Even revisiting the most basic steps can be of great help. Just take it slow, be patient with yourself. Vilppu says make a plan, and if that’s true in anything in life to reach a certain goal, you certainly can do it with drawing.

Don’t put too much stress on yourself and you will see that your skill will be building itself almost naturally, and you will enjoy drawing like never before.

Should you go to a figure drawing class?

2006-01-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

I’m struggling to find some time to attend a figure drawing workshop, but I have too many things going on right now. I haven’t been drawing that much for the past two weeks, which has me a little bit anxious. And people ask me—Why would you want to go to a figure drawing workshop?? Can’t you just draw from pictures?

It’s true, I could just draw from pictures, but I found that it is not the same. When you are working from a live model, you get to see so many different things that you just miss on a picture. Mainly because you are on a multidimensional environment and also because your senses are more alerted because of time constraints. A true teacher can help you understand any problem you encounter when trying to translate the forms to a paper.

The lighting is another goodie of a figure drawing workshop. When you work with pictures, say magazine pictures, most of the time they have multiple light sources and you can’t truly appreciate the form in all its volume. Have you seen this photographs, where the model just looks flat?? –yes, multiple light sources.

A figure drawing class is a whole different experience than drawing just from pictures, and if you’re serious about learning to draw you should attend one. Plus you could make some good friends there ;)

10 Things You Can Do To Overcome Your Fear To Drawing

2006-01-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

by Jeff Rosales

If you have always had the desire of learning how to draw, the only thing from stopping you is yourself and your fears.

Fear of failure is a powerful barrier to overcome before we can achieve our goals. If you want to learn to draw, but are afraid to do so, you must learn to overcome your fear, and you do that by confronting it.

But don't get me wrong here. You shouldn't just go to the town's art supply shop and buy all your equipment and try to develop a masterpiece from the word "go". That would be like confronting the school bully with no mental or physical preparation....

There are 10 things I can recommend to overcome your fear to draw. You can do one, or as many as you want:

1. As Nike's slogan goes: "Just Do It!" Make a decision to start learning how to draw, and start your research to get familiar with terms, tools, materials and techniques. You could start by visiting my site (www.Learn-to-Draw-and-Paint.com) where I have a growing collection of free articles, tips and techniques on drawing and painting. That's a good start! ;-)

2. Get some basic drawing equipment. It sounds expensive, but it does not have to be. To begin with, you can start by getting a pencil, a drawing pad, an eraser and maybe a ruler. If you have access to discarded photocopy paper, you could "recycle" it by drawing on the blank side of the paper.

3. Re-wire your brain in relation to drawing. This is perhaps the most important thing you can do to overcome your fear of drawing (or any other fear, for that matter!). Drawing is just a skill, and there is nothing preventing you from learning anything whatsoever. Anyone can bake a cake! Just follow instructions and easy to follow steps, and the result will show. Once you convince yourself of this, learning to draw will be easier than you think.

4. Go slowly but steady: Unless you're some sort of genius, if you're a normal mortal like the rest of us, you should start from the most basic exercises and techniques, and build upon the following steps, until you are sufficiently skilled to draw something you can be proud of.

5. Don't be too critical of your drawings. Remember, you are learning something here. You are not expected to produce a facsimile copy of whatever object at your early stages of your drawing "apprentiship". You are expected to do your exercises well. That's all.

6. Understand that most of the basic skills you'll learn are so basic that a child could learn them, and so will you. You start by learning to draw simple shapes, how to hold your pencil, different pencil strokes, and gradually moving onto drawing stick figures, learning about shading, proportions, perspective, and that kind of thing. It may sound overwhelming... but it doesn't have to be.

How do you eat an elephant? A/ One bite at the time! That's how you learn to draw too!

7. Develop a learning routine. Depending on your time commitments, you could set aside an hour or so a week to learn new concepts and practice new skills. This is also important because doing so will ensure that you keep your interest alive. An enjoyable commitment to ongoing learning will build up your skills rapidly.

8. As Yoda says: "Practice you need." A few weeks ago I watched a TV interview of famous Australian Guitar Player Tony Emanuell. This guy has been playing the guitar since he was 4! When the journalist asked him how did he get that good, Tony's answer was: "I played the guitar more than I eat, sleep, talk, and go to the toilet. When you do something over and over you got to get good at it" [or words to that effect].

You get back what you put in. If you just want to learn to draw, you should practice regularly. If you want to become a master... you know what to do.

9. Do a drawing course if you can. Sure, you can learn to draw from books. But to take your skills to the next level, you should do a course at your local community school, summer school, or even online.

10. Keep a record of your progress. I do my exercises on lose paper, and my practice drawing on a pad. That way, I keep a record of my progress.

You will be amazed at how good you get at drawing if you keep records of your early work and compare it to the latest drawing. This translates into a confidence boost which will help you keep going.

I hope you find these tips useful, and I wish you all the best in your artistic learning journey.

Doug Higgins, Artist Statement

2005-12-28T06:43:00.000-08:00

The work of Doug Higgins is best described as contemporary impressionism. From his home in Santa Fe, NM, he travels throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe painting landscapes and seascapes on location. He works en plein air either with a portable easel, in his painting truck or in his fully equipped studio RV. I found his site and clicked on the link -- Book. And what a surprise it was!! It is basically a free book, where the artist has dropped a lot of his notes on drawing and painting. And he remembers the teachings of his mentor Frank Reilly. Reilly begins with the basics of drawing the human figure, to painting with oil. And not only that he gives us a truly inspiration insight into his life as an artist and pursuing our artisitc goals. Incidentally the htm is labeled - Artist statement. To go just click on the link I've put below: Doug Higgins Notes and Teachings

Flower Pencil Drawings

2005-12-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

I used to hate drawing flowers when I first started drawing. I've always wanted to draw humans, people moving, portraits. But there's always a first time. And when that time comes you discover that drawing a flower is not really different than drawing a human. Sure, when drawing people you have to be more conscious about proportions, but at the end, when proportions are laid out is all the same. And it helps us find new forms and shapes in nature, you can even adapt this new shapes to your figure drawing, and the barriers of creativity are only set by you. But it all starts with a drawing. Therefore, I'm leaving you some links to Flower Pencil Drawings, and I encourage you to start your own. Even if you think it is dull, or you don't like it. Flowers are mostly about color, so be sure to start going wild with colors once you studied its parts, movement and shapes with some pencil drawings. Pencil Drawing of a Flower --J Derrick Carmen Melton's Flower Drawing How to Draw a Rose --Carol Rosinski

Defining a Pencil Drawing

2005-11-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

When we want to define a pencil drawing, at first it must be done on a simplified way. The rtist's view of the model must be global, avoiding to fall on the trap of focusing on just one part, and also avoiding to draw every gray we see from the live model. A very effective method to simplify this porcess is by closing the eyes ata point when we see all more blurry. This will reduce the lights and shadows and will help us to make the first sketch on the paper, which will help us as the first step to the finished drawing.

Pencil Drawing, Study of Proportions

2005-11-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

A very important topic when starting to draw from live models, is the correct measurement of the proportions they have, and also the correct translation of the proportions to the canvas. As you may have experienced, it is not enough to just watch carefully, it is also necessary to measure and compare. A stick and a weight attached to a string are the two of the most common methods when starting to draw. Using a simple stick of any material (30 / 35 cms length). The artist can get the proportions of the model. Grabbing the stick by one of the sides, with the arm stretched parallel to the ground at eye height, and closing one eye we can measure and compare the heights and widths of the model. The string method works the same, but is is special because it assures a perfect vertical line. Examples of using the stick and the string Using the stick and string, first, we compare heights and widths and we relate them to each other. With the stick we can also locate points that coincide on horizontal lines. Finally, using the string we search other elements of the model on vertical lines.

The "framing" or lineal representation is a must in every drawing. Thanks to this process, the artist caries the measures and proportions of the model to the paper. Getting good at locating proportions and adjusting them to the drawing is a task that requires a lot of practice and precision. Aim first at just finding the porportions do not rely so much on the form of the object at this stage.

Drawing On Creativity: How To Trick Your Brain

2005-11-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Can you draw? Your answer to that question reveals a surprising amount about your brain and the way you integrate your right and left hemispheres. (In this article, the left side will be referred to as the dominant one, which is by far the most likely scenario.) You see, the left side of the brain excels at verbal, analytical, rational and logical tasks. It's the dominant half. It takes over most of the time, using words to describe and define, figuring things out step by step, drawing conclusions based on facts and logic, and thinking in a linear way. The left side of the brain jumps right in with words and symbols, and is such a bully that it takes on even those tasks it isn't likely to perform well. Now, the right side of the brain is completely different. It relies on nonverbal cues to process perceptions. It's good at tasks requiring the ability to see similarities, to understand how parts fit together as a whole, to make leaps of insight(those a-ha moments), and to perceive overall patterns at once. It tends to hang back a little, letting the left side take over most duties. It's sort of like siblings. You've got a confident, verbal first child and a quiet, introspective, thoughtful second child. Who do you think wins the argument for that last dessert? Who chooses which television show to watch? Who dominates the conversation about where to go on a family vacation? The second child might have a valuable perspective, but the older one is so assertive that he tends to win most arguments and rule the roost. If your answer to the drawing question is "No, I'm pathetic," it's likely your left brain is being a bit of a thug. Whenever you pick up a pencil and start to sketch, it's taking over with its tendency to verbalize images and analyze shapes. Meanwhile, the right side--the perceptual, spatial part of your brain--is over in the corner, raising its hand, trying to get attention. "Oh, pick me!" it says. Too bad that the left side is already busy drawing lines and forming a strategy. What if you could outsmart the bully on the left? What if you could somehow give that right side of your brain its chance to shine? According to Dr. Betty Edwards, a respected art educator and author of the best-selling book, Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain, you can actually make a mental shift from what she refers to as the "L-mode"--the verbal, dominant form of thinking--to the "R-mode," which relies on visual cues. It's possible to get the right side to kick in and take over the task of drawing. How? Well, we need to get tricky. The left side takes over tasks UNLESS it finds a particular job undesirable. If a certain task takes too much time, is too detailed or slow or simply too difficult, then the left side gives up. So, the trick is presenting the task--in this case, drawing--in such a way that the right side is allowed to jump in. This happens a lot with words. When we try to describe something verbally and find it too difficult, what do we do? We rely on gestures. Just try to describe a spiral staircase without using your hands. Dr. Edwards teaches people to draw by presenting them with images that are upside down. This puts the left brain in a state of confusion so that it can't easily decipher shapes, assign a top and bottom, attach labels and categorize them to match stored memories. The key to integrating your right side lies in looking for opportunities to allow it to become dominant. When presented with a confusing image, your left side gives up. We should literally turn things upside down in an effort to thwart the left brain's control and let the R-mode take over. This same idea works in creative problem solving. Sometimes the best way to deal with a challenging issue is to sleep on it. When the left brain is exhausted, the intuitive, subjective, holistic right side has a chance to sneak in and come up with a solution that seems to have come "from nowhere". See? We don't even give our right brains credit for creative insights! It's exciting to think that there are ways to outsmart our brains. By intentionally putting ourselves in a state of mental conflict, we can enhance our creativity. Look for ways to plunge yourself into that discomfort zone. Whether we're tackling a picture or a problem, the key to jumpstarting our right brain lies in shifting our perspective. Grab a pencil, turn the picture upside down, and start drawing! Somewhere inside you, that frustrated artist will be grinning from ear to ear.

Book Review - Pencil Drawing Techniques

2005-11-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

"Pencil Drawing Techniques" Flipping through this book, my jaw dropped in amazement at the examples in this book. Near the end, the illustrations of zoo animals (tigers, horses, etc) were so life-like! The artist really know how to shade. I instantly brought the book.

Let me tell you, this Pencil Drawing Techniques book is very complex and loaded with information. There are lots of text for an art book. First, the book goes over the basics of shapes and different shades of pencil lead (from hard 6H to very soft 8B, the "#2 pencil" is near the middle). Then we go over shading. The book is primarily focusing on different shading and strokes techniques in order to get that "life-like" realism in your drawing. In my personal experience, trying to obtain that level takes many hours and many practice. If you are the type who gives up easily, then Pencil Drawing Techniques isn't for you. Nobody said drawing is easy. Or, if you are only interested in drawing nice line-arts (and letting a computer do the rest), then this book is NOT for you as well. However, if you want to draw to the highest realism with just a pencil, then this book is worth considering.

I should also mention that a small chapter of Pencil Drawing Techniques is devoted to color pencils (whereas the rest, or 90% of the book, is on graphite pencil). Buy Book At Pencil Drawing Techniques

Still Life Pencil Drawing

2005-11-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

What is a Still Life? Still Life is an art term, that refers to a special kind of picture. It represents an arrange of inanimate objects (hence the name) such as a bowl, a cup or fruits. Usually the arrangement is made according to the artist's purpose. A Still life pencil drawing can be symbolic, with an underlying meaning, or aesthetic, in which case the purpose is to communicate beauty. About Still Life Pencil Drawings A still life work can have many purposes. If we work in color it can help us understand how color acts in real life, how the light bounces, and how an arrangement of colors can bring a special mood to the painting. Using colored pencils we can begin studies about color, and work in the finest details. But in the case of black and white pencil drawings, the purpose of the still life pencil drawing is different. A still life pencil drawing can help us study shapes and see how they interact on our eyes, we learn how to measure correct proportions and how they can make the difference betwen a good drawing and a remarkable drawing. When we get into shading, we then study tonal values. There are no colors here so we must learn how to see things in black and white mode, and correctly define which are going to be the dark and light areas on our still life pencil drawing. Still lifes are the most available subjects in the world, and while some people may consider still life drawing boring, te fact is they teach us a lot. When you have no idea of what to draw, just make an arrangement of things you have at your house and start your still life pencil drawing. Don't take just as bring cups and fruits, but instead focus on what you can learn from this. BTW, you can click on the pics to see them bigger.

Pencil Drawing Techniques – Smooth Shading

2005-11-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

A Pencil Drawing technique that is very hard to master and at the same time can bring a photo realistic finish, is the smooth shading technique. This pencil drawing technique consists of shading gradually the drawing with the pencil tilted, to give it a 3D look. This can be done only using the pencil or with the aid of a tool to diffuse the tones.

This pencil drawing technique requires patience, and concentration. You have to really have control over the pressure of the pencil, and at the same time choose the right pencil hardness to achieve the desired results. You also have to keep your work clean, because sometimes this type of shading can go wrong, and your work ends up looking bad.

I’ve found some resources on the web that you can check if you want to know more about this technique. I will be posting technique tutorials here too, once I have all the things I’m gathering. Check back once in a while, to see if they’re online.

Resources:

Learn Pencil Shading

Pencil Shading Exercises

Related Pencil Drawing Technique posts: Cross Hatching, Learning How to Draw with the Grid Method, 5 point perspective… more

Keeping a Sketchbook

2005-10-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

A sketchbook is like diary for an artist, a place where you can just let out all your art without any worries. Any person who wants to get better at drawing should have a sketchbook, because it not only records your ideas, thoughts and experimentations, but a sketchbook also gets you drawing and drawing, building your skills with every moment. You will see that the quality of your sketchbooks will be better and better, and what at first was dull then will become almost a work of art for itself :D In a sketchbook you can do aything you want, although some artist prefer to have sketchbooks based on themes. For example you could have a sketchbook only in human anatomy, and another just a "test sketchbook" where you try any kind of ideas that comes tou your mind. And remember that sometimes is not all drawing on your sketchbook, you can write some ideas too, you thoughts, all this is valuable when years pass and you can have a better perspective of how your art has evolved. What can you draw? That is up to you, but I know sometimes is hard to just start drawing. And this trivial things often end up taking more time than they are supposed to. Luckily, I found an article where you can get some ideas on what you can draw in your sketchbook. Read Sketchbook Ideas and Project Starters. Consider your first sketchbook as a beggining of a journey, just imagine all the things you will learn on your way, through a road that is full of surprises. Let freedom and creativity be on your sketchbook and have a lot of fun! :D

Learning How to draw with the Grid Method

2005-10-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Grid Method is one of the basics methods for accurate drawing. It is used also for making larger copies of a sketch, and to translate little thumbnails to large formats manually. As the name implies, you have to create grid on top of the original image. For this you can draw over the image or put a see-through paper on top and start making the grid. Then you make a grid on the support you want to draw on, and basically copy the source grid by grid, solving the proportion poblems quite easily. In my own opinion, this way you don't learn how to draw like it is supposed to. You can't grid for example a live model, but it is definetely useful when enlarging a small sketch that we have. If you want to see how this method works, I recommend going to The Grid Method in Paint by Grids. They have a nice tutorial over there that will actually show you what this is all about and how you can use it when working with pictures.

Pencil Drawing Tools

2005-10-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

When it comes to pencil drawing, we tend to think that we only need a pencil and a paper. That is absolutely correct in a basic level, but in reality we tend to use more tools that can help us in our drawing and in special on the finishing touches of the work. We may need a ruler for planning perspective, an eraser to clear any construction lines, bring white areas and even make textures. Different hardness of lead is also good. A 6B pencil will bring stronger dark areas than a 2H pencil. So it is all a matter of choice, and of what tools uses the artist to feel comfortable. I'm leaving you two links that talk about this, but in the end you should think what YOU need in reality to achieve what you want. Mike Sibley's Tools I Need for Graphite Pencil Drawing Before You buy Drawing Equipment at About.com

Pencil Drawing: A Complete Kit for Beginners - Book Review

2005-10-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect introductory kit for anyone who wants to learn the captivating art of pencil drawing. Inside is everything needed to get started, including a 32-page project book filled with inspiring ideas.

Written and illustrated by renowned artist Gene Franks, the project book begins with information on art tools and materials and then covers the basics, such as pencil technique, perspective, and value. It also includes nine complete drawing lessons to follow and learn. Each project is accompanied by clear instructions, helpful tips, and step-by-step illustrations--all of which ensure successful results.

Pencil Drawings of Angels

2005-10-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

A theme that is often used for pencil drawing is Angels. Every artist has her/his own interpretation of what an angel looks like. We have for example that even though angels are believed to be ents without sex (not male, not female), some artist depict them as men or women. Some angels want revenge, some are peaceful. Even in comics the angels appear (see Angel / Archangel in X-Men) . How are your angels? Male Nude Angel Drawing Angel Gabriel - Myriam A. Kilmer Abstaract Drawings of Angels- G. Stefanov God with Angels - Fragonard Saint Zefrale - Meisan Jaded Angel - BluTack Stripey Angel Thingy - Licia

New How to Draw - Clone Trooper

2005-10-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

I love this Star Wars Page. If you remember I made a post about How to Draw Anakin Skywalker. No the guys at Star Wars.com have updated with a new tut featuring a Clone Trooper. You may think this is for children. But what it gives you instead is a look at how artist go from general shapes and proportions to more defined shapes. It shows the construction of the character which at the end turns out to be the most important part when learning how to draw. We could render it like a picture, but if the proportions are off and the "skeleton" is weak, we have nothing but a mediocre drawing. Learn to Draw a Clone Trooper

Court Jones - Celebrity Pencil Drawings

2005-10-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Court Jones does an amazing job making caricature pencil portraits of famous people. from Neo (Keanu Reeves) to Cristopher Walken, court shows us his technique on funny celebrity pencil drawings. In his page you will also find pencil figure drawings, and color paintings. Go take a look for inspiration and then grab a pencil and make your art come true! See Court's Pencil Drawings at Court Jones - Caricature and Illustration

Colored Pencil Drawing Tutorials!

2005-10-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

That's right, PDM is not only about black pencil. There is a whole world of color out there!! Just look through your window! We even see colors in our imagination, so now you just might wanna add some colors to your work. Colored pencil technique is slow at times, requires a lot of patience, and it won't give you fast colors. However when done correctly it is one of the most beautiful mediums that allows a deep attention to detail. I started painting with colors when I was studying graphic designed, and it was ther when I truly witnessed the power of them. I am leaving you some tuts that can help you discover new territories in art or expand your knowledge on the subject. The Colored Pencil challenge Lessons Colored Pencil Techniques by Kristy Kutch Colored Pencil Quick Tips Colored Pencil Basics

The Mighty 5 Point Perspective

2005-10-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Curvilinear (5-point) perspective is very powerful, as it more closely represents our vision in reality. And, it can be forced to yield the "wide-angle" camera lens distortion, creating a very interesting visual effect. Scott McDaniel, gives us an introduction on curvilinear perspective, although the tutorial is brief you can study the method in more detail by reading books on curvilinear perspective or architecture. Remember always to have fun while learning, and think that by learning some theory about perspective you are steadily increasing your expression power. It isn't too hard, once you get perspective you will never forget, it is like riding a bicycle.! How to draw a 5-point perspective by Scott McDaniel

Book Review - Lee Hammond's Big Book of Drawing

2005-10-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

Bestselling author Lee Hammond is known for her clear, basic methods for drawing nearly any subject. This Big Book of Drawing brings together the best projects from her other titles into one super-sized guide. Readers will find: - Popular subjects like people, animals, flowers and nature - An encouraging "You Can Do It" section - Clear step-by-step instructions to guarantee success - Chapters on choosing materials and mastering basic techniques This entire book showcases realistic, appealing artwork that's truly achievable. Anyone can find creative success with Lee Hammond leading the way! If you're looking to learn how to draw and you want to learn from the best, Lee Hammond's books are the way to go. She specializes in real life (as opposed to cartooning) and is very clear on her method. This particular book has everything you could need to know to get started. A definite recommendation! Click Here to Learn mOre about The Big Book of Drawing

Pencil Art Work Link Dump

2005-10-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hello, today I have some Link Dumps: Photograph Selection Tips when doing a Pencil Drawing. Stu Art Pencil Illustrations Ann Milner's Pencil Drawings Cowboy Pencil Drawings by Doug Watkins Catman's Sketchbook The Coloured Pencil Art of Ann Kullberg

Pencil Drawings by Kobayasi Takesi

2005-10-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

These are the beautiful pencil illustrations of Kobayasi Takesi, a japanese artist. This page has some text in japanese. I gotta thank Mr. WCA for pointing me out that you can translate Japanese to English using Google Language Tools. Most of his work is on pencil, he even tells (with a picture next to it) what pencils and paper he uses to achieve his great results. You gotta check out his work. Go to Kobayashi Takesi's Pencil Drawings

How to Draw Anakin Skywalker

2005-10-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Are you a Star Wars fan? Then you'll love this post, if not you will still be amazed in the making of this great pencil drawing of Darth Vader himself as Anakin Skywalker. that's true you too can learn how to draw Anakin Skywalker. I found this link at StarWarskid.com but will work at any age. A great and fun method of improving your portrait drawing skills is to draw characters that you like from.

Ever wanted to draw Star Wars characters and vehicles just like the professional comic book artists? In this step-by-step series, Star Wars artists and illustrators show you how to draw some of the most beloved characters in the saga, as well as new faces and creatures from Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (available on DVD Nov. 1). So get your pencils and paper ready!

Read the tutorial at Drawing Anakin Skywalker

Mike Sibley's Pencil Drawing Tutorials

2005-10-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Look what I found surfing the web. Maybe you know this page but is still deserves to be mentioned in this blog. It's the page of Mike Sibley's Work. Mike has a lot of quality works, mostly pencil drawings of animals and pet portraits. His technique is remarkable, and on top of that he has a section showing how he work, tips and tutorials. So, if you are looking for pencil drawing tips. This is one place to visit.

Book Review - Pencil Magic

2005-10-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

With Pencil Magic, readers will learn to improve their artistic skills with just two simple tools: pencil and paper. Featuring invaluable instruction, this guide will help beginning and advanced artists master the fundamentals of drawing, including: -The spectrum of basic strokes, including sharp, crosshatching, and directional strokes -Drawing styles from quick sketches to blended-stroke drawing -Strategies for capturing measurements accurately -How to paint trees, shadows, paths, and other landscape elements -Various methods of approaching perspective With ten step-by-step demonstrations, Pencil Magic appeals to artists at all levels of artistic ability, while making learning the basics easy. This book is definitely a hidden treasure! The first half of the book goes over basic skills and techniques, design, perspective...the essentials. Then each subsequent chapter tackles a specific aspect of landscape drawings; trees, water, buildings, animals...I mean it covers it all. I am currently a Landscape Architecture student and picked up this book as a way to boost my skills. If you read through it and follow the tips you will be surprised at your progress. Once again, Highly Recommended!

Pencil Drawings of Dragons

2005-10-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

Fantasy art is really cool. It's all bout drawing what doesn't exist. It builds your imagination makes you a kid again. When we are young people told us tales of dragons, warriors and princessess. Now we can draw them, relive the images in our heads. These are some pencil drawings of dragons I found on the web. Dragon Pencil Drawings made from the imagination by people that interpreted the images in their head, and made a world of fantasy creatures for us to see. Canadian Dragon Fantasy Drawings Draco's Lair's Dragon Pencil Drawings Weeping Dragon Pencil Drawing by Dominic Koval How to Draw a Dragon - Elfwood Pencil Dragon - Connann FitzPatrick Draw a Dragon - top Quality thread at conceptart.org

Just Draw

2005-10-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

We all love drawing with pencils, but the big question is how do I draw better? And ironically the greatest question is the easiest to answer. Practice like mad! Drawing is action, you can think everyday not to draw because you suck at it. Or you can tell yourself "just draw" no matter the outcome. If it's just for you, nobody is going to judge you. It's all part of the learning curve. You may feel you are drawing like always but don't get discouraged by this. It is only your brain playing mind tricks on itself. Don't draw because you have to. It is not an obligation. Like all art is about expression. Once you've learned how to express yourself, and set you free, all you have to do is get better at technique, and again technique is all about practice. Don't forget about some theory too, you can just discover everything by practicing. But books and teachers surely shorten the learning curve. In special it includes topics such as composition and perspective, subjects that have compiled a lot of knowledge over the years. So now what? You may ask. If you like drawing just draw. Beat laziness, nobody's gonna do it for you and I can guarantee you'll enjoy it.

Art Thoughts - Richard Schmid

2005-10-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Once in a while I'll make post like this. Many artists have lived in this world each of one having their own sens of art. And what better to listen to them, thos epearls of wisdom they gave us once in a while. This time is Richard Schmid born in chicago 1934. "If there is ever a conflict in your mind between what you know and what you are seeing, paint what you see, because if you don't the result will look like something that isn't there." "We must see the RELATIONSHIPS between colors, the relative visual warmth or coldness of colors to one another in a complex visual field of many colors. The question to be asked in all cases is not what color something is, but rather what color it is COMPARED TO ALL OTHERS AROUND IT." "Remember--soft edges in a painting are not an end in themselves. They must be APPROPRIATELY soft and should conform to what you perceive them to be in your subject. That is what will make your edges look authentic. Arbitrarily softening everything is like intentionally mumbling when you speak." "Real drawing is a discipline that must be maintained by constant practice. It is like staying in physical shape. Knowing how to do it must be accompanied by actually doing it. Tracing to get the drawing reduces you to the level of a child playing with a coloring book, and it's not as much fun as it was when you were three years old." "When you finish a painting started as a tracing, there will be little sense of achievement, except perhaps for the patience required to color it. Tracing is degrading because you will have denied yourself the freedom to use your own powers of self-expression. Is that really the way anyone should want to be an artist?"

Tip: "Mechanical Pencil Care"

2005-10-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

The following tip is taken from LifeTips: Mechanical pencils need more maintenance than carpenter pencils, artist pencils or school pencils. Some brief tips... * Don’t over-twist the mechanism to advance the pencil lead. * Use the correct thickness of lead in your pencils. If your pencil takes .9 mm lead, use .9 mm lead, not .7 mm lead. * Always check the manufacturers’ directions. * Use a soft polishing cloth for the surface, rather than strong cleaning agents or chemicals.

How To Draw Pencil Portraits

2005-10-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Learn How to Draw Pencil portraits the Lee Hammond way. Find pencil drawings and pencil portrait tuorials in this page. To go to the tuts just go down a little bit after the pencil portrait links. 8 sections, brief concise explanations:

Some history and facts about the Pencil

2005-10-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

This link comes directly from Arthistoryclub.com, it's about Pencil facts and history. In fact pretty cool! Knowledge can't hurt right? It has also miscellanea facts about pencil. It says for example that it is the cause of many injuries amongst children. I have to say that I'm no small children but one day while I was running on my house with a pencil in hand I had a little accident and since then I have a mark on my wrist with some graphite in it! Yeah... I waited some years and it seems it won't disappear so I guess I'll start my crime-fighting life as PENCILMAN!!!

Cross Hatching Techniques

2005-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

I love cross hatching when doing sketches. It looks good and can bring a lot of interesting textures. People often tend to ask me how to do cross hatching, I tell them to just do it. I don't know, cross hatching to me came naturally. Cross hatching is about giving texture, depth, light to your drawing by increasingly adding lines and lines that cross and somehow gradually end up with an interesting result. Some say that you have more control than shading smoothly and I agree partially because it all depends on the effects you want to achieve with cross hatching. Anyway, for those who want to learn more about the cross hatching technique I'm giving you some links for you to check. But whatever you read and whatever doubts you have, just do it, that's where the real learning is. Cross Hatching - Captain Meth Wikipedia Page for Cross Hatching Drew Olbrich's Crosshatching Works Cross Hatching Tutorial - Portrait-Artist.org

Pencil Drawing of People - Japanese

2005-10-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Huh, I recovered this link form my favorites... I found this site at some point during last month. It belongs to a Japanese artist HIkotaku(?) so the page is all written in Japanese, in my PC the only thing I see is this "?????????????????" :P BUT.... his work is pretty awesome and my guess is this page is for his original tutorials, this is the kind of studies that let you understand the human figure as a 3d object. If you are not sure where to click, don't worry neither did I. Just click on those buttons at the left. I guess you don't need to read to understand what he is teaching. Have fun!

Traditional Shading Tutorial by Slux

2005-10-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging out at CGtalk, a forum related to CG and found a post made by Slux where he details how he works shading using graphite pencils. You can see pics form his progress and a detailed description of his technique for smearing. Worth taking a look!

Black and White Pencil Drawings - Animals

2005-10-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

These are some cool black and white pencil drawings of animals. It's always good to check other's people work to study it. You can see how they solved certain problems in this case could be to learn how they managed to make the hair, so difficult at the beggining. You can even try to copy soe of the works but keep in mind this is for learning purposes only, you must understand what you're doing. the same goes with tutorials. Melanie Philips - Pet Portrait Artist Pet Portraits by Deb Edmund Pam Reed - Animal Reed

Pencil Drawing Tutorial from Elfwood

2005-10-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is 4 part tutorial/article from Elfwood Tutorials - The FARP. It covers 4 main points: Learning to See, What is Good Drawing, Using Line and Mark Making. This tut is aimed towards begginers but it definetely serves as a reminder of some things to us more veteran artists. It is somewhat short to cover important areas but still useful and has a lot of images to illustrate what its talking about. The link: Pencil Drawing Tutorial -Elfwood

About.com's Drawing Tips

2005-10-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

About.com's section of Drawing and Sketching has a good article about improving your pencil drawing technique. It's written by Helen South an Australian artist and printmaker working in graphite, charcoal, watercolour and mixed media. It ha some good tips on lines and shading, you can keep brosing this section of About.com to find more articles. Or I can give you where to go right--->here. Remember to always practice, tips don't make an artist! :D

Welcome To Pencil Drawing Madness

2005-10-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Pencil Drawing Madness, I am Paolo Parodi an artist and graphic designer. I hope to share with you all about pencil drawing. this is one of my loves in life. Yours probably too, no other technological tool can feel like the poencil and give us that rich textures. Well please njoy the post and feel free to comment or give me suggestions for the site.