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Lin’s Sketchbook

by Matthew | Oct 13, 2018 | Sketchbook Videos, The Blog | 2 comments

Gosh I’m really not even sure where to start with this blog post. Lin was a student enrolled in my drawing class last year at the School of Visual Arts. I guess I can start with the fact that Lin was the heart of the class. She really is the nicest person ever. Lin is the hardest working student truly devoted to improving everyday.

The cool story about Lin was that she started watching student sketchbook videos years ago when she was in Junior High. The student sketchbook videos were what inspired her to attend the School of Visual Arts.

When she arrived in class and told me her story I was blown away. Lin was pretty much the first to arrive each week which was great because we developed a friendship very early on. I really enjoyed talking with Lin about her home state of North Carolina. A place I would really like to move to in all honesty.

I must say Lin is voted most improved student no doubt. Lin arrived to class with a solid base of skill. Her skillset really took off in the Spring semester after a few frustrating classes. It was great to see Lin fight through the plateau’s every artist has to confront from time to time.

Lin continues to visit my class letting me know the scoop of what’s going on at SVA which I love. I also love to see her progression with her latest sketchbooks!

Check out Lin’s Instagram. Thanks again Lin for sharing your sketchbook.

Shea Portrait – Shading In The Hair

by Matthew | Oct 10, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 3 comments

This may not be my most exciting lesson, however it is an important one. Sometimes drawing a realistic portrait takes time. In this short three minute YouTube world that we live in it’s easy to loose sight of the fact that quality takes time.

Now every artist obviously is different. Every artist has their own personal style. For my portrait drawings I really do enjoy spending long hours working on blocking in the tone.

In this particular video tutorial I’m sharing with you how I start blocking in the soft tone of the hair on the shadow side of the head. When drawing hair it’s important to build up your middle tones first before diving into pressing down super hard on your pencil.

The key takeaways from this portrait drawing lesson, hair is soft, draw it in a soft way. If hair is long, use long pencil strokes. Hair is made up of many cylindrical shapes, think of how the light is hitting those cylinders.

It’s so very important to be clear on your personal style of portrait drawing. You might decide that you really don’t want to draw every strand of hair. You might want to leave some areas of the hair void of detail. Remember, make it fun and keep it original.

If you got something from this very quiet video please leave a comment below.

Improve your portrait drawing skills to today with a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. Select from a monthly or annual plan, cancel anytime.

Shea Portrait – Drawing The Mouth

by Matthew | Oct 2, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 2 comments

In this portrait drawing lesson I share with you how to carefully lay in the mouth. By using a series of targets you can make sure you get proper placement of the lips. Simply put targets are little marks you place on paper. They help you to place the features of the face without fully committing to using super dark line.

In this video tutorial you will learn how to place the corner of the mouth with little light targets. You will also see how to map out the ear and edge of the head. Unfortunately a lot of artists press down hard on their pencil immediately with out using targets. I know I was one of them. My best friend was the eraser.

This style of drawing is a light to dark style of drawing. It’s very different than say completing a gesture drawing. In that case you want to press down on your pencil immediately in order to create a confident powerful gesture.

If this style of drawing interests you definitely consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. You will gain access to multiple drawing courses just like the one up above. Plus you can post your portrait drawing up for a critique ensuring that you receive timely feedback on your work.

Improve your portrait drawing skills to today with a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. Select from a monthly or annual plan, cancel anytime.

Joie’s Sketchbook – Creativity – Originality

by Matthew | Sep 30, 2018 | Sketchbook Videos, The Blog | 5 comments

Last years drawing class was pretty brilliant. A lot of great friendships were made last year in class. Joie was a student that just had so much creativity. She loved the short stuff, hated the long drawings. As a matter of fact Joie really hated doing any drawing that was longer than a twenty minute pose.

Over the years I have learned that being able to work on short gesture drawings is just as important as the long stuff. If you just work on long academic type drawings that could lead to stiffness. The short duration gesture type drawings that Joie loves so much loosen your work up.

Hopefully over the years Joie will acquire a taste for that balance of working on short gesture drawing and long duration drawings.

Umm, somethings tells me Joie will stick to her short stuff. Her creativity is really inspiring. Her energy is inspiring as well. I trust you will enjoy looking through her sketchbook no matter what style of drawing you like.

Joie’s Instagram. Thanks again Joie for sharing your art.

Shea Portrait – Starting With The Eyes

by Matthew | Sep 19, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 6 comments

I wanted to share with you lesson one from my latest portrait drawing course titled “Shea Portrait”. A few members had asked the question, can you start a portrait drawing with the eye first? The answer is of course. Diving deeper the real answer is that you can start a portrait wherever you see fit.

Every portrait that you draw presents different obstacles. You certainly do not want to place too many rules on yourself in terms of where to start. Take a look at the portrait subject, what can you wrap your mind around? What looks easy to start with first?

I’m a big believer of utilizing the angels to start drawing the edge of the hair first, moving onto drawing the face next. Drawing the shape of hair versus the shape of the face is a logical way to go about drawing a portrait. However there will be times that branching out from drawing the eyes first is a better solution.

In the portrait drawing lesson below I share with you what to look out for when starting with the eyes. I talk to the importance of making it so both eyes work together, making sure that they are looking in the same direction.

This fifteen lesson course has so much to offer. However I thought I would share with you this very important lesson one.

If you would like to get started watching get entire course check out Drawing Tutorials Online.

Jean’s Sketchbook – Short & Sweet

by Matthew | Sep 10, 2018 | Sketchbook Videos, The Blog | 3 comments

A new semester has started and Jean is certainly off to bigger and better things. However I wanted to take a moment and share her sketchbook with you. This sketchbook video is really short and sweet. It should take you no time to flow through the pages.

Jean was a pleasure to have in class. I really enjoyed seeing her skill level grow throughout the 2017-18 academic years. Jean has a bold style, I really do like the eclectic feel of her art. She is not afraid to take chances with different mediums in her sketchbook. I encourage you to do the same.