Rough Sketches – Working Out The Details
Working on rough sketches is a great time to plan and think. You can certainly use a multitude of techniques when composing your scene. I like using a grid, I also like to use big compositional shapes. Compositional shapes are big areas of light and shade.
Background Reference – Setting The Scene
Finding background reference helps you to figure out all of the nitty gritty details in your scene. It helps to take the guess work out of your image making process. Even if you work only from your imagination I encourage you to use background reference.
Helen’s Sketchbook – 70’s Character – Marker – Gesture
Helen sketchbook is pretty amazing. Helen is a super quiet student who arrives to class each week ready to draw. She methodically creates very beautiful drawings time and time again. Her life drawings and sketchbook drawings are both quintessential Helen.
Get Your Ideas Onto Paper Fast
Thumbnail sketches are a fast way to get you ideas out onto the paper fast. They are not meant for details. Use them to place you character in an environment, think impressionistic.
Joie’s Sketchbook – Fast Crayola
Joie is really into drawing fast in a very bold way. Using crayons markers and crayon’s she has the uncanny ability to create very strong looking images that pop right off of the page.
Incorporating Inspiration Into Your Illustration Process
Incorporating a sentence into your work process is a wonderful way to fight the dreaded artist block. The next time you sit down to create an illustration, start with a descriptive sentence first.
Your Work Process
Sometimes I completely forget all about my past life. I once was a full time freelance illustrator working on several book projects at one time. My life was all about creating high quality artwork under the pressure of deadlines. Sitting down to paint for eight to ten...
Emily’s Sketchbook – Italian Inspired
What I like most about Emily’s sketchbook is her originality. I like so much that she expresses how she is feeling through her drawings. I really do see a ton of improvement in Emily’s drawings midway through the sketchbook video. Her black ballpoint pen line is amazing.
Ren’s Sketchbook – Short and Sweet
Ren’s line quality is really clean and delicate. Her improvement in this sketchbook video is fun to watch. Enjoy looking through her drawings. It’s a pleasure to have Ren as a student in class.
Emily’s Sketchbook – The Yellow Submarine
It's been a while since I've posted a sketchbook video. I think Emily's sketchbook is totally worth the wait. Over the course of the semester I've really enjoyed seeing Emily's work progress into something special. Her style of art is so perfectly suited for...
Critique Of The Week – How To Draw A Cat
Paul a member of Drawing Tutorials Online just recently uploaded one of his images for a critique. I really liked his drawing of this cute fury cat. The drawing was done in a combination of pencil, colored pencil, pastels (both pencil and stick), as well as charcoal.
How To Make Your Drawings Three Dimensional
Every Monday at Drawing Tutorials Online I film three to fours of video critiques. Members who take the time to upload their artwork definitely improve weekly. It’s pretty amazing what a different set of eyes can do to help you improve. Sometimes we get much too close to our drawings.
Rex’s Second Sketchbook
As you flip through her sketchbook like I said you might get a bit overwhelmed. Some self doubt might start to creep into your mind. The antidote to self doubt is focusing on what you can control right now. What you can control is working within your own sketchbook. Focus on you and your drawings.
Creating A Simple Value Structure Study
Sometimes we get so caught up in the details, the textures that we forget to organize a simple value structure. I recommend creating a value structure study in your sketchbook with a soft 2B mechanical pencil. It should take you less than five minutes to complete.
Ting’s Long Lost Sketchbooks
I just recently discovered that I had Ting’s sketchbooks on my iPhone. Her work is definitely special and I wanted to make sure that I shared it with you.
How To Create More Mood & Depth In Your Drawings
Sometimes I’ll step away from my drawing and it looks too light. I then realize I need sit back down and put more pencil down on the paper. You see a lot of artists stop too soon. They leave so much mood and depth on the table.
How To Simplify Light & Shade When Drawing A Portrait
The main suggestion was to simplify how to apply shadow shapes. When you place shadow shapes everywhere in essence you muddy up your portrait drawing. It’s always best to simplify where you decide to put your shadow shapes.
Phoebe’s Sketchbook Part III – Incredible Interiors
Since the first day I met Phoebe back in 2015 wow has she really grown into an amazing artist. Her location watercolor paintings are just to die for. The way she crams so much information into one painting in just so awesome.
Why Are My Portrait Drawings Flat?
Recently Maria, a member of Drawing Tutorials Online, posted up a portrait drawing for feedback. Her main question was why is the drawing flat? First off I want to thank you Maria for presenting this awesome teaching opportunity.
Portrait Drawing Tips – Getting A Likeness
Are you passionate about drawing portraits? One of the biggest portrait drawing techniques I teach in the classroom is shape of hair versus shapes of face. If you can draw the shape of the models hair, that is half the battle to drawing a likeness.