Pencil and Charcoal Drawing

Hello again readers,

In my last post I told you about the art class I started taking. We are 5 weeks into the semester and I can only say that it is going very well. Who am I kidding my class is excellent! I am learning lots of new and exciting drawing techniques. We have focused on dry materials so far; pencils, graphite sticks and charcoal.

Here is what we have done so far:

Pencils 2H-6B: We have used pencils of varying softness to practice line weight and different drawing techniques.

Pencil project

Graphite Sticks: We learned how to hold the graphite sticks in order to draw different shapes and lines.

Graphite stick flower bouquet project

Charcoal Compressed and Vine: We learned how to start a charcoal project, the differences between vine (leaves a lighter and erasable line) and compressed (leaves a darker more permanent line) charcoals.

Charcoal seascape

 

Charcoal cityscape

Learning all of the different techniques using these materials has given me a different perspective on drawing. I have a new appreciation for charcoal drawing. I used to think it was too messy but after learning appropriate techniques, I feel it is a wonderful medium that can result in beautiful pieces.

I will report back once we start a different medium. Thanks for reading!

Art Class

Hello fellow readers,

This year I am taking an art class, for the first time since high school! I am super excited to learn more art techniques in a formal setting. I will make sure to update you with what we do in class and anything interesting that comes up.

For now, I leave you with a couple of examples of the assignments we've done so far.

Line exercise to practice line weight.

 Ivy drawing to practice line weight and the dark lines that come forward, and lighter lines that go back.

That's it for now, but I will update with more of my class projects ;)

Silhouettes

Hello again fellow readers,

Today I would like to discuss one of my favorite styles of drawing: silhouettes. A silhouette is defined (dictionary.com) as a 2D outline or general shape of an object, or dark against light. These types of drawings are easy to make because you are just simply doing the outline of the object and do not need to focus on much detail.

Silhouettes can be done in any medium and are not restricted to just black and white, you can use color too! Some types of silhouettes I've seen are:

1. Ink silhouettes - object is outlined and filled in with ink against a white background.
2. Cutouts - the outline of an object is cut out on one sheet of paper and put against a different surface (either darker or lighter depending on the color of the cutout.
3. Colored silhouettes - same idea as the dark against light but using colors.

  I love doing silhouettes myself and I've experimented with different ways of doing them.

  

 I did this piece in ink on a white surface.

 Recently I have started to do silhouettes with a color outline. This piece is ink and pastel.

Another example of a silhouette with a color outline. This piece is ink and colored pencil.

You can get creative with this style of drawing. I have seen pictures of silhouette puzzles, others using a wide variety of colors and even some fancy cutouts. Try it and have fun! 

Art Supplies

Hello again readers,

Today I will discuss one very important aspect of art: supplies. Creating art doesn't take much; if you have a pencil and paper, you're pretty much set to go. But if you want something in color, or to add texture, or make it 3D, etc...you will need some art supplies.

First off, you need a place to draw, paint, etc. You can always grab any piece of paper and start with that but some surfaces are better for some projects than others. I have three sketchbooks each for different types of pieces. A regular sketchbook is good for sketches, colored pencil and pastel projects. A watercolor sketchbook has special paper to do watercolor paintings. The paper is thicker and pretty absorbent; perfect for watercolor paints. Canvases are great for paint. They come in different shapes and sizes. Canvases are also great for craft projects!

So great, you've found the type of surface you want to use, now what? You need something to draw with. There are two main types of writing/drawing materials that I will classify into "dry" and "wet" materials. What I mean by dry, is that they come in pencil form and you do not need to add water to draw. Wet materials do need water for you to get started.

Dry Materials: Even though some are technically wet, they do not require water to use.

1. Pencils (regular and charcoal)
2. Colored pencils - my favorite brands are Prismacolor and Derwent
3. Oil pastels - I have cylinder block pastels but I am trying to find pastel pencils as these are easier to handle
4. Chalk
5. Pen and ink - also include calligraphy pens and Sharpies
6. Markers

Wet Materials: Basically paints which do require water to use.

1. Pallet watercolors and tube water colors - both work great, just need different amounts of water.
2. Watercolor pencils - I have only used these once and they were difficult for me to figure out how much water they need to work
3. Acrylics - tempura are school grade and are usually thinner and harder to create texture, while artist grade acrylics are usually thicker and allow for different types of strokes.
4. Oils - I have never used these as you need to mess with paint thinners and such.
5. Face paints - believe it or not, face painting can be very detailed and artistic. I also like using these paints for regular watercolor projects. My favorite brand are Snazaroo!
6. Brushes - to be able to paint, you need brushes. I have 4 artist grade brushes (they can be quite pricey!) and other lower grade brushes. Snazaroo brand brushes are amazing for watercolor projects as well; this brand is all around awesome with the quality of their supplies.
7. Pallets and knives - these are good to have so you have a special surface for mixing your paints but you can always use a piece of cardboard if you don't have them available.

The pictures above are of most of my current art supplies. I have yet to buy Prismacolor colored pencils as they are pretty expensive. Somethings I buy as I go. I also have craft supplies, but that's a story for another time.

Now that you have an idea of what to use, get out there and create! Until next time ;-)

Inspiration

Hello again fellow readers,

Today I want to share with you what inspires me to work on my art. Being inspired is a big part of working on a piece. You have to know what you're going to do in order to do it. This may seem like an obvious statement, but many times you really have to think of what you want to work on to get started. Finding inspiration is, I believe, the most important part of art.

Whenever I have no idea what I want to work on, but I feel the urge to work on something, I use these four main sources to find my inspiration:

1. The Internet
2. Supplies I have, or a buying
3. Nature
4. Art books

The Internet: The Internet is a big place where you can find pictures of just about anything. Anytime I want to draw something this is the first place I look into. I usually start out doing a Google search of things I like to draw and add the word art to them. This is also the best way to find different ways and styles to work on. I may already know what I want to draw, but don't know how I want to do it. The art section on Pinterest is also a great place to look. I have been inspired by other artist's styles or subjects by browsing Pinterest.

I was browsing Google images in search of a butterfly to draw and came upon this. The original picture was all black and white but I really wanted to use my oil pastels and this is the end result.

The inspiration for this sketch comes from browsing the Art section on Pinterest.

Supplies: Yes, it is true. Supplies can provide a source of inspiration for working on your creations. Whenever I go to Michael's or other craft supply stores, I always come out with an idea of what to draw/paint by looking at the supplies they sell. Supplies can give you an idea of how you want to do your piece because say you really want to make a painting of some flowers. When you go to the store and see watercolor paints you start visualizing how you can do them using the watercolors. Supply shopping really helps inspire different styles of drawing/painting.

Nature: We live in a beautiful planet. I live out in the country and there are lots of beautiful things to see just by stepping outside. I love to draw/paint nature themed pieces and I get inspired every time I see a nice flower or a beautiful sunset. Pictures of nature are also a great source of inspiration. One of my cousins takes some of the most beautiful pictures of nature I have used some to work on my pieces.

 

This drawing is based on one of my cousin's pictures of an almond blossom.

Art Books: Art books are also a great source of inspiration. You don't have to follow  step-by-step instructions that they give either. Some of the pictures in art books are amazing, and I have used several for my own pieces.

I made this drawing from a bird drawing book. The colorful birds really inspired me to make a piece from this book.

Inspiration can come from many other places too. Think of what inspires you and have fun working on your art.

History of My Art

I didn't always like art. Before high school, I wasn't entertained by drawing or painting. In fact, I thought I was really bad at drawing and so I never tried. This all changed by the time I got to high school and was "forced" to take an art class.

During my freshman year of high school, the counselor put me in Art 1 after she messed with my schedule so that my Geometry class would not have over 35 students. I was one of the 4 lucky students that was moved from Geometry and because of that, my schedule was adjusted and I ended up having to take Art. I was not happy in the beginning because I thought I didn't like the subject. Not only that, I was taken out of a class that had lots of my friends. Now I am glad that I was put in that class because that was the beginning of my interest in art.

My teacher for art that year had us working on lots of basic projects that helped me develop my skills. We started with sketches and worked our way up to painting. This year we worked with charcoals, colored pencils, oil pastels, pen, watercolor and acrylic paints. We did most of our projects with "dry" materials and only in the end did we start learning to work with "wet" materials.

Charcoal painting of a branch and leaves. This project was one was to practice with the different softness levels of charcoal and the shading that can be done with them.

For this project, we were required to bring in a teddy bear and draw it in pencil. The bear I brought in is made of towel-like cloth and it was challenging to do the shading. Over the years it has smudged so the shading has blended in.

I enjoyed taking art so much during my freshman year so I decided to sign up for Art 2 the following year. This time willingly. My previous art teacher left and we had a different teacher this year. To this day, I still think she was one of the best teachers I had during high school. In her class we learned not only about different art techniques, but also terminology and art history. She was a laid back teacher and did not assign specific project and instead assigned us to work on a project in a certain medium or style.
 

One of our projects was a collage. We were able to do it in any style and medium of our choice. I chose to do it in watercolor and chose a flower theme. I took pictures from magazines and laid them out how I wanted to pain them. My favorite is the purple flower at the top left corner.

The first time we got to use acrylic paints in class, we were also able to choose what to paint. I loved the movie Finding Nemo and chose to do my painting of Dory and Marlin.

Later that year, we had to do an abstract self portrait. My art teacher was also the technology teacher so she knew a lot about cool software to use for our projects. She had us take a picture and then use a program (don't remember what we used...though I don't think it was photoshop) to warp it however we liked. We were then to make a painting of our picture. This was the result of this project. It is one of my favorite paintings because my teacher used it as an example of what she was looking for with this project. I was so flattered ;)

The next year I didn't take art. This was not because I didn't want to, but because of scheduling conflicts. I did take a website design class with my art teacher from the previous year and we did do some very creative projects on the computer. Senior year I pleaded my way into art again. I had already taken Art 1 & 2 and there was no Art 3 so I was put into the Art 2 class as an Art 3 student. This year there was a new art teacher. I really liked my last art teacher and was skeptical about this new teacher. She had us do lots of 3D projects rather than the usual paintings and drawings. I did get some freedom with what I got to do but this was not really my favorite year for art :(

This watercolor painting was the only actual painting I did that year :/

After high school, I didn't have any more "formal" art classes but I did continue to work on projects on my own.

 I did this acrylic painting for my aunt. I loved working with the gold sharpie for the edges.

This is a remake of the teddy bear I made during freshman year. My cousin saw the original pencil drawing and liked it so much that I decided to make him a painting of it for his birthday. He named it Gus the Fuzz because it's a fuzzy bear.

Recently I have been working on craft projects as part of an art group I co-funded at the library I work for. This project involved using magazine scraps and glue to make shapes or scenes. The kids really enjoyed this project.

This year I was asked to help with face painting at the library's annual "Dia de los Niños, Dia de los Libros." This event is full of activities for kids to do and also promotes reading. I had done face painting before and so I was asked to help. These are some of the best creatures I did at the event.

 

This is my most recent acrylic painting. My partner-in-crime and fellow artist (who co-founded the library's art group with me) and I were commissioned an art piece for a Woman's History Month event, a "Lunada." We made a special art piece (which deserves it's own post...coming soon!) for this event, and I contributed this piece as well. 

Art is now a big part of my life. I am really glad that I was "forced" to take art my freshman year because I learned something about myself; my love for art. I enjoy it a lot and I keep creating more pieces as time allows. I bought myself a sketchbook to have a place to doodle and keep my pieces together. I previously just took the pages out of an art notebook and most of my pieces were in the most random storage places (underneath my mattress, in the closet, in the garage, etc...) where they were being damaged. This "Sad Girl with Umbrella" done in pastels was one of the first things I did in my sketchbook. Now my sketchbook holds more pieces that I will share as this blog goes on.

Thanks for reading!

My So Called Art

I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time now but I always ran into one major dilemma; what do I blog about? My life's not interesting and I'm not super knowledgeable about a certain topic.

So...one day I thought, I will just blog about something I really like! Problem is, I like a lot of weird things. I really like bacteria (went to school for microbiology) but no one will want to read about that. And of the not-so-weird things I like, like reading and writing, how would I blog about that? Book reviews...that's what Goodreads is for.

Then it hit me, blog about art. I like to draw, paint, and do arts and crafts projects. I could maybe talk about the things I'm working on and the kinds of materials I use. I'm not a pro but I might inspire others to be artsy in my improv way.

Hope you enjoy my artsy rants!

Watercolor painting...one of my latest projects.