FIRST: I WILL BE HAVING A GIVE AWAY SOON. SEE THE END OF THIS POST FOR MORE INFO!
I've had this video filmed for awhile but wasn't able to get it edited and uploaded until late last night, due to my nephew's wedding and other things in life that take up my time, but I FINALLY got it finished! Yay!
The first half of this video is drawing in my sketchbook so you can see all the details that can go into these types of flowers. The second half is drawing in my Crossway ESV Single Column Journaling bible. Most of the drawing in my bible isn't as detailed as the drawing in my journal because it is on a much smaller scale. The beauty of this is that you can make it as detailed as much or little as you like and it will still look GREAT!
I have had a lot of requests for a tutorial of how to draw the squirrel, which I will do, but I have some suggestion that I hope you will consider in preparation for that drawing.
- PRAY! Art is a gift from God. He is the ultimate creative and the old testament talks about the Holy Spirit giving people artistic talents in order to build God's temple. Ask God to teach you how to see like an artist sees. My husband is an artist with a degree in graphic arts. I took one art class in my life at the age of 12 and was so intimidated I was absolutely paralyzed. That was my one an only attempt at anything artistic until a few years ago. I learned early on in my relationship with my husband that he saw things differently than I did. We would have long conversations, sitting outside in the midnight sunshine of the Alaskan summer nights and talk about how he sees. When I saw clouds, I saw white and grey puffy clouds. He saw all sorts of colors: peaches, purples, blues - he never once said the color grey. He shadows in the for of shapes. He opened my eyes initially and God has stepped in and continue to teach me as I progress on this journey as an artist. I always pray before doing any art, asking God for the skill and guidance. If you desire it, He will give it.
- GET a 0.05 pigment ink pen. Your favorite brand is fine, no need to use the same pen as I do. It is the size of the nib that is important.
- PRACTICE!! Get to know your pen and how it works. Check out my "PEN STROKES TUTORIAL" to learn the types of strokes I use in my drawings. They are not difficult to master, but you do need to be familiar with your pen and how to get it to draw the way you want it it. Trust me, this will save a LOT of frustration and fear of making mistakes when it comes to drawing with pen and ink.
- MORE PRACTICE! Practice drawing the flowers, leaves, bees and other things in this video series. Practice doing your own thing. Practice on smooth notebook or printer paper - which is similar in thickness and texture to bible paper. Practice on drawing paper, which has a little bit of texture and learn how your pen works on that compared to smooth paper.
- PAY attention to how long to set your pen on the paper - the longer it sits in one place, the darker that spot will be. This typically happens at the beginning of a pen stroke. When using copy or notebook paper, this spot usually shadows through the page more than the rest of the pen stroke.
- USE a light hand when drawing. Don't push down on the pen, let the weight of the pen do the work.
- PICK an image that you want to draw. Something with short fur, like the squirrel or a rabbit.
- Study the image. Really look at it. Look at it for a few minutes for days. Look for the darkest darks, the lightest lights. Notice where the shadows fall. It may be helpful to convert your image into a black and white so you can see only the lights and darks and not be distracted by color.
- Study the shapes that make it up and where the shapes are located in relation to each other: the top of the eye is on the same imaginary line as where the base of the ear starts. The nose and the paws both extend out to the same point. The tail is taller than the entire body.
- Imagine drawing it. If you watch an artist in action, you will often see they make "practice" strokes in the air before drawing or painting on their paper/canvas. This is valuable on helping your hand and eye communicate with each other. I often will do this over the image I am going to draw. I "air trace" the shape of the image. It may sound weird, but it really helps because sometimes our eyes see shapes differently than how they really are and when we go to draw it, the drawing comes out skewed and we don't know why. There are a lot of reasons this happens that I won't go into; this isn't a perfect remedy for that but it DOES help.
- BE relaxed. This type of drawing can be very relaxing and enjoyable. Watching something from from nothing is really cool, in my opinion. Take it slow and don't rush. You don't have to finish a drawing in one sitting. In fact, it can be detrimental to try and do this. We tend to look at the details and can't see the whole picture and this causes us to focus of perceived mistakes. If you are feeling frustrated or stuck, walk away for a bit..just make sure you do COME BACK! Do not give up. When you come back, you will see it as a whole and with fresh eyes. If you were stuck, you will probably now know what to do. Totally true. I can't tell you the number of times I felt something wasn't working in a painting or drawing and I had no idea what to do next. I left it for day and when I came back, I was able to continue on.
- KNOW that if you have done it once, you can do it again! I used to be afraid to draw or paint again after I did something I was really happy with because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it again. Know that you CAN do it again. It may be different but it will still be great!
- Lastly, be KIND to yourself. Unless you are working - and it IS a lot of work - to become a photo realistic artist, there just isn't any reason to be photo realistic. With the exception of human faces, no one will ever know if your squirrel doesn't look exactly like your reference image. No one will ever know if you have a wonky flower because flowers ARE often wonky in nature. Don't stress.
- OK, here is the last thing. SMILE! Sounds hokey, but it helps you relax. Enjoy the process!
I recently read a quote and it is totally true:
PRACTICE MAKES AWESOME!
Soon I will start on an animal tutorial. Maybe a mouse. Stay tuned!
GIVEAWAY SOON! I will be having a giveaway soon. I have two She Reads Truth bible studies with cute bible verse cards and artwork. One is a study of the book of Hebrews and the other is a bible study for the book of John. The winner will need to have the free She Reads Truth app and will need to purchase the study guides through the app ($1.99).
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