New Masters Academy Drawing Foundations 1: weeks 2–5 progress notes
In my last post Why I Joined New Masters Academy and chose the Illustration Track, I covered Week 1 of Drawing Foundations 1. This update picks up from there, with progress through Weeks 2–5. While most of the material so far is review, I’ve found that each week holds at least one useful reminder or […]
How the Loomis method makes me a better artist but steals my soul
In this week’s SketchAwesome challenge, I explored the Loomis method for sketching heads. It improved my technical skills, but I found the sketches lacked expressiveness.
Overcoming little struggles and rediscovering how tech can be good
This week’s progress in my Illustration Quest came with some challenges, like tackling flash pose drawing and rethinking my routine.
Can soluble graphite be used like watercolor? SketchAwesome week 1
SketchAwesome has started, and week 1 is all about experimenting with watersoluble graphite. It’s an interesting media that has a learning curve.
How to make a good art composition: start the right way!
Before making thumbnails, even before making decisions about what you want to include in your drawing, the most important thing a beginner can do to improve a composition is to ensure that the drawing will be made in the same proportion as the reference or view that’s being drawn. A viewcatcher makes this easy.
15 tips for staying safe while urban sketching
One of the best ways to learn is by making mistakes. In this post, I talk about how I self-critique when my art fails.
Lost and Found: An Art Adventure
Step 1: Materials Selection (#materials)Step 2: Discovering Inspiration and Choosing a Guide (#guide)Stop 3: Preparing for the Journey (#prepare)Step 4: The Sketch (#sketch)Step 5: The Background and Major Landscape Features (#background)Step 6: Adding Details (#details)Step 7: Learning From Your Practice (#learn) Are you ready for a 6 Supplies Challenge? Today’s post is the first of […]
Make It Moody
Do you like limited supply challenges? Me too! They help me practice while making me stretch as an artist. This week I’m excited to announce the first of a new series of posts called Art Adventures. Each week I’ll post a new adventure called a Mission. Each Mission’s goal will be to apply a specified […]
Texture Studies
This month I’m focusing on developing my graphite technique. I began with a drawing of a rose but am not happy with the blending result. To gain additional practice with blending, I decided not to use any tissue or tortillon aids and create the drawing using only pencils and erasers. I used the same technique […]
A Portrait Prep Challenge
In art, as with most hobbies or sports, or really just about anything, I believe it’s important to have challenges. I’m not referring to competition; I’m referring to the kind of challenge that tests the perception we have about our personal ability to do something. The kind of challenge that makes us prove to ourselves […]