Tutorial Tuesday
When creating characters try to work out the overall shape first. Explore different shapes and don’t be afraid to differ from the norm or what you are used to seeing. Have fun and doodle. Let’s get started with sketching some shapes.
Sketch out some basic shape ideas.
Add character details to the shapes.
Clean-up the sketch and you are left with a fun character.
Thanks for stopping by, see you next time. Remember to like and follow me for more art tutorials.
Tutorial Tuesday
When sketching out your idea always try to keep perspective in mind so your elements line up or are placed in the sketch properly. This helps to keep realistic positioning and makes the sketch more believable even if you are cartooning. If you are having trouble seeing the perspective as you draw go ahead and add some grid lines to help you see. You can always remove them later for the final drawing.
Friday Fun
Yes it’s Friday and we have another fun project for you to try at home. We are going to make cardboard roll monsters. Remember we are not looking for perfection but creativity so let’s have some fun.
Supplies:
cardboard rolls (can be empty paper towel rolls cut in half or empty bathroom tissue rolls)
extra piece of cardboard (to cut out arms and horns)
acrylic paint (any cheap paint will do)
paint brushes
Paint the cardboard rolls any color that you like for your monsters body. You may need to paint more than one coat of paint, let it dry in between coats.
Draw and paint the extra parts like arms or horns. It can be anything you want to add to your monster. Make sure they are fully dry before you cut them out and glue them on the body of your monster.
Paint on the face, make it any kind of face you want. You can have one eye or add as many as you want. Make sure each part dries before you paint the next to keep the paint from smudging.
Congratulations on your little monsters.
Thanks for stopping by and creating along with me.
See you next time.
Thrifty Thursday
Charcoal pencils are another great tool when first starting out in art. They are very forgiving to use and you don’t need a ton to start with. Don’t worry about getting the most expensive charcoal pencils. Inexpensive brand pencils work just as well, sometimes even better than the expensive brands.
Just like with graphite pencils buy only a few different levels of hardness. In the past I was using the Ritmo brand but found they had changed and seemed to break more easily so I switched back to General’s, the brand I used in college.
When using your charcoal pencils if you feel like there are tiny rocks in the pencil or the pencil seems to just scratch the paper, sharpen your pencil to remove the hard part. If this continues or seems to happen often then you may need to switch brands.
Pencil Basics:
The numbers and letters on the pencils correspond with the hardness of the charcoal.
Pencil numbers with an “H” = harder pencils and make lighter lines
Pencil numbers with a “B” = softer pencils and make darker lines
Created with Generals charcoal pencils on toned paper
Tutorial Tuesday
Shape Basics: Primitive & Primary Shapes
Get to know basic primitive shapes that you can use to build up a drawing. Primitive shapes are a great tool for breaking down complex forms into simplified shapes. It is much easier to visualize the simple shapes and arrange your ideas. Practice drawing shapes from all angles and perspective, squash and stretch them so when it comes time to draw you are already familiar with the shapes.
Start with circles and squares. Squash and stretch them into different sizes and shapes. Play around and have fun with it.
Combine the circles and squares to create more shapes. Don’t be afraid to try different combinations and fill a page of shapes.
Put the shapes together and draw something. Simple shapes can create fun images and you can combine the shapes to get more complex drawings.
Go ahead and try this, have fun and doodle. Let’s see what you can come up with.
Thanks for following along, see you next time.