The best way to improve your drawing skills is to practice. One common drawing exercise is creating a contour hand drawing. For this project, you’ll be drawing the contour of your own hand, then adding in a little creativity. Here’s how to do it: 1. Consider the position of your hand in the final drawing. […]
Several years ago, I came across a book in our library called Painting Animals That Touch the Heart by pastel artist Leslie Harrison. Leslie creates pastel paintings of horses and wildlife that are incredibly realistic. Because wildlife is my favorite subject to paint, I couldn’t wait to try her techniques. Soft pastels, also called chalk pastels, have more […]
My ten-year-old and I have been taking calligraphy classes from an incredible calligrapher, Johanna Brame. This week’s project: valentine calligraphy! This is the valentine my son made for his grandma. Here’s how he did it: First, he drew a large heart in pencil on an 8 x 10 sheet of computer paper. This valentine has the […]
A still life is a drawing or painting of a collection of inanimate objects. It could include flowers, bowls, fruit, old shoes, tools, toys – the possibilities are endless! When creating a still life, the skill of drawing symmetrical objects comes in handy. Symmetrical objects are objects that are exactly the same on both […]
WHAT IS A NATURE JOURNAL? A nature journal is a book or notebook where you can record your thoughts, feelings, ideas, and observations about the natural world. WHY KEEP A JOURNAL? There are a lot of reasons to keep a journal! First of all, recording observations and thoughts in a book is a good way […]
Create this step by step horse drawing! To begin, start with the shape of the horse’s body. It’s an oval shape, and by drawing it first you can determine the appropriate size for your piece of paper. Next, add the neck and the head. Remember to sketch thses in lightly, as these are just the […]
A value scale, or gray scale, is a handy tool for any artist. The word “value” refers to the relative darkness or lightness of a tone, shade, or color. A gray scale features the two extremes: at one end is white, at the other end is black, and every shade of gray comes in between. […]