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First attempts at drawing... How to get started. The drawing upside-down and the white space tips both came from of Betty Edwards, in her book: The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain And here is a link to her website, purely by way of a big thank you! https://www.drawright.com/ OK, so you have finally plucked-up the courage to get that sketch pad out that you were given for your 8th birthday - (you are now 28!) - and you really want to have a go at drawing. A good place to start is just copying a photograph of anything that takes your fancy. Ideally, you want to work from a printed photograph or a cut-out from a magazine - or even a comic, if that is what you are into. Now, first things first... TURN YOUR PHOTO OR PRINT-OUT UPSIDE-DOWN! If you are working from your laptop, rotate the image through 180 degrees. Now. If you are trying to copy a photo of a person, don't even attempt to draw the person. Draw the "white space" around them. So, if for example, they are standing against a door, then draw the door and the edges of the bits of the door that you can't see because of the person who is standing in front of it. What you end-up with is, of course, the outline of a person. But the important thing is that what you have been drawing is the door - not the person. It's exactly the same procedure if it is just the head part. Instead of trying to draw the head, you draw everything around the head. So everything EXCEPT the head. What is left in the middle will actually be the outline of the head - but that is not what you are looking at when you draw it. Same thing if it's the arms, hands, body, whatever. You DON'T draw the hand. You draw the space around it. So, if the guy is resting his hand on a table, you draw the table - not the hand. Then the bit of the table that is missing is, of course, where his hand is resting. 'Same thing if it is a cow in a field. A kettle on a stove. A car. A horse and cart. Whatever. You name it!! When you come to draw in the details, keep the photo that you are copying upside-down and just draw what you see - in the correct location, relative to the outline. So DO NOT try to draw a face. DO NOT try to draw a hand. Turn the photo upside-down!! Draw in the "white space" first. Fill-in the details as you see them. Erase from your mind any conception of what you think a hand, face, head, someone's neck, a horse or a dog should look like. And just draw what you see!! It may take a few attempts but you will very soon get used to drawing exactly what you see - not what you think you are seeing. Or what you think a hand or a face should look like. As soon as you are confident in your ability to just draw what you see - how it actually is - not how you think it should be - you can then work with all of your photos the right way up. And please DON'T practice to much. All that will do is to spoil your creativity and all your stuff will look very boring and technical. Just get on with it and enjoy the process. Once you get going - if you just let yourself go - you will very soon develop your own style. Your drawings DON'T have to be perfect. They just have to be natural and you have to have fun doing them... You don't have to spend hours and hours of drudgery practicing to try and make your drawings look like something out of a text book. Let your own style develop by itself. Last one... If ever you want to try your hand at drawing a live model - obviously, you can't turn them upside-down!! What you have to do is to draw all the "white space" around them first. Get the basic outline of their body. Then fill in the details exactly as you see them. When it comes to eyes - and, especially hands - you really need to just draw what you see. Don't think of these things as eyes or hands. Just think of them as random lines that you have to copy. I really can't understand why so many beginners have so much trouble drawing hands!! They almost always seem to draw them about half the size they should be. If you are having trouble with hands, don't try to draw hands. Just draw the white space around them. It's that easy!! Just give it a go! Don't practice. And have fun! Then upload your results here at artfreaks.com. Don't be ashamed. This site was specifically designed for beginners and amateurs. We used to have loads of beginners when the site first started, back in 2005 and it would be lovely to see some more absolute beginners back on the site!
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From the album: Some more recent pastel paintings
Amateur pastel portrait of a beautiful young Filpina girl. I promised to have a go at doing a portrait of Shy a long time ago. I struggled with this one... Anyway, here it is, for what it is worth. More practice needed. Oh well, I'll get there in the end. Either that, or find something more useful to do with my spare time! The original 1.7MB image file of this painting can be downloaded in the ArtFreaks.com Downloads module -
Gustave Courbet - practice sketch using charcoal
smb posted a gallery image in Members Albums - Index Page
From the album: Drawings and sketches
This was another practice sketch that I did from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards, back in 2005 when I was trying to get back into art after a 30-year break. This little exercise was based on copying a portrait of Gustave Corbet, and it introduced the use of charcoal with a little bit of shading here and there. -
The struggle continues...
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
My first complete painting of 2011... Pretty Po Kami 001 From a selfie taken by a pretty young teenage Filipina girl member of the Pretty Po Kami girls group on Facebook.com There was another painting that I finished in January but it was started back in November of 2010. It was supposed to be erotic art - but it is certainly one of the worst paintings that I have managed to produce in recent years: The struggle continues, as they say! -
Originally posted in the Forums: Jan 2 2007, 08:04 AM Not so much of a struggle now! Here's my latest 'work in progress...' Jelyn Nakaupo sa Motor ni Ate! - (In progress) Who knows how this will turn out. All I can say is that I am enjoying myself here! Watch this space!
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How I got started
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
Originally posted in the forums: May 29 2005, 02:20 AM At the tender young age of 47 years, I've finally decided to have another go at making some art... I was never any good at drawing but, at around age 14, I did once produce what I considered to be a pretty good oil painting of an A4 Pacific- (steam locomotive) hauled train, speeding down the tracks (supposedly! ) on its world record-breaking 126mph run. Having spoken to a few artist friends, I have come to the conclusion that I need to brush-up on my drawing and sketching skills before I can take my art any further. I was touched by Hermes Alegre's story of how, when he was a boy, his mother had to fork out on a blackboard and some chalks for him when he got into a fight with one of his friends. Apparently, his family didn't have enough money to buy paper and pencils so he used to draw by scratching his sketches into the earth. The fight started when his friend erased one of his drawings - as kids do!! :roll: I've bought a couple of books on drawing and I'll be giving you my reviews on these - together with some pretty awful "before" and, hopefully, slightly less awful "after" examples of my attempts at drawing and sketching - when I have finished reading these books and (tried!) to put some of what I have learned into practice. Watch this space! If any one else would like to share their story, tips, suggestions - or comments on mine or others attempts at making art, please feel free to post your comments here or, if you prefer, you can also start your own thread in this forum. Please check-out the top tips for artists and photographers in the Articles section of this site. (The link is in the main Navigation Bar at the to of this page - or in the Main Menu, if you are using a mobile device...) -
Hello, I am new to this site. I am an amateur digital artist, I have not sold any prints of my works yet. I just started putting my prints up for sale on fine art America in May of this year. So far I have used Twitter, Redgage and Stumble Upon to market my works. If you have any marketing tips I would love to hear them. In addition, if you have any feedback on my work from the sites above please let me know. Feedback whether negative or positive is highly cherished.
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Any suggestions for new categories in the Forums, Gallery or the Articles database, please feel free to let me know by way of a reply to this topic. Happy posting! Vic Rolfe - Owner of artfreaks.com
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From the album: Some more recent pastel paintings
A not very good attempt at making a copy from a family photo. Never mind... I was quite happy with some of the background - and these things can only get better! (It also kept me out of any other kind of mischief for a while...) The Full 3.84MB image file of this painting can be downloaded in the ArtFreaks.com Downloads module If you wish to purchase the actual painting, you can check the ArtFreaks.com Store and see if it is still for sale
