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Illustration tutorials

Illustration tutorials

Printmaking Techniques: Linocut Printmaking: Linocut Linocut is a Relief Printing process and is produced the same way as a woodcut or a wood engraving, where a flat surface of wood or lino is used as the printing surface. The lino block consists of a thin layer of linoleum (can also be mounted on a wooden block) and is considerably easier to cut than wood as it is much softer. Any parts of the design not to be printed, must first be cut away using special lino-cutting tools. You then ink up the plate by rolling the ink onto the block with a small rubber paint roller, and the image is transferred to the paper using direct pressure. With Linocut you can do both monocrome and multicoloured layers. and a small amount of the block is removed by cutting away only those areas that are designate to the first colour. The Image will always appear reverse as the lino is in direct contact with the paper. Tips and hints: The lino block can be slightly heated and warmed to make the cutting process easier.

9 Very Common Figure Drawing Mistakes, And How to Avoid Them Over the last twenty-five years I have spent my fair share of time drawing and studying the human figure. As a result, I’ve come across several (actually, nine) common figure-drawing mistakes over and over again. Like any other art process, figure drawing is a fluid activity and impossible to pin down with exact rules—but if your goal is to create a more convincing life drawing, then these next few ideas will certainly help. Here are the nine common figure-drawing mistakes, along with their solutions: Mistake #1 – Drawing without a goal in sight More often than not, people immediately begin sketching without establishing some kind of intention in their mind first. Solution: Pause for a moment before beginning your drawing and to look at what you see in front of you. Mistake #2 – Failing to keep the figure on the page It’s always shame when heads, arms or feet get unintentionally cut out of a drawing, just because the artist has run out of room on the paper.

Color is Value Once a long time ago I was trying to pick the brain of a co-worker about color. He seemed to be really good with color and I was trying to get some guidance and help. He didn't really know what to tell me. He just shrugged and said, "All you need to know is that color is value. That's it." A simple statement, but I found it to be very helpful and insightful. So....what does it mean? So basically it means that, even though you're working with color, the painting should still work if it's converted back into a black, white and grey sketch, and should still follow the general rules about value that I talked about last post. Photoshop has the ability to convert any color image into black and white so that you can check your values easily if you're working digitally. and Photoshop will convert your image to black, white and grey so you can check your values. I often felt that the black and white images looked better than the final color.

Welcome to startdrawing.org How to Draw Buildings" You don't need­ to be an archi­tect to be able to draw buildings. All sorts of building­s -- world-famous landmarks, majestic castles and cathedrals, even buildings you might find in your own neighborhood -- are here in this article, ready for you to learn how to draw. The easy, step-by-step instructions on the following pages can turn you into an artist. Each drawing begins with a few simple shapes in red. This shows you how to make step one's drawing look like that in step two. Draw lightly with your pencil. When you are done, you will have 15 drawings showing all kinds of buildings. If you wish, you can add color by using crayons or colored pencils or markers. See all How to Draw articles. Go to the HowStuffWorks home page.

7 Steps to a Successful Painting Each of us has been endowed with the ability to create. Some have actualized this ability more than others. Many people I know were discouraged early in life from doing anything artistic and adopted beliefs about themselves that made it impossible in their minds for anything ‘creative’ to come from them. If you’re one of them, you’re in for a real surprise. But you need to trust the process, the method set out in these seven steps. The method can be used for oils and acrylics, but the ‘thick over thin’ principle must be adhered to and you may have to wait for the under painting and value study to dry before proceeding. Though this method of painting may seem quite simple and unsophisticated, it works. (This article is an extract from Brian Simon’s book 7 Steps to a Successful Painting, and used with permission.)

Lackadaisy Expressions Boy, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started this. I've had requests for some sort of expressions tutorial dating back a while now, so I figured, "Sure! I can explain expression drawing...and it'll be way better than all those tutorials out there that are nothing but charts of generic expressions. Yeah! Um. Anyway, I found all I could really do was try to explain ways to teach yourself...and then add some pictures. Gesure drawing basics Basic Perspective Drawing: 1 Point, 2 Point, & 3 Point Perspective Perspective Basics|2 Point Perspective|3 Point Perspective|Foreshortening|Ellipse Perspective|Isometric Drawings All Tutorial Text & Images - Copyright © 2011 KHI, Inc. A thorough understanding of the principles of perspective drawing is essential to creating an accurate, and visually appealing piece of art. Any good technical illustration starts with well executed line art. Deconstructing Drawing Perspective from Photography The three photos below demonstrate the difference between 1-Point Perspective, 2-Point Perspective and 3-Point Perspective. In the next three diagrams, you will see the same three photographs with Vanishing Point trajectory lines (magenta) and Horizon Lines (blue) traced over the subject matter. In Fig. 6 (below, right) you see an example of a "worm's eye" perspective, where the head/eyes or camera is tilted upward placing the horizon below the picture plane. The Illusion of Depth Drawing in Perspective 2 Point vs 3 Point Perspective Perspective vs Isometric Drawing

T H E T O Y M A K E R How to use oil pastels Meantime I have quite a collection of oil pastel brands to work with and I got curious myself how would those colours compare if I set them next to each other. Would the quality and price difference become visible ? Below you see a chart that I did. I selected 4 primary colours ,yellow,blue,green and red. I tried to apply just as much color as need to get maximum opacity at least in some spots of the square. Explanations are given below the chart. oil pastel colours, a comparison chart On first sight differences are hard to see, but on closer examination and with my further explanations the differences will get clearer. As oil pastels consist of colour pigment and binders, this mix will make the difference in opacity, hardness and lightfastness. The brands in detail 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7./8. So after all one can say that you can get nice oil pastels at surprising low costs already.

How to Draw a Portrait of the Head The most important part of a drawing is the start, not the finish. This tutorial will focus on how to start a portrait drawing, using basic blocking-in techniques. When drawing a portrait from life, you don’t want to just jump-in and draw. I always walk around the model to get a better understanding of the model and plan out my composition. In addition, whenever I do a head study, or a portrait, I don’t start out by trying to capture a “likeness.” Instead, I try to construct a solid head, focusing on the volumetric forms. Here is my process for drawing portraits: 1. Mark the top of skull, not the hair, then locate the line of the chin, mark the back of the skull and two lines for the angles of the front of the skull. Look for the bone structure of the skull not the features of the face—that will come later. 2. Next, locate the position of the eyes and the middle of the ears. 3. Make use of the shadow shapes to define the structure of the eye socket. 4. 5.

Art and Reference point The other day I came across this awesome program by accident (I don’t even remember what I was actually searching for, but on the several times I’ve looked for a program like this I’ve had no luck). It’s cool enough that I wanted to share it. It’s called DesignDoll (website here) and it’s a program that lets you shape and pose a human figure pretty much however you want.There’s a trial version with no expiration date that can be downloaded for free, as well as the “pro license” version priced at $79. And to make it a bit more convenient, there’s a library of pre-set hand poses you can pick from as well, and then change the pose from that if you like. I just wanted to add a little more to this. That shaded ball on the left is your light source. Oh and all those other nifty looking things in that bottom bar there, yeah it’s what you think. Plus for all you lovely people who want something a little more simplified to use as a pose reference

Albin Egger-Lienz (1868-1926) anti-war paintings & one danse macabre The nameless (1916) Finale (1918) (Dead Soldiers) Dead Soldier (1918) Dance of Death (1908)It's about the revolution of peasants in Tyrole in 1809: they feel familiar with Death on their side,as they march forward bravely.This work was considered provocatine,antipatriotic and too much communistic, so they denied him a post inAcademy of Fine Arts in Vienna Albin Egger-Lienz (1868-1926) was an Austrian painter, who dealt with agricultural and historical themes in his works.

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