The Artist's First Steps
A Blog Featuring Established Technique and Original Approaches to Get You Started in Drawing from Observation
#031 Color Shapes
Hi,
I'm so glad you've joined me for a WEEKLY summer art challenge. These will post on Monday mornings June 6 to July 11. We will focus on an aspect of the element of color. Color can be used by young and old, experienced and those new to the topic. I want you to look around your home and explore the outdoors to find subjects for your drawings and paintings. When we look at actual objects, we see more information than we can imagine! Use that information in your art.
Your art materials will be colored paper, scissors and glue.
Enjoy Color Drawing and Painting!
Brenda Ellis
YOUR COLOR CHALLENGE
Your Challenge: Look at three trees or plants of different SHAPES. Draw the outside edge of each tree as one shape on a colored piece of paper. Cut it out and glue onto a sheet of colored paper. Draw a few leaf SHAPES. Cut them out and glue inside the tree shape, as shown in the video. Study the leaf carefully and notice the details before you draw it. ...
#030 Separating Color Areas
Hi,
I'm so glad you've joined me for a WEEKLY summer art challenge. These will post on Monday mornings June 6 to July 11. We will focus on an aspect of the element of color. Color can be used by young and old, experienced and those new to the topic. I want you to look around your home and explore the outdoors to find subjects for your drawings and paintings. When we look at actual objects, we see more information than we can imagine! Use that information in your art.
Your art materials can be dry, such as crayons, pastels, oil pastels, and colored pencils, or they can be wet, like watercolor pan sets, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and acrylics. Use the materials you have on hand.
Enjoy Color Drawing and Painting!
Brenda Ellis
YOUR COLOR CHALLENGE
Your Challenge: Go outdoors and find 3 plants you enjoy looking at. Draw them, color them, paint them. Build colors with light pressure, as shown in the video. Keep colors in their...
#029 Fill in with Color
Hi,
I'm so glad you've joined me for a WEEKLY summer art challenge. These will post on Monday mornings June 6 to July 11. We will focus on an aspect of the element of color. Color can be used by young and old, experienced and those new to the topic. I want you to look around your home and explore the outdoors to find subjects for your drawings and paintings. When we look at actual objects, we see more information than we can imagine! Use that information in your art.
Your art materials can be dry, such as crayons, pastels, oil pastels, and colored pencils, or they can be wet, like watercolor pan sets, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and acrylics. Use the materials you have on hand.
Enjoy Color Drawing and Painting!
Brenda Ellis
YOUR COLOR CHALLENGE
Subject: Find your favorite animal. It could be alive, a stuffed toy, a plastic figure, or other three-dimensional object.
Your Challenge I: Find something that looks like your favorite...
#028 Color and Texture
Hi,
I'm so glad you've joined me for a WEEKLY summer art challenge. These will post on Monday mornings June 6 to July 11. We will focus on an aspect of the element of color. Color can be used by young and old, experienced and those new to the topic. I want you to look around your home and explore the outdoors to find subjects for your drawings and paintings. When we look at actual objects, we see more information than we can imagine! Use that information in your art.
Your art materials can be dry, such as crayons, pastels, oil pastels, and colored pencils, or they can be wet, like watercolor pan sets, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and acrylics. Use the materials you have on hand.
Enjoy Color Drawing and Painting!
Brenda Ellis
YOUR COLOR CHALLENGE
Subject: Find items that mean "SUMMER" to you.
Your Challenge: Draw items (look at the objects) that mean SUMMER to you. Bring your color drawing to life...
#027 Line and Color
Hi,
I'm so glad you've joined me for a WEEKLY summer art challenge. These will post on Monday mornings June 6 to July 11. We will focus on an aspect of the element of color. Color can be used by young and old, experienced and those new to the topic. I want you to look around your home and explore the outdoors to find subjects for your drawings and paintings. When we look at actual objects, we see more information than we can imagine! Use that information in your art.
Your art materials can be dry, such as crayons, pastels, oil pastels, and colored pencils, or they can be wet, like watercolor pan sets, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and acrylics. Use the materials you have on hand.
Enjoy Color Drawing and Painting!
Brenda Ellis
YOUR COLOR CHALLENGE
Subject: Clear glass containers filled with water of different colors. Use food coloring or watercolor paint to color the water.
Your Challenge: Fill clear glass containers with colored liquids, using food...
#026 Color Tints and Shades
Hi,
I'm so glad you've joined me for a WEEKLY summer art challenge. These will post on Monday mornings June 6 to July 11. We will focus on an aspect of the element of color. Color can be used by young and old, experienced and those new to the topic. I want you to look around your home and explore the outdoors to find subjects for your drawings and paintings. When we look at actual objects, we see more information than we can imagine! Use that information in your art.
Your art materials can be dry, such as crayons, pastels, oil pastels, and colored pencils, or they can be wet, like watercolor pan sets, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and acrylics. Use the materials you have on hand.
Enjoy Color Drawing and Painting!
Brenda Ellis
YOUR COLOR CHALLENGE
Subject: Flowers of any type
Your Challenge: Go outdoors and find 3 plants you enjoy looking at. Draw them, using COLOR mixing to get as close to the right colors as you can. Build colors with...
#025 Why Leading the Eye with Three or More Objects Makes a Difference
Hi!
Have you ever thought of what makes a drawing good. Well, it's lots of things, but good composition (arrangement of the pieces) is a big part of it. One object may be uninteresting because we look at it for a few moments and then we are finished. But when we introduce three or more objects to our drawings our eyes are fixed on the picture longer. This is because our eyes move from one object to the next. As our eyes move around the picture our attention is focused on it for a longer period. Today you will have the opportunity to try this our for yourself.
Enjoy Drawing!
Brenda Ellis, author of ARTistic Pursuits.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER
- One object causes us to fix our eyes on it only.
- Two objects cause us to bounce back and forth between the two - a bit tiring.
- Three objects cause us to rotate around the pieces and holds our attention for a longer period.
- Cut or break objects to see what's inside and add even more interest to the...
#024 How Negative Shapes Improve the Accuracy of a Drawing
Hi!
Here we examine the space between objects and the space around objects - the negative shapes. Watch as I demonstrate how this focus on shape makes all the difference!
Enjoy Drawing!
Brenda Ellis, author of ARTistic Pursuits.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER
- A shape is made when a line is drawn around the edge of the object.
- Finding clues that suggest distance
- Looking at the space between and outside the edges of our buffalo
- The shapes and spaces that are not the buffalo are the negative shapes and spaces and can help us to draw more accurately.
#023 How to Navigate a Face with Construction Lines
Hi!
Here we look at how we can use construction lines to show the form of a head, just as we used them to map out the distances of a pot in Lesson #018. Watch as I draw my face and demonstrate how construction lines make all the difference!
Enjoy Drawing!
Brenda Ellis, author of ARTistic Pursuits.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER
- How a head is formed
- Where to draw the vertical and horizontal construction lines
- Where to place major features of the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hairline
#022 Why Overlap Creates a Believable Illusion of Space
Hi!
Today we look at ways of arranging a group of two objects so that they most clearly show the illusion of space. Why is this important? Because our drawing does not have three dimensional space like the real world. Instead, it is an illusion of space. We create this illusion in different ways:
I want to remind those of us that are older, to be considerate of younger students. Younger students are still approaching the drawing process in a different way and prefer to show the entirety of each object. This is just fine. Everyone, no matter their age or ability, should be able to draw in the ways that make most sense to them. When you are ready to use the topics in this lesson, you will enjoy drawing this way!
Enjoy Drawing!
Brenda Ellis, Author of ARTistic Pursuits.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL DISCOVER
1. Objects sit higher up on the horizontal plane when they are in the distance or behind another object. Lower on the horizontal plane means that the object is up close.
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