Tutoroal Thirds! Drawing Challenge.

Hey everyone!


   Its the third week of the month, which means its tutorial thirds week! We had to skip this months Silent Seconds due to some technical difficulties. But we are back and we are ready to show you what we've got.


    So the tutorial isn't too much of tutorial, more of showing you how my drawing process goes. I teach drawing at a Michael's craft store in Indianapolis, and I used to be darned good at it. Kinda had to be to get my degree. But having a baby changes things, and I've fallen out of practice. I've resolved to get back into it, and found a wonderful tool that will help me. My goal is to maybe pick up some illustration work when I feel I'm ready.



   The tool I found was at my fingertips. I do have a pinterest account under my name. I found some 30 day drawing challenges. Day 1 is something you can't live without. My answer is my Flower.

Here are my materials. A simple sketch book, I carry this one in my purse all the time. A drawing pencil, this one is an H lead, or a kind of medium lead. A kneaded eraser, a sharpener, and an ink pen. This pen is a rollerball, and the ink is very fluid. Normal ink pens, I just don't like the ink, and it looks amateurish.

 

 
 
 

I started with her head. She's only two so she's got the baby chub we all love in the cheeks. Her eyes are super big, I love her doe eyes. and her nose and lips are closer together than an adults would be. You might notice this quality in a lot of Disney characters, causing them to appear younger.

Now that I have her face mapped out, I can add in the details of her features and refine what is already there. Her chin is very square, her lips are a lot like mine, very full on the bottom.

Then I added her hair. In the reference picture, which has mysteriously disappeared from my phone, her hair is all over the place. In her defense, she had just woken up, and she has my hair, which is naturally crazy curly. Seriously the stuff needs a straight jacket.  Then I drew over the marks I wanted to stay permanent, starting with the hair, with my ink pen. Another reason I prefer the roller ball pen is sometimes ink doesn't go over graphite well. Rollerball ink normally does a better job than most inks.

Finally I erase all the map lines.  So this is day 1, and a cartoonish version of my daughter. This was just a quick sketch, maybe took me 20 minutes beginning to end. A lot of people use these challenges to keep their skills sharp, or in my case, to get back into shape. Trust me, this is not a masterpiece by any means. Those kinds of drawings take hours and some serious time with my iPod.

   Now during the process I was interrupted. Her name is Yuffie, and she's very affectionate. At night only. Any other time of day, she hides, or demands food.

   So there you have it. Show me what you do to keep your skills sharp, whatever skill that may be. Until next week!