Hey Lovelies! It’s 2022!! I wish you all the beauty and health for this New Year to come!
I, somehow, have a good feeling about this year, maybe it’s the double numbers. But not too sure why, I guess we will figure out. Let’s just live it.
Drawing of a Dragon watching Fireworks!
I have many things I wanna do this year, but most of all I really need to change this habit of ‘making stuff I think I should make’ into ‘making from the heart’. That’s gonna be my main focus. I often push away things that I love most, like anything dragon related. And that’s something I don’t wanna do anymore and do more of what makes me really happy.
This also means that my blog most likely will change. This is part of my reason I put things aside that I really wanna do. I’ve no clue how it will look or what content I will put out for you. I guess that’s a work in progress.
For a long time I wanna change my website theme/look/layout. Maybe this year is a good time to start with since many things will change anyway. Let’s make it more like I’ve imagined lately and hope I’ll be able to create that.
I’ve no concrete plans for this year. Let’s just see where it gets me and how everything will turn out. My main focus will be my health routine, walking, meditation, take care of my body. But most of all, try to live in the NOW, just be, no thoughts all the time, enjoying the moment. It’s been something I’ve been practicing for a good while now. It really makes me enjoy life more.
Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? Let me know if you do. Comment down below or contact me on Twitter or Instagram!
Have a happy and wonderful day!
Love Danielle
PS. if you love this content, maybe you’d like to support me on Ko-Fi?! So I can keep making content like this!
Hey Lovelies! Today I wanted to write the last drawing
lesson of the year, since my favorite season is approaching fast now. I have so
much stuff I wanna blog about so I will set this one as the last drawing
lesson. I am not sure if I will pick it up next year, depends also if people
wanna see more lessons/tips. Let me know down below!
Today I wanted to cover colored pencils. It’s like the next step after
graphite. Just like myself, I was scared of using them when just starting out.
Faber Castell Polychromos!
Scary
Most people who start drawing, start with graphite. At a
certain point you want more, experiment with other materials. Often artists
choose colored pencil next, just like me. But, when I just wanted to start with
colors, I got scared of using them. I mean, they look really intimidating, so
many colors to choose from. Where the heck do you start?!
What to do
What I did, to overcome my fear. Just limit your amount of
colors you wanna use, just to get used to draw with them. Pick basic colors,
like for skin, a light color, medium and dark color. This way you can give
yourself some space and not get stressed of which color to use next, just focus
on shadows and highlights. Just like you would with graphite. When you get used
to them you can add more colors and play around to see what works best for the
subject you are drawing. It can sometimes surprise you what colors you would
use in a certain subject.
Practice
Practice is the only way to get better. Just keep going and
it’s okay if you mess up, because from your mistakes you can learn. Sometimes
it is better to practice with colored pencils, to play around with them, in
some easier shapes, draw some circles on paper and try to make them look 3D, as
if they will pop off the paper.
New colored pencils
When you have a perfectly new box of pretty colored pencils,
I never wanna use them haha. But that’s not where you got them for. I often try
to swatch my colors on the paper I wanna use them for. This way you get an idea
how the pigments grab to the paper, how hard/soft they are and how the coverage
is. Specially if you wanna worked on toned or black paper, it’s important to
see how opaque the are.
These are some swatches I made of Caran D’Ache Luminance 6901 Colored pencils on Strathmore toned tan.
Wax or Oil
I have no clue if I need to tell more about colored pencils,
well, yeah, maybe that there are oil and wax based colored pencils.
Prismacolors for example are wax based. Faber Castell Polychormos are oil
based. It’s just way they make them. It is up to you what type you love, again,
I have said this many times, it’s up to you what you love and what fits in your
budget. But If you start out with colored pencils, don’t buy those very cheap
ones you can get at any toy store. Those are usually very hard and barely
pigmented. You won’t enjoy drawing with them.
There are a lot brands out there that have good quality
pencils. But whatever you are able to buy, what fits into your budget, it’s
always good to start with. The more expensive doesn’t immediatly make you
better or someting. It comes down to your technque!
Lightfastness
This is something that’s usually stated on the pencils in
some way. When you are just starting out it’s not something that’s very
important. When you start selling your work it get’s important. Why? Because
you don’t wanna sell an artwork that will fade in a few years.
I am not going deep now into lightfastness, I feel like that
is something for another time.
I hope this drawing lesson is a bit helpful again! Like I
said, this is the last one of this year. I will see if I will be back next year
with more!
Hey Lovelies! It’s drawing lesson time! Today, I wanted to
talk about paper. Some people say it’s not important and use printer paper. But
in fact it is very important. Maybe not when you’re just starting out, but when
you’re gonna start drawing more professional, you might consider using better
quality paper.
Acid Free
Acid free?! Why?! I hear you thinking, but it is one of the
most important things to check if you buy paper. It has to do with the life
time of your paper, how long it will last. If there is Acid in your paper, it’s
most likely gonna affect the paper itself, it can turn yellow over time and
becomes brittle. This goes even faster when it is exposed to light and or heat.
When your paper is acid free, you or others are able to preserve it longer.
This makes the risk of damage to your artwork less. And if you are a
professional artist, this is one of the things you want!
Texture
There’s a lot of paper to choose from. It’s very personal to what the outcome of the final artwork will be. Texture is also often called the tooth of the paper. It can be very smooth with almost no tooth. This will hold less layers of, for example, colored pencil. But smooth paper also gives a smooth result. You’ve also heafy textured paper, you can feel all the bumps in there. This is usually considered that it will hold a lot of layers. Ofcourse there are many variations in between. It all comes down to taste, what is the result of your artwork that you are aiming for? Do you like to layer a lot? Or not at all? Also, what medium works well on those papers?! It’s totally up to you, what one artist likes, doesn’t mean you have to like it as well. Often, over time, your preference change. That’s good, that means you are growing, wanna try other things.
Below some close up’s of Paper I use.
What type of paper
There are so many papers to choose from, it’s sometimes hard
to make a decision. But it already helps if you know what you wanna do with the
paper before buying, do you wanna use if for graphite or colored pencil, for
soft pastel or mixed media, watercolors maybe. On all papers it is stated where
you can use it for, this makes you range already smaller.
It’s also helpfull to check what other artists use and how their result is on
that particulair paper. This gives you an idea of how the paper acts. Though,
keep in mind that your technic may be different so your result might be
different as well. It all comes down to testing. Often at stores you can get
test sheets of the paper, so you can feel it, draw on it. See if it is
something for you.
Personal
In the end, paper is a very personal preference. For
example, when I just started out with pastel, I bought canson mi teintes paper,
since a lot of people I followed were using that as well. It was so frustrating
for me to work on that and stopped trying with pastel. Even tho I did invest in
a lot of materials. After some time I came around some different paper for
pastel and tried that one, but that wasn’t my thing either. After a lot of time
past I got my hands on pastelmat. This was the solution to my problems, it
wasn’t my technic, it was the paper. I am able to have fun with pastel now.
This shows, what works for someone else, doesn’t have to
work for you. Just keep trying and not giving up. You will find what fits your
style!
I hope this blog is a bit helpful, and helps you with your
art journey! It’s fun, give everything a try, and ask your supplier for sample’s,
you don’t always have to buy to try paper out! If you have more questions, I am
always willing to help you out!
Hey Lovelies! It’s time for a new drawing lesson. Today I
wanted to talk about Graphite. Since there’s more to it as you think when you
are just starting out. It’s one of the easiest mediums to start with, but when
you get used to it, you kinda want more, and that’s where this post is about.
Background
Graphite is a very soft material that can be found in
nature. But to make a pencil of it that’s usuable, they mix clay into it. To
adjust the softness of the pencil, they adjust the clay/graphite ratio.
H to B
You might have seen HB stated on your pencil. This is the
most common used pencil out there. This states the hardness of your pencil. HB
is kinda the middle, I know there’s F as well but I have never used this one.
Besides HB theres also H’s and B’s, and often combined with
a numer ranging from 1 to 9. If you find those with H, it means the higher the number,
the harder the lead is. Usually those are used for sketches, since you get very
light lines. I am not a big fan of them tho, to hard for me.
When you find pencils with a B on it, the higher the number,
the softer the lead is. It’s easier to apply to the paper and you get darker
shades, the higher the number. This is because there’s more Graphite in them. It’s
great for blending.
This is an image by Koh-I-Noor
Drawing with them
To play around with all those different types of hard leads
you can create a lot of depth in your drawings. I have no complete set of
those. I always made sure to have a HB, B, 3B, 6B and a 9B. With this range I
could archive what I wanted.
Make sure you’d buy pencils from a good brand. I often see
people use those very cheap ones you can buy a a toy store or something, but
those are nothing compared to the real deal. You can struggle a lot more when
using cheap stuff. I won’t tell you that you need to use the most expensive
ones out there! There’s also no magic in the more expensive ones that makes you
a pro in no time. But with a bit a quality it can make a huge difference, you
can use steadler for example, affordable, but decent quality!
You have also woodless graphite pencils and mechnical
pencils. The way you can use them are not very different, it all depends on
what you are comfortable with. Back in the days I only used the normal pencils
to draw with, but these days I often draw completely with mechanical pencils.
yeah, preference change over time xD.
Messy
Graphite can be very messy when you draw with them. I always
had a lot of graphite on my hands because I rest my hand on the paper, and
graphite smudges XD. To prevent that, put a piece of paper under the hand you
are drawing with, your hand stays clean and your drawing won’t have smudges
anymore.
Fixtative
Because of the smudging part, you can use Spray fixtative. This fixes the graphite to the paper. you can use it in between layers or only at the end, when you are finished. You drawing stays nice way longer. As for fixtative as well, make sure you use decent stuff. You don’t wanna ruin your work you spend hours on working. Try new fixtative always on a try out piece with some scribbles,this way you know what it does with your work.
I usually use thise one by Talens
I hope this information is helpfull! I’ll be back with a new
lesson next month!
Time for another update of my #PolaroidDrawingChallenge! Well to be honest, there’s not much to say. I missed a lot weeks to draw at least 1 polaroid. But a lot is going on and I really had to take care of myself first, instead of pushing myself, like all the time.
I only got 7 polaroids done for the second quarter of the year, instead of 13… That’s just half of the polaroids that had to be finished. Let’s hope I can make up for these the next 3 months! I feel like I have to! SO, if you have any idea’s for polaroid, LET ME KNOW~~! Haha
I started to practise drawing some animals as well. Specially Owls! They are some of my favorite birds and I almost never draw them >_<. So, I hope I can draw some like furry animals in the future as well! I’m scared of the fur tho, it’s so hard, I tried before and didn’t liked it at all xD good luck to me!
This was my little update! Next week will be a very cute and fluffy crochet project! Look forward to it~~!
