Posts Tagged ‘drawing’
What Is A Still Life?
Still Life is an art term, that refers to a special kind of picture. It represents an arrange of inanimate objects (hence the name) such as a bowl, a cup or fruits. Usually the arrangement is made according to the artist’s purpose. A Still life pencil drawing can be symbolic, with an underlying meaning, or aesthetic, in which case the purpose is to communicate beauty.
About Still Life Pencil Drawings
A still life work can have many purposes. If we work in color it can help us understand how color acts in real life, how the light bounces, and how an arrangement of colors can bring a special mood to the painting. Using colored pencils we can begin studies about color, and work in the finest details. But in the case of black and white pencil drawings, the purpose of the still life pencil drawing is different. A still life pencil drawing can help us study shapes and see how they interact on our eyes, we learn how to measure correct proportions and how they can make the difference betwen a good drawing and a remarkable drawing.
When we get into shading, we then study tonal values. There are no colors here so we must learn how to see things in black and white mode, and correctly define which are going to be the dark and light areas on our still life pencil drawing.
Still lifes are the most available subjects in the world, and while some people may consider still life drawing boring, the fact is they teach us a lot. When you have no idea of what to draw, just make an arrangement of things you have at your house and start your still life pencil drawing. Don’t take just as bring cups and fruits, but instead focus on what you can learn from this. If you keep practicing on drawing still life scenes you will find out that you have a much better understanding on how light works, and how objects relate to each other within a composition and color scheme.
Art Theft: Most Famous Cases in History
Art theft is an ancient and complicated crime. When you look at the some of the most famous cases of art thefts in history, you see thoroughly planned operations that involve art dealers, art fakers, mobsters, ransoms, and millions of dollars. Here you can read about some of the most famous cases of art theft in the history.
The First Theft:
The first documented case of art theft was in 1473, when two panels of altarpiece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen. While the triptych was being transported by ship from the Netherlands to Florence, the ship was attacked by pirates who took it to the Gdansk cathedral in Poland. Nowadays, the piece is shown at the National Museum in Gdansk where it was recently moved from the Basilica of the Assumption.
The Most Famous Theft:
The most famous story of art theft involves one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the most famous artists in history as a suspect. In the night of August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen out of the Louver. Soon after, Pablo Picasso was arrested and questioned by the police, but was released quickly.
It took about two years until the mystery was solved by the Parisian police. It turned out that the 30
Learning to Draw? You’re Gonna Need a Pencil
If you’re going to be doing any pencil drawing you’re going to need a pencil. I know, I know, thank you captain obvious…. But, in this article I want to talk about some of the different options available.
Here are some of the options:
Mechanical Pencils, Lead Holders, Woodless Graphite, And ofcourse traditional wooden pencils
Mechanical Pencils: You’re probably familiar with these. They’re the ones that hold the lead (graphite actually) inside and when you push on the eraser more lead comes out. What you may not know is that, like traditional wooden pencils, the leads are available in various degrees of hardness which can be used to achieve lighter or darker tones as needed. We’ll talk more about that later.
Lead Holders: These are somewhat similar to mechanical pencils in that you can use various leads with them. But rather than push a button to release more lead, these pencils actually have sort of a claw that grabs onto and holds the lead. Hence the term “lead holder”.
Woodless Graphite: These pencils are basically a piece of graphite in the shape of a pencil. There are also some woodless graphite pencils that are encased in a laquer coating rather than wood.
Wooden Pencils: Okay. We all know what a wooden pencil is. It’s the yellow one with a pink eraser on top and a number 2 on it. You know, the ones we used to fill in the little circles on our multiple choice tests in school.
Well yes, those are pencils, but a set of good quality drawing pencils comes with a lot more variety than that. All of the pencil types mentioned above come in varying degrees of hardness and are labled with a number and the letter H or B. The pencils labled H are on the hard side and the ones labled with a B are the soft ones. I don’t know where the “B” comes from but that’s the way it is. Pencils range from 9H (the hardest) to 9B (the softest).
The number 2 pencils we’re so familiar with are right in the middle in terms of hardness. They’re equivalent to an HB pencil. If you’re just starting out drawing or you’re just doing some doodling or sketching an HB or #2 will work just fine for you. But, if you want to get a much more interesting drawing you’ll have to have some contrast between lights and darks. If all you’ve ever drawn with before is a number 2 pencil, the way you achieve your darker tones is simply to press down harder.
But there is a better way. That’s where the softer pencils come in. After #2 in terms of softness comes B then 2B, 3B ect. all the way up to 9B. Although many artists never use anything softer than a 6B. With a 6B you can get some very dark tones and it’s not going to be as soft and thus crumbly as a 9B.
For the harder pencils, I rarely use anything harder than a 2H and that’s usually just for the initial line drawing before any shading takes place. Doing the initial line drawing very lightly allows you to erase any mistakes you might have made. Once your line drawing is acurate, it’s time to get the softer pencils out and start shading.
So to wrap this up, if you’re planning on getting a little more serious with your drawing you’ll want to get a set of pencils. There are some sets out there that have just 4 pencils in them. So if you’re strapped for cash this is an option. Pencils are also available individually so you can pick and choose whichever number / letter combo you need.
I prefer traditional wooden pencils for my drawings and my brand of choice is Derwent. They make sets of 12 pencils that range from 4H to 6B or from H all the way up to 9B. And, you can get a set of 12 pencils for about $12 - $15 so it’s not terribly expensive to get into drawing.
So now go out, get yourself some good pencils, and start drawing….
7 Drawing Tips for Beginners
A child’s first scribbling is something which it tries to express if you give a pencil in his hand. Drawing is relatively very simple and an easy skill and is something with which you can have great fun. It is also relatively not a very expensive hobby and can start with paper and a pencil. It can go on till acquiring costly pen and tablets - a computer hardware through which you can draw on your computer. It is very costly; however the precision for perfection is very high.
Unlike earlier days, getting information on drawing and sketching is very easy and inexpensive. You can search information on Google and get various sites which teach drawing. Also, nowadays this art form is liked by many youngsters. Like all other art forms, with constant and systematic practice one can become a great artist.
Listed below are few drawing tips which can help anyone improve their skill and become an artist. Reading and practicing these in your daily routine will improve your skill.
1. If you are drawing and you are right handed person, ensure that the light is from your left side. This will prevent your hand shadow falling on your paper.
2. First step when you practice drawing - you should practice drawing line, straight line, curved line, scribbled lines, and your hand should obey the command of your thoughts and visions. You should control your hand and you should be able to bring out what you want.
3. You should further develop drawing circles, oval shapes, crossed lines and bold and thick lines. Just like how a baby develops from crawling stage to walking stage, your art should also develop step by step.
4. These lines and curves are like pillars to a building. The foundation should be strong enough to have a good building; similarly these initial small lines and curves will go a long way in your career. You should also start controlling the stress on your pencil. You should be able to bring the correct darkness and thickness in the lines what you draw.
5. Initially you will not be able to draw a circle or an oval shape correctly, nevertheless don’t get discouraged. You should practice and practice until you get perfection. You should also keep all your drawings carefully from the start to know how you are improving. You could also date your sketches and preserve it for the future.
6. You should concentrate in the area where you feel you are weak. If you are not able to shade properly then learn more to do that. You can try out your own style of shading. Build your own individuality, never copy from another artist.
7. Last but not the least, use good quality materials. 4B and 6B pencils and good chart paper or note book with good quality paper should be sufficient to start with. Quality definitely matters hence never compromise on quality.
If you are a person who is interested in learning to draw you will be interested to check these Free Drawing Tutorials and also can search for tutorials from drawing search engine.
freeartstutor.com
Keep A Sketchbook And Have Fun
A sketchbook is like diary for an artist, a place where you can just let out all your art without any worries. Any person who wants to get better at drawing should have a sketchbook, because it not only records your ideas, thoughts and experimentations, but a sketchbook also gets you drawing and drawing, building your skills with every moment. You will see that the quality of your sketchbooks will be better and better, and what at first was dull then will become almost a work of art for itself.
In a sketchbook you can do anything you want, although some artist prefer to have sketchbooks based on themes. For example you could have a sketchbook only in human anatomy, and another just a “test sketchbook” where you try any kind of ideas that comes to your mind. And remember that sometimes is not all drawing on your sketchbook, you can write some ideas too, you thoughts, all this is valuable when years pass and you can have a better perspective of how your art has evolved.
What can you draw? That is up to you, but I know sometimes is hard to just start drawing. And this trivial things often end up taking more time than they are supposed to. Luckily, there are websites and books where you can get some ideas on what you can draw in your sketchbook.
About techniques, don’t hold back. This is personally what I like most about sketchbooks. Since sketchbooks are personal, not meant for the public to view, you can experiment as much as you like. That applies to style, medium, composition. This way you can truly discover what can be done to make your art better. Just go wild would be the better advice.
Consider your first sketchbook as a beginning of a journey, just imagine all the things you will learn on your way, through a road that is full of surprises. Let freedom and creativity be on your sketchbook and have a lot of fun!