Professional watercolor artist Trevor Waugh confidently displays under the guidance of a soothing backing soundtrack how he would take on the complexities of painting white roses. Most people imagine white to be colorless but in actual fact it is anything but that. White is made up of all the colors of the spectrum and with a keen eye any aspiring artist can find these other colors! With a palette of pinks, reds, blues, violets and greens, Waugh uses a a variety of brushes to showcase his techniques and skills. This is a must watch for the aspiring watercolor artist!
Chinese Paper Cutting
Paper cutting is an old traditional folk art, that until recently has caught the eye and imagination of people all around the world. Chinese paper cutting is a tradition that is handed down from one generation to the next generation. It is passed on through the females of the families. The paper cuttings celebrate important events in peoples life’s. When a baby is born, a good crafts women is sought and she creates a picture for the family, which will show the baby as a gift to the parents, again when a child reaches twelve years old the family and friends are invited to celebrate this. The grandmother on the mothers side makes a paper cutting which will hang on the centre wall of the house and it will represent longevity. The grandmother then reads the following poem.
Nine pomegrantes
One Buddha hand
Stay by your mothers side and never leave
Carry a goldfish on your head and hug a lucky bunny in your arms
You will live to be 99 years old
The paper cutting and poem are to show and convey the grandmothers deepest love for the child. Further cuttings are made for marriages and birthdays.
The cuttings are made and shared with parents, grandparents, children and friends. They carve out peoples dreams, hopes and give blessings. A very interesting insight into not only the chinese art, but a way of life that shows thoughtfulness, love and unity for all to share.
Anamorphic Illusions – Drawing a Coca Cola Can
How to draw an awesome levitating Coca Cola light can. Here in this video the artist shows us how to draw an amazing picture that appears to float in mid air. A way to create an illusion that will blow other peoples minds when trying to figure out how it is done.
Anamorphic art is the process of greatly distorting an image only to have it revealed either from a single vantage point or from its reflection on a mirrored surface. A cylindrical mirror is the most common form, but reflective cones and pyramids have also been used. The surprising appearance of the undistorted reflection or image is almost always met with wonder and delight.
It was Leonardo Da Vinci who first experimented with anamorphic perspective, and the first known example of an anamorphic drawing is an eye that he made in 1485. During the Renaissance, artists who experimented with perspective made great advances and perfected the techniques of stretching and distorting images in various ways using the geometry of perspective.
The materials that were used in this video were:
Pastell paper: light gray.
H graphit and charcoal pencils (Derwent)
Derwent colored pencils.
White and grey pastel pencils.
Derwent brand.
White gel pen.
Grey markers: Letraset PROMARKER cool grey 2 and cool grey 3.
Soft eraser.
Cover Art
When we mention cover art, people usually think of books or magazines, but on this occasion I am going to talk about Album cover art and the impact it had on people.
Before we had music CD’s, the albums we bought were on vinyl that you played on a record player and the record came in an album cover. These covers not only represented the artist that had made it, but an image that covered, art, fashion and photography. Many artists have had their album covers specially designed and have spent months reviewing different ideas before deciding on a final one that will be produced and sent to print.
Ahtough there are some really big bands that have some fantastic album covers the group that I have picked are “Roxy Music”, this band are an English art rock band formed in 1971 by frontman Bryan Ferry. This band produced highly sophisticated music and a glam look to go with it. The album covers either had beautiful models on them like Jerry Hall, who also appeared in the video for “Stick together” or had images of the group with Bryan Ferry wearing and looking very suave in his tailor made suits that were personally made by Anthony Price who designs glamours clothes for artists. The album cover was just as important as the music that went with it. They were designed to catch your eye, so that you would pick them up and read them in the hope that you would buy one.
So, the next time that you are passing a record shop, remember this article, especially if you have never seen them before, and pop in. Have a good look round and even ask the guy behind the counter to play the album that you have picked up, that was a rare item, and you just happened to find it in this little old shop. As these little old shops have died away due to modern technology, but still contain lots of ideas, so even if you don’t buy anything there is plenty to look at for budding artists to get some new ideas from.
How To Draw A Very Detailed Eye In Pencils
This video tutorial successfully shows the keen artist all the different methods and techniques used to draw an extremely detailed eye in pencils. The basic shape of the eye in a simple line drawing is the basis for this video and then in a step by step manner combined with a selection of still images you will quickly learn the stages involved with drawing an eye. The correct places to use tone are highlighted around the eyelid in the drawing and other key areas are talked about. The use of both soft and hard pencils is key to maximise their different qualities, for example when drawing the eyelashes a harder pencil should be used. The video is a cracking representation of how to draw an eye in detail.
Michael Shapcott: Painting An Exotic Lady
A very different colorful and energetic intro leads you this mixed medium painting demonstration where artist Michael Shapcott works into his canvas with a variety of brushes, sponges, inks, pencil, acrylics and oils to create a portrait of a young exotic lady.
He delivers with energy and enthusiasm for his subject matter and begins with a medium paint brush by gathering all the outlines of the face and the the facial features themselves before moving on to developing tones and a soft color palette to begin under painting the face. He use a small round brush in an almost dry application to gather intensity and high quality detailing for the eyes on a close-up camera shot to allow you to see how he moves the brush to gather a realistic impression of an eye.
For his larger areas like the surrounding head scarf he uses a large sponge to get a very quick yet even finish which as an added bonus dries much quicker allowing you to work into the paint with greater detail without having to wait like you would expect from a much thicker coat.
The video is time lapsed and offers the viewer much to look at and learn but ultimately shows how a variety of different mediums with very different properties can work together to create something very detailed and eye catching on canvas. So get your kit and get creative.
Scott Naismith: Sketch And Alla Prima Oil Painting
With a preliminary sketch in his book, Naismith marks out and designs his drawing from which he wants to base his oils painting. This is an alla prima oil painting of the ‘Old Man Of Storr in Skye’ It is a time lapsed video but it is a real insight into seeing how Naismith really works into his paintings with passion and a keen eye for expressive colors. He uses a variety of tools including, brushes, spatulas and palette knives. Nice inspirational work.
Abstract Art – What Exactly Is It?
This video is narrated and presented by a small cartoon face and it briefly tells you about the origins of abstract art. Different periods in art are covered including the likes of impressionism and post-impressionism and also some of the artists which created and evolved these movements. It’s almost like a visual timeline of how abstract art came to be where it is today. Abstract art is deemed to be non objective and non representational and has its roots in form and color to catch the intrigued admirer;s eye. This video covers all the valid points well within abstract art, especially considering the video is only 7 minutes long.
Drawing A Realistic Eye
A well narrated video to show from start to finish how you can expect to achieve drawing a realistic eye using pencils. Why not have a try?
Drawing A Wolf In Pastel And Pastel Pencils – Stunning!
This artist has produced a time lapse video to present to you how he takes on drawing of a wolf. His selected mediums for this picture are chalk pastels and pastel pencils which enable much finer detail as you have a sharper point and greater control.
The artist begins with a very loose application of base colors in only a few shades before advancing with the black chalk to start adding bolder areas of coverage. He uses short stout strokes with the pastel to imitate the lie of the fur and has his finger ready to smudge and blend in the appropriate places. The eyes are the show stoppers in this drawing with their incredible detailing and realistic look. This is where the pastel pencils really come into play. Do you think you can do the same?
