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Collection of refernces

December 06, 2019

Many artists find it difficult to practice art without good references. Here is a small collection of references I use to get some features right. I know I go on and on about using references. I find using references very useful. Here is another post on that topic . I may update this blog as I collect more references to use. Hope you find them useful. Happy Sketching! Please note that all my references are sourced from Pinterest. None of these images are copyrighted by me, so please use these images with caution. Copyrights belong to the original content creators or the content owners.

Tips for budding artists: How to draw hands?

December 01, 2019

Many budding artists like me feel drawing hands is a difficult task to accomplish with accuracy. Either a hand drawing looks stiff or disproportional, and it is probably so because of the way we artists perceive hands. Drawing hands may require the artist to have a basic understanding of the underlying skeletal structure. Here is how I try to overcome difficulty in drawing hands. When it comes to drawing hands, one has to observe them before starting to draw right away. Understand proportions of the fingers, palm and the thumb. A closed fist may be a lot more difficult to represent accurately compared to an open palm. Identify the shapes: In this example, I will try to layout steps with a technique I used to draw a palm facing down. After thorough observation, draw some rough shapes of the reference to begin with. Then it is a matter of getting the proportions right followed by drawing nails and smoothening the edges. Sounds simple I guess. Steps to drawing a hand: Draw a s

Should you use references for your art?

November 23, 2019

Using references makes sketching easy. It is essential to learn how to use references the right way especially for budding artists. References make learning art simple. Household objects like a stapler, a shampoo bottle can all be used as references. While it is good to be able to draw from imagination, it may not always be possible. Artists frequently try to find inspiration from nature, or use every day objects for reference. Some even use their pets or other animals as references for their artwork. My six-year old niece loves this book called ‘Dewey: There’s a Cat in the Library!’; illustrations for this book were probably inspired by a pet cat. Some of us may feel that drawing from references may be looked down upon or such a technique may not be appreciated, but evidently, that is the best way to learn, and many successful artists use this technique. Household objects as references Let's say you want to draw a new version of the ‘X-Wing starfighter’ from the Star

A guide to practicing character faces

November 21, 2019

I love doodling, and from time to time, I like challenging myself to improve the way I imagine and draw. Here is what I do. I like drawing blobs of different shapes (silhouettes) and develop them into faces. You may have seen some one do this on youtube, and I do something very similar. Draw Silhouettes After drawing these blobs, the next step is to draw rough lines over them. I wanted to draw some old people today, and I used these silhouettes like clay in getting that done. It may take more than one try to get the lines right, so don't give up the first time you try. Drawing line art Take-1 Take-2 Colours, shadows and highlights If you are satisfied with this step, move on to adding colours. It is best to use a minimum number of colours for practice, and if you want to use any of these for a full fledged character design, you can think of adding more details at a later stage. I used a basic colour palette, but I wanted to add a couple of layers more

Three tips for budding artists

November 20, 2019

Warning: This is going to sound like philosophy Practice maketh a Picasso However little you may practice, do so regularly if not daily. Progress is possible when you practice, and that statement is true for probably anything that we do. When you want to practice, do so using real world references as much as possible. Even household objects could turn out to be good references to use. Here is an example from Alice Jane Isak on Pinterest. The artist used a coffee mug as reference, and the outcome is great! Watching and observing Yes artists need practice, but practice what or how? Key to being a better artist is in the art of observation. Be patient with yourself. When you practice, it is not a commissioned art piece for someone. You are trying to hone your skills, and rushing in to it is not the way to go. Observing a coffee mug will allow you to see details you wouldn't otherwise notice. Things like where does the handle end, and the mug begin. When you start to watch

Best practices to designing a character

November 19, 2019

Work with the author Lot of times, you work with the author(s) of a book(s) in progress. When the story is written, it is best to brainstorm with the author in figuring out how the character must look like. Mostly, the author may have imagined how the character should be. If it is possible, draw some rough sketches to narrow down some key features of the character (or multiple key characters). Rough sketches may not take a lot of time, and authors in most cases would welcome such an idea. This saves you some time later and the development process becomes a bit more easy. Do not rush, consistency is the key When the character looks different in different angles, it is going to look bad. Always try to work on different perspectives of the character before moving on to developing it further. It is best to use references if it is difficult to workout everything out from imagination. I always use a lot of references. A lot of children's books have characters with exaggerated feat

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