It’s Shark Week, which I weirdly look forward to every summer; I would be too terrified to swim with them so that’s not my fascination. I think it’s the fact that they’re such ancient creatures and are still roaming the seas!
In today’s video testing, I decided to create different types of sharks in different styles – and I’ll be making more sharks all week on social media so be sure to come join me!
Fundraiser!
I’m raising money this week for Sea Shepherd to save sharks and other marine wildlife – with a Great White Shark Pairprintable! 100% of the proceeds will go to the charity this week!
Thanks to Etched for offering me a free sketchbook to test – and for providing a discount for YOU, too! I’m going to go buy more because this paper was a lot of fun.
Get 10% off your purchases at Etched with coupon code SANDY10
Tutorial/Testing: Etched Stone Paper Sketchbook
I’m grateful to Etched for sending me this sketchbook to test out, I love having new toys to play with! It’s going to be fun to continue the experiments in coming weeks, mostly on instagram. Stay tuned for more!
Big win. I loved the smooth feel of the paper, ease of blending, and the richness that the paper pulls out from my 9B! And subtle tone changes are very possible too…..and it erases back to white just perfectly! It made my Great White Shark come out super.
Colored Pencil
…meh? I started with the blending solution (gamsol) and thought I’d create a bit of water around the shark but….that just looks dirty now. The eraser does work on things like the teeth – but not as well as with graphite. Maybe I overworked the heck out of it, I’m not really sure. But…that led to making this Mako Shark into Grandpa Mako! He just needed glasses to finish him off.
Copic Marker
Alcohol marker was pretty much a fail. I suspected that, and was proven right; alcohol markers blend within the fibers of paper, and this stone paper keeps all the medium up on the surface. If you’re one who’s bothered by your markers bleeding through your paper, that’s what makes them blend well! I’ve used some very thick papers in hopes of finding something that wouldn’t bleed, but that causes layers to start building up and getting sticky on the surface….so use papers that let the ink bleed. And not this stone paper. lol.
Alcohol Inks
Alcohol inks, however, LOVE papers like this! And unlike the Yupo I often use, I didn’t have to worry about the ink staining the paper in that first drop…it instantly moved the color without leaving a stain behind! I decided to combine the inks with fountain pen just to see what the pen feels like on this paper and dang.. ..so smooth! Just be careful since the ink stays wet a little longer than on absorbent papers. But you’ll get no feathering – which is fabby.
Watercolor
The final fail….eeep! One facet of this stone paper is that it repels water. So, uh, yeah, no dice! I did see another artist use gesso then acrylic, so figured I’d test out using Watercolor Grounds first, but….still not much of a success. But this test taught me a few things:
Light heat gun can work, but keep it away from the surface. It’ll melt!
I really want to paint this on paper.
What else should I test in this sketchbook? Let me know your ideas!
A bit ago I said I was going to do more studies before finished works….this time I did it! Do I get applause? hahaha! Sometimes we just need to take a bow in our own studio so I’m doin’ it!
The study here was done on toned paper – sometimes it’s easier to add highlights and shadows rather than trying to create so many midtones! Conté crayons are messy but they make me work quick and easy rather than laboring. I didnt even stress much about any blending, just blocking in shapes and tones. Once I finished this I had a much better idea where this piece was headed.
Video
Can you guess from this picture what my favorite little vignette part of the drawing is? Scroll down to look at the finished art before you click to watch and see if you found my little treasure. Watch the video below or click here to see it on YouTube.
The finished piece was a lot of fun! About three days taking up space in the studio – but worth it, methinks. My favorite spot is that window peeking through the archway. I was surprised I actually pulled that off.
That taxi gave me fits. It’s a little rounded and pudgy now, but at least it seems like it might be a car. Ha!
Original drawing for sale
That’s right here if you need it hanging on your wall.
ICYMI
In case you missed this week’s social media tips with silhouettes….Click on the linked text in the captions. The bunny stamp is here, and Lamp black and Lunar black are compared in the telephone pole video.
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
We’re at the end of cherry blossom week – and during this speed Copic drawing I’ll talk through some of the things I learned about color, about masking, about my less-than-perfect airbrushing…..and much more!
NOTE: the date got moved for cherry blossom week so I know the original art won’t make it in time for Mother’s Day *unless* you’re local – in which case I’ll drive it over! 🙂
As you see by the ginormous pile of markers I used almost all the pinks and purples! It was sure one way to learn the colors more and see which ones shifted the color to the warmer or cooler temperature.
Hopefully the rest of our neighborhood cherry trees will stay vertical for years to come – that street cornr is one we walk along regularly, and each time I see the hole in the ground I feel bad for that poor tree!
Classes on sale
The classes on sale for the month of May are all the florals, check them out here!
ICYMI
Below are all the cherry blossom posts you may have missed this week on social media!
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
“What’s brown, grey, and sticky? A stick!” This might be the only Google search answer for “How to draw a stick.” Ha! And contrary to the title on this video there IS a reason for making a detailed sketch before I leap in to paint this stick, thanks to a watercolor instructor who once tried to help me get looser and simpler in my painting.
To film the drawing directly overhead, I did my drawing from a photo on my iPad so the camera could be in that location. A few bits are wonky for that reason – but the point isn’t to be “exacting” in detail, just to capture the textures and tones and get to know the subject well before painting it.
The tan thingamabob on the end of that short pencil is an extender – not all are made equal though. This one is from General Pencil, and it’s wide enough you can get a Polychromos or Caran d’Ache into it (the Prismacolor one only fits Prismacolor or smaller. There’s another by E and M Peanpole that’s the bigger size too, if you want them in colors. Both (all?) have a “belt” around the middle you can slide down to fit bigger pencils then tighten by sliding them back up.
My new Dahle Chubby Pencil Sharpener really does give me a super sharp point! This little thing doesn’t look like much but it’s pretty amazing. It’s only about $4 at Blick, but almost $13 on Amazon – so don’t assume Amazon always beats everyone.
The hour I spent on my stick drawing was quite relaxing, creating the texures and value shifts! It helped me to know which parts of the stick I liked most, what colors I might try, and the value range I wanted to include in my painting. Which will happen on Friday – so don’t miss out!
Feel free to download my sticks! I shot three views of it so you can pick one that’s of interest, or go find your own stick – get your dog to help! (But not too much until you finish drawing it!)
Pop back in on Friday and we’ll get busy painting this same stick. And on social all week I’ll be adding to my accordion sketchbook:
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
It’s the end of sunflower week – and oh my what fun this was! I’ve had these silk hoops a while, and had all kinds of plans for them, but…well, I diverted into trying Copic just to see, and it’s so easy! The markers just gliiiiiiide across the fabric.
This one has grown on me since I shot the video…..it was a learning piece but it didn’t come out so bad!
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
It’s a busy Monday – but hopefully I kept the video tight enough to cover it all without taking up your day! There are three parts –
How to draw a sunflower, using a compass
Free downloadable sunflowers if you’d rather only color
A new Copic flowers class
Video
Watch the video below or click here to see it on YouTube.
This sunflower is hopefully easier than you had imagined! The steps, short form:
Draw a circle for the full flower. Divide that circle in half so you can draw a second circle for the disk full of ray florets (oooh fancy word) in the middle.
Draw a horizontal and vertical line through the middle, then criss cross, then one between each of those – that will give you 16 petals evenly spaced.
Begin to create petals, rotating between different shapes – some small, some curled, some normal.
Add veins with darker (harder pressure) on the inside where it attaches to the disk.
Draw spiral lines and create scribbles around them.
Shade the inside of the concave center, and add a little shading to the outer edge of the disk.
Be proud of your drawing!
Free Printable Sunflowers
Click on any photo to go to the site offering these free images – and send them a thank you by email, or even better on their social media….and maybe buy something else while you’re on their site!
It’s getting to be spring, and we’re in need of some sunshine, aren’t we!? I’m so tired of rain and snow and ready to move on. So let’s do it in art even if Mother Nature isn’t cooperating yet.
This is a level 2 class – and each of these printable flowers can be bought without the class, or if you get the class it’s included. (If you buy them then change your mind and want the class, let me know and I’ll refund the digital image purchase.) The lessons in this class are in realtime, though I don’t talk through every second – there’s not much to say when it’s repeating the same steps over and over.
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
