How to Draw a Monstrous Nightmare

July 23rd, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

The success of the 3D animation movie ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ has regenerated public interest in the original novel by Cressida Cowell. Nearly all of its lead characters have become a craze among children. This does not apply only to the protagonists, but also the main villains, the Monstrous Nightmare dragon breed. These destructive creatures reflect their true nature in their appearance. If your wish to portray a Monstrous Nightmare in action on your drawing board, you need a very good understanding of proportions and alignments. The following systematic guide is designed to help you bring the ‘villain’ on your drawing board:

• Inspiration. Consider obtaining an image of a Monstrous Nightmare, which you can use as a reference for your work. You are more likely to get ‘Fireworm,’ the leading dragon of this genre. The picture will serve two main purposes. Firstly, it will ensure that you do not become lost somewhere in between, especially, as these characters are new to the audience. Secondly, you will be able to replicate its finer details. You can make it simple by picking an easy to draw image or by simplifying the background scene.

• Base drawing. You do not need drawing instruments to develop a frame sketch. Primarily, the Monstrous Nightmare shall be a combination of circles, curves, and lines. Study the body position and posture of the creature. Keep in mind the overall size of the figure and the relative proportions of the different components. Draw with a freehand. Start with a small circle for the head portion. On the lower side of it, extend a U-shape for its jaw. Draw a long curve that begins with the circle, follows the centre of the figure, and ends at the tip of the tail. Mark the position of legs through two short, angular lines. Similarly, mark two angular lines covering the wingspan.

• Details. Taking the top-down approach, draw the outlines for the eye and the nose area. Now, begin adding the eye details, nostrils, and pointed spikes on the top of the head. Draw sharp teeth and a tongue in the portion outlined for the jaws. Add body to the neck area and remember to draw spikes. Increase the thickness of the wing lines and create large bat-like wings. Next, sketch the abdomen, legs, and tail. Have an eye for details and do not miss features, like claws, rib lines, and striped pattern on the body, to mention some.

• Shading and colors. It will be a better option to color your drawing, instead of shading it with pencil. This way you can produce such dramatic effects of fiery tones and light, which would not be possible otherwise. Use black, browns, and reds to highlight the contours and you are done!

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How to Draw Phineas

July 20th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

Drawing cartoons and caricatures is quite an art in itself. Other than some minor tweaks, you cannot alter much in terms of the spirit with which their inventors brought them to the public. We are here to help you recreate the lovely character of Phineas from the famous television animation series ‘Disney’s Phineas and Ferb,’ on your drawing board. The job may appear tough, but this easy-to-follow tutorial will make it a cakewalk for you. At the end of the following systematic guide, you will have drawn Phineas in standing position:

• Basic understanding. Just to have a ready reference for Phineas’ appearance, pick any of his images from the web. If you analyze his figure, you will be able to break it down into simpler components, based upon some fundamental geometrical shapes. The three main divisions will be the head portion, the body, and the legs.

• The head portion. Keep in mind the relative proportion of Phineas’ head and the rest of the body. His head is visibly oversized, almost half of his entire figure. It is a very simple design. Start with a large triangle that will act as the outline of face. It is a regular triangle, except that one of its sides is slightly curved. Its curved side is placed on the right, with its opposite angle at 10 to 15 degrees to the horizontal. The angle corresponds to the nose area. Now, draw two medium-sized ovals along the slanting topmost side, such that one of them is fully visible and the other is partially hidden behind it. Add two very small circles inside the ovals to complete the eyes. Hair will have an appearance of animated palm leaves. It will be positioned at an angle opposite to the nose. Make a small ear-like arc on the curved side. A prominent arc, perpendicular to the left side of the triangle adds the signature smile to Phineas’ face.

• Body. Sketch a very skinny left hand with a wider half sleeve of his striped tee. Now, mark horizontal stripes on the abdomen. Maintain a rough A-like shape of the abdomen. Draw partially visible right hand and the sleeve.

• Legs. You sketch knickers considering the size of the T-shirt. Draw legs and shoes & socks. Make the legs as thin as the arms. When the figure is ready, the parts of the dress should be in agreement with each other in terms of size ratio.

• Color. As per you preference, you may choose to keep your work as a pencil sketch or a color drawing. There is no fixed rule, but adding standard Phineas colors like red hair will add life to your work.

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How to Draw New Customers to Your Bank Or Financial Institution

July 18th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

Why don’t banks and financial institutions give away toasters to lure people into becoming a customer anymore? It’s because nobody wants a toaster! Nobody needs a toaster! Those days are gone.

People Are Smart

People today are acutely aware of the various financial institutions available to them. Radio and TV ads saturate the airwaves until you can’t stand listening to them anymore. “We offer all that, and much, much more.” You know what I’m talking about. You’ve all heard or seen them. They are annoying.

Some Options

What alternatives are there to aggravating the public with broadcast advertising? You could poke a high priced ad in the local newspaper for and have a few hundred people see it. Another choice would be to have a company put up an expensive billboard sign along interstate that runs through town, but commuters become numb to the same old signage and soon block it out. Hmmmm. What could a viable alternative be?

AHA!

A tried and proven option is the relatively inexpensive advertising promotional product. Yep…the little ‘giveaways’ that people seem to love. Everyone loves to pick up a free note pad or magnetic business card for the refrigerator. I have a ‘thing’ for magnetic calendars, myself, and have quite a collection.

Why They Work So Well

The important aspect to remember is that each one of these products will have your bank information on them. The address, hours of operation, phone numbers, and a brief description of services are some of the data that can be emblazoned on the product. Depending on what the item is, it can create a phenomenal amount of exposure for your bank. Imagine giving a calendar to the local pizza shop owner, who puts it on the cash register in his restaurant. Every customer that goes to the counter is going to be exposed to the information you had printed on that calendar.

Hundreds of Products

Refrigerator magnets are available promotional products, as well as memo-boards and appointment calendars. There are hundreds of possibilities. In fact, if I were to address all the possible products, this article would be as long as the United States Tax Code.

The bottom line is this: Promotional products work. They have been around since long before TV and radio, and they continue to be popular due to the great response they provide. Spread your financial institution’s name all over the area with these effective products and get the exposure you want.

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Games For Learning How to Draw

July 17th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

For some people, learning how to draw is actually more of a chore than a joy. This could be because the person has been forced into doing so at school or by well-meaning parents. To get around this problem, especially for younger people, you can use games as a method of encouraging someone to practice drawing. By making it fun, or by setting up certain rules and conditions around the drawing practice, you can increase the possibility of more work being completed.

For kids, learning to draw can often begin with number and color matching. This is where you have an image in a coloring book without any color. Instead, there are sections within the image that have numbers in them and a code elsewhere on the page telling you which number means which color. It is the kid’s job to identify the different colors through the numbers and then fill in the sections. This helps a child with using codes, but it also helps show them understand traditional colors for typical objects, animals, etc.

Speed games are another fun method of learning how to draw that can be done in large groups or alone. All it involves is seeing how fast you can create certain images. This will help make certain strokes and drawing techniques become second nature to you, so you can reduce the thinking time that drawing can sometimes take. Being able to make pictures quickly and efficiently can be a real confidence booster, especially if you are able to do so for an audience; speed games can increase ability and confidence.

Drawing sessions can be done in pairs or in groups, such as after school with friends; it doesn’t have to be the solitary activity that it is often seen as. One game that can be done with others is a guessing game. One person is chosen as the artist and the others have to guess what the artist is drawing. It can be done as a form of “pictionary,” where everyone shouts out guesses; or, it can be more focused where the artist only draws one part at a time, and the others have to guess what the image is based on each revealed section.

Learning how to draw through games can be a fun way to put some variety in drawing lessons, such as for a teacher who is teaching drawing. Drawing is often seen as being quite serious; as a true art. But for younger learners who are not that serious about the action of drawing, making learning fun through a series of different games can result in a greater interest in the activity. This could eventually lead to younger learners becoming more serious about their skill level.

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How to Draw Near to God – 1 – Live Righteously

July 17th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

If you want to live what I call an “ABC Life” – an abundant, blessed, carefree life – then draw near to God. James 3:8 says if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you.

If you really focus on God and allow Him to be your everything, allow Him to be your reason for living, I guarantee you will live an “ABC Life”. “How do I do that?” you may ask. “How do I draw near to Him so that He can draw near to me?”

There are 3 “Cornerstones” that I believe will invite the presence of God in your life. These cornerstones are in addition to the weapons that create the foundation of your personal relationship: praise, worship, fasting, prayer and study. I believe these “3 Cornerstones” will allow Him free reign in your life. Live Righteously is the first of the three.

Now this is not to be confused with you being “the righteousness of God”. There is nothing you can do to earn your righteousness. The moment Jesus Christ gave his last breath on the cross, you were restored to your rightful place as God’s righteousness, originally made in his image, for His pleasure. You are justified through your faith in Christ and that’s been established.

By “living righteously” I mean making sure you are in “right standing” with God- living holy, living pure, walking the straight and narrow. Matthew 7:14 says that “strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” You want to be living your life in such a way that’s pleasing to God. And I’m not referring to good deeds (that’s Cornerstone #2); I mean you have a heart that’s clean, a life that’s pure.

Here are 3 keys to “righteous living”:

1. Live free from sin – confess your sins daily and ask God to forgive you. Ro 3:23 says we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Make sure you are “clean” daily!

2. Forgive others who sin against you – Don’t harbor anger, and bitterness and hate, unforgiveness in your heart. God wants to come in and bless you and bless your life, but unforgiveness is an abundant life killer! Expediently forgive others so that you stay in “right standing” with God. (It’s important for you to know that if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses (Mk 11:26).

3. Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind – just like Jesus says in Matthew 22:37. In other words, give all of your allegiance to God. That means there can be no “little g” gods in your life – we have a tendency to make money, relationships, work, material possessions our gods. Don’t allow anything to take priority over God in your life. He says loving Him and loving others are the 2 commandments that the other laws hang on.

Matt 5:20 says “except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven”. In other words, it’s more than living by the law. Your heart has to be clean, your life pure. This is “righteous living”. Righteousness is a condition of the heart!

If you want to draw near to God, and you want Him to draw near to you, keep his commandments. John 14:21. It says “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love Him and manifest myself to Him.” He promises to show up – to draw near!

If you want an “ABC Life”- an abundant, blessed and carefree life – and I know that you do – draw nearer to Him. Clean your life of sin, unforgiveness and those “little g” gods. Put Him first. Live righteously! And now on to Cornerstone #2…

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How to Draw Cartoon Faces – And Be Original With It

July 12th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

Are you happy with the way your cartoon characters are turning out, or are they lacking that touch of originality that makes them stand out, and makes your personal style and talent recognizable?

If you’ve learned to draw cartoons by following the standard, established rules and techniques of cartooning, then it’s not surprising if your characters look much like those of other cartoonists who’ve learned the same way. But there is another way, a more exciting way, to create cartoon faces with complete originality – using a method I call: Spontaneous Cartooning.

With this method, you doodle a shape onto your drawing paper – freely, spontaneously, without forethought. It’s actually more a sort of scribbling.

Next, you look at what you’ve drawn, turning the image around to see it from different angles, and you try to pick out specific elements that could be recognizable as facial features – it’s not hard to see a curve as an ear, or chin, or nose. But the real trick is to construct a complete cartoon face from the lines on the paper.

You can add new lines of course, and ignore others that don’t seem to fit. Retracing the most defining lines and adding shading help to isolate the recognizable features.

Start simple, using basic shapes, and increase the complexity of your squiggles as you become more adept.

This method of cartoon drawing has distinct and unique advantages:

1) It increases your ability to see form and shape in abstract compositions,

2) It develops your talent for caricaturing, by freeing you from the restraints of standardized cartoon-drawing techniques,

3) It encourages you to be more daring and adventurous in your creativity,

4) The results cannot be anything but original – since they have been created without planning, and using the unique dexterity of your own finger movements.

Rules can be followed, used, abused or ignored, including the rules of cartooning. Spontaneous cartooning is the “free-jazz-improvisation” of cartoon drawing.

As with any activity, the more you do something, the better you become at it. To be a great, original cartoonist, requires you to draw lots, and often. An activity as fun as spontaneous cartooning will give you many hours of stimulating drawing practice – without ever becoming repetitive, or boring.

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Good Things to Draw For an Art Portfolio

July 7th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

Art portfolios are the calling card of professional artists. Everybody always gets asked for their portfolio of work, even if they are established artists.

Many aspiring artists have a common question regarding their portfolio of work, namely, what should be included?

Typical university requirements make restrictions such as prohibiting cartoons or doodles, tracings, copyrighted figures, uninterpreted renderings or photographs.

While the list may seem pointless to some, it can actually stimulate more creativity when you are encouraged to explore subject matter you may have not previously considered, or dismissed without a proper attempt.

Your art portfolio is your artists passport which it is important to present your artistic range. You need to express yourself through different media and different subject matter.

Make sure you have a self portrait of some kind,even if that means simply a drawing of your hand, in fact a drawing of your hand is a great addition to your portfolio.

Mix it up a bit with a pencil drawing, a pen and ink drawing, pastels and even a scratch board, to show the viewer you can work with many mediums.

Everyday objects can take on a new meaning when interpreted with the artists choice of style and materials. One idea for a drawing is find something simple like a chair and draw it making the negative space your focus. Although the person looking (and probably judging) your work may have seen thousands of similar images before, yours definitely is unique. You must try to demonstrate techniques which bring out your individual style.

Whistlers Mother was immortalized when he took the everyday scene of his mother sitting on a chair and brought his artistic talents to the scene, painted in London. It was shown at the Royal Academy of Art in 1872 under the original title of ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother‘ which goes to show the title that sticks isn’t always the one the artist give it.

The take away is that this piece was using a limited color palette with a common scene and setting. The artistic interpretation is something you, as an artist would add. Your Art Teacher should be able to guide you in this.

Your art portfolio should include examples of your preferred work, together with a subject in a variety of mediums from different viewpoint.

One final important point is that you should always have high resolution copies of any work in your portfolio. Make certain you have at least two copies away from your studio or home. This is an option that wasn’t even possible a few years ago, but your work can enter a whole new dimension with digital copies.

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Online Lessons on How to Draw For Kids

July 5th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

Are you a parent interested in helping your child build on their drawing talent? You may have even been surfing the net looking for step-by-step projects they will enjoy. Once you find a project, then what? How do you present that information for your child to draw?

YouTube offers many great drawing ideas with step-by-step instructions. Once you have found an artist that offers an instructional drawing video that you find fun and easy, do the project first yourself.  Once you have your head around the basic principles, then you can prepare to pass this lesson on to your children. 

Show the children the completed project first. Next, take your students through each step of the lesson. You draw each element of shape, or line, first and have the children copy what you do. Take your time to ensure every child has completed each instruction before moving on. With very young children you may need to take them through each step with dot-to-dot. This way they will not feel discouraged at not meeting the level of the older students work.

When undertaking faces aim to teach one feature at a time; the following tip may prove useful. For example, you are learning how to draw eyes,  sketch out the facial outline and other features, leaving the eye area blank; make photocopies of this facial sketch, one for each child.   With this basic template the students can draw in their own eyes following your instructions. Then they have a completed work which they can color and decorate.  The next lesson you can work on another feature, such as the nose.

Simple cartooning is great fun for kids of all ages and a great start. Just be mindful not to select too well-known or favorite characters as this can prove discouraging should the outcome not meet their expectations. Manga characters are quite simple, are basically recognizable but also leave much for individual interpretation.

Keep in mind that the level of difficulty of the subject is appropriate for their age and their skill level. This can be difficult when you are working with a number of children of differing ages or when you’re working with your own children and they are of multiple skill levels.

Please remember never to use competitive words such as ‘wrong’, ‘right’ ‘best’ and ensure you praise, praise, praise. Even when drawing the same subject, each child’s interpretation will ensure a unique piece of artwork every time. After all, how can they be compared, just as De Vinci can’t be compared to Monet?

If you notice that your child is taking a real interest in art and drawing you may want to get them enrolled in classes so that they can enhance their skills and embrace that aspect of their world.

Children who are also experiencing difficulty mastering fine motor skills or displaying poor concentration skills will greatly benefit from these drawing lessons, just be patient. Providing they are not too distracting for the other students and are enjoying their drawing, keep encouraging them and praising them. In the end this will reap wonderful rewards both for the child and the teacher.

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Learning How to Draw Good Cartoons Which Are Unique

June 27th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

Learning how to draw good cartoons might appear to be daunting but it is actually much easier than you think. One of the most important elements to consider is the character of a good. It has to be believable as well as Unique! The thing about cartooning is that they generally contain exaggerated features and often much detail is left out. It does however require patience to master this art, and time to develop your own style.

The people who draw cartoons love doing this, and if you are a first timer, all it will take is a little practice to get you started on the road to success. There is a great demand for people who can draw good cartoons and it is a fun way to make great money.

Obviously you are going to need some equipment, this would include paper (of course!) pencils, markers, an eraser and perhaps even colored pencils. The first step is to begin with a loose sketch to outline the figure of the character you would like to create. One of the tricks to good cartooning is to break down the body of the cartoon into basic shapes, such as circles, squares, ovals et cetera. Then after you have though about the personality of the character you want to depict, start filling in a little detail.

Think about the shapes you use, these will define some of the character of the cartoon, for instance a comic-book hero, would probably be square, while a villain might be more triangular in order to appear threatening. Circles and ovals are more suitable for an overall friendly look; just think how circular the faces of Jon and Garfield are?

Once you have penciled in the outline of your cartoon, added the features you require and when you are happy with the result, you can fill in with some color and make the lines darker with ink or a marker. Just remember that faces are often the pivotal point which defines your cartoon character, so if they are old and mean the eyes should be small and if they are young and friendly the eyes should be large and round.

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Discover How to Draw – Part 5 Of 6 – Seven Drafting Techniques to Learn Drawing Quicker

June 26th, 2010 by phoenix No comments »

In recent contributions you read how to interpret your depicted objects clearer, to overcome your fear of failure and how to exercise your drawing skills determinedly.

Within this article I’ll show you 7 significant hints that will serve you with the next stairs of your draftsmanship career:

1. Pick up a sketch pad at the next art supply store. It can’t be emphasized enough. Choose one of those nice sketch pads and take it with you everyplace you go! It allows you to use every free second for exercising your draftsmanship and depict captivating scenery’s you come across.

2. Keep your pictures secure. As important as possessing a sketch pad (and keeping them after you’ve filled them) is to keep everything you depict. Acquire a folder to store them safe from harm. Never toss any of your drawings. This way you will amass a decent portfolio and may reference your recent works for inspiration and to track your progress.

3. Criticise your draftings later. As we read in the episode about overcoming your fear of failure – don’t be too judgmental about your drawings. If the little critic in you tries to jump into action, outmaneuver him. Store away your picture (in your folder) and tell him “later”. In a few weeks or months you can see your creation in a much more friendly light than today.

4. Painting from life is superior. You’ll understand: depicting real-life objects seems to be harder than just replicating pics or other drawings. But it’s much more rewarding and your drawings will be much more lively and naturalistic. How does it work? I don’t know for sure, but I would think our subconscious for some reason assimilates the picture with all senses returning you additional inspiration to draw on the sheet.

5. Don’t depict too complex objects. Stay away from objects that are too complex. Rather start with simple objects that you can understand and picture as proficient as you wish it to be. And then increment the difficulty in petty steps so your draftsmanship has time to grow with each small step you are undertaking.

6. Don’t move into detail too much. When drawing, less is more. Virtually everyone tend towards inserting details excessively, too numerous little lines, uncountable numbers of unimportant objects. Don’t attempt to draw all the details you watch. Rather attempt to capture the scene at large, assimilate how it feels and put this to onto the sheet using only few lines.

7. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Did I mention it ? Practice! You cannot sketch too often. Always keep in mind: every line you draw, every drawing or sketching you polish betters your draftsmanship and brings you one stair up. Exercise by drawing scenery’s you encounter in everyday’s life into your sketch pad. Exercise by doing the practices I have demonstrated. Just practice.

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