KAREN CAMPBELL, ARTIST
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Let's Get Your Creative Juices Flowing!!!

EASY Martini Glass Drawing Lesson on YouTube

16/5/2023

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While I was creating a lesson for the Fun Fab Drawing Club the other day, I was having so much fun, I decided to do a similar lesson as a Draw Along party in my Facebook Group! 

In case you missed that, or aren't on Facebook, I'm dropping the video on my YouTube Drawing channel as well :)

Today's FREE martini glass drawing lesson has a little twist to give us a teensy challenge...

1. No drawing in pencil
2. No drawing freehand

Sound fun?! Let's get started!!
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Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.

Drawing Supplies for Today

Since we're not drawing in pencil, you might want to grab a few fineliners in different nibs (thicknesses). My favorite fineliner set is by Molotow, below.
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Since I plan to use alcohol markers to color in my martini glass drawing, I'm working on a super smooth sheet of cardstock that is similar to Bristol (but waaaaay cheaper).  

Next, you're gonna want a straight edge. You can easily use the edge of a book, or whatever you have lying around. Try NOT to reach for a ruler, because I don't want you to start measuring stuff :) I'm using a triangle for my straight edge and NOT measuring on purpose to keep the vibe FUN and wonky! 
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I've also got my ellipse and circle templates nearby. I use BOTH of these constantly when drawing faces. 

The ellipses are perfect for dropping in facial feature placeholders when I'm sketching in my face drawing guidelines at the beginning of a project. I love using the circle template whenever I'm drawing eyes to help me draw quick irises and pupils (because who wants to spend forever trying to draw a perfect circle?! NOT ME!!).
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If you don't have templates like this, it's totally fine! Use whatever you have lying around in the shape of a circle that you can trace. 

My last "supply" for today is seriously just a bunch of cocktail drawing reference images to provide me with a little inspiration and get my creative juices flowing.
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After you've grabbed your supplies, make sure to click over to the video because everything in today's FREE drawing tutorial is step-by-step, and in real-time so you can draw along with me from home :) ​

How to Make Your Line Drawing Even COOLER!

​Once you've got your basic martini glass drawing done, it's time to take your drawing from simple and plain... to awesome! We do that by varying LINE WEIGHT throughout the drawing.

Line variation is super easy to achieve. You can either use fineliners in a variety of nibs (thicknesses), or you can add some wonky lines with a straight edge like I'm doing in today's video, and then color them in! You're definitely gonna wanna see this in action! 
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Once you've got some line variation going on in your drawing, you can add even more interest with the addition of a few action lines. ​Action lines are common in cartoons and anime drawings to indicate movement or energy. I like to use a thinner fineliner for these, like a 0.4. 
HOT TIP: Make sure you wipe your straight edge off BEFORE adding action lines around the martini glass because we don't want any excess ink smearing onto your drawing once your template hits the page again. 
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Once the action lines are in place, it's time for some fruity embellishments, because who doesn't love a little fruit inside a sassy drink?!
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Let's Add Color

The first rule of thumb for coloring ANYTHING is to swatch! You can use a piece of scrap paper off to the side of your drawing, or download my FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet to make things even more interesting!
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I used to hate swatching and think it was boring, but trust me, there's nothing worse than grabbing a marker or tube of paint based on the cap, only to find a completely unexpected color popping onto your page! I've learned this the hard way time and again!

Your future self will thank you for swatching!!
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If you don't have any alcohol markers at home, don't sweat it. Use whatever art supply you have from colored pencils to watercolor! 

Wanna Learn MORE About Alcohol Markers?

In case you don't know this about me yet, I'm OBSESSED with alcohol marker art!! I love using my Copics and Ohuhus for shading faces, fairies, art deco fashions, and everything in between!!

Over the years, I've tried just about every alcohol marker brand from dollar store cheapies to my beloved Copics, and have learned a ton along the way. Check out this playlist to watch my BEST ALCOHOL MARKER COLORING TIPS in action, learn about blending, mixing alcohol markers with other media, and SO MUCH MORE!! 
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Need More Real-Time Drawing Lessons?

I've got TONS!! Go check out the Fun Fab Drawing Club over at Awesome Art School. There are SO many fun lessons just waiting for you to enjoy!! 
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Need More Resources?

​❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
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Alcohol Marker Face Shading Tips for Scaredy-Cats

17/1/2023

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I recently recieved an awesome question from one of my Wonder Bundlers (member of ALL THREE art memberships) at Awesome Art School. 

Her question to me was:
Can you shade a face with just ONE alcohol marker? 

The short answer is YES. But... I've got a few tips for you to make this technique work EVEN BETTER for you! Watch today's video to see exactly what I mean :) 
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​New to shading faces? Click the button below to grab my FREE Face Shading Guide! It will TOTALLY help you take your drawings to the next  level, no matter what art supply you're using. 
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This cheatsheet shows you 6 EASY shading patterns you can copy onto your own forward-facing face drawings to make them look more realistic.
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​Super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.
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My FREE Face Shading Guide is a page directly from my very first book, How to Draw Fun Fab Faces. ​
Another great reference used in today's video is one of my latest art books, Skin Tone Secrets.​
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This book is SUPER helpful for learning how to shade semi-realistic faces with alcohol markers. It takes ALL the guesswork out of choosing which markers go well together to create beautiful skin tones, and will have you creating gorgeous faces you can be proud of in NO TIME! ​


​What Paper is Best for Alcohol Marker Drawings? 

If you're new to alcohol markers, using the right paper for your drawing projects is SUPER IMPORTANT. 

HOT TIP: NEVER shade with alcohol markers on a super-absorbent surface like watercolor paper. It will totally wreck your markers! Always use bristol or something like my favorite card stock, which is a cheaper bristol alternative. 
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​Which Skin Tone Markers Are Best for Shading Faces? 

For today's dark skin tone face drawing demo, I'm using Ohuhu alcohol marker YR148 / Thin Persimmon.

If you don't have alcohol markers and want to shade the faces you draw, I recommend the Ohuhu Alcohol Markers Set of 24 or 36, it's excellent quality and super affordable!
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​How to Blend Alcohol Marker Streaking

​Here's what my drawing looked like when I tried to shade it as I normally would, except that I only used one marker.
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See how you can see EVEY streak and stroke, especially in the lightest areas? This is tough to combat if we limit ourselves to one marker. 

Click over to the video to see how the Ohuhu colorless blender worked to blend the streakiness above.
For comparison's sake, I also shaded a light-skinned face. Instead of using the colorless blender, I tried blending the streaks by using a marker one shade LIGHTER than the one I originally used. 
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I feel like this alcohol marker blending technique worked WAY BETTER than the colorless blender (by the way- today's demo is a great example of why I NEVER use the colorless blender to blend my alcohol marker shading).  ​
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If you're NEW to shading faces with alcohol markers or a scaredy-pants about shading, here's what I recommend... USE TWO MARKERS.
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1. Shade the face two complete times - once horizontally in one color and once vertically in ONE SHADE LIGHTER (this lighter marker is your "blending friend" and will help eliminate streaks).

2. Add shadows to your drawing using marker #1 to show depth.

This alcohol marker blending technique will give you a smooth and super subtle look...
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❤️Watch today's video to see these alcohol marker tips in action! 

❤️Ready to dive into shading faces with 3-4 alcohol markers per face? Check out my book,Skin Tone Secrets. 
❤️WANT MORE alcohol marker shading tips? Check out this playlist! 


​Wanna Stay in the Loop?

And get notified EVERY TIME I publish a new video on YouTube? ​Join my Email Newsletter!

​As my way of saying thanks - grab a copy of my FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet or my Whimsical Face Drawing Guidelines! ​

Need More Resources?​​

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
​

Thanks for hanging out with me today!! 
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How to STOP Fineliners From Smearing Once & For All!!

14/12/2022

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I LOVE outlining my drawings in fineliners, but I HATE it when my outline starts to bleed into the shading I add with alcohol markers or watercolor.

Wanna learn WHY this happens and how YOU CAN PREVENT it from happening ever again? Join me in the studio for today's video!
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Got a new set of fineliners or markers you need to swatch? I used to think swatching was boring and a big waste of time, but TRUST ME, your future drawings will thank you because marker caps and color names can be deceiving!! 

To make swatching MORE FUN I've created a FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet for you to print out at home! Simply click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox.
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Super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.
Back to today's demo...

I don't know about you, but I've got about a zillion different black fineliners, fineliner pens, fineliner markers and fineliner sets I could choose from when it comes to outlining the faces and figures I love drawing!

How do you know which one to grab, when?!
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I decided to show you 25 of them on both watercolor and bristol paper. After I give the ink a second to dry on both papers, I'll add some watercolor marker to the watercolor paper, and alcohol marker to the bristol paper to see which fineliners smear.

​The results are more than a little surprising!!
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Click over to the video to see which black fineliners you might want to add to your collection and WHY so you can prevent smearing once and for all. 
LOVE alcohol marker art or WANNA LEARN how to draw and shade gorgeous faces in all ethnicities using alcohol markers? Check out my recent book, Skin Tone Marker Secrets on Amazon. 
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In this book I share ALL my best tips for shading faces in alcohol markers and tell you EXACTLY which skin tone marker combos go well together to create flawless skin tones EVERY TIME!
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​​It's SO fun and easy - once someone shows ya how!! 

My absolute FAVORITE black fineliner set to use while working with alcohol markers is by Molotow:
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NEED MORE alcohol marker drawing videos to get your creative juices flowing?  Check out this playlist and draw along with me!

​Thanks for hanging out with me today!!
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
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    Karen Campbell

    Founder of Awesome Art School.  Mixed Media Artist.  Author of 18 Instructional Art Books!

    Posting on YouTube every single Wednesday of the year!  

    The Alliance of Independent Authors - Author Member

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"Karen is flipping hilarious and she's very real...I like the way she teaches in a way that really gives you confidence, whether you're a beginner or advanced there's always something new to learn!"

- Elizabeth W.

What Fans Are Saying

Karen, you are absolutely fabulous! You make me feel like I can draw anything. I have recently retired and finally have the time to do some of the art that I have loved since I was in school. I am really at the beginning of my art journey and I hope to learn as much as I can. Thank you for all you do.

​-Jill Y.

I ordered your Fun Fab Faces book and loved it! I was having a little trouble getting the noses I wanted and now it's easy! Also, I love how you stressed how important having the three tones in your drawing is. Thanks a bunch!

-Donna L.

Thank you Karen! I never though I could do faces. You broke it down so it was understandable! And I love your book! I got it yesterday! Can't wait to start practicing! It's so much fun!!!!!

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Thank you for the encouragement to get back into my drawing and painting. After being away for 35 years.  THANK YOU.

- Teresa S.

Contact ME

  • HOME
    • About Me
    • Courses
    • Add your art to Instagram!
    • Fan Artwork
    • Retreats
    • What Students Say...
  • Drawing Club
    • See ALL the Projects!!
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    • See ALL the Projects!!
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