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You are going to LOVE THIS 3 MINUTE mixed media canvas background technique!! It is by far THE FASTEST way to knock out a vibrant background for my mixed media portraits! I typically start with collage, but sometimes I'm in the mood for something a little different. Evidentally, today it was punk, and I'm LOVING how she turned out!!  To get started, select 3-4 spray paint colors you like together, a few stencils, and head outside with your canvas. Begin by adding a few shots of color here and there, in two different shades. Then drop a stencil on top and use your third color of spray paint to start working in some fun patterns.  Cool, right?! There are SO many directions you can take a mixed media canvas background like this. I worked in some black with mine because I wanted it to feel edgy since I knew where the portrait for this piece was headed. This background seriously took me ALL OF THREE MINUTES. That's it. I think that might be a record, even for me!!  Once my canvas was dry, I pulled out my GINORMOUS magnum sharpie back in the studio, and got to work on a side profile drawing prompt from an artist friend of mine, Jenny Manno. Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  Just a word of caution... if you're not used to doing profile drawings, I definitely DON'T recommend using a sharpie!! Especially one this big!! In all seriousness, if you're new to side profile drawing, it's NOT as hard as you think it is. You probably just need someone to break it down for you so it doesn't feel so overwhelming. Then you just need a little practice. I have TONS of resources to help you with profiles! Feel free to check out this playlist on my YouTube Drawing channel for beginners. You'll learn how to do side profile drawing step by step in pencil. You can also check out my book, How to Draw MORE Fun Fab Faces, over on Amazon. This is PERFECT for beginners who want to learn how to draw profiles step by step (even kids!!).  Once I finished my initial drawing, I got my gesso going inside the face and just around the outer edge of her face shape to knock the background back just a bit. Then I painted a thin layer of flesh colored craft paint on the face. If you've been watching me for a while - you know I'm NOT super patient, LOL! Layering with gesso and acrylic paints really can take forever, and I don't usually have the patience for that. Because I have the neeeeeed for speed, I developed this cool technique to add color to my mixed media portraits QUICKLY, using my gelatos by Faber Castell! See the light pink in the face below, where it looks like blush has been applied to her cheek? That's from my gelatos! I blended it with my finger and it literally took me TWO seconds.  If you want to see this gelatos technique slowed down in REAL TIME, I just did a product demo with my Faber Castell Gelatos, so you definitely need to check that out! If you haven't tried them before on your own, this is my favorite set. FYI, beware of the metallic version if you want to follow me with this technique, because sadly they don't work!  If you're watching this project unfold (and I HOPE you do!!), I actually struggled a little with the skin tone and decided I wanted a clean slate to work with, so pulled out my gesso and started again with my fun gelatos technique. In the pic above, you can see it's looking SO much better, so that ended up being a great move! Keep that in mind- if something doesn't go quite right- there are a MILLION ways to fix something, so DON'T give up. Keep pushing through!! In the world of mixed media art, gesso is your friend in more ways than one!!  When I'm switching gears from mixed media painting to mixed media DRAWING... I seal my whole canvas with one of my favorite mixed media art supplies - mod podge! I buy this stuff by the gallon!! When the mod podge has dried, my canvas is slippery and has been prepped beautifully for playing with pitt pens. I love using my pitt pens to help me when shading a face (mixed media style). I use them in a similar way to my gelatos. I layer some color and blend with my fingertip.  What's REALLY cool about working with pitt pens over mod podge, is you can ERASE things you don't like with a simple baby wipe! Amazing, right?! The art supply layering system I'm using in today's project is something I lovingly refer to as my mixed media "Hamburger System." I compare layering my supplies to the way you layer toppings for the perfect burger! I've actually got an entire FUN YouTube series of tutorials, cheatsheets, and even wrote a mixed media art BOOK about it!! Download the FREE, one-page cheatsheet that explains it all by clicking the button below.  I'll send it straight to your inbox so you can print it and keep it at your art table for reference to help you with your own mixed media layering.  When I'm using my hamburger system for layering and am happy with something I've done, I seal my work with another layer of mod podge to ensure it won't move, then hit it with my hair dryer so I can do a bit more doodling.  My last step is always grabbing a white sharpie or posca pen to add highlights throughout. I LOVE the drama this adds to my mixed media portraits.  I hope you enjoy watching this video!! I had a blast doing this project!!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK
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Faber Castell Gelatos are one of my all time FAVORITE art supplies. Lots of mixed media artists aren't quite sure how to use them, or only associate gelatos with background work. In today's art supply demo, I'll show you why they're a MUST HAVE in my studio + the QUICK & EASY way I use them to create MAGICAL mixed media portraits. If you're a beginner in the world of mixed media art, or just curious about what gelatos can do for you - today's video is a MUST SEE!!  Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  When students first start working with me, they often ask, what are gelatos? Gelatos are a fun art supply made by a fine art supplies company called Faber Castell! Gelatos are supposed to be a fine art product, but I think a lot of artists would probably put them into the "craft" category because they are not light fast. If you haven't seen these before, they kinda look like a tube of chapstick with a blunt tip.  Gelatos come in a wide range of colors. They even have a metallic line. I do want to caution you if you're drawn to metallics. If you follow me and have picked up the Faber castell gelatos metallic set, hoping to use them like I do in my Mixed Media "Hamburger" projects, unfortunately they DON'T work. So just be forewarned, if you want to play along with me- the metallic version has been tested, and sadly failed. Pick up the flat/matte set and you'll be good to go! In fact, here is my favorite. It's got all the skin tones I love, and I think you'll REALLY enjoy yourself!! Not sure what my Hamburger System is? It's my signature mixed media layering process! Lots of people struggle with understanding their mixed media art supplies and how they work best together. It's really not that hard once someone shows you how! I compare layering my supplies to the way you layer toppings for the perfect burger! I've got an entire FUN YouTube series of tutorials, cheatsheets, and even wrote a mixed media art BOOK about it!! Download the FREE, one-page cheatsheet that explains it all by clicking the button below. I'll send it straight to your inbox so you can print it and keep it at your art table for reference to help you with your own mixed media layering.  If you haven't worked with them before, gelatos are a watersoluble product. That means if you put them down on a piece of paper and add water to them - they WILL melt and move around on you. There are a lot of other products on the market that work just like gelatos- including Marabu art crayons (they can really smear on you) and Distress crayons (not lightfast at all, so I quit using them).  What I LOVE about gelatos is they're not AS watersoluble as these other brands. The way that I like to use them is for accentuating the shading and tones on top of my acrylics. They blend out just perfectly, and I'll show you in today's video. I think they're AMAZING for adding skin tone shading, or adding any shading on any subject you're featuring in your mixed media projects!  Personally I love mixed media projects to be fast and FUN!! And I want to see an instant success. For me, Faber-Castell gelatos DO just that. I don't have to spend TONS of time blending my acrylic paints, I can just work some gelatos on top of my acryilcs, it's super easy, and BOOM. Gorgeous shading, every time! Watch the video to see where I've used gelatos specifically in this cute mixed media face and in the one above.  Now, let's move on to the product demo! CLICK over to the video so you can see exactly what I'm talking about ;) To get the demo started, I painted an acrylic head shape in four different skin tone shades using craft paints. Using craft paint is totally normal for me when I'm doing skin tones because I love how the paint that comes out of the bottle in the prefect skin tone I'm looking for in a base coat. I don't have to mix a thing! Then I add 2-3 shades of gelatos on top for shading, and they look amazing!  I noted the gelato shades I used in the above girl off to the side, and showed you just how EASY it is to blend with these on the right. They totally melt right into each other. And this is without adding anything to them.  In this one I used five shades of gelatos instead of three because I just couldn't stop! LOL! I love these things. Isn't that the most beautiful blend off colors off to the right? I told you these things were magical for mixed media work!!  So fun!! I love how these shades blend together for a rich medium skin tone. You really can add such a rich layer of color to your faces and I'm not kidding... it only takes a couple of strokes and a little blending with your finger and you're done. SO much faster than doing countless layers of blending with your acrylics!! The highlights throughout this face (above) were done in the color caramel. Using white would've been too strong here. Make sure you try incorporating tangerine if you're playing with darker skin tones because it REALLY adds a beautiful effect.  And here is the last one! Just a different direction from the first pale skinned girl. This one goes more into the yellow color family and butterscotch. If you look closely, you'll see a few white highlights I added with my white gelato. This has a very soft effect. And again, SUPER easy and fast. Especially if you're only using three shades!  Now! If this was a "real" mixed media project for me (not just a value scale demo showing you how I love to use gelatos)... there are a lot more steps I take to tie a project together. Be sure you click over to the video to see a quick demo of what comes next. I know tons of people have questions about how to SEAL faber castell gelatos! I have found they do fantastic with a layer of mod podge on top! Check this out...  but this STILL isn't the end... There's even MORE!! If you want to see what comes next, click over to watch my Hamburger System playlist after today's video, and I'll take you layer by layer through the entire SUPER FUN process!! Thanks for hanging out with me today! I hope you have a fab week!!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK DRAWING FEMALE HAIRSTYLES in Just 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)1/3/2021 Ready to learn about drawing female hairstyles in just FIVE minutes?! In today's step by step lesson, we're going to be drawing 5 hairstyles in real time. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling with how to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  We're in week five of the 5 in 5 Drawing Facial Features series on my YouTube Drawing Channel, and this week is focused on girl hairstyles drawing!  Make sure you download my 20-page drawing practice packet so you can draw right along with me. It's got all the hair drawing reference (female) images for this week, and all the drawing reference photos for every other week in the series. Best of all, it's yours, FREE. Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox!  Even though I'm on week five of the series, don't feel like you're behind if you are just discovering this. These drawing exercises are for YOU to do on your own time, at your own pace. There is no schedule, just FUN!! All you need to do the drawing exercises in my 5 in 5 Practice Packet is basically a good eraser and a pencil. You totally don't have to get fancy. Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  If you are interested in some fancier drawing tools - I'm using three of my favorites: a Blackwing pencil, vanish eraser, and my Tombow Mono Eraser (that's the one that looks like a mechanical pencil, but is an eraser!). This thing is AMAZING for carving out teensy highlights!!! If you have a blending stump - get your dirtiest one ready! If you don't have one - just use your finger or a q-tip to help you with blending.  If you're just finding this series, I'm trying not to spend more than 5 minutes on each drawing prompt. It's not because I'm trying to "hurry" myself, but because I'm specifically trying NOT to get bogged down with details. This keeps our drawing practice light-hearted and more FUN. And- if we're having fun - drawing practice is something we'll want to do again, which will naturally make us better artists! As I have done with each of the videos in this series, I'm asking you to focus on three things with each drawing prompt:
 If you like to paint and are familiar with my Mixed Media channel on YouTube, you may recognize the first reference image as one of my favorite hairstyles! I LOVE painting variations of this one, and am excited to teach you how to draw hair blowing in the wind! To get started, draw an oval for the face. I'm not drawing in any of the facial features today because this lesson is focused on simple hairstyles drawing only. If you missed any of the previous episodes, click here for LIPS, here for NOSES, here for EYES, and here for EARS. When your oval is ready, go ahead and sketch in a horizontal line across the approximate middle of your oval. This is our imaginary "eye line." Next, check your reference to see which way her part is going. Draw a mark on your oval to note that location. Then take another look at the reference to see which direction the hair is going out of that part. When you're working with a photographic reference it makes drawing super easy because the "answers" are right in front of you. Your brain can kinda relax and just record what you're seeing in the reference on your drawing paper!  One of the most important things to remember about hair is that is has VOLUME to it. That means it always extends UP and OVER the face shape you've drawn. It also will typically fall into the face shape as well in some way. I usually just sketch in a general outline for the hair shape I see in my reference, then add shading and detail.  To make this a quick drawing and shading practice, simply scribble in the areas that are super dark with your pencil. Then we'll drag that graphite around with a blending stump, and chisel some highlights out with an eraser at the end.  It's a bit tricky to see the part on reference #2, but since her hair is perfectly symmetrical, we can assume her part is down the middle. Mark your page in the middle of your oval for her part. Then go ahead and sketch out the general outline of her hair, including the bangs. Remember to sketch her hair shape UP and OVER the oval of her face to indicate volume. For hair this dark, you don't have to draw every line, and we've got a blending stump to help us as our time saver "cheat" today. Feel free to add in some loose strands if you want to with the same pencil or a mechanical pencil to vary the line weight.  If you'd like to learn MORE about drawing different hairstyles, the hair section of my How to Draw & Find Your Style Book has some great hair drawing tips, including an "Action Plan" for highlights. Be sure to watch the video so I can explain these options to you so they make sense.  For the third and fourth hair drawing references today, we're focusing on bun hairstyles drawing. Our third image is a set of super cute, double buns! Follow the same method we did for the other prompts. Look for the part, then draw an outline of the hair shape that extends UP and OVER the oval head. Even though this girl's hairstyle is pulled back, she still has volume extending outside of her "oval," if you look closely. Making observations like this will help your whimsical drawings look more realistic.  After our double buns, I'll show you how to draw hair in a bun on top of a girl's head. I LOVE this cute top knot! She is gorgeous, and I'm already excited to add her glossy highlights in!  Like prompt #2, this one doesn't show a visible part. When that happens, we again can simply assume it's in the middle - especially if you see a hair bun or ponytail in the middle of her head.  After we note a spot for the part and sketch in an outline of the hair, I draw individual lines and pay special attention to the directionality so what I'm drawing resembles my hairstyle drawing reference.  Once I've blended the graphite, I'll show you how to draw hair highlights. These highlights remind me of some of the glossy higlights we had in our Realistic Lips drawing video. I find it super easy to carve a few highlights out with my mono eraser in cases like this. Just replicate the shapes you feel the highlights are making on the bun as your eye moves across it.  Since I spent so much time on long hairstyle drawing, I thought we DEFINITELY had to do a little SHORT hairstyle drawing as well, so for our last drawing prompt today, I'm going to show you how to draw a pixie cut!  After you get your head shape drawn, sketch in the eyeline (half-way down the oval). Then pencil in some approximate eyebrows, note the part location, and start sketching in where the bangs fall. Even when you're drawing short hair, there is volume, so be sure your hair outline indicates that. If you're not sure how to draw short hair, make sure you're watching the video here because everything is in real time, and will help you SO much!! Before you start penciling in the strokes of individual hair strands, make sure you really look at your short hair drawing reference to consider the directionality of her hair. Which way does it extend from the part?  I hope you found this video on drawing female hairstyles super helpful!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature...
Have a wonderful week!!! Want to learn how to draw a simple whimsical face in pencil? Want to work on shading a face? ❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK HOW to DRAW REALISTIC EARS with Pencil in 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)22/2/2021 Want me to teach you how to draw realistic ears with pencil in just FIVE minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! In today's step by step lesson, we're going to be drawing 5 ears in real time. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  We're in week four of the 5 in 5 Drawing Facial Features series, and focusing on ear drawing (EASY and QUICK)! I'm actually super surprised by how much I ENJOYED this week's ear drawing practice!! I know that sounds a little ridiculous, but I have to say I kinda LOVED drawing them, and this week might be my favorite in the series so far. I think it totally has to do with the shading, and just how FAST we can knock each one of these babies out!! Each one took me around 4 minutes.  Make sure you download my 20-page drawing practice packet so you can draw right along with me. It's got all the ear drawing reference images for this week, and for every other week in the series. It's yours, FREE. Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox!  Even though I'm on week four of the series, don't feel like you're behind if you are just discovering this. These drawing exercises are for YOU to do on your own time, at your own pace. There is no schedule, just FUN!! All you need to do the drawing exercises in my 5 in 5 Practice Packet is basically a good eraser and a pencil. You totally don't have to get fancy. Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  If you are interested in some fancier drawing tools - I'm using my favorite Blackwing pencil, vanish eraser, and Tombow Mono Eraser (that's the one that looks like a mechanical pencil, but is an eraser!). This thing is seriously magical for chiseling out teensy highlights!!! If you have a blending stump - get your dirtiest one ready! If you don't have one - no problem, use your finger or a q-tip to help you with blending.  I've had a lot of people ask about the portfolio I'm using to store my practice pages in (see above), so here's the link if you're interested in that too! Don't feel pressured to grab that. Any old folder will do!  I'm pulling out my phone to set my timer because I'm trying to get away from perfectionism with these facial feature drawing exercises. For me this is more about trying to establish a daily art practice, and showing YOU that it CAN be done ;) If you're someone who tends to think you need to set aside large chunks of time to work on your art, and subsequently aren't doing anything, or are doing very little (don't worry- this is SUPER common), you definitely need to watch episode one in this series, because I talked a lot about mindset shift. It's at the heart of WHY I'm doing this series.  Ok! Let's draw. As you can see, above, ears typically start with a variation of the letter "C." Then I work my way around the inner folds, lay down a little graphite for shading and that's about it. Easy, right? If you're new to the series, each week I've been reminding people drawing along with me (I HOPE you are!!) to focus on these three things:
(FYI - there aren't many details when it comes to the ears, unless you're adding in earrings - like we do in the very last exerise for today).  I don't know about you, but when I get up close and personal with the ear like this, the whole thing totally doesn't make sense! Ears are wierd, right?! Oh well! Whenever I start thinking stuff like this while I'm drawing, I tell myself to just ignore that thought. It doesn't need to make sense- I just need to draw it. I tell my students that too!! Just be systematic with it, and go one wierd fold at a time.  Make sure you click over to watch this ear drawing tutorial so we can do these ear drawings step by step together. Everything is in real time (no sped up timelapsing) to help you out. If you feel like anything is going too fast, pause whenever you need to.  I'm really noticing a consistent pattern from week to week when I do these drawing exercises. The first drawing is like a warm up and by the last one I feel like I'm on FIRE! Lol! Practice really is a "thing," and you DO become a better artist with the more practice you do!  After you get your main ear shape down, it's ok to scribble some graphite down to just get things started- then you can drag the graphite around with your blending stump to smooth things out.  Ears are really great for drawing practice with the value scale because they are a convaluted mix of highlights and shadows around crazy shapes. Drawing ears feels very similar in a way to drawing noses or drawing hands because these features don't have hard lines and they really don't come to life until you start shading them. That's where the magic happens!!!  For the last ear drawing image today, I'm going to show you how to draw ears with earrings. It's really not that much different -it's just a bit more detail to play with at the end!  When I got to the earring part of this drawing I switched over to my mechanical pencil because the lead is thinner. Here's a quick look at all of the ear drawing images for today- all done! I HOPE you're drawing along with me. I can't wait to see how you do!  Be sure to post your progress in the Facebook Group for Awesome Art School. Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature...
Have a wonderful week!!! ❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK I LOVE doing mixed media collage for the faces I create on canvas or in my art journal! Typically I will do a collage background FIRST in my mixed media art projects, but today I started with a spray painted background and stencils. Then I drew in a face shape, added gesso, collage paper, and created this beauty in my classic "Hamburger" style.  If you need a little inspiration or some NEW mixed media art ideas for your canvas backgrounds - I love doing this technique for mixed media backgrounds on canvas! It goes SO fast and looks amazing when you're done. Don't get creeped out by the picture below. LOL! I know it looks a little scary- but after I drew in a face shape, I filled the whole face and neck in with gesso so my next layer (collage), would really pop on top of my fun background, and not get lost.  Check out just how EASY this mixed media collage technique is!! I used some beautiful collage paper and trimmed it to fit the face shape I'd sketched over my background.  After the collage layer was dry, I started shading the face with acrylics.  I did lots of fun layering here- using a variety of skin tone colors, more gesso, and continually re-drawing the facial features if they got covered up! Make sure you watch the video to see how this process comes together.  Once I was happy with my acrylics, I sealed everything with mod podge and continued "Hamburger Style" - using pitt pens and posca pens for more shading and detail work. Not sure what my "Hamburger System" is? It's my signature mixed media layering process. Lots of people struggle with understanding their supplies and how they work best together, but it's EASY once someone shows you how! I compare layering my supplies to the way you layer toppings for the perfect burger! I've got an entire FUN YouTube series of tutorials, cheatsheets, and even wrote a mixed media art BOOK about it!! Download the FREE, one-page cheatsheet that explains it all by clicking the button below. I'll send it straight to your inbox so you can print it and keep it at your art table for reference to help you with mixed media layering.  Above is nearing the end of my acrylic painting proces before I sealed her with mod podge, and below is AFTER, while adding the fun details that REALLY make her come to life.  I hope you enjoy watching this timelapse version of the step by step process I LOVE using to create mixed media portraits!! 🍔 NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING or LAYERING your mixed media art supplies? I'd LOVE to help!! Check out my Hamburger System & Get all my FREE TIPS in this YouTube series!!!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK Today I'm spilling ALL my Mixed Media Painting SECRETS about WHY ACRYLIC PAINTS are best for layering. If you're a beginner in the world of mixed media art, or just curious about how many crazy types of acrylic paint are out there to help you make a little mixed media MAGIC - today's video is FOR YOU!  One of the biggest questions/complaints I get from my students has to do with using watercolors in mixed media art. They always ask me WHERE in the Hamburger System to put their beloved watercolors, and WHY their watercolors "won't sit still" if they try to put mod podge over them. If you know me, you know I LOVE some special time with my luscious Daniel Smith watercolors, Noodler's Ink, or really ANY watersoluble product I can get my hands on (black stabilo all, anyone?!) The thing about watersoluble art supplies is... they are DESIGNED to move, not stay put - even if they're fully dry. Even something as simple as putting a layer of mod podge OVER watercolors to "seal" them...isn't gonna work. And right here is where I get most of the complaints from my watercolor lovers. I'm a watercolor lover as much as the next girl. But, when it comes to acrylic painting vs watercolor for mixed media layering, acrylic paints win hands down because they DON'T MOVE. They dry to a plastic, nonporous surface. What this means in the world of mixed media is that acrylics are AMAZING for layering (something we do a LOT of as mixed media artists)! Acrylic paints are non-watersoluble, and don't re-activate. That fact alone makes them magical to TONS of artists.  My biggest advice to my watercolor lovers is to ... learn to USE (or love!) ACRYLICS whenever you intend to do lots of layering for your mixed media art!! Don't worry, there are SO many types of acrylic paint out there. I'm actually gonna show you some THIN acrylics that behave kinda like watercolors, so stay with me!! Here's a mixed media art example of a piece I created with some unique layering. AND, I did my collage later at a different point than I normally would if I were using my Hamburger System.  I typically love to start my mixed media art projects with collage. In the above mixed media portrait, I started with a layer of acrylic SPRAY PAINT (super FUN process)! Then I collaged over that, did some more acrylic painting, and collaged over that AGAIN. The reason I could do that is because I was using acrylic paints! Speaking of my Hamburger System, I've got a 1 page cheatsheet of this layering system I can send to you if you like. Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!  There are LOTS of options when it comes to the types of acrylic paints on the market. Beginners, listen up, because this will help you understand your mixed media painting supplies SOOO much! Each brand has a range of products you can try, depending on the type of effect you're in the mood for. Additionally, most brands also have a "student" grade (like Liquitex Basics, featured below), if you don't want to spend a fortune on acrylic painting supplies.  I pulled together a wide variety of options to show you for today's acrylic painting demo so you have an idea of what each one does in case you're interested in trying them!  If you like the look of something chunky, you might want to try knife painting, or using a "heavy bodied" acrylic paint. This type of acrylic paint keeps its form, is very thick and opaque. Most heavy body acrylics come in tubes like the ones above. HOWEVER...there are also heavy bodied paints that come in an applicator like the one below! Check out this fun 3D Liner by Sennelier! This is a fine art product (that means it's light fast, and not moving around). It goes on kina like "puffy paints" for adults!! How fun is THAT?! You've gotta see how this works!  If you're interested in trying a softer bodied acrylic you might be interested in trying a line from Matisse called "Flow." It has a nice consistency to it, but if you're into knife painting, this isn't going to give you the texture you'll find in a heavy body acrylic. Not only do the consistencies of acrylic paints vary, but their sheen will as well. Take a look at these GORGEOUS iridescents by Arteza!!  While you definitely can add acrylic painting mediums to your paints to get results like this, I tend to be in the kinda girl who wants to grab a bottle, know what to expect from it, and go!! This is just pure fun. I mean, look at that GREEN!!  In addition to soft bodied acrylics, there are fluid or "high flow" acrylics. These are heading into the direction of a consistency similar to watercolors, and where my watercolor lovers need to listen up! If you are one of the peeps adding water to your acrylic paints to get a thinner consistency out of them, please stop :) I say this with LOVE. Adding water will alter the chemical makeup of your acrylics. For the most part, it's just going to dilute your colors so they won't be as vibrant as they would be in their natural state...right out of the tube. You may not know this, but I don't even wet my paintbrushes prior to using my acrylics. Speaking of acrylic paintbrushes, if you need help understanding what paintbrushs to use, you'll want to check out this video. There are TONS of variations out there, so this will help to set you on the right path.  Golden makes a great line of fluid acrylics and even has some awesome transparent acrylics if you enjoy the look of a thinner wash. If you are interested in creating an effect similar to watercolors, but using acrylics- I recommend reaching for "high flow acrylics." If you're in the mood for something EVEN "drippier," you have to try Liquitex acrylic inks! Make sure you click over to watch this video so you can SEE the drips!!! SERIOUSLY soooo fun!!  Liquitex even put their professional, artist grade ink into some GIANT markers for us to play with (see below).  Who doesn't want a ginormous, hot pink marker FULL of paint?! These can help you make some quick splatters with zero effort.  Another fun acrylic product to try is called acrylic gouache. This is super matte when dry, and very flat. Gouache actually comes in different forms, and may be something you've tried if you're into watercolor or have done any classes with my favorite Scottish bud, Lucy Brydon. Liquitex has an awesome, artist grade acrylic gouache that is light fast and has a fun applicator tip you can play with.  While you absolutely can go out and buy a collection of ALL these acrylic painting supplies, you DON'T have to, because acrylic paints have a HUGE collection of mediums that were made just for this purpose - to change the properties of acrylic paints!! How cool is that?!  There are literally DOZENS of acrylic painting mediums you can try. The ones I pulled to show you are a handful of my favorites. Sometimes there is a ratio of how much medium should be added to how much acrylic paint, so be sure you read the instructions on the side of your bottle to get the best effects.  If you're interested in the flat look of gouache, you might want to try Ultra Matte Medium by Liquitex. If you watch my mixed media YouTube channel, you know I use matte medium all the time as an adhesive for my collage pieces, but it can also tone down the glossiness of your acrylic paints.  If you want to try thinning your acrylics, Golden makes a great airbrush medium that will thin your acrylic paints without diluting the pigment of your color! So if you're one of my friends who reaches for water to thin your paints...stop! PLEASE use this instead!!  If you want your acrylics to behave more like oils, you can lengthen the drying time by adding a retarder.  If you want to get drizzly with your paint while playing with textures, you can add Clear Tar Gel by Golden to your acrylics!  PHEW!! That's a LOT of products!! Of course there are more, but this is a helpful foundation of acrylic painting basics and will DEFINITELY get ya started. Make sure you click over to actually WATCH this video because it helps to see what each product actually does on canvas! Are you in the mood to do some acrylic painting now?! I thougt so!! If you need a simple acrylic painting tutorial for beginners, this one is FREE, super cute and FUN!  Interested in doing some acrylic painting at home, or looking for acrylic painting online classes? This one is perfect for beginners if you're ready to step up your game!!
Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I hope you have a wonderful week!!! ❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK HOW to DRAW EYES REALISTICALLY in Just 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)15/2/2021 Want me to teach you how to draw eyes realistically in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! We're drawing facial features right now on my YouTube drawing channel and spending about 5 minutes drawing each reference image. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  We're in week three of the 5 in 5 Drawing Facial Features series, and focusing on how to draw eyes - everyone's favorite! Make sure you download my 20-page drawing practice packet so you can draw right along with me. It's got all the drawing reference images in it and is yours FREE. Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox! Even though I'm on week three of the series, don't feel like you're behind if you are just discovering this. These drawing exercises are for YOU to do on your own time, at your own pace. There is no schedule, ok? I thought this packet might help us to "get out of our own heads" about how much time we need to set aside each week to actually DO an art project. That's one of the main reasons I'm trying to only spend about 5 minutes per eye drawing. I also know perfectionism is a big thing we all grapple with at times, especially when it comes to drawing. I'm hoping this will help! If you missed the first episode - I talked a lot about mindset shift, so make sure you check that out if it's something you struggle with.  Let's get to it!! We've got five gorgeous eyes to focus on today. As we work on each eye drawing picture provided, I mainly want you to think about three things:
Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  We're doing all of drawing practice in pencil, so grab your favorite and make sure you have a good eraser. If you have a blending stump - get your dirtiest one ready! If you don't have one- no problem, use your finger or a q-tip to help you with blending. If you are interested in some fancier drawing tools - I'm using my favorite Blackwing pencil, vanish eraser, and Tombow Mono Eraser (that's the one that looks like a mechanical pencil, but is an eraser!). This thing is seriously magical for chiseling out teensy highlights!!! This week I also busted out my mechanical pencil because there really are some fine lines when you're drawing eyes and I feel like a thinner lead can really help with replicating that detail.  I spend the bulk of my time on each eye trying to get the SHAPE right so it looks like the photo. It really helps to have a black and white image when you're drawing in pencil. And I gotta say, I really love working directly in the packet because I'm drawing right next to each reference.  My goal was to spend roughly 5 minutes on drawing each reference image. This one took right around 6, so not bad - especially considering I threw an eyebrow into the drawing as well!  Look ot this gorgeous second prompt! I'm trying to challenge us by using a variety of references from different ethnicities, AND I've switched things up so some of the references are the right eye, and some are the left. Aren't her lashes just stunning?? If you are interested in learning how to draw Asian eyes, I have two different tutorials you can check out from my last series that spend a little more time on this specifically. I've got one in greyscale of an Asian woman, and one of an Asian male, in color.  Isn't this one pretty?! I JUST LOVE how each eye is so unique.  As we move on to the third reference, you'll see her eye has a much different shape than the other two.  When you're studying a reference photo, and things feel overwhelming, try to look for shapes you can copy in your drawing. For example, I always find it helps me to look at the tear duct of an eye as its own shape. In our third eye in today's worksheet, there is a very pronounced tear duct, as well as a pronounced wet line under her eye (this is where I felt the need for the mechanical pencil to jump in!).  If you haven't seen me do this before, I totally help myself out and use a circle template when it comes to the iris, and sometimes even will use it for the pupil! I have no shame in using a template here, and neither should YOU!! It's just a little cheat to save time and get over that perfectionism trap we can all fall into when trying to draw a "perfect" circle. Can you spend time drawing each iris from scratch? Of COURSE you can! But that's not what this exercise is about. We're doing quick and easy practice. My circle template is a tool that helps me achieve that goal, so I encourage you to use one if it helps you too!!  When it comes to the eyelashes - I LOVE adding eye makeup drama here. I know eyelashes can really be tough to draw for all of us at times, so I've got a cheatsheet with all my tips on eyelashes drawing. You can grab that here if you haven't already!  Don't forget to kinda zoom out and hold your drawing out from a distance to compare it to the reference every so often. This will help you find little tweaks you can make to get your drawing to look more like the reference. When I did that with the above image, I noticed I needed a bit more shadow under the lower lid, so popped that in with my blending stump.  lf you've never done drawing like this before, please don't be intimidated, and come try this with me. Beginners are ALWAYS welcome, and this is an amazing exercise to work on together.  I LOVE the highlight on the iris in our 4th photo!! It's like a perfect little window!!  The lashes on our last reference photo are AMAZING!! They're also downturned a smidge. Gorgeous right? Make sure you're watching the video so I can show you exactly how I sweep in with my pencil to capture what I see in these unique eyelashes. In case you need my 5 in 5 Practice Packet link one more time - here ya go - cick the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox!! Good luck with today's eye drawing tutorial over on my YouTube drawing channel! I can't wait to see your work!! Please share it with me!
Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature... Have a wonderful week!!! ❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK HOW to DRAW NOSES REALISTICALLY in Just 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)8/2/2021 Want me to teach you how to draw noses realistically in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! Last week I started a new series on my drawing YouTube channel ALL about drawing facial features! Each week we're going to focus on a different facial feature, and will draw it five different times (from reference images provided), and will ONLY spend five minutes on each drawing! Sounds FUN right?! If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face or how to shade a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  Last week I showed you how to draw lips realistically, and this week we're gonna tackle how to draw realistic noses!!! The only supplies you need are a pencil, an eraser, and my FREE 5 in 5 Practice Packet. If you haven't downloaded your packet yet, CLICK the BUTTON below and I'll send it straight to your inbox. Simply print it out, grab a pencil and click over to today's video on my YouTube Drawing Channel. If you missed last week's video on how to draw lips realistically, make sure to check that out, and draw along with me at your own pace on pages one and two of your packet. Feel free to go out of order and skip around. This is FOR YOU, and no one else. I've got 5 nose drawing references for us to work on today, so if you're drawing along with me (and I hope you do!!) flip to those two pages and let's get started!  The goal is to spend about 5 minutes total on drawing exactly what you see in the reference image photo. You can draw right into your packet in the empty white space next to each photo. While we're doing these drawing exercises, I mainly want you to focus on three things:
Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  I'm working with my favorite Blackwing pencil again today. I love these because the graphite is SO soft. They are a luxury if you buy them individually, but around $2/each if you buy them in bulk. I feel like the lead is equivalent to a 4B, so I suggest working with that if you have it. If you don't - you can use a straight up #2 school pencil. I'm not kidding! Whatever gets the job done and has you drawing is what is most important!! As you'll see in the video, I do pull out my phone to time myself for each drawing. You totally don't have to do that!! I'm just doing this to keep myself focused because I could spend an hour working on ONE nose drawing, and that's not what this kind of drawing practice is about. What we're interested in right now is just spending time on something that is QUICK and EASY!  I spend the bulk of my 5ish minutes observing my reference photo and trying to replicate what I see next to it in pencil. Once I'm happy with the gist of my nose outline drawing, I use the side of my pencil to get some graphite down and drag that around with a blending stump to add some shading. If you don't have a blending stump, don't worry about it! You can use your finger or a q-tip! If you DO have a blending stump, you WANT it to be dirty. In fact, the dirtier, the better! After I get the darkest part of my drawing done (nostrils), I pull out my Tombow Mono Eraser (I LOVE this thing)! If you haven't used one of these before, it's basically a mechanical eraser, like a mechanical pencil! It has this SUPER teeny tip that is awesome for carving out detail highlights.  After you're done with your first nose drawing, make sure you hold your paper back a little to get some perspective. Compare your work to the reference to see if there are tweaks you want to make. If you're happy, move on to reference image number two! If you see something you could have done better, try to keep that in mind as you move on to the second image, and definitely don't beat yourself up about it! I'm finding as I do these drawing exercises with you that my first drawing is really a warm up, and I often get better the further into the packet I get!!  The second nose has a really has a unique shape, doesn't it? That's exactly why I chose it! I really hunted around to try and find a wide variety of nose reference photos for you, so I HOPE you're drawing along with me while you watch my YouTube drawing tutorial, because this is ALL in "real time" with no timelapsing to help you make the MOST of your drawing practice!  When I sit back and look at my drawing from a distance, I see that I really could have made the center highlight a bit more pronounced, so I make a few adjustments. Drawing has SO much to do with observational skills, so really take your time when studying each reference image. If you're just learning how to draw faces, or anything for that matter - your observational skills will develop and improve over time with practice. These little exercises are PERFECT to help you fine tune the way you look at images. Plus- if you watch my YouTube drawing lessons, you KNOW I'm all about pointing these little nuances out to help you along!!  This third nose is super random, and not like ANY nose I've ever drawn before, but it gives me a great opportunity to teach you how to draw a nose from an angle. It's kind of an upturned nose. As you can see in the image above, really the ONLY drawing that goes into a nose is at the base, where the nostrils are. The rest is basically ALL shading and highlights!! Crazy, right?!  If you've been away from drawing for a while, or get caught in a mindset of thinking you don't have enough time for drawing practice - I HEAR you!! SO many people have shared this concern with me, and it's one of the reasons I created this 5 in 5 Practice Packet! What I'm challenging each of us to do is to only carve out 5 minutes of time to work on each reference photo in the drawing packet. That can help us slowly shift our mindsets into thinking of our art practice in a different way. We don't have to set aside TONS of time for drawing practice. Just a few minutes a day is SOMETHING, and it's time you're carving out just for yourself. You're WORTH IT!  Now my last nose of the day was actually my favorite of all five and I did that one the fastest! See... there's something to that whole idea of PRACTICE and not needing to spend ALL DAY on it either!! In case you need that link for the 5 in 5 Practice Packet one more time, here ya go - click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox! Good luck with today's fun nose drawing practice!! I hope it goes awesome for you. Make sure you click over to my drawing YouTube channel so we can do it TOGETHER!!! See ya there. Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature... Have a wonderful week!!! ❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK I LOVE collaging art backgrounds for the mixed media portraits I create on canvas or in my art journal! Typically I will do a collage background FIRST in my mixed media art projects, but today I started with some gesso and acrylic painting followed by a little simple sheet music collage. I just LOVE how it turned out!! If you love to watch a timelapsed project set to music for a little mixed media inspiration, today's video is FOR YOU! Enjoy!! 🍔 NEED HELP UNDERSTANDING or LAYERING your mixed media art supplies? I'd LOVE to help!! Check out my "Hamburger" System & Get all my FREE TIPS in this YouTube series!!! 😍 LOVE Mixed Media Portraits but NOT INTO DRAWING? I've got a template & a series for that!! ✏️ WANNA LEARN HOW to DRAW a Fabulous FACE in 5 Minutes?! 🔥 LOVE Mixed Media on Canvas, but wanna save $$$ ? Use the trick in today's video! Upcycle an old record cover & throw a little gesso on top!! BOOM! You've got a super cute sqaure canvas ready and waiting for YOUR masterpiece!! ❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM Want me to teach you how to draw lips realistically in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! Over the next few weeks on my YouTube drawing channel, we're going to be drawing facial features and spending 5 minutes on each reference image. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  TONS of people tell me about how they really struggle with not having enough time in their day to get a little art practice in. I get it!! Outside of my art - I'm a mom, I've gotta walk my Maggie a zillion times a day, figure out dinner every stupid day (LOL!). I'm with ya. We all have stuff!! But, if art is something YOU LOVE, and making the time to practice feels overwhelming because you feel like you need to dedicate a super long session of time to it - let's reframe that mindset. You don't need to have super long periods of time set aside to art. You can actually spend a few minutes a day on it if you want to, STILL have fun, and STILL grow as an artist! If you're hoping to get a more regular art practice started, one of my recommendations for that is to actually PUT IT IN YOUR CALENDAR. I know!! Sounds SO easy, right? But if you schedule some time for yourself - just as you would for something like a doctor's appointment - it's WAY more likely to happen. YOU'VE GOT THIS!! AND to help you have something TO DO for each of these little mini practice sessions, I've got a FREE surprise for ya!!  I've created a fun (and FREE!!!) Drawing Practice Packet for us to do together! We're gonna spend the next few weeks drawing and shading lips, noses, eyes, face shapes, hairstyles and last but not least...ears!! All in pencil!!! Each week we're gonna study 5 reference photos of the same facial feature. For each reference photo - we're going to ONLY spend 5 minutes or less drawing what we see right next to each facial feature we're studying. You can do all of your drawing practice right inside this packet!! Why only spend only 1 - 5 MINUTES per drawing prompt?! Because another thing a lot of my students struggle with is perfectionism!! YOU know who you are... LOL!  All you're gonna need to practice with me is a pencil with an eraser. If you're new to me or my YouTube drawing channel, I'm all about using what you have, and not buying stuff just to buy it (which your wallet is gonna LOVE). Don't get me wrong- my shelves are FULL of fun products to use. But if I share info about a fine art product I enjoy - please don't feel obligated to use it. On the other hand, if you're interested in taking your art to the next level - fine art supplies DO make a difference in your art, so I try to show you my favorite supplies as I discover them to save you both time and money. That way you don't keep collecting a variety of cheap to middle of the road products and overspending on stuff that isn't going to give you the quality you're hoping to find. With that being said -every single one of these drawing exercises can be done in a good old fashioned #2 school pencil if that's all ya got!! And if that's all you've got, you're STILL going to grow as an artist. PROMISE. Ready to download and print your own Practice Packet so we can get started? Simple click the button below and I'll have it sent STRAIGHT to your inbox!! Then meet me over on today's how to draw lips YouTube video and I'll teach you exactly how to draw lips realistically step by step!!  Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below 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 only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  Ok! Let's get started... My favorite drawing pencils are by Blackwing. They're stupid expensive if you buy them individually, but are closer to $2/each if you buy them in a pack of 12. To me the splurge is worth it - they are silky smooth and draw like butter!!! They also have this cool eraser on the end of them that is a tiny rectangle (and replaceable!!), which makes it so easy to carve in little highights or to erase angluar mistakes!! If you're in the market for new erasers, I've got two favorites: the vanish eraser (takes care of the bigger mistakes / adjustments) and my Tombow Mono Eraser. THIS is the coolest. It's kind of like a mechanical pencil, but it's a mechanical eraser!! Here you can see the teensy tip of it (below, right) - it's amazing for carving out itty bitty highlights!  Additionally, you might want to have a blending stump or two to help you shade a little quicker, and a bit more delicately. Again, you don't have to have these at all - you can totally use your finger without spending a dime!! A q-tip works well for this too! Because we're doing these exercises in pencil, it helps tremendously if the face drawing reference photos are ALSO in black and white instead of color. That's why I chose black and white reference photos! It makes a big difference when you're focusing on face shading techniques or just learning how to shade a face. For each of the drawings we work on together in the Practice Packet, I want you to be thinking of three things:
 As you can see, I'm doing my sketching and shading directly in my Practice Packet, so no fancy paper is needed either! I hope you're drawing with me right now!! Make sure you click over to the video because this is all being done in REAL TIME, step by step over in my YouTube drawing tutorial so you can draw right along with me. These drawing exercises are SUPER EASY and beginners are totally welcome, so don't worry about it if you've never done this before. There's a first time for everything!! After I get through the first two lip drawing images, I discover I'm spending about 1 minute to get the lips outline drawing in place, then about 3-4 minutes putting some graphite down to shade and blend, plus adding a few more pencil lines or highlights for detail. I'm seriously trying not to care so much (which is HARD, I know)! Just keep telling yourself, this drawing exercise isn't about hyper realism - it's just about showing you how YOU CAN give yourself just a few minutes here or there each day to accomplish something, call it "good enough," and create a little drawing habit for yourself!  You can TOTALLY make time for this practice, and it doesn't have to be at home. If you've got a doctor's appointment coming up and you know you're gonna be stuck in the waiting room for a bit - throw this packet and a pencil in your purse and go. It will distract you while you're sitting there, and if drawing makes you happy, it will also help to decrease your stress level.  Just a little note for my Fun Fab Drawing Club members - if you're hanging out with me for this facial features drawing series, a lot of the face drawing reference photos I'm using for this series are in your 2021 UPDATED Membership Guide!!! So check the digital eBook version out right here in the classroom, or order yourself a copy over on Amazon if you prefer a physical copy! This guide has GROWN so much from last year and is now a fat 259 pages in its second edition!! NOT a Fun Fab Drawing Club member but interested in learning more? CLICK HERE. NOT a Fun Fab Drawing Club member but WANT to BE?! CLICK HERE to join the waitlist. (Membership enrollment opens twice a year- in the fall and in the spring). If you're interested in grabbing ALL my cheatsheets at once- go ahead and hop over to Awesome Art School, and you'll find them in my YouTube & Cheatsheet Library.  So for this last practice image, I did go a little over the "time limit," but that's ok. Go easy on yourself. There's no pressure here. The point of me trying to throw a timer into this exercise for myself, is just to remind me NOT to spend 45 minutes working on that one gorgeous mouth, and getting SO fussy about it that I'm trying to make it perfect. We're doing quick and dirty, and 6 minutes is still quick in my book!!  How adorable is this last mouth? The top lip totally has a heart shape to it!! I LOVE it and that's why this mouth made the practice packet! LOL! I'm gonna say it again...you BETTER be drawing with me, and you NEED to click over to this drawing video on YouTube so you can do this with me in real time. Did you download your Drawing Practice Packet yet??? Here's that button if you need it again... Now go check your inbox and come on over to YouTube so we can get started together!! I hope you LOVE doing this as much as I do!! Thanks SO much for hanging out with me for today's lip drawing tutorial!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature... Have a wonderful week!!! ❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK |
Karen CampbellFounder of Awesome Art School. Mixed Media Artist. Author of 15 Instructional Art Books!    
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What Fans Are SayingKaren, 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. |
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