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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!! 
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.
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! 
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!!). 
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. 
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! 
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.
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?!
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!
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!! 
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!! 
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!!
Need More Resources?
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SKIN TONE MARKER SECRETS for Shading GORGEOUS FACES with Copics & Ohuhu Markers [NEW BOOK Flip Thru]27/4/2022
Today I'm spilling ALL my skin tone marker SECRETS for shading gorgeous faces with copics and ohuhu alcohol markers!
Get a sneak peek at my BEST ohuhu and copic marker blending tips & tricks inside my latest drawing book, "Skin Tone Secrets" - now on Amazons worldwide! Stay with me till the end of this video for a quick face shading demo on an adorable baby face. I'll show you just how EASY it is to add depth to your face drawings using my simple shading guide & just 3 alcohol markers! 
If you're not into drawing, but enjoy coloring (or just love any excuse to use your alcohol markers like I do!), I've got a FREE download just for you.
Simply click on the button below, and I'll send you a 25-Page PDF of Coloring Sheets with faces of all the characters in this fun, new book! 
Print them out at home and use them for swatching and coloring away till your heart's content!
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.
My students always ask me what alcohol marker paper I use for coloring. If you're printing these FREE coloring pages at home, I suggest you use a nice cardstock. My favorite is by Hammermill. I just buy a giant pack off Amazon and it lasts forever. The paper is super smooth, feels like Bristol, but is SO much cheaper!
As you'll see in today's video, my new book opens with a general overview of art markers and an intro about what makes alcohol markers so special (to ME, at least).
Next you'll get a quick overview of what I call "the anatomy" of an alcohol marker. Many have both chisel and brush tips, plus a refillable barrel.
As you can see off to the right in the above photo, I have two alcohol marker brands I recommend to my students and use ALL the time myself: Copics and Ohuhu brush markers. 
If you've been following me a while, you know I adore my copics and think they feel like butter sliding across my paper.
The only catch is, they are super expensive (the above set of 6 skin tone copic markers on Amazon costs ~$36). I've spent years building my copic marker collection, and just about as long testing copic alternatives so I can recommend another brand to my students who want to enjoy high quality alcohol markers at a lower cost.
About a year ago, while I was working on another book, Whimsical Women of the World, I discoverd an amazing brand of alcohol markers for a fraction of the cost. If you look at the Ohuhu Skin Tone Set (below), there are FOUR TIMES the number of colors provided in the Copic marker skin tone set shown above.
That alone gets my attention, but the price for this ohuhu marker set on Amazon is even better- just $30! It's a no-brainer, right? 
I adore my Ohuhu skin tone marker set and recommend it all the time! There is such a huge array of colors to shade beautiful faces for any and every ethnicity your heart desires. Even better- the quality of these alcohol markers is really up there with copics. Ohuhs also blend interchangeably and beautifully with copics - in case you've already started collecting those, or want to start!
Back to the flip through...
After I run through the basics about alcohol markers in Skin Tone Secrets, my favorite brands, which alcohol marker paper I recommend, how to layer and blend alcohol markers (while avoiding streaking), I'll take you through a series of cute characters that you can draw along with me. You'll notice I spend extra time on their fun hairstyles because TONS of people struggle with how to draw hair. In this book you'll get a little bit of everything from how to draw straight hair and updos, to long hair, short hair, ideas for men and how to draw curly hair! 
You'll also get TONS of super helpful tips on how to shade faces - by imagining where the light source is coming from for each face you create. It's much easier than people think, once someone shows you how!
You'll also learn about my three FAVORITE face shading patterns and how those are replicated with alcohol markers. 
I've even put together a great reference sheet on WHERE to add highlights to your face shading. I'm ALWAYS asked about this, so hopefully this guide clears up any confusion and can become a simple cheatsheet for you to refer back to.
HOT TIP: As you can see in the pic above, these face highlighting tips work for shading faces mixed media style or in any kind of drawing from pencil to toned paper drawing and coloring with alcohol markers.
As the book continues, you'll learn exactly HOW and WHERE to layer three skin tone shades of markers on a face step by step, start to finish. I'll teach you exactly which 3-color combos go well together to create light, medium and dark skin tones and will show you the specific marker numbers I'm using in either Ohuhu or Copics.
If you're not into alcohol markers, this book can still be helpful to you because it contains so many valuable tips about how to shade a face. Those concepts are the same, no matter what art supply you want to work with!
Make sure you click over to watch the video so I can walk you through each page, and then show you exactly how to use this book to shade the cute little baby's face!
Are you a club member at Awesome Art School? The ebook version of Skin Tone Secrets is already in your library for free as an additional club perk ? Thanks for hanging out with me today! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM FUN & EASY Male Fashion Illustration Sketches like Christopher Hart! [Perfect for Beginners]12/4/2022
Feel like adding some MALE fashion illustration sketches to your sketchbook? I hear ya! I LOVE drawing female faces & fashions. But every once in a while- I like to mix things up and draw a dude.
Today we're sketching an EASY fashion illustration figure in pencil, and coloring him in with alcohol markers. He's simple enough to do even if you've never tried fashion figure sketching before. Grab a pencil, some markers & come draw with me! 
If you're new to drawing and coloring with alcohol markers, or have a brand new set of markers, make sure you grab my FREE Swatch Sheet so you can swatch your markers out before we get to the coloring portion of today's project. Simply click on the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!
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.
I can't wait to show you a flip through of the fashion sketching book that inspired today's video, Figure it Out! Simple Lessons, Quick Results by Christopher Hart. It's literally filled with lessons & drawing references that will keep you drawing for days.
A couple of weeks ago I did a female fashion sketch tutorial inspired by another one of Christopher Hart's books (I have ELEVEN of them because I LOVE him that much!). SO many people in my Facebook group were drawing along with me and I just loved it, so decided I had to do another one!
There are so many ways to draw the figure. I'm actually writing a new book right now about how to draw figures using my own Quadrant Method (check this video out if you want to see how the Quadrant Method works for figure drawing).
As I said in my previous Christopher Hart project video - I LOVE his instruction. It's clear, concise, and simple to follow.
I'm using a mechanical pencil to sketch today's male fashion figure. I love the Graphgear Set by Pentel that I'm using in the video because it's weighted and helps me feel like I've got better control. 
This particular drawing prompt from Christopher Hart shows the head tilted just a bit, as well as the shoulders. Since we're drawing a guy- the shoulders are fairly squared off and angular.
Our dude has a bit of a swagger in his step, which makes his torso curve. We're also drawing one leg "shorter" than the other to indicate he's in motion, mid-step. 
You'll notice the joints in fashion illustration are initially sketched in as balls or circles. These guidelines will get erased when the drawing is finished, leaving a gentle curve behind.
Fun fact about fashion figure sketching - the elbows of your figure should always end up at the waist of your model, so keep that guideline in mind as you're drawing. I love that this illustration has the guy's hands in his pockets! Makes things SO much easier - no fingers to worry about. If you are someone who wants to learn how to draw hands and fingers realistically, I've got a course over at Awesome Art School just for you, and a book of the same hand drawing projects on Amazon. 
Once you've got the arms of today's guy sketched in, and have a little detail added to the pants and shirt, it's time to get rid of some of your guidelines.
I'm using my favorite vanish eraser. It's super gentle on your paper and really lifts the graphite quickly. They sell these at Jerry's Artarama for $2! If you don't have a Jerry's near you, you can also pick them up on Amazon at that link above. 
Super important tip if you're planning on using alcohol markers (Copics, Ohuhus, sharpies, etc.) to color your dude in...
You'll want to outline first in a fineliner, then erase all remaining graphite because if you color OVER graphite with your alcohol markers, the underlying graphite will smear. It can also really wreck/stain your lighter marker shades like yellows, light skin tones or pastels. You also need to really make sure you pay close attention to what your fineliners are made of. Alcohol markers blend beautifully with other alcohol markers. But... if you outline in sharpies (this is ALSO an alcohol marker)- you're gonna get smearing or "bleeding" because the fineliner is gonna try to blend with the alcohol markers you're shading with. Do yourself a favor and use a fineliner that's a water based or pigment based. This will ensure NO blending takes place where you don't want it. I love this set by Molotow. It's a great value (11 fineliners in a variety of nib sizes for around $28). 
After your finelining is done, take another pass over the whole drawing with your eraser to make extra sure there is no remaining graphite.
You'll notice just before I grabbed my fineliner, I decided I wasn't as in love with the mohawk I'd drawn in for my dude's hair as I thought I would be. My How to Draw Fun Fab Fellas drawing book was on my art table, so I decided to flip through it for a little men's hairstyle inspiration.
This book was part of my original How to Draw Fun Fab Faces trilogy, and came about because I've got three sons. They used to joke about how I only drew girls, so this book was kinda for them (and anyone out there who loves drawing faces or wants to learn how to draw a male face).
For coloring with alcohol markers (or really any art supply), I recommend you use at least 2 shades of the same color so you can show a little dimension in your shading. It just makes your drawings look so much more sophisticated.
If you don't have two shades of a color available - just use the same color and add another layer to darken parts of your drawing and indicate shadows. That's what I'm doing today. If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm in LOVE with my copic markers! But they cost an arm and a leg to collect (trust me- I've been adding to my collection for YEARS!). Usually I tell my students to purchase a set of Ohuhu alcohol markers because they're much cheaper and still great quality. You can get this giant set of 120 shades for around $99. I know $99 for markers still sounds kinda high - but if you want to play with the rainbow and not sacrifice quality, this is your brand. 
They have an excellent skin tone set too! Just for comparison, this Ohuhu skin tone set comes with 24 markers and runs around $30 on Amazon. The copic marker skin tone set (while gorgeous & top of the line), only comes with 6 markers and costs around $45.
If you're new to working with alcohol markers, watch this video - it's everything you need to know to get started. You can totally mix and match your alcohol marker brands too. So if you feel like splurging on a smaller set of copics and grabbing the Ohuhu skin tone set - they work beautifully together. I work with both brands interchangeably all the time! Can you tell I've mixed brands below? 
Didn't think so ;) Once you've finished coloring today's adorable fashion dude, don't forget to add some white highlights at the end. This is one of my absolute favorite parts of my projects, and really takes your art to the next level.
I had a white poster paint sharpie nearby, so I simply grabbed that to add my highlights in. You could also use a white posca pen here. They're interchangeable too, and both work really well on top of alcohol markers.
Make sure you stick with me until the end of today's video for a FULL flip through of Christopher Hart's book, Figure It Out! Simple Lessons, Quick Results. You're gonna love it! Thanks for hanging out with me today! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
Need some FUN fashion illustration sketches that are simple enough to do even if you've never done fashion figure sketching before? You're in the right place!
Today we're sketching an EASY fashion illustration figure in pencil, and coloring her in with alcohol markers. Grab a pencil, some markers & come draw with me! 
If you're new to drawing and coloring with alcohol markers, or have a brand new set of markers, make sure you grab my FREE Swatch Sheet so you can swatch your markers out before we get to the coloring portion of today's project. Simply click on the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!
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.
I can't wait to show you a flip through of the drawing book that inspired today's video, The Beginner's Fashion Design Studio: Easy Templates for Drawing Fashion Favorites (Drawing with Christopher Hart). It's literally filled with lessons & drawing references that will keep you drawing for days.
I'm completely in love with the author's style (I've got ELEVEN of his books). His faces and figures have a very cartoon-y or semi-realistic drawing style like mine do. I think that is one of the things that attracted me to his work.
I am also very picky about art book instruction (as you may know if you've been following this series on YouTube).
As an art book author myself, I really try to make drawing instruction simple and step by step for my readers. When I find someone who does the same thing (like Christopher Hart!), I get super excited and can't wait to recommend the book to my students. Why don't we get started with today's fashion illustration figure? 
One of the first things I love to do when I'm just getting started with a drawing is to lay out parameters for myself. For example - take a look at the shot above. Her legs go on for miles, right?! To help me get the proportions right, I marked in a faint line where I want the ground to be, as well as where her waist is, so I know in general where I'm going.
All of the subtle angles and movements in the body are what makes the figure so hard to draw. However, if you've got someone like Christopher Hart holding your hand and showing you exactly what to do - I just let them lead the way. Trust me we're in great hands with this fun fashionista sketch!
Look at how sassy she is already!
Take note of how simple her hair is. Tons of my students tend to freak out about hair, but honestly it's so much easier than you think. I always break it down into simple shapes that I can fill in later with detail if I'm in the mood. If I'm not in the mood- I color the blocky hair shape in, and call it a day, because it's super cute and stylistic! 
If you're new to my world, my "kryptonite" is drawing small. LOL! So drawing these teeny tiny hands in feels so hard! Just do what you can and move on with your life. If drawing realistic hands sounds like fun to you, or a challenge you'd like to conquer, I've got both a drawing book and an online art class in my Fun Fab Drawing Club dedicated to "How to Draw AMAZING Hands," filled with 31 hand drawings you can do with me from scratch!
Wanna learn How to Draw Fashion Hands 10 Ways? This video is a bit older, but it's got easy ideas you might love incorporating into your own work.
Whenever I'm doing an alcohol marker project like today's, I love to start my coloring by outlining with a black fineliner. The reason I like to do fineliner and then color my drawings in, is because I want to erase all the graphite on my page. Graphite will smear with alcohol markers and make the nibs of your markers dirty. Erasing pencil lines before you start shading with alcohol markers works great and prevents that mess. If you're looking for an amazing eraser, this one if my fave.
Lately I've really been into using my black fineliners by Molotow. They're pigment based, and do not smear when I use them with alcohol markers.
Speaking of alcohol markers - I LOVE my copics, but they took forever to collect because they're so expensive. If you need to stick to a budget, try Ohuhus. They're awesome, and super affordable. I especially love the Ohuhu skin tone collection. (By the way - copics and ohuhus blend beautifully together, so don't be afraid to mix the brand shades in the same project!) 
See how simple the hair is on this girl? It's basic block shapes and I'm coloring it all one shade. I may just leave it like that because I'm in the mood for fast and easy!
How fun is this green in her sweater?! Love it!
I hope you have so much fun with today's fashion illustration project! And if you decide to get one of Christopher Hart's books - they're ALL fabulous. Take it from me... I've got ELEVEN!!
Need help learning how to color with alcohol markers? Check out this playlist! Thanks for hanging out with me today! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
Need a FUN handmade bookmark design that's step by step and EASY enough to do even if you've never tried drawing before? You're in the right place!
In today's drawing video, you'll get a sneak peek at one of my favorite drawing books filled with inspiring dangle art drawings (similar to zentangling, but even easier). I'll show ya what inspired this bookmark tutorial, then go grab some markers & draw along with me as I guide you through this CUTE handmade bookmark design idea - perfect for artists of ALL levels to enjoy!
If you're new to drawing and coloring with markers, make sure you grab my FREE Swatch Sheet so you can swatch your markers out before we get to the coloring portion of today's project. Simply click on the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!
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!
Today I'm reviewing a drawing book filled with fun dangle art called The Art of Dangles by Olivia A. Kneibler.
What's a dangle? They're basically what they sound like - a line with decorative embellishments, tiny shapes, or charms hanging from them. They're adorable hanging from letters, and you can create super FUN projects out of them, like today's bookmark!
I actually enjoy drawing dangles more than I like zentangling because they're SO simple! Zentangling is super fun, but can get a little fussy for me. If you'd like to try a simple zentangle art project with me - be sure to check out this video and art book review from last week. That project and today's are excellent beginner drawing lessons.
The only criticism I have of today's book is that everything in it has been drawn digitally. I love drawing by hand and teaching beginner drawing lessons, so that's my only tiny complaint.
One of the reasons I really love drawing by hand and appreciate hand drawn art is because of the imperfections that come out of them. You don't see those in digital art. Everything is much more "perfect." Don't get me wrong- I have a serious appreciation for digital drawings too - I just prefer things to be hand drawn. 
Regardless of my preference, I think the author does a fantastic job of providing inspirational drawing ideas to try. She shows how-to's for the entire alphabet in her book, and includes dangles from each letter in upper and lower case. There isn't a ton of step by step direction- but it's totally enough to get you going, whether you want to create along with her in black and white, or in color.
If you have anything coming up that you need a personalized gift for, and want to create something for someone with their name on it - this book would be an excellent asset to help you get started with some amazing ideas.
There are also some fun examples of words showing you how to put creative letters together, and where to add some cute zentangle patterns and dangles.
The book closes with tons of adorable dangle projects you can create from roses, trees and snowflakes to random shapes and mandalas, followed by an index of charms and geometric dangles you can use as thought starters to get your own creativity going.
I felt inspired to combine two of my favorite dangle art projects from this book into one, and decided to do a handmade bookmark design.
To create my project- I'm just using a sheet of hammermill cardstock (it's equivalent to Bristol- just WAY cheaper). I also used a WATER BASED black fineliner to outline my drawing before coloring with my copics.
HOT TIP: If you use a water based fineliner prior to coloring with alcohol markers, the black marker won't bleed (don't use sharpies for this because they are alcohol based). If you're new to my world - I've been collecting my copic markers for years (because they cost an arm and a leg!). I LOVE using my copics, but I highly recommend using what you can afford and/or have on hand. Ohuhus are an excellent copic marker alternative and cost much less per marker if you'd like to start a cheaper alcohol marker collection. 
I finished my coloring off by adding in my signature white highlights using my white sharpie paint pen (a white posca paint pen works just as beautifully here- the sharpie is just what I had on the table at the time of filming).
Thanks for hanging out with me today! If you'd like to learn a little more about drawing, I've got the PERFECT event coming up and would LOVE for you to attend! SIGN UP FOR MY ART RETRO RENDEZVOUS with this special link for just $15. Beginners welcome (even if you've NEVER drawn a thing before). It's 5 days, filled with 10 beginner drawing lessons for you to enjoy! Here's a sneak preview of the projects... 
I hope to see you there!! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
My latest face drawing book is on Amazons worldwide! If you're looking for female face drawing references or a great new drawing book for adults (young & old!) - this book is for YOU! In today's drawing book flip through, I'll show ya a sneak peek of what's behind the cover! Artists of all ages and stages will learn how to draw faces step by step + get ALL MY BEST face shading techniques!
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've been following me on my YouTube drawing channel for a while, you may remember we recently completed a 15 week face drawing series called Whimsical Women of the World!
This book features the projects from that face drawing series for people who prefer to learn how to draw using a drawing book instead of a video! 
Even though the faces in this series were quite challenging and fairly realistic, I call them whimsical - because I feel this one word helps take the pressure off having to be perfect!
Realism requires dilligent attention to detail and hyper focused observational skills! While sometimes I might enjoy a little of that challenge as an artist - most of the time, it takes the FUN out of things for me!! 
For me - having FUN is the whole reason I create art in the first place, and it's why most of my students are into art as well!
Over the years I've discovered that if something is fun - you'll want to do MORE of it, AND the more you do of something -the better you get at it! That's my goal for my students and for myself - FUN and growth for all of us as artists! 
As you'll see in the video, each step by step drawing portrait starts at the very beginning with no more than three simple steps on a page.
This approach helps the projects not feel overwhelming, and sets up artists of every stage and age for success!
The coloring process is also broken down step by step to help you learn how to shade a face. You'll learn my best face shading techniques for shading a face in color (no matter WHAT art supply you're using!).
I used alcohol markers and colored pencil for every project, but I specifically don't note the individual alcohol marker shades I used for each project because I know each artist is coming to these projects in her own context.
Maybe you only have 3 copic markers because they're SO expensive (trust me- I get it and built my collection over many years!!!). Maybe you have zero copics because you've never tried drawing in anything other than pencil, maybe you have the whole set, or maybe you're into ohuhus! To each their own!! I don't care what you use- I just hope YOU DRAW!! 
If you ARE interested in learning about which specific marker colors I'm using, you can sign up to join my Fun Fab Drawing Club or purchase the Whimsical Women of the World classroom where everything is in real time (no timelapsed video- even for the shading portions of each project). You'll also find the original face drawing reference for each project here as well.
If you'd just like a little more info on skin tone markers so you have an idea of where to start with these if you've never used them before- or find starting an alcohol marker collection overwhelming - I recently created a FREE cheatsheet ALL about this to help ya out!! I organized this by color family for skin tones that are light, medium, or dark and have marker swatches from 3 alcohol marker brands that will work well. This should REALLY save you some swatching and trial/error time! Click the button below and I'll send my Skin Tone Markers Guide straight to your inbox. 
There are 12 pages in my Skin Tone Markers Guide and will be your best friend if you're thinking about using alcohol markers to work on these fun projects!
In today's video, you'll also get a little preview of the beautiful student artwork I'm thrilled to be featuring in this book as well! There are four gorgeous student versions for each drawing!!
Here are four of my favorite student pieces for my Native American face drawing project (see below)! 
Artists will also learn how to create profile drawings, as well as side profile drawing in a 3/4 view in Whimsical Women of the World.
In addition, I made sure to focus on the most frequently requested lesson topics students always ask me for - like how to draw a smile with teeth and how to draw a head from different angles.
My Lovely, Laughing Italian (below right) covers these two for sure!!
I also get tons of requests to draw older, more mature women so I can teach how to draw wrinkles! My Burmese Beauty (below) is the perfect project to develop those skills and MORE!
Come check out the flip through video for Whimsical Women of the World. I can't wait to show you what's inside!!
Thanks for hanging out with me today!!
❤️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 & SHADE a WHIMSICAL BABY'S Face in Copic Markers & Colored Pencil (Whimsical Women #15)25/1/2021 I LOVE teaching how to draw a whimsical face, and have enjoyed creating the whimsical face drawing tutorials in this series SOOO much!! I can't believe this is the LAST ONE in this series!! Today's art reference photo features the challenge of drawing a baby face because this lesson has been requested AT LEAST a million times by my beloved students!! The proportions are totally different when drawing a baby - so watch closely, and don't worry - I'll talk you through ALL my tips & tricks!!  Believe it or not ... this is the FIRST time I've ever taught how to draw a baby's face!! We start this out in a similar way to the other whimsical faces in this series, but as you'll see when you watch the video... the proportions of a baby's face are very different from those of an adult. They are much rounder and wider. The face shape is also more of a circle than an oval. However, because this girlie has her mouth open, the circular face shape does end up morphing into more of an oval.  While I was measuring out some of the initial proportions, I noticed that this particular reference seems to follow almost the exact same dimensions as the wrinkled Burmese woman from last week! Isn't that crazy?! If at any point in today's free face drawing lesson, things feel too advanced, you're not alone and this is totally normal. THIS is an advanced drawing project, and really all of the lessons in the Whimsical Women series are. If you're just learning to draw or have never tried drawing a face with pencil before, check this series out for beginners. It's SUPER simple and only takes 5 minutes! Even better- I keep it light and FUN, because I truly believe that the more FUN you're having with your art, the more you're gonna want to do - and the more you do, the better you become!!  Back to drawing this baby.... Initially, while I was studying the reference photo, other observations I saw in her facial features were how large and open her cute little eyes were, and how short her nose is compared to the whimsical face drawing guidelines we typically follow when I'm teaching you how to draw a female face.  HOT TIP: When you're ready to start shading, make sure you erase all of your guidelines, and even pounce on the lines of your drawing that you DO love - just to remove a smidge of that graphite. I've found this helps to save my lighter skin tone markers from getting muddy, and it helps to keep my markers from dragging graphite around the page. It's pretty crazy how reactive the graphite is if your marker accidentally touches it!  Throughout this series, I've been shading all of my projects with alcohol markers, and teaching you along the way how to work through potential issues like blending, streaking, and whatever else might arise if you happen to be using copic markers like me! I recently created a Skin Tone Markers Guide that is basically a 12-page eBook just FULL of alcohol marker swatches from three different brands (of varying price points, because I KNOW full well how expensive copics are, and how LONG it's taken me to build my collection!!). In this free PDF, I walk you through some great examples of alcohol marker shades that go well together to shade light, medium, and dark complexions - across all THREE marker brands (Copic, Ohuhu, and Arteza), so you're sure to be set up for shading success! I feel like a really good copic marker alternative is Ohuhu, followed by Arteza and Parkoo (Parkoo markers aren't in my Skin Tone Markers Guide, but this brand is a SUPER cheap copic marker alternative worth checking out if you're on a tight budget. I did a review of these markers here). I love the Ohuhu brush markers because they have a brush nib like Copics. That nib makes me feel like I'm painting when I'm coloring! If you'd like a copy of my Skin Tone Markers Guide, simply click the button below, and I'll send that cheatsheet straight to your inbox to help you save some time AND money!!   Something I've found SUPER interesting throughout this series, is watching all the different art supplies people are choosing to do these projects in! Of course some are working with alcohol based markers and enjoying this medium along with me - but tons are doing the prompts in watercolor, pastels, acrylics, or mixed media - and I just love seeing everyone's individual style and creativity with their preferences! If you're not aware, I'm actually creating a book from the entire Whimsical Women of the World series, and I'll be featuring student artwork as well (4 drawings per prompt, to be exact)! If you've been drawing along with me and are interested in submitting your work for publication, please read through the submission requirements and send along photos of your interpretation of the projects. I can't wait to see them!! All submissions are due on January 31, 2021.  QUICK TIP for COLORING with COPIC MARKERS! If you're having trouble with the skin tones you're working with looking too yellow (like mine was getting in this particular drawing), all you have to do to even that out, is select a shade across from it on the color wheel. In my case, since I felt like the skin tone of my girlie was getting too yellow, I worked in some very light lilac to even things out. If you haven't played with this copic blending technique before, you might want to do it on a scrap piece of paper off to the side of your drawing until you come up with a look that you like. When you're happy, try it out on your drawing!  Today's little model is also presenting us with the drawing challenge of how to draw a tongue!! LOL! I actually spent quite a bit of time shading this little lady's tongue, and am happy with how it turned out- once my colored pencil layering was added. I feel like my own drawing skills, and really my COLORING SKILLS, have totally improved as a result of doing the proejcts in this series. So if you HAVEN'T been drawing along with me, and are looking for a good drawing challenge - the Whimsical Women Series is PACKED with juicy lessons to help you grow as an artist.  I encourage you to really take more time replicating the shadows and highlights you're seeing around the nose and mouth of this face, and ANY face you draw, because the nuances you observe here and render in your own drawing - bring that person to life, and add a realistic quality to your work - even if you're working in a whimsical style like me! I ended up adding more shading with my white colored pencil and sharpie, and I'm really happy with the results.  If you'd like to draw and shade along with me in "real time," I've got this lesson and each one from the series ready and waiting for you in the Whimsical Women of the World classroom over at Awesome Art School, where we take everything step by step -from drawing to shading and everything in-between!! Thanks for hanging out with me today. Enjoy the tutorial, and I'll see ya back here next week with something FUN & NEW!! If you need any new drawing supplies, here are links to all of my favorite supplies that were used in this project! 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!
👉Hammermill Cover Cardstock 100lb 8.5" x 11" (fave to use with markers and best value at 4-8 cents per sheet and 250 sheets!!) 👉This Arteza pencil set is a new find and a GOOD one!! 👉Pentel GraphGear Mechanical Pencil Set (only ones I use) 👉Ohuhu Markers 24 piece skin tone set (Around $1/marker and with the brush nib, the best alternative to Copics in my opinion!) 👉Copic Skin Tone Pack of 6 ($33) 👉Copic B Set (my fave which has the most skin tones) (72 Set for $330) 👉Arteza Everblend Skin Pack of 36 ($36 - insane value!!!) 👉Arteza EverBlend Alcohol Markers (60 Set for $112 - also insane value!!) ❤️ 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 & SHADE a WHIMSICAL Face WITHOUT Face Drawing GUIDELINES?! (Whimsical Women #13)11/1/2021 I LOVE teaching how to draw a whimsical face, and have been enjoying creating the whimsical face drawing tutorials in this series! Today's art reference photo features a three quarter view face AND a tricky new head tilt to give us some practice drawing faces at different angles! Because her head tilt is so unique- none of my cheatsheets will work to help you draw her from scratch...SO I'm teaching you how to create YOUR OWN FACE DRAWING GUIDELINES!!! I honestly don't know WHERE this gorgeous model is from, but for the sake of our Whimsical Women of the World portrait drawing series, I'm going to pretend she is from the Ukranie!  We've done two, three quarter portraits already in the Whimsical Women of the World series, and I've shown you two different ways to approach drawing faces from this angle here with an Asian model, and here with a Latina model. Because today's model has her head tilted, we can't use the face drawing guidelines from either of our previous lessons. That's actually one of the reasons I selected this photo- because it presents us with a new challenge to learn from! Most artists come up with ways to help themselves accurately replicate what they see in a reference on their own paper. Many will use a light table or some form of grid to at least get them started. If you've seen any of my videos before, you know I really like to draw from scratch as much as I can, because I want to continue developing my drawing skills, building muscle memory, etc. Today I want to teach you how to come up with YOUR OWN guidelines, so you can truly draw faces at any angle!  When I have to create my own guidelines from scratch - my trick is to lay a sheet of trace paper on top of my reference image to sketch in key angles and note specifically where the facial features features should be located in relation to one another. As you'll see in the video, I traced the outline of the model's face shape and laid my pencil across her face to help me determine the correct angle of her eyes, nose and mouth. This nose is especially tricky because it's upturned. I found the shape to be very much like a triangle, so sketched that in. Additionally I noted approximately how wide the eyes and lips were, as well as the basic hair shape.  When I finished tracing, I laid a sheet of drawing paper to the side of my trace paper and tried to replicate the guidelines I had created for myself on the trace paper. If at any point, this one feels too hard- try something simpler! I've got two playlists on my YouTube drawing channel for beginners: how to sketch and shade a simple face, and how to draw profiles - all in graphite! If that feels more like your pace- start there and pop back here when you're ready! We're not going anywhere :)  If you want to do this lesson or ANY of the drawing projects from my Whimsical Women of the World series in REAL TIME - with NO timelapses, you can find these projects in the Whimsical Women of the World Classroom over at AwesomeArtSchool.com. If you're already in my Fun Fab Drawing Club- you'll see the Whimsical Women classroom in your library of club courses!  If you haven't been to AwesomeArtSchool.com before, I highly suggest you check it out!!! I've got so much FUN stuff for you to explore whether you like to draw, paint, do mixed media art - it's all there, and there really is something for everyone!  Back to today's project! When you feel like your drawing is in good shape and you'd like to start shading, go ahead and erase all of your guidelines. If you are shading in copic markers (or ANY brand of alcohol markers!), be sure you've removed as much as you can of the graphite from your guidelines because the graphite really has a tendancy to smear and get carried away by these juicy markers. One of my little workarounds to make sure this doesn't happen when I'm using my light skin tone markers, is to use kind of a pouncing motion to lift some of the graphite from the facial features I've drawn, so there is less of a chance I'll drag it across my page with my marker.  If you're new to shading with alcohol markers, I know there are SO many skin tones and SO many brands out there, it can really be overwhelming when you're first getting started, and/or have a limited budget to spend on art supplies. If you'd like some tips about what skin tone markers go well together, I've recently created a HUGE cheatsheet to help you out!! I say "cheatsheet," but it's really a little book, because this PDF is 12 pages of detailed color swatching!!!  Click the button below and I'll sent that straight to your inbox! You'll find recommendations as to which skin tone markers work well for light, medium, and dark complexions across three different alcohol marker brands (Copic, Ohuhu, and Arteza). It's really quite comprehensive, so even if you're not a total newbie to working with alcohol markers - there are still some gems in here for you that you may not have thought of before!  When I'm coloring with copic markers, I typically shade light to dark, laying down a foundational shade of the lightest skin tone I'll be using to shade the face. Then I slowly work in an additional 2-4 more skin tone markers to help me indicate the range of shadows I see in my reference photo. Every time I add in another layer of shading in a slightly darker shade, I ONLY shade in the areas where I see shadows on my reference model's face and simply keep darkening smaller sections of the areas I've already shaded. When I have a good four layers of shading down, I will take the lighter skin tones and color the entire face with it - shading in a DIFFERENT direction from my original strokes to try and blend any streaks, color transitions or mistakes. I feel like this particular step is TRULY MAGICAL!! It takes all my previous layers, re-wets them, and BLENDS them together. As you'll see in the video, I also use a combination of skin tone famlies. I started out in yellows and beiges, and eventually worked in some pale pink, which adds a layer of sophistication in the complexity of my shading. Don't be afraid to reach for a wide variety of colors, because it's the BLEND of all these tones that really takes your work to the next level!!  When you hit this point of your project, you're about half-way done. Her eyes aren't finished, she hasn't "come alive" yet, and you're in what I lovingly like to call "the ugly phase." Try to be patient and keep working your layers. I promise she WILL come out of it. My biggest advice is DON'T GIVE UP. If you do- the "ugly phase" wins - and you'll never know what your girl could've turned into, SO just KEEP GOING.  Hair can be daunting for a lot of us, but the COOL THING about alcohol markers, is you can really sweep your marker from root to tip fairly quickly to fill the space and create the illusion of volume in no time. I like to use three shades of color in the hair of my girls to break up the space and add depth.  I LOVE outlining my girls, but if you don't - do whatever works for you! This is just an artistic preference for me, and part of my whimsical /illustrative style. I use my fineliner for this job, and look at THAT... she's coming alive, and busting OUT of her ugly phase. LOVE IT!! I told you it would happen!!  Once you're happy with the shading you've done in marker (or whatever art supplies you're using!), it's time to add some colored pencil. If you need help with this part of the project, you can find it in real time over at AwesomeArtSchool.com in the Whimsical Women of the World classroom. I share tips and techniques like how I hold my pencil, and why, so I get the effects I'm after.  I suggest you don't add MORE alcohol marker layering on top of your colored pencil, because the colored pencil can really have a waxy finish to it, and can fight with your markers. If you haven't heard, I am writing a book about this series and would love to feature YOUR ARTWORK! Please read the submission requirements and upload your interpretation of this or ANY project from the Whimsical Women series, right here on my website. I hope you learn as much from this drawing project as I did! Please scroll down for supplies used to create this project, and leave a comment if you have any questions!! See ya back here next week!! If you need any new drawing supplies, here are links to all of my favorite supplies that were used in this project! 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! 👉Hammermill Cover Cardstock 100lb 8.5" x 11" (fave to use with markers and best value at 4-8 cents per sheet and 250 sheets!!) 👉This Arteza pencil set is a new find and a GOOD one!! 👉Pentel GraphGear Mechanical Pencil Set (only ones I use) 👉Ohuhu Markers 24 piece skin tone set (Around $1/marker and with the brush nib, the best alternative to Copics in my opinion!) 👉Copic Skin Tone Pack of 6 ($33) 👉Copic B Set (my fave which has the most skin tones) (72 Set for $330) 👉Arteza Everblend Skin Pack of 36 ($36 - insane value!!!) 👉Arteza EverBlend Alcohol Markers (60 Set for $112 - also insane value!!) ❤️ 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 & SHADE a Whimsical MALE Face with Asian Eyes in Copic Markers (Whimsical woMAN #12)3/1/2021 Today I want to show you how to draw a whimsical MALE face just to mix things up a bit with the whimsical face drawing tutorials in this series- especially because I often get requests to draw guys, and I'm a boy mom of 3- so here ya go!! In today's face drawing lesson, I'll also cover how to draw Asian eyes (forward facing), and have an awesome new Skin Tone Marker cheatsheet just waiting FOR YOU if you didn't grab that last week!  To draw this cutie, we start with an oval like always, then we're gonna MAN-ify the facial features!  In general, keep in mind that men have more STRAIGHT lines when it comes to drawing. When you're ready to darken the face shape for this dude, start by straightening the lines on the sides of his face (like shown above). Then, as you work your way down toward a chin area, you can imagine we're attaching a triangle to the bottom of his face - just cutting off the pointy part and leaving a straight line. It's probably easier to see this in action, so check out the tutorial over on my YouTube drawing channel. The next main difference when drawing male faces (even whimsically), is to change the width of the neck. The male neck is MUCH wider than a female's.  Now it's time to sketch in our face drawing guidelines! I find this fact kind of amazing ... the face drawing guidelines for drawing men and women are identical! Crazy, right? No matter WHAT our ethnicity or gender are - we all start out with the same basical human face shape, and our faces naturally follow the same basic face drawing guidelines to make us look proportionally correct! If you're not sure what I'm talking about, you HAVE to download my FREE Face Drawing Guidelines Cheatsheet to help you out! I printed and laminated mine because drawing proportions of the face are SO important. It's a reference I've ALWAYS got on my art table. Click the button below and I'll send it straight to your email ;) Back to our drawing!! The biggest difference when you're drawing asian eyes vs. any other ethnicity, is often the absense of a dramatic upper eyelid. That's it! Pretty simple adjustment, right? Watch the video to see how this looks in real time, step by step.  Male hair, like hair for women -also has volume that extends above and outside the face shape oval we've drawn in, so make sure you block in the general shape you see for hair. This will make it much easier later when it's time to shade.  If you're drawing along with me (and I HOPE you are, because you'll learn SO much MORE by doing this than just watching me!!), I think you'll find that drawing eyes on a male face is actually QUITE easier, because there is no makeup to worry about! If you'd like a copy of this reference, or any reference from this series, I've popped them into TWO convenient locations for you over at Awesome Art School! The stand alone, Whimsical Women of the World classroom - where everything (even the color shading part of each lesson) is in real time, step by step has references, as well as my YouTube Cheatsheet & Video Library. If you're a member of the Fun Fab Drawing Club or Mixed Media Society- you've already been given free access to the Whimsical Women of the World classroom.  As you'll see in today's whimsical portrait drawing tutorial, when you get to the lips, you have to be careful about not letting them get girly. Watch the shapes carefully here. Even if your model has very full lips, you don't want to draw the lines in super dark, because the more you define them and darken these lines, the girlier your dude will start to look! If you get to a point in this drawing (or ANY drawing!), and you feel like something looks a little off and needs to move - don't be too precious about what you've already drawn in. Go ahead and erase whatever is bugging you and draw it again! You drew it once, you can TOTALLY draw it again. And that adjustement might make your drawing look SO much better! I drew this guy's left eye THREE times before I was happy. Then when I pulled my markers out, I drew BOTH of them over again - I think TWICE!! Don't worry about it. Just do what feels right to YOU.  The lighting effect is the main reason I selected this particular image for today's free drawing lesson. I think you're gonna enjoy it when you're ready to shade because it's unique. You'll see the nose bridge is actually in SHADOW today (instead of highlighted as it typically is), because there are TWO light sources for this particular photo. One on either side of his face! Check out the video to see how I show this to you in action. It's super interesting, and if you've been drawing any of the projects from my Whimsical Women series, it's honestly the opposite from what we normally see in terms of light source. I've been using alcohol markers to do all the shading for my Whimsical Women of the World face drawing projects, but PLEASE use whatever art supply YOU LOVE best!! If you are using alcohol markers too - please don't worry if you don't have copic markers. I know they are SO expensive, and I've been collecting them over a long period of time. I totally love the Ohuhu brand as well and they are way cheaper. Arteza also has some good markers for even less. If you're new to shading with alcohol markers, or need some tips on which skin tone markers go nicely together for a variety of ethnicities, I recently created a FREE 12-Page cheatsheet ALL about this to help ya out!! I organized it by color family for skin tones that are light, medium, or dark, and have marker swatches from each brand (Copic, Ohuhu, Arteza) that will work well. This should REALLY save you some swatching and trial/error time! Click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox. This was actually the first time I used my Skin Tone Marker Guide to help me shade a face in this series and I was thrilled with how easy it made things go! Usually I am swatching like a mad woman off to the side and fly by the seat of my pants, but this really organized my thoughts and totally saved me some time. I really hope it does the same for YOU!  Before we continue, super quick announcement: All prouct 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!  If you're interested in how to draw a male face, and are new to me and my channel, you'll find a few here and there, but I know my audience is most interested in drawing female faces, so that is primarily what you'll see. I do, however, have a book dedicated to drawing guys in a whimsical style called How to Draw Fun Fab Fellas that I created for my own boys when they were younger. It's available on Amazon if you're interested! It covers how to draw a male face from all the main angles- forward facing, profile and 3/4 view.  Full transparency here - I'm not in love with the way this project turned out - just being totally honest. I think the model is SUPER CUTE, but sometimes this just happens, and you've got to be honest with yourself. I want to make sure you know how I feel about my own work, so you can own your feelings, and not obsess over them for too long if something you were excited to do, didn't turn out how you'd envisioned. It's ok, and happens to ALL of us! Art is supposed to be FUN. If something doesn't go as planned, change what you can. If the project is done- move on and do something else! It's as SIMPLE as that. I've got 3 more whimsical face drawing projects coming up for you in this series, including a more mature woman with wrinkles and an up-turned face, so keep your eyes peeled for those!! I hope you have fun with this project if you choose to draw along with me!! See ya back here next Monday for more!! HOW to DRAW & SHADE a WHIMSICAL African Face & Head Wrap in Copic Markers (Whimsical Women #11)21/12/2020 Teaching you how to draw a whimsical face is one of my FAVORITE things to do! I'm having SO much fun with the whimsical face drawing tutorials in the Whimsical Women of the World series! Not only does today's STUNNING model help us study profile drawing, we'll cover how to draw an African head wrap (including how to draw the fabric folds within it), how to draw a closed eye, and how to draw a face looking up! As always, the whimsical drawing portion of today's video is in real time so you can see exactly how I get it done!!  To get us started off on the right track, I'm doing a mini review of the value scale to help you understand how important this is whenever you're drawing and hoping to take your artwork to the next level. If you incorporate the lightest light ALLLLLL the way to the darkest dark, and everything inbetween... your art will be so much more sophisticated!! Real quick, before we go any further: 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!  I talked about how to shade skin tones in graphite (or black and white variations of the value scale), a lot in my How to Draw & Find Your Style book because it's easiest for beginners to learn about value scale drawing in black and white first. Graduating from shading in graphite / black and white to color can be tough and trip some artists up, but it's exactly the SAME concept as grayscale- you're just essentially working in browns! HOT TIP! Be sure to create a value scale of skin tones for yourself that looks something like this before you start shading. I recommend you also write the name of the marker color next to the shade so you know exactly which one to pick up when the time comes!  One of the reasons I have loved doing this Whimsical Women of the World portrait drawing series is because I could push myself to explore all the variations of skin tones represented in countries around the world. If you've watched me before, you know I LOVE dramatic highlights and shadows, which today's reference photo is FULL of!! If you'd like a copy of my reference photo, hop over to AwesomeArtSchool.com and click into either my YouTube & Cheatsheet Library, or the Whimsical Women of the World classroom to download the reference image from today's lesson, or any lesson from this series! If you are a member of the Fun Fab Drawing Club over at Awesome Art School, the Whimsical Women of the World classroom has already been made available to you within the club!! If you're not a member of the club, but are interested, please sign up for the waitlist, and you'll receive an email from me when the membership is open for enrollment again in the spring!  Today's portrait drawing tutorial is a profile. Instead of teaching you my "Fun Fab" approach for side profile drawing- I'm showing you a little more advanced method from my book. It's a bit more realistic. If you start watching today's tutorial and begin feeling like this is a little too advanced for you- don't worry!! The drawing projects in the Whimsical Women series ARE more advanced. But I work hard to break them down for you to keep things simple, so when you do feel ready, you can dive right in!!! If this looks fun for you but feels a little out of reach at the moment, I've got an awesome 6-part video profile drawing series on YouTube that teaches you my Fun Fab method for drawing whimsical profiles (it's more directed at beginners)!! If you'd rather start with a front facing face (most do!!) - here is the 5-part series for absolute beginners!  Profiles can feel extremely tricky to draw because of all the angle variations that make us who we are as individuals. For example, in the photo above - I've highlighted the angle of the nose to the chin to show you just how much this changes from face to face. Some faces have a pronounced angle here, some have a more subtle one, and others have barely any angle presentat all - as in the case of today's beautiful model. I find using a sheet of trace paper helps me to understand the spatial relationships on a face before I draw it. You might find this to be a helpful trick as well! It's kinda like a practice round to warm up my hand.  If you're not sure how to draw a closed eye, how to draw open lips, or how to draw fabric folds on a headscarf /african head wrap- be sure to click over and actually watch the portrait drawing tutorial so you can follow me in real time. For drawing fabric folds on our model's head scarf, I try to break the overall head scarf down into chunks / shapes that I can clearly see, then replicate on my paper. Since I'm doing a whimsical drawing, instead of a realistic drawing, I'm able to give myself a little grace here if things aren't perfect. Doesn't THAT feel good?! No need for perfection when you pull out your "whimsy" card!!  When everything is sketched in, go ahead and start erasing all your guidelines. My favorite eraser is the vanish eraser - which you can pick up for about $2 at Jerry's Artarama, or on Amazon for a bit more. If you're not using alcohol markers to color in your drawing like I am, just be sure you have a nice gradation of skin tone shades swatched out before you begin so you know what to reach for when you're ready to start incorporating each shade! We want the WHOLE value scale represented in your work, because this adds dimension and sophistication!!  You have two choices when you're shading- either shading from light to dark or from dark to light. I've chosen to shade light to dark today- hitting the highlighted areas of her nose and chin first.  As you'll see in my work, and in your own (if you're using copic markers or another brand of alcohol markers), these can be very streaky. To reduce the streaks, it helps to lay your color down quickly so the shades blend into one another a bit when the ink is wet. You can also choose one color to shade over transitional lines to attempt to soften these lines, or add colored pencil shading over the top of your marker layers. When you're blending copic markers, you can also try shading one solid color in strokes running the opposite direction from how you originally laid down color. I often use the lightest or a medium skin tone marker when doing this to my face drawings. Be sure to watch the tutorial because I demo this today and in many of the videos from this series.  When I selected marker shades for the headscarf, I used the exact same strategy as I did for choosing skin tone markers to work with for this project. You want to choose 3-5 shades that transition nicely and can blend into one another to represent various stages of the value scale from lightest to darkest. If you're intimidated by the head wrap or not sure how to draw folds in fabric- this really is easier than it looks! I find it to be similar to drawing hair. Follow me, and I'll break it down for you.  The farther I get into my project, the more layers I continue to build up on her face to eliminate some of the streakiness in my transitions. But I also discover, the model in my reference image really is much darker than I have portrayed, and I need to continue darkening the shadows and blending skin tones to do a better job replicating what I see. Be sure to take your time here. Start slowly, and gradually build up those values. Honestly, the more layers you have, the more realistsic the skin will look- because we're all made up of many colors!! So just keep working and blending until you feel like you're at a good place and happy with what you've got.  I used my pentel pocket brush for my outlining - including the detail work on her eyelashes, just as I have used it in the previous lessons. I actually had to recently change the ink cartridge on this pen and sadly, it hasn't been working the same for me as it used to!!  As I was working the finishing touches on today's drawing, I decided to add just a bit more shading in and around the ear, because something about it was just bothering me! I ended up adding some black and it made all the difference in the world!! Now there is really some deep, gorgeous contrast! If there is anything I've learned during this series it's you can't have too many layers!! This amazing Hammermill paper I work on can seriously take a beating with my alcohol markers and I love it!!! The paper you work on is EQUALLY important as any other art supply you invest in. I hope you enjoyed this portrait drawing lesson in copics!!! I learned a ton, and hope you did too!!! |
Karen CampbellFounder of Awesome Art School. Mixed Media Artist. Author of 19 Instructional Art Books! 
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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!"
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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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