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I've never used ecoline brush pens for a full project before, so today's the day! I was really interested to see how they compare to my beloved Tombow brush pens and Winsor Newton watercolor markers because I LOVE doing brush pen drawings and paintings in my signature mixed media style. Click over to the video to see the demo, brush pen comparison, and my thoughts as I work with Ecolines in real time to create this fun mixed media portrait in 3/4 view. 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 typically create brush pen drawings and end up adding water to them with a paint brush or water brush because I love the effects you can get. They look so much like watercolor, and are WAY cheaper to work with!
If you're someone who feels a little intimidated by working with a paint brush, you might enjoy the control of working with brush pens and working your way up to adding water. You can also use them completely dry, like a regular marker, and not add water if you want! 
As you'll see in the video- I'm comparing the Ecolines to 3 others brands: Arteza, Tombow, and Winsor Newton.
The Arteza brush pens are a bit different because they're the only one in this product mix with a brush nib that is actually like a paint brush with individual hairs at the tip. 
While this is really cool - it actually makes coloring much more difficult because they're not super juicy. The Arteza brush pens also have a hard barrel which means you can't squeeze them to get more color flowing.
As you can see in the pic above, the individual hairs will separate while you're coloring, so the coverage isn't amazing. The one bonus is - this set is way cheaper than the others, so if you don't mind working a bit harder to get the coverage you want, you can get 96 colors for around $54 (or just 50 cents/marker). 
When I pick up the Tombow brush pen in one hand and the Arteza in the other hand, I can definitely feel a difference in weight. Tombows are super juicy, so I'm guessing that weight difference is more ink in the barrel.
Tombows also have TWO nibs in each marker: the brush nib, and the bullet for helping you get into teeny, tiny spaces. Tombow has a set of 96 for around $146. You're definitely paying more per marker here, but I've actually never had one run out on me yet, so you can be confident these will last you quite a while!! 
Tombows are definitely my fave when I'm doing art journal pages because they're so easy to take on the road if I want to art while I'm on vacation, or whatever. I even used to take them to carpool and do art in my car while waiting for the boys to get out of school!!
The only downside about Tombows is they're not lightfast, so if you want to make something that's never gonna fade, and will last forever, this may not be the brush pen for you! The same is true for the other lower priced brush pens we're looking at today (Arteza and Ecoline).
HOT TIP: If you are on a budget and need to buy the lower priced brush pens, take a photo (or photocopy, scan, etc.) to preserve your art before the color begins to fade. Remember, it will fade much quicker if you hang it up in direct sunlight. 
Winsor Newton watercolor markers are my top fave in terms of quality. The pigment is gorgeous and lightfast, so it will not fade because they're considered a fine art product.
Like the Tombows, these have both the bullet and brush nibs in each marker, and they're gonna last you forever. They also "move" the most when you add water to them, so they're not just watersoluble, they really FEEL like watercolor. The downside of Winsor Newtons is they don't come in nearly as many colors, and being a fine art product, they're more expensive. The cheapest you can get them is around $4/each, but their quality is outstanding. 
What I'm playing with for today's mixed media portrait tutorial are the Ecoline Brush Pens. They're NOT lightfast, but are super fun to play with, and easy on your budget at about $2/marker when you buy a set of 30 for $60.
They have a bunch of skin tone shades, which is what attracted me to them, so of course I had to check these out for you to let ya know if I think they're worth it! The Ecolines have a smaller nib than the others I tested them against today, but I definitely don't hold that against them because they're nice and juicy. Click over to the video to see how each marker compares when activated with water and come do this tutorial with me in REAL TIME! 
Today's watercolor marker tutorial is of a face in 3/4 view. A portrait in three quarter view is one of the hardest face angles to draw, so if you're new to drawing faces, or feel you need some tips to get you started - I've got a cheatsheet for that!
Simply click the button below, and I'll send you my face drawing guidelines for how to draw a 3/4 view portrait. 
If you are totally new to drawing faces, and interested in learning, I recommend the following playlists for you (in order):
1. How to Draw & Shade a Forward Facing Face 2. Side Profile Drawing 3. 3/4 View Face All of the above playlists have cheatsheets to help beginners and step by step face drawing tutorials to help you. Back to today's tutorial... 
I'm not being too fussy with my face sketch today because I really want to get to the coloring portion of the project!
After my face was sketched in, I selected 3 Ecoline marker shades that went well together to create light, medium, and dark skin tones. I tried using the same technique I do when shading with Tombows. I add streaks of light, medium, dark - then activate with water to blend. 
I leave things streaky on purpose because that typically blends right out with water - at least that's my experience with Tombows. When I added water with my paint brush to the Ecoline pigment, I felt like the skin tones blended pretty well, but the blues I used for her hair were much juicier and a bit easier to activate with water. Not sure why!!
I don't have any black brush pens in my Ecoline set, so I incorporated my pentel pocket brush to start adding in detail (especially when drawing eyelashes!)
If you have questions about the pentel pocket brush, I've got two different videos on it - one about how to draw eyelashes on mixed media portraits on my mixed media YouTube channel, and one on my drawing channel. 
Make sure you click over to the video to find out my FULL opinion on whether or not I think Ecolines a great addition to your art supply stash!
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
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This martini glass drawing tutorial is SO fun & easy! Pour yourself a drink & come hang out with me for our own little draw & paint party. If you love art deco style already - you'll LOVE seeing a glimpse of the projects in my recently released trilogy of Learn to Draw Art Deco Style books. Then, I'll show you how to draw a martini glass and shade it 2 different ways- once using Noodler's Ink (it's basically like watercoloring!), and the other using my favorite alcohol markers (copics)!!
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! 
In 2020, I went down a serious 1920s -1930s / art deco rabbit hole just for me. I fell in love with the styles and just had a blast getting into the fashion, figures, hats, shoes, jewelry, furniture, pets, men, cars and cocktails of that era!
During that time period I published not one, but THREE Art Deco Drawing books (1, 2, 3). 
What's fun about these books is I do have a lot of FREE videos on YouTube to accompany the book, so if you've ordered a book and see a little film icon in the corner- make sure you check that link out because there is a video lesson you can play while you work your way through lessons in the book.
I used a lot of watercolor, alcohol markers, and fountain pen inks. In each of these books you'll even find a few fun facts about this time in history because I'm a bit of a vintage history nerd! And when I look stuff up, I've gotta share!! I love everything OLD!
Volume #1 is super "girly" with lots of fashion, shoes and jewelry. In this book I go in depth about how to use my Quadrant Method for drawing figures too, so if you've been wondering how to draw figures easily - this is a great way for beginners to get started!
In my second volume, I'll teach you how to draw male figures as well as popular dogs and cats from the Art Deco era. If you're not sure how to draw a dog or how to draw a cat, I teach you how to use my Quadrant Method for this as well. It's SUPER easy!!
Art deco furniture was GORGEOUS, so you'll find quite a few fun pieces in this volume as well. If you've been following me for a while, you may already know I've got an obsession of painting with fountain pen inks!
I find fountain pen ink to be even MORE vibrant than my favorite Daniel Smith watercolors, and I love to just dip my watercolor brush straight into the bottle to get some serious pigment onto my paper. 
When I was painting the Art Deco furniture projects for this book, I felt my fountain pen inks really made the velvet I was rendering look realistic! You kinda have to see it to believe it.
I wrapped up Volume #2 of Learn to Draw Art Deco style with a chapter on cars and cocktails from this era. It's really remarkable how realistic some of these drawings look!
You can totally achieve this too when you learn how to layer your art supplies properly. Even if you're a beginner- you can do this! I'll show you how and keep each project step by step, so even beginners just learning how to draw feel comfortable!
To dotoday's full length drawing tutorial with me - all you need is a sheet of watercolor paper (if you want to color your martini using a wet medium like watercolor), or a sheet of bristol, card stock, or marker paper if you'd like to shade your martini in alcohol markers.
Be sure to click over to the video to draw with me in real time (22:22). The drawing itself is fairly simple, so if you're a beginner interested in learning how to draw - this project is perfect for you!
We're starting with an upsidedown triangle and adding a stem. Once everything is sketched in, I pulled out my Habannero Fountain Pen Ink and simply started coloring in the liquid for my martini. If you're not sure how to paint with fountain pen inks, just follow me. It's basically the same as using watercolors - just richer. 
If you don't have any fountain pen ink, you can definitely use Dr. Martin's acrylic ink in a similar way or watercolors.
Click over to the video to see how I shade the stem of the glass. I often reach for my Daniel Smith Hermatite Genuine. This is a really soft gray. You can also just really water down some Bloodstone Genuine or Payne's Gray as well to paint a fine line down the stem of the glass. 
If you'd like to see the same project done in alcohol markers while your ink painting is drying, click over to the video (42:00). If you enjoy the look of outlining in your work and are going to shade with alcohol markers, you can outline your glass before or after you shade.
If you choose to outline first, make sure you're NOT working with an alcohol based fineliner because it will bleed. The fineliner should be pigment based or water based (warning: SHARPIES will bleed, so don't use these). Check out my Amazon Shop of favorite art supplies for drawing and mixed media. I recommend Moltows for outlining with copics or other alcohol markers. 
Make sure you swatch your alcohol marker shades off to the side so you know ahead of time that they will blend well together. Before your start shading in marker, be sure to erase your graphite because your markers will drag that around and smear.
HOT TIP: To ease your shading transitions between marker shades, just keep on layering because each top layer rewets the bottom layers and helps them blend. You can also use your lightest of the three colors to blend, or work in a layer of colored pencil, followed by some highlights with a posca paint pen. Click over to this video for more tips on how to copic marker blending!
Make sure you click over to the video because I walk you through both versions of this project step by step!
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
Whether you already love toned paper drawing, drawing faces, or have never tried either, and are curious - TODAY's VIDEO is FOR YOU! Join me for a face drawing demo in my cute little toned paper sketchbook (that I recently designed) - complete with adorable little flowers in the background! I'll show you how I picked my face drawing reference, and will teach you why drawing on toned paper is actually QUICKER than drawing on white paper.
If you're new to toned paper drawing, I've got an awesome set of FREE cheatsheets for you to download and a Toned Paper Drawing three-part video series for you to help you get started over on my YouTube Drawing Channel.
Click the button below to grab those cheatsheets, and I'll send that straight to your inbox! 
This cheatsheet packet includes my face drawing guidelines, plus a drawing reference face photo to help us in video #3, so make sure ya click that button!!
Before we continue - super quick announcement! All product links 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 thank you for your support! 
For today's drawing tutorial, I'm working in my new toned paper sketchbook that I actually designed! It's got adorable little flowers in the background, which I love, because those flowers end up peeking through the cheeks of the faces I've been drawing.
The picture below shows a great closeup of how the background flowers look behind a drawing. SOOOOO cute!!!
It's perfect for doing some quick little face drawings in pencil with china markers and white posca pens!
Here is the link for the sketchbook over on Amazon in case you're interested! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!
Click over to the video and I'll talk you through a few things I think about when I'm looking for faces for drawing reference. Mostly, I just keep it easy. Basically, I just think to my self - do I love this girl and think she's cute? Then I usually give it a try!
As you'll see in the video - I also will look at the face shading. In this particular image, it's really unusual! I felt she had some beautiful highlights on her eyes, nose and lips that I instantly could imagine doing in my white posca pens. Just one more feature that made this face drawing reference an instant YES for me, besides I'm obsessed with absolutely anything done by Loish. 
One of the most important things to remember when drawing on toned tan paper or gray toned paper vs drawing on white paper, is that "your job" is just to pop in the darkest darks and lightest lights when it's time to start shading faces.
That's why I think doing toned paper portraits and sketches are SO fast! Half your job has already been done for you because your "skin tone" is the tone of the paper. 
As you'll see, I did a lot of the face shading with my blending stump. Since the paper is already gray, I really didn't have to push down very hard to get some beautiful effects. Once I was happy with my shading, I just grabbed my pentel pocket brush to outline everything loosely with a light touch.
I LOVE the lashes in this reference so really enjoyed popping those in with my pentel pocket brush! If you've never used this before - you have to give it a try. Here's a video to help you on my drawing channel, and here's one to help ya on my mixed media channel (because it works amazingly well for mixed media faces too!).
I love using the china markers for highlights here because they sit beautifully on top of my graphite. These marks really add dimension to the drawing and pop those areas forward.
And of course, no whimsical face drawing of mine is complete without some dramatic highlights using my white posca pens!!
I hope you enjoy today's video! Thanks for hanging out with me!!
❤️MY ARTIST BESTIE, LUCY BRYDON & I created a NEW ART MEMBERSHIP together called The Celtic Collective! It's now open for enrollment! Join us before the price increases on August 7. 
Today I'm starting a FUN cartoon cat drawing series over on my YouTube Drawing channel!
I've been teaching my students in The Fun Fab Drawing Club over at Awesome Art School how to draw cartoon cats & dogs, and thought YOU might like a sneak peek at what we've been up to! Feel free to use this funny Siamese cat lying down as YOUR OWN cat drawing reference so you can play along with us! 
I'm keeping it easy with supplies - just a pencil, fineliner and some copics to shade! Come draw with me! BEGINNERS WELCOME!!
Before I get too far into this drawing tutorial, I HAVE to give a shout out to the talented artist who inspired these drawing lessons - Heather Nesheim!
I'm actually dedicating this WHOLE series to Heather because I think her work is amazing and when I asked her if we could study her work and use it to inspire our own cat drawings, she said YES!
So a HUGE thank you to, Heather!! 
Through this whole series - we'll be honing our drawing skills with a wide variety of cat cartoons!
I think it's SUPER important to have an awesome reference that YOU LOVE when you're just learning how to draw because you'll be way more interested in actually drawing it! And...the more you draw- the BETTER you'll get!! I'm drawing all my cats in pencil and doing the cat drawing outline with a fineliner before I pull out my copics for some alcohol marker shading. 
I've tried TONS of brands out for fineliners and I have to say I'm really in love with a new set made by MOLOTOW. You can find them in my store over on Amazon if you need a fineliner that WON'T SMUDGE under your alcohol markers.
The set I've got comes in multiple nibs to help me vary my line weights. I love their water based pigment in the ink, and the way they feel kinda heavy in my hand - which makes me feel like I've got more control over my work. 
Real quick - if you do feel like you need some fineliners or find another something you love over in my Amazon store - my links are Affiliate, which means 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!
Thanks again Heather for inspiring such a FUN drawing series for us over at Awesome Art School in the Fun Fab Drawing Club! We love your work and are so appreciative that you let us practice drawing like YOU!! You can check Heather's website out here or go follow her on Instagram @heddarsketch. Wanna do this and MORE fun cat cartoon drawings with me in REAL TIME (not timelapsed/ sped up) over at Awesome Art School? Join the waitlist in The Fun Fab Drawing Club!
❤️Did you miss my Fun Fab Fairies Workshop? NO worries!! You can STILL sign up and enjoy each of these lessons on your own time at your own pace in this stand alone classroom at Awesome Art School! CLICK HERE to REGISTER. 
❤️MY ARTIST BESTIE, LUCY BRYDON & I are creating a NEW ART MEMBERSHIP together called The Celtic Collective!! Learn More & add your name to the waitlist here. Opens July 7th!
In today's face sketching video, we're building on what you learned about toned paper drawing over the last 2 weeks, and putting it ALL together to create a QUICK female face drawing!
We'll use my face drawing guidelines and identify the values we see in our face drawing reference photo. Then I'll show you how to shade your drawing + quick ways for drawing shadows and highlights using china markers, a pencil, blending stump and sharpies on toned paper! BEGINNERS WELCOME!!
Grab your supplies & come practice face drawing with me! 
First things first, if you haven't grabbed my FREE Toned Paper Packet/cheatsheets- please do that and get them printed out. It's 5 helpful pages to set you up for toned paper drawing success!
You'll recieve my face drawing guidelines, along with a few reference photos for drawing a sphere (last week's exercise), a reference image for today & a list of my fav supplies if you need some!
Simpy click on this button and I'll send the cheatsheets STRAIGHT over to your inbox!
In Part 1 of this toned paper drawing series, we went over concepts and supplies for drawing on toned paper. Last week in Part 2 - we talked about how to draw and shade a sphere on toned paper, as well as the differencecs to keep in mind when working on toned tan paper or toned grey paper vs white paper.
I'm working on toned grey paper today because I think this is a bit easier for beginners who are getting used to value scale drawing. Before I start drawing, I scribbled some shading with a variety of pencils and marked which pencil helped me achieve which value on a scrap of toned paper, below. If you're new to toned paper drawing- I suggest you do this too so you have a reference for yourself that you can use while you draw. 
As we discussed last week, when you're drawing on toned paper- you're "responsible" for adding in ALL the brightest highlights and darkest shadows. The mid-tones are already represented for you by the tone of the paper.
Once you get your Toned Paper Packet downloaded and printed- grab your reference drawing photo for today (shown above), and we'll get started on your free drawing lesson.
The face I'll be drawing isn't going to be super realistic because I typically prefer a lighter style called whimsical drawing. If you're new to my YouTube drawing channel - my goal is to help you become a better artist by keeping things FUN so nothing feels stressful. That means we don't get too hung up on details. 
Make sure you click over to the video to do this face drawing lesson in REAL TIME with me because it makes SUCH a difference!! We're starting out with an oval and sketching in our face drawing guidelines - something I NEVER skip -even after all the hundreds of faces I've drawn!!
If you're somewhat familiar with drawing facecs and feel like you'd enjoy learning more about how to draw facial features more realistically, I have another FREE series you might enjoy (which also comes with free drawing worksheets). Make sure you check that out because it's awesome if you like drawing faces as much as I do!
After you get your face shape and guidelines drawn, it's time to lightly sketch in some squished ovals to serve as placeholders for the eyes, nose and mouth.
If you're just learning how to draw eyes, I LOVE using my circle template to draw the irises on my girls when I'm pressed for time, or not in the mood to draw perfect circles from scratch! If this little cheat helps you too - DO IT, and don't feel bad about it. Just move on and keep your drawing project FUN!
Make sure you click over to the video because I'm showng you exactly how to draw a face step by step, and will keeping things EASY for you if this is your first time drawing a face. The face drawing guidelines will help a TON! Trust me ;)
I also bring back my circle template/ stencil for adding pupils into the eyes. Make sure you pop those right into the center of your irises. I see pupils kinda all over the place, and this little tidbit will help make your faces look more sophisticated- especially if you're just learning how to draw eyes!
Once you've gotten all the facial features in position where they need to go - you can erase all of your guidelines.
Follow me in the video to start observing the values depicted in our reference photo. As you'll see in the FREE Toned Paper Packet I've provided- there are some versions of the reference image with polka dots of gray that I've laid down to help you decide which pencil to grab when shading various parts of her face. 
I love using my china markers (also called grease pencils) on toned paper because you can get really opaque coverage with them.
The only thing I don't love about my china markers is they don't blend - so just be aware of that as you head in to attack your shadows. If you haven't used a china marker before - here is another video for you. I demo how to sharpen a china marker in that video and in last week's YouTube drawing tutorial. For today's face shading, l'm starting with my white china marker to pop in the lightest white highlights first - which are really happening in the left side of her face. 
When you've finished with the whites- move on to your darkest darks with your black china marker (colored pencils are fine to use for this drawing exercise too).
Now when you take a step back to view your work a little from a distance, I don't want you to freak out if you're new to face drawing!
This girl is in what I lovingly refer to as "the ugly phase." It means she probably looks really unfinished and might have you second guessing if you should toss her into the trash because you feel like she is so ugly. DON'T DO IT. This is normal! EVERY face drawing has an ugly phase. Just accept it, know your project is about halfway done and KEEP GOING. Don't let the "ugly phase" win! Now that I've got a good base of my highlights and darkest shadows down, I'm going to work some graphite pencil in, and start moving some of the graphite around with my blending stump. 
Remember, china markers don't blend, but you can ease some of your shading transitions by adding some pencil and a little graphite blending with a blending stump.
I pulled out my sharpies and pentel pocket brush to add some hair and a few details into her face. She's starting to come to life and working her way out of the ugly phase. See?! I told you! You've just gotta keep going!! She'll snap out of it! A word of caution about the pentel pocket brush- it doesn't want to work that well over the china marker, but I'm doing it anyway because I LOVE it for drawing eyelashes. If eyelash drawing is a struggle for you, or you're just not sure how to draw eyelashes - download my cheatsheet with tips on how to draw eyelashes. I also have two videos on eyelash drawing - one on my YouTube drawing channel, and one on my mixed media YouTube channel. 
Once eyelashes are popped in, I step back a little to compare my drawing to my drawing reference. I'm not looking for perfection. Remember this is totally for fun and just a quick drawing lesson to help you get started with working on toned paper!
What do you see when you compare the two? Focus on lights and darks. Where can we add more drama to make her pop even more? Zero in on the lightest lights and darkest darks.
Get aggressive! Don't be afraid to dive in and make the black areas blacker. Do a second pass with your china marker, or pull out your pencil and darken what needs to be so you can move the graphite around with a blending stick to ease the shading transitions from light to dark. Remember, you can vary the amount of pressure you use when you're coloring with china markers. This is another way to soften shading transitions since you can't blend china markers with a blending stump. 
See how she's coming even more to life now that I've added additional shading? This extra layering makes ALL the difference.
Once I've finished with my darkest shadows, I pull out my white sharpie to help accentuate the brightest whites. Take a look at this!! 
Just adding ONE dot to each pupil for some eye shine takes the whole drawing to another level of fun and makes her look more sophisticated. We could actually call her done at this point! Those two dots did THAT much!
If you follow me, you KNOW I love some dramatic face shading on my girls so I'm not calling her done yet... adding white paint pen is my favorite part and hasn't been done yet! 
Because I'm doing a whimsical drawing, I look to my face drawing reference photo for inspiration about where to add my shadows and highlights. However, I absolutely feel comfortable stretching that a step further and adding a few marks where I know highlights naturally occur on the human face.
Watch the video to see that in action when I'm drawing highlights on the chin, cheekbones, eyebrow ridge etc. A really great trick for helping you understand where to pop in face shading is to pick up a foam head from your local craft store. Then just play with a light source - either a lamp, the flashlight on your phone - whatever! Shine the light directly on the foam head -forcing a variety of shadows and highlights you can follow. 
Alternatively, I've got a video taking a closer look at this concept to help you out.
Need that link again for the toned paper packet to get started on this entire tone paper drawing series on YouTube?
Click the button above, and I'll drop my toned paper packet straight to your email. (Includes my face drawing guidelines & today's face drawing reference image!)
Thanks for hanging out with me today!
❤️ Did you miss my Gnome Workshop with guest artist Sarah Turner of Tenderfoot Village? CLICK HERE to enroll for $27 at Awesome Art School (if you're in the Mixed Media Society - you got free access to this but NEED a coupon - if you don't see it in your email, please email me!) 
❤️Did you miss my Fun Fab Fairies Workshop? NO worries!! You can STILL sign up and enjoy each of these lessons on your own time at your own pace in this stand alone classroom at Awesome Art School! CLICK HERE to REGISTER.
❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!)
The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️EVEN BETTER - LUCY & I are creating a NEW ART MEMBERSHIP together called The Celtic Collective!! Learn More & add your name to the waitlist here. 
❤️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
In today's toned paper drawing video, we'll build on what you learned last week, and put the value scale to work drawing and shading a sphere. First we'll study the values we see on a reference photo. Then I'll show you some quick ways for drawing shadows and the highlights you see in the reference on both white and toned paper.
If you missed last week's drawing YouTube video - you might want to check that out first, because I talk about toned paper sketchbooks, drawing supplies and more.
I've also got a FREE 5-page toned paper PDF for you to download and use as a reference while you're playing along at home. This will help you TONS with understanding the value scale, drawing shadows and drawing highlights. Plus you'll get a list of my FAV toned paper sketchbooks and drawing supplies to set yourself up for success! Simply click the button below, and I'll shoot it straight over to your inbox.
I've included a reference photo of a sphere in black and white in the Toned Paper Packet.
Before we dive into drawing and shading a sphere on toned tan paper- I want to make sure you understand how to use the value scale to draw a sphere on white paper first. 
I added "polka dots" in my cheatsheet reference image for you to indicate where your eye should be registering value changes that you need to replicate in your drawing.
Be sure to click over to the video to see this in action!
Last week I scribbled beneath each value scale dot with an example of the drawing pencil that can help you achieve each value. If you're a beginner with shading, this will come in really handy when you're ready to start drawing shadows we see in the reference image on your own paper. And as always- when you're working with me- you don't have to use fancy supplies. You can also do this entire exercise in one #2 school pencil. 
As you'll see in the video- today's shading practice is really all about me trying to make sure you understand the concept of how to look for values in a reference, and how to record what you see on your drawing. Your execution doesn't have to be perfect or even look that great -just lay down some value and do a little down and dirty practice!
When working on white paper - you need to cover every single shade of the value scale except white in your drawing. When you're drawing on toned tan paper (or toned grey paper), you're "responsible" for adding all the shades of the value scale EXCEPT for the mid-tones, because those shades are represented by the tone of the paper. Pretty cool, right?! For my sphere example on toned paper I'm starting with my white china marker (also called a china pencil or grease pencil) and adding in the lightest highlights I see in my reference image, then start adding in my darkest shadows with my black china marker. I use a little graphite to blend a bit of the midtones and use my blending stump ot help. (The china marker doesn't really blend, so just be prepared for that!) 
If you're new to working with china markers - all you need to do to sharpen your pencil is to pull on the string and then pull off some of the excess paper wrapping. If you're interested in learning MORE about china markers - I've got a video for you.
I love using the sides of my china markers to lay wide areas of color down, and don't mind the blunt tip. If you prefer working with something that gets to a sharper point - you might want to work in colored pencil. 
There is a constant push/pull of working the values and studying your reference photo to make sure you're depicting the values in your drawing correctly.
If you'd like to work on drawing a sphere in more detail through a full lesson - I've got one of these in The Fun Fab Drawing Club.In this one - we draw it in pencil on white paper. Currently enrollment for both of my clubs are closed at the moment- but you can add your name to the waitlist for the drawing club here, and mixed media club here. I'll let ya know as soon as doors open again!! 
Next week on my YouTube drawing channel - we will be drawing and shading a face so you can practice these new skills in a different way!
Need the link to that Toned Paper Packet one more time? Here ya go! Click the button below and I'll send it right to your email!
And of course don't forget to watch the video....
Thanks for hanging out with me today!
If you're in the Mixed Media Society with me, our GNOME WORKSHOP (hosted by guest artist Sarah Turner of Tenderfoot Villange and I) opens today (June 1st)! You DO need a special code from me to enroll for free. If you haven't already received that- please email me for help so you can enjoy this club perk!!
Not in the Mixed Media Society, but still wanna make these TWO adorable gnome projects?! I GOT YOU!!
❤️ CLICK HERE to enroll for $27 at Awesome Art School ❤️Did you miss my Fun Fab Fairies Workshop? NO worries!! You can STILL sign up and enjoy each of these lessons on your own time at your own pace in this stand alone classroom at Awesome Art School! CLICK HERE to REGISTER.
❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!)
The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️EVEN BETTER - LUCY & I are creating a NEW ART MEMBERSHIP together called The Celtic Collective!! Learn More & add your name to the waitlist here.
❤️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
If you've always wanted to try toned paper drawing, but didn't know where to start - TODAY's VIDEO is FOR YOU! Join me for a quick value scale lesson about drawing shadows & highlights. Then I'll show you a few examples of my own toned paper drawings, while I give ya a sneak peak at my new toned paper drawing cheatsheets AND talk toned paper sketchbooks & drawing supplies.
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!
If you're a long time subscriber of mine on YouTube Drawing Channel or Mixed Media YouTube Channel - you know I'm ALL about giving away FREE resources to help you become an Awesome Artist! Today I've got a brand new 5-page PDF to help you learn how to draw on toned paper. Simply click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox! 
This will help you TONS with understanding the value scale, drawing shadows and drawing highlights, plus you'll get a list of my FAV toned paper sketchbooks and drawing supplies to set yourself up for success!
Before we get started with toned paper, there are a few key concepts you have to understand about drawing on white paper FIRST. Once you've got these down - drawing on toned tan paper or grey toned paper will be a snap!
To help you understand this lesson - I'm pulling out my How to Draw & Find Your Style book for reference.
To make your drawings REALLY come alive, you want to have variations of value represented within your drawing to make it look more 3-dimensional and sophisticated.
The more variations of value you show in your drawings, the more advanced your work will look. 
If you have my How to Draw & Find Your Style book at home - I'm looking at pages 101+ and giving a demo about how to recognize values in a drawing reference photo so you know how to replicate shadows and highlights when you're drawing.
When you're looking at a face drawing reference photo, it can be helpful to scan the image to get an idea of where the lightest lights, mid-range grays and jet black values appear. I've noted those with little boxes to help you find them more quickly.
In today's new cheatsheet, I've created circles in various shades of gray to help you think about each value you want to show in your drawing somewhere. Click over to the video to see which drawing pencils I'm using to achieve each of these shades. 
If you're new to shading faces it can help you to have a little cheatsheet next to you like this for reference to remind you which pencils help you achieve which value.
Keep in mind you don't HAVE to have a wide range of special drawing pencils to do this.
If all you have at home right now is a number 2 school pencil- you can work on varying the pressure you use while you're shading to help you achieve differences in value. 
Toned paper traditionally comes in two shades - gray and toned tan paper (be sure to click over to the video because I go through my favorite toned paper sketchbooks).
When I'm working on toned paper, I often will end up using a black and white drawing pencil or pen, and using the gray or brown of the paper as my third main value. I also tend to use line weight to represent value like in these quick toned paper sketches below.
In my free PDF, you'll see exactly what my favorite pads of toned paper sheets are and which drawing instruments I love to use most when working with toned paper.
Click here to grab that download if you haven't already - or press on the button below!
Thanks for hanging out with me today!
I'll see you back here next week to draw and shade a sphere on toned paper. The following week we'll draw a face! ❤️Did you miss my Fun Fab Fairies Workshop? NO worries!! You can STILL sign up and enjoy each of these lessons on your own time at your own pace in this stand alone classroom at Awesome Art School! CLICK HERE to REGISTER. ❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!) The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️EVEN BETTER - LUCY & I are creating a NEW ART MEMBERSHIP together called The Celtic Collective!! Learn More & add your name to the waitlist here. ❤️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
If you've never used graphite transfer paper, are wondering how to use it, or WHY you'd ever want to transfer a drawing to another piece of paper - today's video is FOR YOU!! I've got FIVE favorite ways of transferring a drawing and can't wait to show them to you!!
First of all... why would you ever want to make a copy of a drawing you've already done? Lots of artists like to do this to save themselves a little time, but more often it's to SAVE their precious supplies - like paper!
I love to do watercolor illustrations, but using my eraser over and over again on my beautiful watercolor paper can really damage it. To save that paper - I prefer to do a drawing on less expensive paper - so I can erase till my heart's content, THEN transfer it to my watercolor journal, or to a sheet of loose watercolor paper. Lots of artists might use transfer paper to make this happen. But what if you don't have that on hand, or if it's too expensive? 
You can do this first idea for FREE!! Set your drawing against a bright window and lay a sheet of paper on top. Lightly trace your outlines onto the new sheet of paper.
If you want to get a little fancier, you can use a light table. I find this tool to be SO helpful!! I use my light table for drawing when I've got a really thick sheet of drawing or watercolor paper that I'd like to transfer my drawing to. A light table will get this job done for you SO fast because the light is super bright!!
Another option is to make an actual photocopy of your work if you've got a simple scanner at home like this. Mine is attached to my printer. This is a great solution if your drawing is on 8-1/2 x 11 paper. If your drawing is on larger paper, we need to get creative! Watch the video and I'll show you some ideas!!
If you DO have graphite transfer paper, I show you exactly how to use it in today's video. I EVEN show you how to make transfer paper YOURSELF if you're in the mood!
Now my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WAY to transfer a drawing to a new piece of paper might surprise you...
I HIGHLY recommend you draw it again from scratch! I KNOW!! But there's seriously something to "Practice Makes Perfect!" If you know me, you know I'm not striving for perfection and don't want you to either!! But EVERY time you practice, it seriously makes you a BETTER artist! 
Any time you have the OPPORTUNITY to redo a project, it will ALSO make you a better artist. MY job is to help you keep the projects light and FUN so you WANT to keep coming back for more!! If you're having FUN, you'll practice more, and the more you practice, the BETTER your art will become!!
Thanks for hanging out with me today!! ❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!) The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️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 drawing fairies as much as I LOVE listening to stories about REAL fairies and teaching my students about drawing & shading faces! I've put together a 5-day fairy drawing workshop called Fun Fab Fairies and will be teaching you how to complete THREE easy drawings of fairies. You'll learn how to draw a fairy sitting on a mushroom, how to draw fairy wings, how to draw a fairy face + how to shade a fairy face, and exactly what you need to do to turn these pencil drawings into your very own masterpieces!!
I LIVE for teaching people how to draw faces and can't wait to do this with you!
The LIVE festivities for How to Draw FUN, FAB FAIRIES kick off on Monday, April 26th. On days 1-3 will be a learning how to draw a mushroom, fairy with wings, grasshopper, grass - all from scratch! Then I'll teach you how to shade and color it in. 
On day 4 - I'm gonna teach you how to draw and shade a fairy face in pencil in my "Fub Fab" style - also from scratch! We'll be working in pencil, I'll teach you about the value scale and how to use this when you're shading faces so your drawings will POP and look more realistic.
On day 5 I'm going to teach you how to draw and color in the fairy face from day 4 using alcohol markers!
Never used alcohol markers for shading a face (or anything) before? Don't worry- I've got TONS of resources for you. This FREE 12-page eBook I created about how to shade with skin tone markers (and how to CHOOSE which marker shades go best together!!) will be your NEW BEST FRIEND!! 
Simply click the button below, and I'll send this FREE 12-page PDF straight to your inbox.
I tell you EXACTLY which marker shades go best together to shade light, medium and dark skin tones using alcohol markers by Copic, Ohuhu and Arteza so you can choose which brand is best for you and your budget! If you're interested in learning how to draw FUN FAB FAIRIES with me, make sure you sign up before April 26th, because the price to participate is jumping from $10 to $47!! CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for the FAIRY DRAWING WORKSHOP 
Cost for all 5 days of this workshop (including the Facebook LIVES with daily giveaways) is $10. But make sure you sign up NOW because the cost is going up to $47 to join on Monday, April 26th.
Everything for the workshop is included from added PDF resources and links to supplies, to all the prerecorded content. AND it's ALL YOURS TO KEEP, download and rewatch forever! CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for the FAIRY DRAWING WORKSHOP Even though the workshop has LIVE festivities beginning on April 26th, there is no pressure to complete the workshop lessons on a time schedule. You are welcome to play at your own pace.
I hope you join me for FUN, FAB FAIRIES!!
Need info about other stuff?? Here ya go!! ❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!) The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️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 eyelashes is something SO many people struggle with!! In today's real time eyelash drawing tutorial, I'm sharing 3 QUICK TIPS to make eyelash drawing easier, and will demo how to draw eyelashes using a mechanical pencil, an 8B pencil, two kinds of sharpies, & my super SECRET weapon for lashes drawing across all mediums!! Let's get to it!!  I love to use drawing references to inspire me as I create because I feel it helps inform my decisions when I'm drawing, and my work will look more realistic- even if I'm doing a whimsical face drawing!! Using a face drawing reference is SO much easier than trying to dream up ideas in my own head for the faces I want to create in my art journals and canvases. I've got two eyelash drawing references in my EYELASH DRAWING CHEATSHEET for you, along with 3 QUICK TIPS on how to make drawing eyelashes easier :) Click the button below and I'll email it right over! I hope you find this helpful!! Once you've got your eyelashes cheatsheet printed, let's pull out a piece of paper or your sketchbook and get started.  The easiest way to draw an eye is to start with a squished oval, then do some fine tuning. If you need help with drawing eyes (or drawing ANY facial feature!) - please download my 5 in 5 Practice Packet and be sure to watch the video series because it will really help you zero in on the nuances for how to draw eyes and ALL of the facial features. For today's purposes- I'm not adding any detail there- we're headed straight for the lashes.  As you'll see in today's video - eyelashes have a definited DIRECTIONALITY to them on every human eyeball. I like to think of them as parentheses. You will switch the direction of your parentheses at the mid point of whatever eyeball you're drawing. Watch the video and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!!  Lots of time I will see students drawing stick straight lashes like in the pic below at the right.  These tend to end up looking more like SPIDER legs than eyelashes, so make sure you ALWAYS keep in mind my second quick tip for drawing eyelashes - PRESSURE.  There is a flicking motion I use when I'm drawing eyelashes- no matter what medium I'm drawing in. Be sure you check out the video to see what I'm talking about. It's WAY easier to understand if you SEE it.  Tons of people have trouble with how to draw bottom eyelashes. I have a super weird analogy that helps me with this! I think of eyelashes kinda like shark teeth! When you think about shark teeth - they have multiple rows, right? We have the SAME thing going on with eyelashes! Take a look at my cheatsheet's eyelash drawing reference pictured above. When I zoom in on that (or if you print it at home), you'll see there are actually multiple rows of teensy hairs! Taking point #3 into account, let's put this into practice...  As you can see from the photo above, these lashes aren't finished. That's because I don't have ENOUGH eyelash LAYERS layers going on in my top row. This is a mistake I see happen all the time. There's an easy trick to it though! Just add MORE!!! You can also make some of your lashes THICKER at the root. If you're drawing a large scale eye (like the above pic), as I'm doing in today's video - the lashes look like they're missing something, don't they? They're missing volume! See how it changes when I add a little more thickness below? It's starting to look better, right?  All of this was done using my mechanical pencil. It can take FOREVER to draw eyelashes with a mechanical pencil, even though you can get some beautiful effects!!  If you're a little less patient (like me!!), using a really soft pencil (like an 8B), can be very helpful to vary your lines more quickly.  Then take into consideration, my 3 QUICK TIPS of Directionality, Pressure, and Varying Lengths. When you watch the video, you'll see how quickly I was able to knock all three out using my 8B pencil.  Add in a blending stump, and you'll achieve even more QUICK results!  If you decide to draw eyelashes with a thin sharpie, you'll find this is very similar to working with a mechanical pencil. It can be a little difficult to vary your thickness in the strokes, but can also be very precise if that's what you're going for.  It helps to use a DOUBLE LINE when working with a thinner lead or marker nib like this.  Another trick I use if I feel like my eyelashes are looking a little wonky or if I want to make it look like the girl I'm drawing is wearing eyeliner, is to thicken that lid line. Then that line takes a bit more center stage and people might not notice the wonky eyelashes as much :)  When I'm doing my mixed media faces, eyelashes are typically the LAST thing I add to my girls! Sometimes if I'm having issues with how the lashes are coming out, a great cheat is to turn whatever you've done into cat eye makeup! Then you can cover up whatever mistakes you've made and make it look intentional, like this was the look you meant to do all along!!  Another trick that works AMAZINGLY for mixed media faces is to just simplify the lash line completely and turn it into cat eye makeup without additional lashes on the top or bottom. It looks really cool, is super fast and you're done!! Pretty fail safe!! You can always add in a few thinner lashes if you feel like you want to - but you totally don't have to.  Using a brush pen is another AWESOME way for drawing eyelashes! It doesn't matter which medium - I've felt my pental pocket brush pen is amazing for drawing eyelashes because it has such a sensitive nib. It takes no effort to vary the pressure, and I feel like the eyelashes I draw here look SO much more realistic because of the varying pressure. I use this pen across both mixed media and drawing. It does take a bit of practice- so if you just dive in with this product at the end of a project that you're in love with - you have to be careful. I highly recommend practicing with it off to the side until you get the feel of how it works and what kind of pressure you need to use to get the line weights you're looking for. Be sure to watch the video to see how the various effects and line variation you can achieve from this amazing tool!!  I hope you found this video helpful!! Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday!! 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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