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Wanna practice drawing necks realistically in JUST 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! In today's step by step drawing lesson, we're going to be drawing 5 female necks in real time, directly onto my FREE drawing worksheets. If you need help with how to draw necks, have always wanted to learn how to draw a face, are struggling with how to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!
I'd love for you to draw right along with me! Simply click the button below to grab my FREE 5 in 5 Facial Features Drawing Packet, and I'll send it straight to your email inbox.
Today's video is a follow up to a facial features drawing series I did a couple of months ago because I'm getting a lot of requests for how to draw necks and eyebrows!
If you're just discovering this series on how to draw facial features, the whole point of this thing, is just to get us practicing our drawing skills. We're not making it our "life's work," it's just a little drawing exercise, and we're only going to spend about 5 minutes working with each neck drawing reference photo, then we're moving on.
You'll see a stop watch going in the bottom of my screen. It's not here to stress you out. It's just to remind ME not to spend more than 5 minutes with any one reference image. 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! 
When we're working on these drawing worksheets, there are three things I encourage you to focus on one at a time, when looking at each neck drawing reference image:
1. Shape 2. Value 3. Details For my supplies today- I'm just using my favorite Blackwing pencil - it's like a soft 4B, and super smooth to work with. You're also gonna need a blending stump, an eraser (I love my vanish eraser and the tombow mono eraser).
In each neck drawing reference photo, I left in the jawline visible so we can look at how thick the neck is, and where it begins in relation to the head.
I started drawing the jawline on my first reference image with the chin, then added in the angles I saw in the model's face shape. 
Once the angles were penciled in, I took a minute to study the reference for any other lines that felt like they need to be drawn in (see below). Then I grabbed my blending stump to begin dragging some graphite around to help indicate the shadows I saw in the model's neck.
Make sure you download your 5 in 5 Drawing Packet so you can practice right on the drawing worksheets with me. Then click over to the video so we can do this quick drawing practice together in real time (no timelapse).
While doing this drawing practice, I realized necks are really WAY more about shading than drawing! 
If you're someone who's been afraid to try drawing a face realistically, or if you've been afraid to try adding a little bit of shading to your drawings - this is the PERFECT drawing exercise for you! Plus it's quick - something I always love!!
If you need to knock back any areas of your shading because they've gotten too dark, use your eraser to "pounce" and lift a little graphite off the page. Click over to the video to see this drawing technique. Keep checking your reference image to compare the lightest and darkest areas on the model's neck with your own drawing.
Our next reference image has a more rounded face shape than our first model, and a wider neck. 
My hope in today's free drawing lesson is that you can sharpen your observational skills, and let go of any fears you have about not having an anatomy background for drawing.
You don't need it for the kind of drawing we're doing! This is just some light practice, and the anatomy can be indicated with your shading. 
Our third reference image has some super dramatic shading for us to work on in the neck and collarbone. If you want to add in her braid- feel free, but don't stress about it. Today's practice is just about focusing on the neck.
Did you grab yourFREE 5 in 5 Drawing Practice packet and print it out yet? I hope so!!
As I always say, "You'll NEVER get worse with more practice." So print that sucker out, and let's get to work! If you're enjoying today's episode, make sure you check out the entire series on my YouTube drawing channel, because I teach you how to draw and shade eyes, eyebrows, noses, lips, hair, face shapes & more! Plus, each facial feature has 2 pages of black and white face drawing reference images to study and capture in your own drawing practice - right on the same pages. Our fourth neck drawing reference is SUPER subtle, and will help you sharpen your observational skills as we zero in on the highlights and shadows in this image together. 
Our last drawing reference (below) for today has a super unique shape and lots of beautiful values for us to concentrate on replicating in our own drawing.
Make sure you grab my 5 in 5 Practice Packet so YOU can sharpen your drawing skills right along with me.
Thanks for hanging out with me today! Interested in learning about how to create a mixed media portrait, but missed my Mixed Media Art Deco Workshop last week? Don't worry! You can STILL sign up and do this at your own pace - any time you want!! No art experience is needed for this super FUN online art class - I'll teach you everything you need to know, and we'll go step by step, together. 
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Ready to learn realistic eyebrow drawing in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! In today's step by step lesson, we're going to be drawing 5 sets of eyebrows in real time, directly onto my FREE drawing worksheet. If you need help with how to draw eyebrows, have always wanted to learn how to draw a face, are struggling with how to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!
I'd love for you to draw right along with me! Simply click the button below to grab my FREE 5 in 5 Facial Features Drawing Packet, and I'll send it straight to your email inbox.
Today's video is a follow up to a facial features drawing series I did a couple of months ago because I'm getting a lot of requests for how to draw eyebrows and how to draw necks!
If you're just discovering this series on how to draw facial features, the whole point of this thing is just to get us practicing our drawing skills. We're not making it our "life's work," it's just a little drawing exercise, and we're just going to spend about 5 minutes working with each reference photo, then we're moving on.
You'll see a stop watch going in the bottom of my screen. It's not here to stress anyone out. It's just to remind me not to spend more than 5 minutes with any one reference image. 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! 
There are three things I'd love for your to focus on one at a time, when looking at each eyebrow reference image:
1. Eyebrow Shape 2. Value 3. Details For my supplies today- I'm just using my favorite Blackwing pencil - it's like a soft 4B, and super smooth to work with. You're also gonna need a blending stump, an eraser (I love my vanish eraser and the tombow mono eraser). 
So with our first reference, as you can see- I draw in the general shape I'm seeing for the right eyebrow. The value I see is really pretty black, so I reach for my blending stump right away and then try to add in a few individual hairs even though I don't really see them in this particular photo - they're definitely there.
On the left eyebrow in this reference image, (above) you can definitely see a LOT more individual hairs, so I make sure to add those in where I see them, to make my drawing look more realistic.
or our second reference image, I'll show you how to draw bushy eyebrows - 2020 style. Lol! After these were drawn in with a little shading added, I carved out some highlights using my tombow eraser for detail.
The next face drawing reference has some really unique eyebrows for us to draw. They're much thinner than the last set, and are great practice if you're trying to learn how to draw curved eyebrows.
This style (above) is actually my favorite to draw on the mixed media portraits and whimsical drawings I love to create.
QUICK TIP: When you're ready to draw the individual hairs on the eyebrow, make sure your pencil tip is really sharp, or switch to a mechanical pencil. Doing drawing practice like this with drawing reference photos and cheatsheets can help you think of new ways to draw from your imagination later. 
Our fourth reference today has a very different shape and is a great face drawing reference photo if you've been looking for something to help you with how to draw a natural eyebrow.
QUICK TIP: You always draw things that grow (hair, grass, etc.) from the ROOT up to the tip.
I hope you find these eyebrow drawing references helpful for your own face drawing practice. Remember to grab my cheatsheet so you can do your drawing practice right on the drawing worksheet like me. This drawing worksheet is part of my 5 in 5 Facial Features Drawing Series on my YouTube drawing channel. In case you missed that- it's a super helpful 6-part video series on how to draw facial features with a worksheet of drawing references to go with each feature. We worked on how to draw realistic eyes, how to draw realistic noses, how to draw realistic lips, ears, how to draw different face shapes and how to draw fun female hairstyles in 5 minutes. I popped these new eyebrow drawing worksheets at the end of my drawing packet. You'll also see worksheets for how to draw necks - that's coming up on my YouTube channel soon, so stay tuned for that! Thanks for hanging out with me today!
Interested in learning how to create gorgeous mixed media portraits and learning how to draw art deco style? Join me for my upcoming 1-week, online art workshop starting September 27, 2021.
I'll teach you how to upcycle an old record jacket from the thrift shop into your very own mixed media canvas. Then we'll collage our hearts out, do a little mixed media drawing, and I'll show you ALL my tips and tricks to mixed media layering like a pro!
CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for the WORKSHOP and take advantage of my special 60% OFF Coupon Code before September 27th If you do plan to join me for this upcoming workshop, one of the mixed media art supplies I ALWAYS use is faber castell gelatos. I have heard from a number of my students that they can't get their hands on gelatos, so I just did a video on my mixed media YouTube channel about Faber Castell Gelatos Alternatives, and test a huge variety of gel crayons out for you so YOU don't have to! Make sure you check this out before the workshop starts on September 27th. See ya there!! ❤️ 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. 
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
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
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 Only have 5 minutes? Today's face shape drawing lesson is for YOU! In today's quick, step by step tutorial, we're going to be studying reference photos for drawing 5 face shapes in real time. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling with how to work drawing practice into your daily life, if the faces you draw ALL LOOK THE SAME, or ... if you need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!l  We're in week six of the 5 in 5 Drawing Facial Features series on my YouTube Drawing Channel, and this week is focused on how to draw a face shape step by step!! If you're just discovering this series, we are working on drawing facial features and only spending about 5 minutes with each face drawing reference I've provided. This whole series on my YouTube drawing channel is a FUN way to help us establish a daily art practice that doesn't take forever, and will help increase your drawing skills as an artist - EVEN if you're a beginner, who just wants to finally learn how to draw a face!!!  If you don't have my 20 -page, 5 in 5 Practice Packet - you'll want to download that now. This has all the face drawing references you need for the entire series, and you can work directly on each practice worksheet. Best of all, it's yours, FREE. Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox!  Even though I'm on week six of the series, don't feel like you're behind if you are just discovering this. This drawing practice is for YOU to do on your own time, at your own pace. There is no schedule, just FUN!! All you need to do the drawing exercises is my 5 in 5 Practice Packet is basically a good eraser and a pencil. You totally don't have to get fancy. Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links, but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  If you are interested in some fancier drawing tools - I'm using two of my favorites today: a Blackwing pencil, and my vanish eraser. Since today we're just going to draw face shape, there isn't any shading, so, no need for a blending stump. In fact, if all you have is a regular #2 school pencil- that's perfect! You never need fancy supplies when you're hanging out with me. Let's get started!!  Face shape drawing may not seem like it's all that important, but I feel like it's something that's typically overlooked, because it's so subtle. It's SUPER easy for artists who love whimsical face drawing to discover a "way" they like to draw face shape (mine is by drawing a zillion ovals, on the left above!!). Then before you know it, suddenly we find ourselves with a portfolio of faces that all look the same - even if they're beautiful!! One of the ways you can avoid what we call "same face syndrome" in art - is to use a face drawing references when you're drawing, because these images will inspire you to try new angles, facial feature positions, etc. Hop over to the video so I can SHOW YOU exactly what I mean ;)  When I'm trying to vary face shape, I pay close attention to bends and angles in the jaw, because this varies so much from human to human. As you'll see in the video, I can't even start this face without drawing a million ovals, LOL! That's just my thing!! From there, I note my face drawing guidelines, and start to refine, based on what I see in my reference photo. If you're not sure what I mean when I say "face drawing guidelines," you DEFINITELY need my cheatsheet to help you understand where the facial features should rest on every face you draw. Guidelines are THE KEY to making your face drawings proportional! Simply click the button below, and I'll send you my one-page Whimsical Face Drawing Guidelines. I printed and laminated this cheatsheet for myself because these guidelines are SO important. They will make every face you draw look proportional, no matter what ethnicity you're drawing. In general - we're surprisingly ALL the same as humans in this regard, even though we're all so unique! If you check out my Whimsical Women of the World face drawing series on YouTube, you'll see exactly what I mean!!  Sketching in my face drawing guidelines helps me zero in on each little section of the face, one at a time. This helps me pay closer attention to the angles and curves I need to replicate in my drawing, and helps the WHOLE face not feel so overwhelming. Remember I'm doing all of this in real time over on YouTube, so be sure to join me so I can teach you HOW to draw a face shape step by step!!  I spend the bulk of my time for each of these face drawing references observing, and trying to replicate what I see. There's no shading or extra detail to layer in like we had in previous weeks, so you will likely breeze through these exercises! Just because you might get through them quickly doesn't mean they're not worthwhile!! You're definitely sharpening your observational and drawing skills as you draw face shapes.  Our second reference image has more curves happening in her face shape. Again, it helps me to first sketch out an oval, mark my face drawing guidelines, and focus on drawing one small section at a time.  As I get to reference image 3, I notice she has a very different chin from the others. Looking at this makes me go back and take a second look at the previous chins to see if I caught the nuances there, or if I need to make adjustments. Remember, you can ALWAYS go back and do the same when something new like this catches your eye.  I specifically chose each of these face shape drawing references on purpose because I felt they were all so unique, and wanted to give you some good practice at drawing different face shapes! The one below felt like really great practice for round face shape drawing.  Her angles and curves are SO interesting, right?!  As you focus on basic face shape drawing with me today (and I HOPE you're doing this with me!!!), you'll notice that you don't need to make huge variations from face to face for each drawing to take on a life of its own!  If you haven't been using drawing reference images for your art in the past, I think they will help you sharpen your observational skills and make your drawings look SO much more sophisticated. Even if you want to draw in more of a whimsical or cartoon style vs realistic - taking characteristics from real life people will add more depth to your work.  I hope you enjoyed today's face shape drawing tutorial, and the whole 5 in 5 Drawing Series!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK HOW to DRAW EYES REALISTICALLY in Just 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)15/2/2021 Want me to teach you how to draw eyes realistically in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! We're drawing facial features right now on my YouTube drawing channel and spending about 5 minutes drawing each reference image. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  We're in week three of the 5 in 5 Drawing Facial Features series, and focusing on how to draw eyes - everyone's favorite! Make sure you download my 20-page drawing practice packet so you can draw right along with me. It's got all the drawing reference images in it and is yours FREE. Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox! Even though I'm on week three of the series, don't feel like you're behind if you are just discovering this. These drawing exercises are for YOU to do on your own time, at your own pace. There is no schedule, ok? I thought this packet might help us to "get out of our own heads" about how much time we need to set aside each week to actually DO an art project. That's one of the main reasons I'm trying to only spend about 5 minutes per eye drawing. I also know perfectionism is a big thing we all grapple with at times, especially when it comes to drawing. I'm hoping this will help! If you missed the first episode - I talked a lot about mindset shift, so make sure you check that out if it's something you struggle with.  Let's get to it!! We've got five gorgeous eyes to focus on today. As we work on each eye drawing picture provided, I mainly want you to think about three things:
Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links, but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  We're doing all of drawing practice in pencil, so grab your favorite and make sure you have a good eraser. If you have a blending stump - get your dirtiest one ready! If you don't have one- no problem, use your finger or a q-tip to help you with blending. If you are interested in some fancier drawing tools - I'm using my favorite Blackwing pencil, vanish eraser, and Tombow Mono Eraser (that's the one that looks like a mechanical pencil, but is an eraser!). This thing is seriously magical for chiseling out teensy highlights!!! This week I also busted out my mechanical pencil because there really are some fine lines when you're drawing eyes and I feel like a thinner lead can really help with replicating that detail.  I spend the bulk of my time on each eye trying to get the SHAPE right so it looks like the photo. It really helps to have a black and white image when you're drawing in pencil. And I gotta say, I really love working directly in the packet because I'm drawing right next to each reference.  My goal was to spend roughly 5 minutes on drawing each reference image. This one took right around 6, so not bad - especially considering I threw an eyebrow into the drawing as well!  Look ot this gorgeous second prompt! I'm trying to challenge us by using a variety of references from different ethnicities, AND I've switched things up so some of the references are the right eye, and some are the left. Aren't her lashes just stunning?? If you are interested in learning how to draw Asian eyes, I have two different tutorials you can check out from my last series that spend a little more time on this specifically. I've got one in greyscale of an Asian woman, and one of an Asian male, in color.  Isn't this one pretty?! I JUST LOVE how each eye is so unique.  As we move on to the third reference, you'll see her eye has a much different shape than the other two.  When you're studying a reference photo, and things feel overwhelming, try to look for shapes you can copy in your drawing. For example, I always find it helps me to look at the tear duct of an eye as its own shape. In our third eye in today's worksheet, there is a very pronounced tear duct, as well as a pronounced wet line under her eye (this is where I felt the need for the mechanical pencil to jump in!).  If you haven't seen me do this before, I totally help myself out and use a circle template when it comes to the iris, and sometimes even will use it for the pupil! I have no shame in using a template here, and neither should YOU!! It's just a little cheat to save time and get over that perfectionism trap we can all fall into when trying to draw a "perfect" circle. Can you spend time drawing each iris from scratch? Of COURSE you can! But that's not what this exercise is about. We're doing quick and easy practice. My circle template is a tool that helps me achieve that goal, so I encourage you to use one if it helps you too!!  When it comes to the eyelashes - I LOVE adding eye makeup drama here. I know eyelashes can really be tough to draw for all of us at times, so I've got a cheatsheet with all my tips on eyelashes drawing. You can grab that here if you haven't already!  Don't forget to kinda zoom out and hold your drawing out from a distance to compare it to the reference every so often. This will help you find little tweaks you can make to get your drawing to look more like the reference. When I did that with the above image, I noticed I needed a bit more shadow under the lower lid, so popped that in with my blending stump.  lf you've never done drawing like this before, please don't be intimidated, and come try this with me. Beginners are ALWAYS welcome, and this is an amazing exercise to work on together.  I LOVE the highlight on the iris in our 4th photo!! It's like a perfect little window!!  The lashes on our last reference photo are AMAZING!! They're also downturned a smidge. Gorgeous right? Make sure you're watching the video so I can show you exactly how I sweep in with my pencil to capture what I see in these unique eyelashes. In case you need my 5 in 5 Practice Packet link one more time - here ya go - cick the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox!! Good luck with today's eye drawing tutorial over on my YouTube drawing channel! I can't wait to see your work!! Please share it with me!
Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature... Have a wonderful week!!! ❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK HOW to DRAW NOSES REALISTICALLY in Just 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)8/2/2021 Want me to teach you how to draw noses realistically in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!! Last week I started a new series on my drawing YouTube channel ALL about drawing facial features! Each week we're going to focus on a different facial feature, and will draw it five different times (from reference images provided), and will ONLY spend five minutes on each drawing! Sounds FUN right?! If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face or how to shade a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!  Last week I showed you how to draw lips realistically, and this week we're gonna tackle how to draw realistic noses!!! The only supplies you need are a pencil, an eraser, and my FREE 5 in 5 Practice Packet. If you haven't downloaded your packet yet, CLICK the BUTTON below and I'll send it straight to your inbox. Simply print it out, grab a pencil and click over to today's video on my YouTube Drawing Channel. If you missed last week's video on how to draw lips realistically, make sure to check that out, and draw along with me at your own pace on pages one and two of your packet. Feel free to go out of order and skip around. This is FOR YOU, and no one else. I've got 5 nose drawing references for us to work on today, so if you're drawing along with me (and I hope you do!!) flip to those two pages and let's get started!  The goal is to spend about 5 minutes total on drawing exactly what you see in the reference image photo. You can draw right into your packet in the empty white space next to each photo. While we're doing these drawing exercises, I mainly want you to focus on three things:
Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links, but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  I'm working with my favorite Blackwing pencil again today. I love these because the graphite is SO soft. They are a luxury if you buy them individually, but around $2/each if you buy them in bulk. I feel like the lead is equivalent to a 4B, so I suggest working with that if you have it. If you don't - you can use a straight up #2 school pencil. I'm not kidding! Whatever gets the job done and has you drawing is what is most important!! As you'll see in the video, I do pull out my phone to time myself for each drawing. You totally don't have to do that!! I'm just doing this to keep myself focused because I could spend an hour working on ONE nose drawing, and that's not what this kind of drawing practice is about. What we're interested in right now is just spending time on something that is QUICK and EASY!  I spend the bulk of my 5ish minutes observing my reference photo and trying to replicate what I see next to it in pencil. Once I'm happy with the gist of my nose outline drawing, I use the side of my pencil to get some graphite down and drag that around with a blending stump to add some shading. If you don't have a blending stump, don't worry about it! You can use your finger or a q-tip! If you DO have a blending stump, you WANT it to be dirty. In fact, the dirtier, the better! After I get the darkest part of my drawing done (nostrils), I pull out my Tombow Mono Eraser (I LOVE this thing)! If you haven't used one of these before, it's basically a mechanical eraser, like a mechanical pencil! It has this SUPER teeny tip that is awesome for carving out detail highlights.  After you're done with your first nose drawing, make sure you hold your paper back a little to get some perspective. Compare your work to the reference to see if there are tweaks you want to make. If you're happy, move on to reference image number two! If you see something you could have done better, try to keep that in mind as you move on to the second image, and definitely don't beat yourself up about it! I'm finding as I do these drawing exercises with you that my first drawing is really a warm up, and I often get better the further into the packet I get!!  The second nose has a really has a unique shape, doesn't it? That's exactly why I chose it! I really hunted around to try and find a wide variety of nose reference photos for you, so I HOPE you're drawing along with me while you watch my YouTube drawing tutorial, because this is ALL in "real time" with no timelapsing to help you make the MOST of your drawing practice!  When I sit back and look at my drawing from a distance, I see that I really could have made the center highlight a bit more pronounced, so I make a few adjustments. Drawing has SO much to do with observational skills, so really take your time when studying each reference image. If you're just learning how to draw faces, or anything for that matter - your observational skills will develop and improve over time with practice. These little exercises are PERFECT to help you fine tune the way you look at images. Plus- if you watch my YouTube drawing lessons, you KNOW I'm all about pointing these little nuances out to help you along!!  This third nose is super random, and not like ANY nose I've ever drawn before, but it gives me a great opportunity to teach you how to draw a nose from an angle. It's kind of an upturned nose. As you can see in the image above, really the ONLY drawing that goes into a nose is at the base, where the nostrils are. The rest is basically ALL shading and highlights!! Crazy, right?!  If you've been away from drawing for a while, or get caught in a mindset of thinking you don't have enough time for drawing practice - I HEAR you!! SO many people have shared this concern with me, and it's one of the reasons I created this 5 in 5 Practice Packet! What I'm challenging each of us to do is to only carve out 5 minutes of time to work on each reference photo in the drawing packet. That can help us slowly shift our mindsets into thinking of our art practice in a different way. We don't have to set aside TONS of time for drawing practice. Just a few minutes a day is SOMETHING, and it's time you're carving out just for yourself. You're WORTH IT!  Now my last nose of the day was actually my favorite of all five and I did that one the fastest! See... there's something to that whole idea of PRACTICE and not needing to spend ALL DAY on it either!! In case you need that link for the 5 in 5 Practice Packet one more time, here ya go - click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox! Good luck with today's fun nose drawing practice!! I hope it goes awesome for you. Make sure you click over to my drawing YouTube channel so we can do it TOGETHER!!! See ya there. Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature... Have a wonderful week!!! ❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK 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 |
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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