EASY Fairy Drawing in Alcohol Markers with Karen Campbell [Week 3 #50FunFabFaries Challenge]14/6/2022
Wanna create this EASY fairy drawing with me in alcohol markers? These are one of my FAVORITE art supplies to use when shading faces I draw. If you've never tried them before, stick with me - I'll guide you step by step in today's drawing tutorial as we continue with week three of the #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge!
To find ALL the info for the FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge, simply click the button below to receive instant access to ALL the fairy reference images for each drawing prompt, plus info on supplies, cheatsheets and more!
Wanna become a better artist? Do today's lesson (and every lesson of the challenge) five times, making a few creative alterations of your choice, and watch your skills soar as you practice fairy eyes drawing, fairy ears drawing AND fairy hair drawing 50 different ways!
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.
Just because we're switching up our supplies for week three of #50FunFabFairies, I don't want you to get distracted from the actual purpose of this fairy drawing challenge - which is increasing your drawing skills!
You're learning how to draw faces and where to look in reference images for face shading guidance so you know how to add depth to your drawings. If all you have is a pencil and a piece of paper and you want to do this drawing challenge - that's perfect. You're good to go! All that matters is you draw. 
If you're new to my world, my absolute favorite alcohol markers are copics, but they cost between $8-9/each, so when I teach my students how to use alcohol markers I use Ohuhus (especially for skin tones!) because they only cost $1/marker.
I was recently approached by a company called ArtBeek to try out their alcohol markers. I said I would because their cost per marker is only 40 cents and they have a brush nib on their markers -which is a must have for me. So today's project is not only our #50FunFabFairies drawing prompt number 3, it's a product test and review for ArtBeek Alcohol Brush Markers. 
The fairy face drawing we're doing today is a side profile drawing in the three quarter view pose. While this is the most challenging view to draw - I think it's important for you to start practicing this right away so you don't feel intimidated.
I'm including cheatsheets on how to draw a three quarter portrait from my book How to Draw & Find Your Style in the #50FunFabFairies classroom for you over at AwesomeArtSchool.com. I'm also referring to my book Skin Tone Secrets for a little help in locating the skin tone marker shades I want to use for this drawing. I love the rainbow vibe in our reference fairy drawing image. I see seeing a lot of yellow in the lightest areas, so immediately connected with this page from Skin Tone Secrets. 
To get started, we need to sketch in the basic side profile drawing shape for a three quarter portrait AND the facial feature guidelines. If you know me - you know I NEVER draw a face without guidelines, because they're just too important!
If you're not sure how to draw fairy ears, I've got you! Simply watch the video, and I'll show you step by step.
Once I've penciled in a few swirly hair lines, it's time to get rid of our graphite as well as we can, because graphite and alcohol markers really don't mix. The brush nib of an alcohol marker can get dirty and pick up graphite super easily. This can drag all over your drawing and muddy things up, so make sure you take enough time to erase as much of the graphite as possible.
I use my vanish eraser for this. After the guidelines are gone, I actually pounce my eraser over the rest of my lines just to remove even more. 
HOT TIP: If you're an outliner like me, and want to do those first, make sure you're NOT using a sharpie because these are also alcohol markers and they will naturally want to bleed and blend in with the other colors you're using.
Instead, opt for a fineliner that is water-based or pigmented, like this one from Molotow. These will NOT smear when you're working with Copics, Ohuhus, or the new markers I'm testing out today by ArtBeek. 
HOT TIP: There are lots of fun swirlies in our fairy drawing image for jewelry, I love using a STENCIL to do this! It takes the pressure off trying to copy something exactly and looks SO precise in your drawing. I highly recommend you do this as well :)
Since I'm using a new to me set of alcohol markers, I do need to swatch them out prior to coloring today. As I do this, I'm loving the soft brush tip of the ArtBeek markers. There aren't a lot of skin tones (even in the large set of 120), but I do feel like they're even softer to work with than the Ohuhus, which kinda surprises me!
In the video, you'll really see how I look to my reference fairy drawing image to "inform" my face shading. If you're scared to change marker shades as you get into shading the face - that's ok. Just use the same shade you were working with for layer one and darken your drawing with a second coat of that same color to start creating subtle shadows (above). It's totally fine to do this in baby steps until you're comfortable.
Typically I recommend using three shades of a color to do face shading in alcohol markers. As you can see in the photo above, each time you add a layer of shading that is slightly darker than the one you did previously, leave that a bit of that previous color exposed to really add depth to your drawing. In the photo above, you can see all four skin tone marker shades I used in the shadow on her face, next to her ear.
The hair on this fairy is wild and SO much fun! I am in love with the rainbow and the fact that it gives me the opportunity to use so many colors from this fun new marker set by ArtBeek.
After my fairy is done, it's time for me to pull out my secret weapon for drawing killer eyelashes! I LOVE my pentel pocket brush. It's also water-based so works just as beautifully with alcohol markers as it does over china markers and my mixed media paintings!
I hope you enjoyed today's fairy drawing lesson. Remember, if you haven't signed up for the FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge - you can still do that whenever you want to. It's not too late to join, and there is no "behind" with the challenge. Everything is draw at your own pace on your own time! I've stocked the FREE classroom at AwesomeArtSchool.com for you with PDFs of our fairy reference images for each lesson, plus drawing cheatsheets to help you along, info on supplies and SO much more! Have so much fun and I'll see ya in the classroom, or if you're posting your progress in the Facebook group! If you're OBSESSED with fairies and fantasy art like me, you might just LOVE the Celtic Collective over at Awesome Art School. It's an art membership my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon, and I run together! 
You might ALSO enjoy our podcast, 1Scot,1 Not. We talk about everything under the sun to do with Scotland - whether it's historical, fantasy, whatever. Just a quick warning - we have a blast and are totally ourselves on the podcast, which means there is some drinking and swearing.
❤️ 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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Wanna create a BEAUTIFUL, EASY fairy drawing you can be proud of - even if you've never drawn before? You're in the right place!
Today I'm kicking off my FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge and teaching YOU how to draw a beautiful fairy face, step by step on toned paper. 
Never drawn a face before? No problem. Never drawn on toned paper before? It's EASIER than drawing on white paper! Don't have any fancy drawing supplies? Upcycle the back of a paper grocery bag into tan toned paper, and grab 2 colored pencils or crayons (black & white).
Simply click the button below to join me in my FREE 10-lesson, 20-week fairy drawing challenge for artists of ALL levels. The amazing classroom I have waiting for you includes expanded information and resources with full-length lessons not available on YouTube. 
Wanna become a better artist? Do today's lesson (and every future lesson of the challenge) 5 times, making a few creative alterations of your choice, and watch your skills soar as you practice fairy eyes drawing, fairy ears drawing AND fairy hair drawing 50 different ways!
When you join the classroom link above, you'll get access to the above PDF of a score card to help you track your fairy drawing progress in the challenge!
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 always have a blast bringing new and returning artists into our Awesome Art School community to jumpstart their creativity through a drawing challenge. AND, since one of my total obsessions is fairies and fantasy art - this is going to be super FUN for all of us.
To complete today's lesson in the #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge, you'll need a piece of tan toned paper (or the back of a grocery bag- even a piece of printer or notebook paper is fine!), plus a black China Marker and white China Marker. If you don't have China Markers - don't sweat it, just use black and white colored pencils or crayons. You could also totally do this entire drawing on scrap paper with a pen or pencil. The main thing is that YOU DRAW - not stress over the supplies! 
To initially sketch a fairy face, I grabbed my favorite Blackwing pencil. If you're interested in purchasing special drawing pencils, these are to die for. One pencil basically replaces an entire pencil set and can give you so many values when shading a face or any object you love to draw.
They are expensive though, so if you're on a budget - just use whatever pencil you have on hand! 
I begin this drawing like all my semi-realistc face drawings -with my whimsical face drawing guidelines. These are SO important to keep your faces looking proportional!
If you need a copy of my face drawing guidelines - the PDF is available to you for free in the #50FunFabFairies Challenge Classroom over at Awesome Art School. 
After your guidelines are marked, it's time to start placing your fairy's facial features.
I LOVE working with photos of faces for drawing reference. Sometimes I look at pictures of real people, sometimes I look at other artists' drawings, art books, you name it! When I look at these face drawing references, I zero in on things like unique facial features, face shading patterns, hairstyles, accessories, etc. I use those pieces of information as "thought starters" to get me thinking in a different way visually. I never want to steal another artist's work and am a huge stickler on crediting the artists who inspire me. 
The fairy drawing images I've selected to use as inspiration for today come from the guidance in one of Christopher Hart's books. I LOVE his interpretations of fairies and fanciful creatures!
The other fairy drawing reference is a piece of digital art I found on Pinterest with no artist's name attached. I'm using elements from both images to inspire me for today's lesson. 
The eyes on Christopher Hart's fairy are especially interesting and what drew me to this face drawing reference photo in the first place. Once these are sketched in - you should have something in front of you that looks like an alien! If you do- you're doing amazing!!
Lots of students have asked me how to draw fairy ears. They're really quite simple. If you click over to the video to see this example of fairy ears drawing in action, it will really help you along.
Next up... hair! If you're not sure how to draw hair, I've got you, and break this down step by step for you as well. I'm using Christopher Hart's drawing as a guide to create some wispy bangs and a simple, sketchy bun piled on top with flyaways. SO cute!!
Next it's time to get some detail added in the upturned eyes we started. Again, if you don't know how to draw eyes, this project is TOTALLY for beginners, and I'm holding your hand the entire way in this fairy drawing video.
I am all about using a circle template for the irises and pupils. Of course we could spend time working on drawing perfect circles, but I've got WAY better things to do, and I'm sure you do too!
Use a template, and let's move on to the next step. Look at what a difference the eyes make, huh? Now she's comin' to life! 
I'm keeping the nose super simple for this girlie today, and am only adding a squished oval on each side for notstrils. I also sketched in a bridge line for the nose as well, but only lightly because that will be part of our face shading when it's time.
The lips in the Pinterest fairy drawing reference are just luscious! It's a super pouty, sexy look that I love - so took a little inspiration from that to create my own.
Next, it's time to fine tune everything and start erasing all the sketchy guidelines so we can add some shading and dimension to this fairy face. If you don't have a favorite eraser, mine is in the pic above, off to the right. It's called the vanish eraser, and I just LOVE it.
If you've never worked with toned paper before, the coolest thing about it is we only have to add the really dark parts and the really light parts of the value scale, because the paper itself already gives us the midtone we need! That means less face shading for us, and the sketch takes much less time to complete. Cool, right? In a lot of ways, shading on toned paper is actually easier than shading on white paper. If you're new to working with toned paper, and want to learn more about the value scale, check out this playlist on YouTube. 
I started with my black china marker to basically outline the entire drawing. Then I add some scribble scrabble shading in areas where I want there to be shadows. If you need help with learning how to shade a face - don't worry, simply follow me in today's drawing tutorial. It's all SUPER step by step and easy to follow.
Simple right? I TOLD you this was gonna be an EASY fairy drawing that anyone could do!!
Adding white highlights at the end of a drawing project is probably my favorite part! Again, no need to know where these highlights are supposed to go. Just follow me, and we'll do it together. 
If you love a little extra drama like me, grab some black and white paint pens, and I'll show you which areas to hit to really make things pop.
Thanks for hanging out with me today!! I REALLY hope you are drawing along with me and plan to participate in this fairy drawing challenge. We're going to have SO much fun together!
If you're OBSESSED with fairies and fantasy art like me, you might just LOVE the Celtic Collective over at Awesome Art School. It's an art membership my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon, and I run together! You might ALSO enjoy our podcast, 1Scot,1 Not. We talk about everything under the sun to do with Scotland - whether it's historical, fantasy, whatever. Just a quick warning - we have a blast and are totally ourselves on the podcast, which means there is some drinking and swearing. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
I LOVE teaching people just how EASY it is to draw a face EVEN IF THEY'VE NEVER DRAWN A FACE BEFORE! Don't have a sketchbook yet? Don't worry! We're gonna start with the basics. All you need is a number 2 school pencil and a piece of paper to get started.
If you're a baby beginner at face drawing- you're in the right place! If you've been drawing faces for a while and want to take your drawings to the next level, you're ALSO in the right place!
Either way - you NEED my FREE whimsical face drawing guidelines. They're super easy to follow, and will help you draw proportional facial features every time. Simply click the button below to request your free guidelines cheatsheet, and I'll email it right over! 
My free face drawing guidelines cheetsheet will help you with today's face drawing tutorial, and is exactly what I use each and every time I draw a whimsical or semi realistic face!
Once you print that out, grab a sheet of any paper you have on hand, a pencil, and eraser and let's get started. 
We start out by lightly sketching some large ovals on our paper. If you're totally new to drawing faces, draw as many as you need to - to warm up and get an oval you're happy with for today's face drawing project.
Next we're gonna simply sketch in the guidelines for where all the facial features need to sit on our oval. Even though I've drawn a zillion faces, I STILL ALWAYS sketch in my face drawing guidelines, each and every time because I dont want my faces to come out looking wonky. If I don't use guidelines, that's exactly what's gonna happen.
Once all my facial features have been penciled in, it's time to get ready to add some cute hair. Lots of people freak out about drawing hair, but I promise you - it's not nearly as hard as you think! Make sure you click over to the video so you see how simply this is in action.
The first step to drawing hair is to pick a part line - left, right or middle. Then you simply sketch in some lines extending from your part. Make sure they go up and over the head shape, and into the head shape space because hair has volume in real life, and doesn't just sit on top of our head line. We want to show that in our drawing.
Make sure you click over to the video to see just how easy this is! When your drawing is done - keep on watching so you can take your drawing one step further. First, we'll shade her and add dimension with pencil... 
Then, I'll teach you how to shade a face using alcohol markers! 
Thanks for hanging out with me today!
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM FUN & EASY Male Fashion Illustration Sketches like Christopher Hart! [Perfect for Beginners]12/4/2022
Feel like adding some MALE fashion illustration sketches to your sketchbook? I hear ya! I LOVE drawing female faces & fashions. But every once in a while- I like to mix things up and draw a dude.
Today we're sketching an EASY fashion illustration figure in pencil, and coloring him in with alcohol markers. He's simple enough to do even if you've never tried fashion figure sketching before. Grab a pencil, some markers & come draw with me! 
If you're new to drawing and coloring with alcohol markers, or have a brand new set of markers, make sure you grab my FREE Swatch Sheet so you can swatch your markers out before we get to the coloring portion of today's project. Simply click on the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!
Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.
I can't wait to show you a flip through of the fashion sketching book that inspired today's video, Figure it Out! Simple Lessons, Quick Results by Christopher Hart. It's literally filled with lessons & drawing references that will keep you drawing for days.
A couple of weeks ago I did a female fashion sketch tutorial inspired by another one of Christopher Hart's books (I have ELEVEN of them because I LOVE him that much!). SO many people in my Facebook group were drawing along with me and I just loved it, so decided I had to do another one!
There are so many ways to draw the figure. I'm actually writing a new book right now about how to draw figures using my own Quadrant Method (check this video out if you want to see how the Quadrant Method works for figure drawing).
As I said in my previous Christopher Hart project video - I LOVE his instruction. It's clear, concise, and simple to follow.
I'm using a mechanical pencil to sketch today's male fashion figure. I love the Graphgear Set by Pentel that I'm using in the video because it's weighted and helps me feel like I've got better control. 
This particular drawing prompt from Christopher Hart shows the head tilted just a bit, as well as the shoulders. Since we're drawing a guy- the shoulders are fairly squared off and angular.
Our dude has a bit of a swagger in his step, which makes his torso curve. We're also drawing one leg "shorter" than the other to indicate he's in motion, mid-step. 
You'll notice the joints in fashion illustration are initially sketched in as balls or circles. These guidelines will get erased when the drawing is finished, leaving a gentle curve behind.
Fun fact about fashion figure sketching - the elbows of your figure should always end up at the waist of your model, so keep that guideline in mind as you're drawing. I love that this illustration has the guy's hands in his pockets! Makes things SO much easier - no fingers to worry about. If you are someone who wants to learn how to draw hands and fingers realistically, I've got a course over at Awesome Art School just for you, and a book of the same hand drawing projects on Amazon. 
Once you've got the arms of today's guy sketched in, and have a little detail added to the pants and shirt, it's time to get rid of some of your guidelines.
I'm using my favorite vanish eraser. It's super gentle on your paper and really lifts the graphite quickly. They sell these at Jerry's Artarama for $2! If you don't have a Jerry's near you, you can also pick them up on Amazon at that link above. 
Super important tip if you're planning on using alcohol markers (Copics, Ohuhus, sharpies, etc.) to color your dude in...
You'll want to outline first in a fineliner, then erase all remaining graphite because if you color OVER graphite with your alcohol markers, the underlying graphite will smear. It can also really wreck/stain your lighter marker shades like yellows, light skin tones or pastels. You also need to really make sure you pay close attention to what your fineliners are made of. Alcohol markers blend beautifully with other alcohol markers. But... if you outline in sharpies (this is ALSO an alcohol marker)- you're gonna get smearing or "bleeding" because the fineliner is gonna try to blend with the alcohol markers you're shading with. Do yourself a favor and use a fineliner that's a water based or pigment based. This will ensure NO blending takes place where you don't want it. I love this set by Molotow. It's a great value (11 fineliners in a variety of nib sizes for around $28). 
After your finelining is done, take another pass over the whole drawing with your eraser to make extra sure there is no remaining graphite.
You'll notice just before I grabbed my fineliner, I decided I wasn't as in love with the mohawk I'd drawn in for my dude's hair as I thought I would be. My How to Draw Fun Fab Fellas drawing book was on my art table, so I decided to flip through it for a little men's hairstyle inspiration.
This book was part of my original How to Draw Fun Fab Faces trilogy, and came about because I've got three sons. They used to joke about how I only drew girls, so this book was kinda for them (and anyone out there who loves drawing faces or wants to learn how to draw a male face).
For coloring with alcohol markers (or really any art supply), I recommend you use at least 2 shades of the same color so you can show a little dimension in your shading. It just makes your drawings look so much more sophisticated.
If you don't have two shades of a color available - just use the same color and add another layer to darken parts of your drawing and indicate shadows. That's what I'm doing today. If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm in LOVE with my copic markers! But they cost an arm and a leg to collect (trust me- I've been adding to my collection for YEARS!). Usually I tell my students to purchase a set of Ohuhu alcohol markers because they're much cheaper and still great quality. You can get this giant set of 120 shades for around $99. I know $99 for markers still sounds kinda high - but if you want to play with the rainbow and not sacrifice quality, this is your brand. 
They have an excellent skin tone set too! Just for comparison, this Ohuhu skin tone set comes with 24 markers and runs around $30 on Amazon. The copic marker skin tone set (while gorgeous & top of the line), only comes with 6 markers and costs around $45.
If you're new to working with alcohol markers, watch this video - it's everything you need to know to get started. You can totally mix and match your alcohol marker brands too. So if you feel like splurging on a smaller set of copics and grabbing the Ohuhu skin tone set - they work beautifully together. I work with both brands interchangeably all the time! Can you tell I've mixed brands below? 
Didn't think so ;) Once you've finished coloring today's adorable fashion dude, don't forget to add some white highlights at the end. This is one of my absolute favorite parts of my projects, and really takes your art to the next level.
I had a white poster paint sharpie nearby, so I simply grabbed that to add my highlights in. You could also use a white posca pen here. They're interchangeable too, and both work really well on top of alcohol markers.
Make sure you stick with me until the end of today's video for a FULL flip through of Christopher Hart's book, Figure It Out! Simple Lessons, Quick Results. You're gonna love it! Thanks for hanging out with me today! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
Need some FUN fashion illustration sketches that are simple enough to do even if you've never done fashion figure sketching before? You're in the right place!
Today we're sketching an EASY fashion illustration figure in pencil, and coloring her in with alcohol markers. Grab a pencil, some markers & come draw with me! 
If you're new to drawing and coloring with alcohol markers, or have a brand new set of markers, make sure you grab my FREE Swatch Sheet so you can swatch your markers out before we get to the coloring portion of today's project. Simply click on the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!
Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.
I can't wait to show you a flip through of the drawing book that inspired today's video, The Beginner's Fashion Design Studio: Easy Templates for Drawing Fashion Favorites (Drawing with Christopher Hart). It's literally filled with lessons & drawing references that will keep you drawing for days.
I'm completely in love with the author's style (I've got ELEVEN of his books). His faces and figures have a very cartoon-y or semi-realistic drawing style like mine do. I think that is one of the things that attracted me to his work.
I am also very picky about art book instruction (as you may know if you've been following this series on YouTube).
As an art book author myself, I really try to make drawing instruction simple and step by step for my readers. When I find someone who does the same thing (like Christopher Hart!), I get super excited and can't wait to recommend the book to my students. Why don't we get started with today's fashion illustration figure? 
One of the first things I love to do when I'm just getting started with a drawing is to lay out parameters for myself. For example - take a look at the shot above. Her legs go on for miles, right?! To help me get the proportions right, I marked in a faint line where I want the ground to be, as well as where her waist is, so I know in general where I'm going.
All of the subtle angles and movements in the body are what makes the figure so hard to draw. However, if you've got someone like Christopher Hart holding your hand and showing you exactly what to do - I just let them lead the way. Trust me we're in great hands with this fun fashionista sketch!
Look at how sassy she is already!
Take note of how simple her hair is. Tons of my students tend to freak out about hair, but honestly it's so much easier than you think. I always break it down into simple shapes that I can fill in later with detail if I'm in the mood. If I'm not in the mood- I color the blocky hair shape in, and call it a day, because it's super cute and stylistic! 
If you're new to my world, my "kryptonite" is drawing small. LOL! So drawing these teeny tiny hands in feels so hard! Just do what you can and move on with your life. If drawing realistic hands sounds like fun to you, or a challenge you'd like to conquer, I've got both a drawing book and an online art class in my Fun Fab Drawing Club dedicated to "How to Draw AMAZING Hands," filled with 31 hand drawings you can do with me from scratch!
Wanna learn How to Draw Fashion Hands 10 Ways? This video is a bit older, but it's got easy ideas you might love incorporating into your own work.
Whenever I'm doing an alcohol marker project like today's, I love to start my coloring by outlining with a black fineliner. The reason I like to do fineliner and then color my drawings in, is because I want to erase all the graphite on my page. Graphite will smear with alcohol markers and make the nibs of your markers dirty. Erasing pencil lines before you start shading with alcohol markers works great and prevents that mess. If you're looking for an amazing eraser, this one if my fave.
Lately I've really been into using my black fineliners by Molotow. They're pigment based, and do not smear when I use them with alcohol markers.
Speaking of alcohol markers - I LOVE my copics, but they took forever to collect because they're so expensive. If you need to stick to a budget, try Ohuhus. They're awesome, and super affordable. I especially love the Ohuhu skin tone collection. (By the way - copics and ohuhus blend beautifully together, so don't be afraid to mix the brand shades in the same project!) 
See how simple the hair is on this girl? It's basic block shapes and I'm coloring it all one shade. I may just leave it like that because I'm in the mood for fast and easy!
How fun is this green in her sweater?! Love it!
I hope you have so much fun with today's fashion illustration project! And if you decide to get one of Christopher Hart's books - they're ALL fabulous. Take it from me... I've got ELEVEN!!
Need help learning how to color with alcohol markers? Check out this playlist! Thanks for hanging out with me today! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
Need an EASY pencil shading drawing tutorial that's simple enough to do even if you've never tried shading a drawing before? You're in the right place!
Today we're creating 3 line drawings & taking them to the next level by adding a simple shadow with one of the easiest pencil shading techniques I've learned to date.
If you feel comfortable with the line drawings and shading practice in today's video, I'd LOVE to teach you how easy it is to draw a simple FACE in pencil.
I make cheatsheets and videos for EVERYTHING - especially when it comes to drawing faces! Click the button below to request my FREE whimsical face drawing guidelines, and I'll email them right over.
After you print your guidelines cheatsheet, here's a playlist of FREE face drawing videos from my YouTube drawing channel so we can practice drawing and shading simple faces together, step by step.
Let's get back to today's lesson!
If you've been following either of my YouTube channels lately, you know I've been introducing you to some of my favorite art books - showing a flip through, and then trying an entire project or demo-ing a technique from the book. The book I'm featuring this week on my drawing channel is actually more of a mixed media book, but there is a BRILLIANT pencil shading technique for beginners in it that I just had to share with you. 
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.
Danielle Donaldson's Creative Girl: Mixed Media Techniques for an Artful Life is simply gorgeous (if the book isn't available on Amazon, you can also find it here).
I actually love this book so much that I featured it last week while doing the watercolor trees for beginners project on my mixed media channel. Today, I'm sharing Danielle's super simple analogy of adding shading to a drawing at "5 o'clock." 
On page 54 of her book, Danielle says "Shadows are the thickest at 5 o'clock." I decided to try this shading technique out on three simple line drawings.
First, I drew the water bowl sitting on my art table with a paint brush inside. Then I picked up a blending stump (remember - the dirtier, the better when it comes to blending stumps), and thickened the shadow at an imaginary 5 o'clock position of my water bowl. 
Here's another shot showing you what I'm imagining in my head...
Right where the imaginary hour hand of the clock is pointing to 5 is where I'm thickening the shadow with my blending stump. 
Below is another example of this easy shading technique for beginners on a line drawing of a flower vase.
Isn't that the easiest concept to imagine so you know exactly where to add shadows to your drawing?! I think it's brilliant.
My final doodle example for today, below, is of a cat - inspired by my art studio "terror," Tippie (she's just recently claimed my art table as her own)! When I look at all three drawings together, I immediately notice how all the shading looks consistent, showing shadows off to the lower right. This is a really important concept to think about for beginner artists. 
Your work will look more sophisticated if you your shadows are all drawn in the same direction, like they're all being hit by the same light source. It makes more sense visually, and can make even simple whimsical, or semi-realistic drawings like these, look more advanced.
Make sure you watch today's video to see these simple shading techniques in action. And grab a pencil and piece of paper before you press play so we can do this together!
Stay with me till the end for a quick flip through of Danielle's adorable book. Thanks for hanging out with me today!! When you watch the video, you'll hear me mention my Retro Redezvous Art Party. While the live portions of the Retro Party have passed, the lessons are still available at Awesome Art School, here. If you are a member of an Awesome Art School club (The Fun Fab Drawing Club, Mixed Media Society, or Celtic Collective), you've been given access to these lessons for free as a membership perk. Enjoy!! Happy drawing! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
Need a FUN handmade bookmark design that's step by step and EASY enough to do even if you've never tried drawing before? You're in the right place!
In today's drawing video, you'll get a sneak peek at one of my favorite drawing books filled with inspiring dangle art drawings (similar to zentangling, but even easier). I'll show ya what inspired this bookmark tutorial, then go grab some markers & draw along with me as I guide you through this CUTE handmade bookmark design idea - perfect for artists of ALL levels to enjoy!
If you're new to drawing and coloring with markers, make sure you grab my FREE Swatch Sheet so you can swatch your markers out before we get to the coloring portion of today's project. Simply click on the button below, and I'll send it straight to your email!
Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links, but by law, there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support!
Today I'm reviewing a drawing book filled with fun dangle art called The Art of Dangles by Olivia A. Kneibler.
What's a dangle? They're basically what they sound like - a line with decorative embellishments, tiny shapes, or charms hanging from them. They're adorable hanging from letters, and you can create super FUN projects out of them, like today's bookmark!
I actually enjoy drawing dangles more than I like zentangling because they're SO simple! Zentangling is super fun, but can get a little fussy for me. If you'd like to try a simple zentangle art project with me - be sure to check out this video and art book review from last week. That project and today's are excellent beginner drawing lessons.
The only criticism I have of today's book is that everything in it has been drawn digitally. I love drawing by hand and teaching beginner drawing lessons, so that's my only tiny complaint.
One of the reasons I really love drawing by hand and appreciate hand drawn art is because of the imperfections that come out of them. You don't see those in digital art. Everything is much more "perfect." Don't get me wrong- I have a serious appreciation for digital drawings too - I just prefer things to be hand drawn. 
Regardless of my preference, I think the author does a fantastic job of providing inspirational drawing ideas to try. She shows how-to's for the entire alphabet in her book, and includes dangles from each letter in upper and lower case. There isn't a ton of step by step direction- but it's totally enough to get you going, whether you want to create along with her in black and white, or in color.
If you have anything coming up that you need a personalized gift for, and want to create something for someone with their name on it - this book would be an excellent asset to help you get started with some amazing ideas.
There are also some fun examples of words showing you how to put creative letters together, and where to add some cute zentangle patterns and dangles.
The book closes with tons of adorable dangle projects you can create from roses, trees and snowflakes to random shapes and mandalas, followed by an index of charms and geometric dangles you can use as thought starters to get your own creativity going.
I felt inspired to combine two of my favorite dangle art projects from this book into one, and decided to do a handmade bookmark design.
To create my project- I'm just using a sheet of hammermill cardstock (it's equivalent to Bristol- just WAY cheaper). I also used a WATER BASED black fineliner to outline my drawing before coloring with my copics.
HOT TIP: If you use a water based fineliner prior to coloring with alcohol markers, the black marker won't bleed (don't use sharpies for this because they are alcohol based). If you're new to my world - I've been collecting my copic markers for years (because they cost an arm and a leg!). I LOVE using my copics, but I highly recommend using what you can afford and/or have on hand. Ohuhus are an excellent copic marker alternative and cost much less per marker if you'd like to start a cheaper alcohol marker collection. 
I finished my coloring off by adding in my signature white highlights using my white sharpie paint pen (a white posca paint pen works just as beautifully here- the sharpie is just what I had on the table at the time of filming).
Thanks for hanging out with me today! If you'd like to learn a little more about drawing, I've got the PERFECT event coming up and would LOVE for you to attend! SIGN UP FOR MY ART RETRO RENDEZVOUS with this special link for just $15. Beginners welcome (even if you've NEVER drawn a thing before). It's 5 days, filled with 10 beginner drawing lessons for you to enjoy! Here's a sneak preview of the projects... 
I hope to see you there!! ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL MY ONLINE ART CLASSES & Art Clubs ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
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. 
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. 
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Karen CampbellFounder of Awesome Art School. Mixed Media Artist. Author of 18 Instructional Art Books!    
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"Karen is flipping hilarious and she's very real...I like the way she teaches in a way that really gives you confidence, whether you're a beginner or advanced there's always something new to learn!"
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What Fans Are SayingKaren, you are absolutely fabulous! You make me feel like I can draw anything. I have recently retired and finally have the time to do some of the art that I have loved since I was in school. I am really at the beginning of my art journey and I hope to learn as much as I can. Thank you for all you do. |
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