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Tombow Brush Pens are one of my all time FAVORITE art supplies. Lots of mixed media artists use them for making cards & brush lettering, but I use them to PAINT! In today's art supply demo, I'll show you why they're a MUST HAVE in my studio + the QUICK & EASY way I use them to create MAGICAL mixed media portraits. If you're a beginner in the world of mixed media art, or just curious about what tombows can do for you - today's video is a MUST SEE!!
Tombows are super popular with mixed media artists -especially card makers and stamping fanatics. People LOVE using them for brush letting and calligraphy type projects.
Tombow dual brush pens come with two nibs, one on each end. One is a brush nib and the other is a bullet nib. I really love the dual nib feature because it feels like I've got both a paintbrush AND a fineliner all in one product. Tombows are also great because they're acid free and super watersoluble (which means they melt like watercolors if you add water to them).
Today I'm working in my large 11x14 strathmore watercolor journal. It's filled with 140 pound color press paper, which can REALLY take a beating from whatever art supplies I feel like throwing at it! As you can see - I don't just do watercolor in this journal. I use it for mixed media projects too because it's so sturdy! Here's a fun project I did a few months ago...
I highly suggest if you're doing ANYTHING with watersoluble art supplies, you REALLY pay attention to the kind of paper you're using. I believe it's JUST AS IMPORTANT as your art supplies. In fact it IS one of your art supplies, and it totally makes a difference.
As you can see, I'm using a face drawing reference because that's usually how I work. I don't really use my references to try and copy exactly what the image looks like because I'm not super into realism.
I just think using a face photo reference while I draw inspires me to add details I may not have thought of from facial feature nuances to hairstyles, etc. I think a face drawing reference is also REALLY helpful to use as a face shading reference because it takes the guesswork out of deciding where to place shadows. You just look at your reference and BOOM. It tells you everything you need to know! 
Now today's side profile drawing is one of the trickiest profile drawings to master- called the three quarter view portrait. If you need help with how to draw a 3/4 view profile - here is a playlist for your from my YouTube Drawing Channel to get you started.
I've also got a FREE cheatsheet to help you remember the basics of drawing three quarter view faces.
Simply click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox.
Before you start with face shading, I HIGHLY recommend you swatch out your art supplies- whatever you are coloring with because I've been surprised ONE too many times when the color comes out not quite looking like the marker cap or tube of paint, so this can be a real life saver!
Some artists may want to keep a swatch sheet on every color they own. There are some products I do that with (especially my watercolors!!), but most often I'm more into just scribbling a few strokes off to the side for whatever piece I'm currently working on.
When I'm shading a face with my tombow dual brush markers, I hold my marker on the side and use it similarly to a paintbrush (on the brush nib side) to lay down a big chunk of color like in the picture above.
Since my intention is to add water and use my paintbrush to move the color around, I'm deliberately loose with my shading here. I just throw some color down in my lightest shade and move on. I'm all about quick and easy and THIS TECHNIQUE is BOTH!! 
As you'll notice in the video, I followed my lightest shade marker with a medium shade - using my photo reference as a guide to help me note darker shadows, and then switched to a dark shade to indicate the darkest shadows.
Simply adding a little water with your paintbrush will melt ALL the marker layers together to create BEAUTIFUL face shading on your drawing. Isn't this gorgeous???
When you're painting with tombows or any watersoluble marker - make sure each layer you do is completely dry before going back on top with your original supply because the fastest way to kill a marker is to put it into water.
NO markers "like" being added to a wet surface, so simply hit your piece up with a little hair dryer action before you go back in for another marker layer, and you'll be good to go. 
Check out how sparsely I lay down swathes of three purple tombow shades (light, medium & dark) while drawing a hairstyle for this profile drawing. This is ALL the color I put down.
When I'm playing around with watersoluble media I often activate TWO of my marker layers with water, and then draw on top and leave that final layer UNACTIVATED - to make the details pop. 
The only drawback I've found with tombows is they are not lightfast. Definitely keep that in mind if you're creating art to sell or gift. I don't actually recommend selling or gifting your originals because of this - but you could TOTALLY sell prints of them!!
I have found that tombows won't fade AS MUCH if your work is in an art journal because they'll be hidden from the sunlight. 
When it's time to add some detail, I pull out my pentel pocket brush. This is my FAVORITE art supply for eyelash drawing (remember NOT to use this until the layers underneath are FULLY DRY).
This pocket brush nib is like a paintbrush- it's made of a group of hairs and doesn't perform like your typical marker. A tombow "brush" nib is basically foam that's been shaped to LOOK like a brush and feel like you're working with a paintbrush (but it provides a bit more control than the pocket brush). If you need help with drawing eyelashes, click the button below and I'll send my EYELASHES CHEATSHEET straight to your inbox.
I've got a great eyelash drawing tutorial on my mixed media channel and another on my YouTube Drawing Channel to help you out if this is something you struggle with.
I hope you enjoy this mixed media tutorial and TRY tombows out for yourself!! They really are fantastic. The colors are unbelieveable and the markers themselves are really affordable. I think you'll love painting with them as much as I do!!
REMEMBER TODAY (APRIL 26th) is the KICKOFF of my FUN FAB FAIRIES WORKSHOP!!!
You can STILL sign up to join me and the rest of the gang for an amazing week of fairy drawing lessons! CLICK HERE to REGISTER. If you find this post well after the live portions of this workshop have ended, all you're missing out on are the daily giveaways and Facebook LIVES. The Fun Fab Fairies course is STILL available at Awesome Art School as a stand alone course for you to enjoy!!
❤️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
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If you've never used graphite transfer paper, are wondering how to use it, or WHY you'd ever want to transfer a drawing to another piece of paper - today's video is FOR YOU!! I've got FIVE favorite ways of transferring a drawing and can't wait to show them to you!!
First of all... why would you ever want to make a copy of a drawing you've already done? Lots of artists like to do this to save themselves a little time, but more often it's to SAVE their precious supplies - like paper!
I love to do watercolor illustrations, but using my eraser over and over again on my beautiful watercolor paper can really damage it. To save that paper - I prefer to do a drawing on less expensive paper - so I can erase till my heart's content, THEN transfer it to my watercolor journal, or to a sheet of loose watercolor paper. Lots of artists might use transfer paper to make this happen. But what if you don't have that on hand, or if it's too expensive? 
You can do this first idea for FREE!! Set your drawing against a bright window and lay a sheet of paper on top. Lightly trace your outlines onto the new sheet of paper.
If you want to get a little fancier, you can use a light table. I find this tool to be SO helpful!! I use my light table for drawing when I've got a really thick sheet of drawing or watercolor paper that I'd like to transfer my drawing to. A light table will get this job done for you SO fast because the light is super bright!!
Another option is to make an actual photocopy of your work if you've got a simple scanner at home like this. Mine is attached to my printer. This is a great solution if your drawing is on 8-1/2 x 11 paper. If your drawing is on larger paper, we need to get creative! Watch the video and I'll show you some ideas!!
If you DO have graphite transfer paper, I show you exactly how to use it in today's video. I EVEN show you how to make transfer paper YOURSELF if you're in the mood!
Now my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE WAY to transfer a drawing to a new piece of paper might surprise you...
I HIGHLY recommend you draw it again from scratch! I KNOW!! But there's seriously something to "Practice Makes Perfect!" If you know me, you know I'm not striving for perfection and don't want you to either!! But EVERY time you practice, it seriously makes you a BETTER artist! 
Any time you have the OPPORTUNITY to redo a project, it will ALSO make you a better artist. MY job is to help you keep the projects light and FUN so you WANT to keep coming back for more!! If you're having FUN, you'll practice more, and the more you practice, the BETTER your art will become!!
Thanks for hanging out with me today!! ❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!) The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK
I LOVE drawing fairies as much as I LOVE listening to stories about REAL fairies and teaching my students about drawing & shading faces! I've put together a 5-day fairy drawing workshop called Fun Fab Fairies and will be teaching you how to complete THREE easy drawings of fairies. You'll learn how to draw a fairy sitting on a mushroom, how to draw fairy wings, how to draw a fairy face + how to shade a fairy face, and exactly what you need to do to turn these pencil drawings into your very own masterpieces!!
I LIVE for teaching people how to draw faces and can't wait to do this with you!
The LIVE festivities for How to Draw FUN, FAB FAIRIES kick off on Monday, April 26th. On days 1-3 will be a learning how to draw a mushroom, fairy with wings, grasshopper, grass - all from scratch! Then I'll teach you how to shade and color it in. 
On day 4 - I'm gonna teach you how to draw and shade a fairy face in pencil in my "Fub Fab" style - also from scratch! We'll be working in pencil, I'll teach you about the value scale and how to use this when you're shading faces so your drawings will POP and look more realistic.
On day 5 I'm going to teach you how to draw and color in the fairy face from day 4 using alcohol markers!
Never used alcohol markers for shading a face (or anything) before? Don't worry- I've got TONS of resources for you. This FREE 12-page eBook I created about how to shade with skin tone markers (and how to CHOOSE which marker shades go best together!!) will be your NEW BEST FRIEND!! 
Simply click the button below, and I'll send this FREE 12-page PDF straight to your inbox.
I tell you EXACTLY which marker shades go best together to shade light, medium and dark skin tones using alcohol markers by Copic, Ohuhu and Arteza so you can choose which brand is best for you and your budget! If you're interested in learning how to draw FUN FAB FAIRIES with me, make sure you sign up before April 26th, because the price to participate is jumping from $10 to $47!! CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for the FAIRY DRAWING WORKSHOP 
Cost for all 5 days of this workshop (including the Facebook LIVES with daily giveaways) is $10. But make sure you sign up NOW because the cost is going up to $47 to join on Monday, April 26th.
Everything for the workshop is included from added PDF resources and links to supplies, to all the prerecorded content. AND it's ALL YOURS TO KEEP, download and rewatch forever! CLICK HERE to SIGN UP for the FAIRY DRAWING WORKSHOP Even though the workshop has LIVE festivities beginning on April 26th, there is no pressure to complete the workshop lessons on a time schedule. You are welcome to play at your own pace.
I hope you join me for FUN, FAB FAIRIES!!
Need info about other stuff?? Here ya go!! ❤️Did you know I've started a FUN new podcast with my Scottish, artsy bestie, Lucy, ALL ABOUT SCOTLAND & the mythical goodness I can't get enough of about this magical place?! YES - we talk about everything including ARE Fairies Real?! (You know I think they are!!) The podcast is called 1 Scot, 1 Not! Check us out on YouTube and here's our podcast website! ❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK
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 I've never tried palette knife painting with acrylic paints for one of my mixed media portraits until today! It was actually SUPER FUN!! I created some thick, edgy texture in the hair, and kept things a bit more delicate for the face using my mixed media art supply go-tos: faber castell gelatos, pitt pens & my black stabilo all pencil! Join me to see just how this MAGICAL mixed media fairy canvas comes to life!!  Below, I'm looking a little unsure about how the palette knife painting is gonna go for her face... LOL!  But I quickly got a LOT more into it when I started adding layers of thick red acrylic paint for hair!!  If you've been following me for a while, you probably know that most of the time I START my mixed media art projects with collage. Every once in a while I'll do my foreground subject (typically a face!!) first, and then try another collage art technique like in today's project.  This collage paper was actually sent to me by a friend who MADE it, so I was thrilled to include it in this piece.  Are you loving "the ugly phase" on this girl?! LOL!! It makes me cringe, but oh well!! Do what I always say - JUST KEEP GOING!! This means you're about half-way done with your project!!  After quite a bit of blending I added back some definition to my original lines with my black stabilo all pencil and pulled out my paintbrush to activate it with a little acrylic. I LOVE how this adds shading all by itself! Cool, right?!  Then it's time to play with my Faber castell gelatos! I'm in LOVE with these for creating my mixed media portraits! I recently did a video ALL about the magical goodness of gelatos and why you need to check these out if you've never played with them before.  They're amazing for shading faces. Look at that smooth complexion I've blended in below...  I love the contrast with her thick hair - full of texture!  Take a look at these killer lashes up close!! Tons of people have trouble with drawing eyelashes! I KNOW these can be super tricky, so I've done a number of eyelash drawing tutorials on how to draw eyelashes successfully. Here's one on my drawing channel, and another on my mixed media channel. I've also created a free cheatsheet to help you out that you can download and use as a reference when you're practicing eyelash drawing. It teaches you how to draw eyelashes step by step, along with the THREE important things to think about every time you're drawing eyelashes. Click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox!  For this particular project, I used my stabilo to draw eyelashes on this girl. When I activated these lines, it created the look of more dramatic eye makeup. I'm always down with THAT! Check out the video to see how I added in some magical blues to her hair and eyes, and of course layered in my signature white highlights to make EVERYTHING POP at the end!! SO FUN!! Thanks for hanging out with me today! I hope you have a fab week!!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK I have been IN LOVE with my black stabilo for YEARS!! After last week's review of water soluble pencils in color, I decided I should probably put my black stabilo all pencil to the test to make sure it still deserves to be my go-to for mixed media drawing!! Join me over on YouTube to see what I found out!!  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! It's NO secret that I love my black stabilo all pencil (waaaay cheaper by the dozen, by the way). I've been using this water soluble pencil FOREVER. I tested it against other water soluble pencils years ago and have been using it faithfully ever since. The girl on the right (below) is one of my countless stabilo girls!  I loved the chick on the right SO much that I put her on the cover of my How to Draw & Find Your Style Book!  Just to be sure I'm not missing out on anything from another brand, let's put my stabilo to the test.  I gathered 7 water soluble pencils and am looking not only for water solubility, but for richness in pigment- something magical I LOVE about my stabilo all.  Products I'm testing today in black include:
 After I write down the name of each product and scribble a little square off to the side, I activate each line with some clean water and a watercolor brush. Be sure to click over to the video to see this in action!  Look at that first line - stabilo NEVER lets me down! You can barely see my writing because there is so much black pigment pooling. YES!!  I'm also loving the results of the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer as well. Look at this rich, yummy goodness (third line above). As I do this test, I'm reminded of something I noticed when I did this years ago. Some of these brands seem to have a touch of color in them, or don't feel like they're jet black once activated with water. I'm seeing some faint green in the Aquarell (first line below) and a little blue in my black Derwent watercolor pencil (fourth line below).  After I dry my paper with the hairdryer, I attempt to reactivate each line to see what happens... and which products I want to recommend for projects using my "Hamburger System."  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, the art supply layering system I often use for my mixed media art projects is something I lovingly refer to as my mixed media "Hamburger System." I compare layering my supplies to the way you layer toppings for the perfect burger! I've actually got an entire FUN YouTube series of tutorials, cheatsheets, and even wrote a mixed media art BOOK about it!! Download the FREE, one-page cheatsheet that explains it all by clicking the button below. I'll send it straight to your inbox so you can print it and keep it at your art table for reference to help you with your own mixed media layering. Check out today's video to find out which of these water soluble pencils I recommend using and WHY!! 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 Drawing eyelashes is something SO many people struggle with!! In today's real time eyelash drawing tutorial, I'm sharing 3 QUICK TIPS to make eyelash drawing easier, and will demo how to draw eyelashes using a mechanical pencil, an 8B pencil, two kinds of sharpies, & my super SECRET weapon for lashes drawing across all mediums!! Let's get to it!!  I love to use drawing references to inspire me as I create because I feel it helps inform my decisions when I'm drawing, and my work will look more realistic- even if I'm doing a whimsical face drawing!! Using a face drawing reference is SO much easier than trying to dream up ideas in my own head for the faces I want to create in my art journals and canvases. I've got two eyelash drawing references in my EYELASH DRAWING CHEATSHEET for you, along with 3 QUICK TIPS on how to make drawing eyelashes easier :) Click the button below and I'll email it right over! I hope you find this helpful!! Once you've got your eyelashes cheatsheet printed, let's pull out a piece of paper or your sketchbook and get started.  The easiest way to draw an eye is to start with a squished oval, then do some fine tuning. If you need help with drawing eyes (or drawing ANY facial feature!) - please download my 5 in 5 Practice Packet and be sure to watch the video series because it will really help you zero in on the nuances for how to draw eyes and ALL of the facial features. For today's purposes- I'm not adding any detail there- we're headed straight for the lashes.  As you'll see in today's video - eyelashes have a definited DIRECTIONALITY to them on every human eyeball. I like to think of them as parentheses. You will switch the direction of your parentheses at the mid point of whatever eyeball you're drawing. Watch the video and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!!  Lots of time I will see students drawing stick straight lashes like in the pic below at the right.  These tend to end up looking more like SPIDER legs than eyelashes, so make sure you ALWAYS keep in mind my second quick tip for drawing eyelashes - PRESSURE.  There is a flicking motion I use when I'm drawing eyelashes- no matter what medium I'm drawing in. Be sure you check out the video to see what I'm talking about. It's WAY easier to understand if you SEE it.  Tons of people have trouble with how to draw bottom eyelashes. I have a super weird analogy that helps me with this! I think of eyelashes kinda like shark teeth! When you think about shark teeth - they have multiple rows, right? We have the SAME thing going on with eyelashes! Take a look at my cheatsheet's eyelash drawing reference pictured above. When I zoom in on that (or if you print it at home), you'll see there are actually multiple rows of teensy hairs! Taking point #3 into account, let's put this into practice...  As you can see from the photo above, these lashes aren't finished. That's because I don't have ENOUGH eyelash LAYERS layers going on in my top row. This is a mistake I see happen all the time. There's an easy trick to it though! Just add MORE!!! You can also make some of your lashes THICKER at the root. If you're drawing a large scale eye (like the above pic), as I'm doing in today's video - the lashes look like they're missing something, don't they? They're missing volume! See how it changes when I add a little more thickness below? It's starting to look better, right?  All of this was done using my mechanical pencil. It can take FOREVER to draw eyelashes with a mechanical pencil, even though you can get some beautiful effects!!  If you're a little less patient (like me!!), using a really soft pencil (like an 8B), can be very helpful to vary your lines more quickly.  Then take into consideration, my 3 QUICK TIPS of Directionality, Pressure, and Varying Lengths. When you watch the video, you'll see how quickly I was able to knock all three out using my 8B pencil.  Add in a blending stump, and you'll achieve even more QUICK results!  If you decide to draw eyelashes with a thin sharpie, you'll find this is very similar to working with a mechanical pencil. It can be a little difficult to vary your thickness in the strokes, but can also be very precise if that's what you're going for.  It helps to use a DOUBLE LINE when working with a thinner lead or marker nib like this.  Another trick I use if I feel like my eyelashes are looking a little wonky or if I want to make it look like the girl I'm drawing is wearing eyeliner, is to thicken that lid line. Then that line takes a bit more center stage and people might not notice the wonky eyelashes as much :)  When I'm doing my mixed media faces, eyelashes are typically the LAST thing I add to my girls! Sometimes if I'm having issues with how the lashes are coming out, a great cheat is to turn whatever you've done into cat eye makeup! Then you can cover up whatever mistakes you've made and make it look intentional, like this was the look you meant to do all along!!  Another trick that works AMAZINGLY for mixed media faces is to just simplify the lash line completely and turn it into cat eye makeup without additional lashes on the top or bottom. It looks really cool, is super fast and you're done!! Pretty fail safe!! You can always add in a few thinner lashes if you feel like you want to - but you totally don't have to.  Using a brush pen is another AWESOME way for drawing eyelashes! It doesn't matter which medium - I've felt my pental pocket brush pen is amazing for drawing eyelashes because it has such a sensitive nib. It takes no effort to vary the pressure, and I feel like the eyelashes I draw here look SO much more realistic because of the varying pressure. I use this pen across both mixed media and drawing. It does take a bit of practice- so if you just dive in with this product at the end of a project that you're in love with - you have to be careful. I highly recommend practicing with it off to the side until you get the feel of how it works and what kind of pressure you need to use to get the line weights you're looking for. Be sure to watch the video to see how the various effects and line variation you can achieve from this amazing tool!!  I hope you found this video helpful!! Thanks SO much for hanging out with me today!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday!! Have a wonderful week!!!
❤️ Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK Derwent Inktense Pencils are water soluble pencils that ALSO claim to be PERMANENT once dry. I've actually never tried inktense pencils in my Hamburger system and decided to test this permanent claim out first to see if it's true. Get ready for a SHOCKER in today's mixed media art supply demo!!  Inktense water soluble pencils are filled with a "magical" ink - that's why they're called "inktense" instead of watercolor pencils. Confession: I never work with Derwent inktense pencils other than to occasionally use them like I would use a watercolor pencil! I decided today's test was the perfect opportunity to try a variety of water soluble pencils vs watercolor pencils to see which ones move the most when I attempt to reativate them all a second time!  If you've got a copy of my hamburger system cheatsheet, water soluble supplies can be used in layer three, OVER your collage and paint layers. Not sure what my Hamburger System is? It's my signature mixed media layering process! I compare layering my supplies to the way you layer toppings for the perfect burger! I've got an entire FUN YouTube series of tutorials, cheatsheets, and even wrote a mixed media art BOOK about it!! Download the FREE, one-page cheatsheet that explains it all by clicking the button below.  I'll send it straight to your inbox so you can print it and keep it at your art table for reference to help you with your own mixed media layering.  I've collected a ton of watercolor pencils and watersoluble pencils over the years because these are one of my favorite ways to draw something cute, and add a little quick shading with watercolor effects. I've lined up 10 watercolor and watersoluble pencils for today's Derwent Inktense review.  So far I'm loving how the Aquatones (also by Derwent) are activating. Sadly, this product is becoming hard to find though. There's a rumor it was discontinued, so if you go hunting for them, you might have a hard time.  As you can see in today's mixed media art supply demo, even after I activate all the products, you can still see the pencil line from each one (except for the aquatones - which really seem to melt as soon as the water hits them).  This is a super cool effect if you like the look of mixed media drawing and still want pencil lines to be visible in your work. If you don't - you may prefer to reach for a watercolor marker, because that pigment will totally dissolve for you. After I activated each product, I hit the page with my hairdryer to make sure each one is fully dry.  Once I dried everything and came back to rewet, the Derwent Aquatones (woodless pencil), Watercolor and Derwent Graphitint are the MOST watersoluble. I tested the inktense pencils last! CLICK OVER to watch the video and find out if they live up to their marketing claim ... is the ink permanent, or will it move? Thanks for hanging out with me today! I hope you have a fab week!!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK 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 You are going to LOVE THIS 3 MINUTE mixed media canvas background technique!! It is by far THE FASTEST way to knock out a vibrant background for my mixed media portraits! I typically start with collage, but sometimes I'm in the mood for something a little different. Evidentally, today it was punk, and I'm LOVING how she turned out!!  To get started, select 3-4 spray paint colors you like together, a few stencils, and head outside with your canvas. Begin by adding a few shots of color here and there, in two different shades. Then drop a stencil on top and use your third color of spray paint to start working in some fun patterns.  Cool, right?! There are SO many directions you can take a mixed media canvas background like this. I worked in some black with mine because I wanted it to feel edgy since I knew where the portrait for this piece was headed. This background seriously took me ALL OF THREE MINUTES. That's it. I think that might be a record, even for me!!  Once my canvas was dry, I pulled out my GINORMOUS magnum sharpie back in the studio, and got to work on a side profile drawing prompt from an artist friend of mine, Jenny Manno. Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links, but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support!  Just a word of caution... if you're not used to doing profile drawings, I definitely DON'T recommend using a sharpie!! Especially one this big!! In all seriousness, if you're new to side profile drawing, it's NOT as hard as you think it is. You probably just need someone to break it down for you so it doesn't feel so overwhelming. Then you just need a little practice. I have TONS of resources to help you with profiles! Feel free to check out this playlist on my YouTube Drawing channel for beginners. You'll learn how to do side profile drawing step by step in pencil. You can also check out my book, How to Draw MORE Fun Fab Faces, over on Amazon. This is PERFECT for beginners who want to learn how to draw profiles step by step (even kids!!).  Once I finished my initial drawing, I got my gesso going inside the face and just around the outer edge of her face shape to knock the background back just a bit. Then I painted a thin layer of flesh colored craft paint on the face. If you've been watching me for a while - you know I'm NOT super patient, LOL! Layering with gesso and acrylic paints really can take forever, and I don't usually have the patience for that. Because I have the neeeeeed for speed, I developed this cool technique to add color to my mixed media portraits QUICKLY, using my gelatos by Faber Castell! See the light pink in the face below, where it looks like blush has been applied to her cheek? That's from my gelatos! I blended it with my finger and it literally took me TWO seconds.  If you want to see this gelatos technique slowed down in REAL TIME, I just did a product demo with my Faber Castell Gelatos, so you definitely need to check that out! If you haven't tried them before on your own, this is my favorite set. FYI, beware of the metallic version if you want to follow me with this technique, because sadly they don't work!  If you're watching this project unfold (and I HOPE you do!!), I actually struggled a little with the skin tone and decided I wanted a clean slate to work with, so pulled out my gesso and started again with my fun gelatos technique. In the pic above, you can see it's looking SO much better, so that ended up being a great move! Keep that in mind- if something doesn't go quite right- there are a MILLION ways to fix something, so DON'T give up. Keep pushing through!! In the world of mixed media art, gesso is your friend in more ways than one!!  When I'm switching gears from mixed media painting to mixed media DRAWING... I seal my whole canvas with one of my favorite mixed media art supplies - mod podge! I buy this stuff by the gallon!! When the mod podge has dried, my canvas is slippery and has been prepped beautifully for playing with pitt pens. I love using my pitt pens to help me when shading a face (mixed media style). I use them in a similar way to my gelatos. I layer some color and blend with my fingertip.  What's REALLY cool about working with pitt pens over mod podge, is you can ERASE things you don't like with a simple baby wipe! Amazing, right?! The art supply layering system I'm using in today's project is something I lovingly refer to as my mixed media "Hamburger System." I compare layering my supplies to the way you layer toppings for the perfect burger! I've actually got an entire FUN YouTube series of tutorials, cheatsheets, and even wrote a mixed media art BOOK about it!! Download the FREE, one-page cheatsheet that explains it all by clicking the button below. I'll send it straight to your inbox so you can print it and keep it at your art table for reference to help you with your own mixed media layering.  When I'm using my hamburger system for layering and am happy with something I've done, I seal my work with another layer of mod podge to ensure it won't move, then hit it with my hair dryer so I can do a bit more doodling.  My last step is always grabbing a white sharpie or posca pen to add highlights throughout. I LOVE the drama this adds to my mixed media portraits.  I hope you enjoy watching this video!! I had a blast doing this project!!
❤️Want FREE, immediate access to my Fun Fab Drawing Club and/or Mixed Media Society plus discounts on all my art books, sneak peek at YouTube videos and new book content, behind-the-scenes fun and MORE? Join me over on Patreon today and get HUGE PERKS in return for a small monthly donation. ❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON (available in both Kindle and Paperback) ❤️ SIGNED COPIES of my art books on ETSY ❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON ❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ❤️ FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK |
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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