Don’t be limited to what you feel you NEED to draw, draw what your heart and mind are drawn to.
Tim Burton (director, producer, creator) says, do what you love and what you are passionate about and keep doing it, for it’s the love of the the labour that leads to mastery and true artistic expression. Don’t get swept up in easy wins or shortcuts, it can lead you down a pathway or direction that is not authentically you. Stay true to what you love… (Tim Burton – Master Class)
I hope this helps you to draw and create as much as you love to and not limit yourself by any rules.
To be more free with my lines, to allow my hand to flow without too much thought behind it. I am still yet to “get there” but am enjoying the process.
A lesson on ink.
Ink is a super fun medium to play with. I have been playing with Sumi ink lately and have found it loose and free. As someone who has tendencies toward careful and slow mark making using ink has helped me to loosen up. To be more free with my lines, to allow my hand to flow without too much thought behind it. I am still yet to “get there” but am enjoying the process.
Fun, loose and quick!
I found doing these studies helped me to use my ink brushes on my digital drawing apps.
What I learnt:
Ink makes you commit to your strokes, don’t think too much. Have a word/picture in your mind and paint.
There is little room for error.
Simpler the better.
You can achieve different values by adding more water/ink. The more water the lighter the wash (just like water colour).
Quick strokes work best.
Composition is key.
Rhythm is needed, light touches to create dotted thin strokes and more pressure to create bold voluminous lines.
Things haven’t changed much the last few weeks, still in lock down and I am grateful to have this time to explore art and drawing.
I spent some time in the sun in my parent’s garden on Saturday. The sun was so lovely on my back. Under the shade of the plants hanging in the garden, I sat with my Ipad and stylus to draw the things I see in front of me. I spent about 1 hour lost in nature and the warmth of the sun just doodling. This is what I drew.
I used the Tayasui Sketches, it’s an app you can download on the Imac and the Ipad. I paid for the extra features and am actually really happy that I did. It’s really easy to use and love the textures and effects you can create on the app. So I looked up the meaning of Tayasui and it actually means easy and simple!!!
What I learnt through doing this:
I really enjoy using digital apps to draw textured drawings – it is really forgiving if you make mistakes.
The difficulty about using these apps is that you need practise to remember where the controls are. It took me a few months to get into the rhythm of drawing, knowing where the buttons were to increase and decrease brush sizes, picking the right tool for the right stroke, intensity and colour.
What helps is having a limited pallet and working with one tool at a time so you get a handle on how it lays on the digital surface … just like mediums in real life.
Doing swatches, why do they not talk about this more often!!! It has really been the best thing in my art making practice is to test the tools I have before creating something with it. Make Swatches. They look really pretty as well.
Drawing from life is so so so great for your soul. It adds so much life into your art naturally. The colours and movement really pop too!
Teresa Dang 