Let's Create Some Art:
Painting, drawing, & collage. Anyone can do it & don't let anyone tell you that you can't!
Painting, drawing, & collage. Anyone can do it & don't let anyone tell you that you can't!
Drawing:
Supplies:
*Something to draw on
*Something to draw with
*Something to add colour
Directions:
Choose any type of paper (that no one cares about). Scrap paper, rice paper, notebook paper, graph paper, legal pad paper, brown paper, white paper, old printing paper, vellum. Doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be fancy or brand new.
Choose any time of drawing implement. Pencil, carpenter's pencil, ink pen, fountain pen, charcoal, black marker, chalk, Sharpie pen. Doesn't have to be fancy or "correct" or even brand new or cost a lot of money. You can find something around the house.
Choose any type of colour tool. Crayons, markers, colored pens, Sharpies, artist markers, coloured inks, soft charcoals, oil pastels.
Now what do you wish to capture? Don't worry about being accurate or your "technique" or what's proper or not. What have you been wanting to illustrate, to get our of your head & onto paper? What are you interested in? Just feel tense and need to just scribble? That's fine too.
Notes:
I started drawing people-like figures because I couldn't stop drawing mermaids when I was eight (We can all thank The Little Mermaid). Constantly drew mermaids. Then I progressed & drew more female figures in my style. When I became interested in drawing nature things, I'd look online for photographs and use them to help me draw the figures accurately. That's perfectly acceptable.
There's no wrong or rights with drawing. The only wrong thing is tracing or accurately copying someone else's work & then saying it's your own/trying to sell it as your own. Never do this. Want to draw in someone else's style for your own personal benefit of simply drawing? That's fine. But I'd limit this, so you can find your own style.
Don't judge yourself. Don't be harsh. Don't let other's judge you. Just let it flow out. See a mistake? What's a creative way in which you can fix that?
When you colour also don't judge yourself or be harsh. Got out of the lines? Who cares. Made a mistake? Can you creatively fix that or turn that to your advantage? I bet you can. Want your person to have purple skin? Go for it! Just do you. Draw for fun, you'll find your style & what you like/how you like to accomplish this & don't sweat any mistakes. Just go with the flow.
Got random bits of scrap paper? What does the shape look like to you? Draw that within the confines. (example, that witch cat up there)
Need some inspiration to get started? There are slews of drawing challenges out there, if you perhaps need a prompt. You can check my section on Drawing Challenges (I've supplied the prompt lists), for one's I've participated in, or do an online search yourself. Need further prompts? You can look at Photo-A-Day lists online. Just draw the prompt instead of photographing it. Or there is also the draw in your style & try to draw in another style challenge, which I participated in & put the results in my blog here.
*Something to draw on
*Something to draw with
*Something to add colour
Directions:
Choose any type of paper (that no one cares about). Scrap paper, rice paper, notebook paper, graph paper, legal pad paper, brown paper, white paper, old printing paper, vellum. Doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be fancy or brand new.
Choose any time of drawing implement. Pencil, carpenter's pencil, ink pen, fountain pen, charcoal, black marker, chalk, Sharpie pen. Doesn't have to be fancy or "correct" or even brand new or cost a lot of money. You can find something around the house.
Choose any type of colour tool. Crayons, markers, colored pens, Sharpies, artist markers, coloured inks, soft charcoals, oil pastels.
Now what do you wish to capture? Don't worry about being accurate or your "technique" or what's proper or not. What have you been wanting to illustrate, to get our of your head & onto paper? What are you interested in? Just feel tense and need to just scribble? That's fine too.
Notes:
I started drawing people-like figures because I couldn't stop drawing mermaids when I was eight (We can all thank The Little Mermaid). Constantly drew mermaids. Then I progressed & drew more female figures in my style. When I became interested in drawing nature things, I'd look online for photographs and use them to help me draw the figures accurately. That's perfectly acceptable.
There's no wrong or rights with drawing. The only wrong thing is tracing or accurately copying someone else's work & then saying it's your own/trying to sell it as your own. Never do this. Want to draw in someone else's style for your own personal benefit of simply drawing? That's fine. But I'd limit this, so you can find your own style.
Don't judge yourself. Don't be harsh. Don't let other's judge you. Just let it flow out. See a mistake? What's a creative way in which you can fix that?
When you colour also don't judge yourself or be harsh. Got out of the lines? Who cares. Made a mistake? Can you creatively fix that or turn that to your advantage? I bet you can. Want your person to have purple skin? Go for it! Just do you. Draw for fun, you'll find your style & what you like/how you like to accomplish this & don't sweat any mistakes. Just go with the flow.
Got random bits of scrap paper? What does the shape look like to you? Draw that within the confines. (example, that witch cat up there)
Need some inspiration to get started? There are slews of drawing challenges out there, if you perhaps need a prompt. You can check my section on Drawing Challenges (I've supplied the prompt lists), for one's I've participated in, or do an online search yourself. Need further prompts? You can look at Photo-A-Day lists online. Just draw the prompt instead of photographing it. Or there is also the draw in your style & try to draw in another style challenge, which I participated in & put the results in my blog here.
Collage Art:
Supplies:
*Cardboard or paper
*Magazines (or other paper items like scrap booking paper, an old CD insert, gift wrapping, foil papers, packaging, old books, record covers, etc.)
*Scissors
*Glue
Directions:
Find images that you wish to group together. They can have a theme, or not. Cut them out in which ever shapes you want; you can follow the shape of the item or make a design. Lay out the pieces you wish to assemble to figure out how you wish the finished piece to look. Glue items down onto cardboard or paper in the order you want them.
Notes:
You can use anything you wish/do anything you like. The only limit is your imagination really. You can also make a collage for any reason. The middle was a gift for The Sister, so I chose pieces that reminded me of her. It's a front & back piece, though I've only shown the front. The three on the far right? I made mixed CD's for The Sister, folded a case out of brown paper, then collaged it to reflect the music contained on the CD. The first image? Those piece include: my own art, that my cat ate, so I repurposed it as the background, gift wrap, scrapbook paper, an old CD cover, origami (that I made), & a vintage light bulb carton.
Just start out easy, if you're unsure. Anything can be glued down by any type of glue that you have (I personally use glue sticks mostly, but you can use Mod Podge or Rubber Cement too). If it's a really textural/3-D type of item, a spot of super glue will work, but I wouldn't recommend that for all of the pieces, just origami or fabric swatches or something like that.
Any scrap paper or cardboard will work. Do you buy canned cat or dog food? Those inserts in the 12+ packs is perfect for collages (& is, in fact, what I used for both the one on the left & in the middle). You can use part of a cereal box, packaging from that DVD player you just purchased. Doesn't matter.
If you don't have a magazine subscription, you can always find magazines for free or cheap at a Little Free Library or a thrift store or yard sales. You can even ask your friends if they have magazines they don't want anymore. You can also choose anything from around your house. Postcard someone sent you, an old calendar, an old book, catalog mail, photographs, whatever you have.
You can either decide to make something personal (something that reflects you), something on a subject which you like (Winter, Swimming, Mountains, Space, Cats, Rock & Roll, etc.), you can make one for a family member or friend (thinking what items you have fit their personality), or you can simply let the art take over and pull, cut, & glue things by which items you like first without thinking about it.
*Cardboard or paper
*Magazines (or other paper items like scrap booking paper, an old CD insert, gift wrapping, foil papers, packaging, old books, record covers, etc.)
*Scissors
*Glue
Directions:
Find images that you wish to group together. They can have a theme, or not. Cut them out in which ever shapes you want; you can follow the shape of the item or make a design. Lay out the pieces you wish to assemble to figure out how you wish the finished piece to look. Glue items down onto cardboard or paper in the order you want them.
Notes:
You can use anything you wish/do anything you like. The only limit is your imagination really. You can also make a collage for any reason. The middle was a gift for The Sister, so I chose pieces that reminded me of her. It's a front & back piece, though I've only shown the front. The three on the far right? I made mixed CD's for The Sister, folded a case out of brown paper, then collaged it to reflect the music contained on the CD. The first image? Those piece include: my own art, that my cat ate, so I repurposed it as the background, gift wrap, scrapbook paper, an old CD cover, origami (that I made), & a vintage light bulb carton.
Just start out easy, if you're unsure. Anything can be glued down by any type of glue that you have (I personally use glue sticks mostly, but you can use Mod Podge or Rubber Cement too). If it's a really textural/3-D type of item, a spot of super glue will work, but I wouldn't recommend that for all of the pieces, just origami or fabric swatches or something like that.
Any scrap paper or cardboard will work. Do you buy canned cat or dog food? Those inserts in the 12+ packs is perfect for collages (& is, in fact, what I used for both the one on the left & in the middle). You can use part of a cereal box, packaging from that DVD player you just purchased. Doesn't matter.
If you don't have a magazine subscription, you can always find magazines for free or cheap at a Little Free Library or a thrift store or yard sales. You can even ask your friends if they have magazines they don't want anymore. You can also choose anything from around your house. Postcard someone sent you, an old calendar, an old book, catalog mail, photographs, whatever you have.
You can either decide to make something personal (something that reflects you), something on a subject which you like (Winter, Swimming, Mountains, Space, Cats, Rock & Roll, etc.), you can make one for a family member or friend (thinking what items you have fit their personality), or you can simply let the art take over and pull, cut, & glue things by which items you like first without thinking about it.
Painting:
Supplies:
*Something to paint on
*Something to paint with
*Some type of colour medium
Directions:
It doesn't have to be stretched canvas, or even canvas paper. You can use scrap paper, stone paper, rice paper, brown paper, a paper grocery bag, printer paper, a block of wood, etc.
You'll need some type of brush, but it doesn't have to be fancy artists brushes. It can be a Chinese calligraphy brush or children's paint brushes, house/room painting brushes, etc.
And the paints, again, don't have to be any set kind or certain level of official. You can get cheap versions of acrylic paint, you can use poster board paint, watercolours, coloured inks, craft paint, finger paints, even room/house paint.
You can even use fingernail polish, as is the case with the painting on the right. It's nothing but my various fingernail polishes (they even have their own brush) on printer paper.
Notes:
The Sister is a painter, so has various different paints. I used her acrylics & textured sand paint (the edges) to paint the piece on the left.
I'm just saying that if you really want to try painting, don't stop at try. You might have exactly what you need just lying around the house. You could even go to a place like Dollar Tree (where everything's a dollar!) & get paint brushes, paint, & a pad of paper in the kids section. You could get sand & glitter and mix it with some paint too (& if you don't already have those, you can get them at Dollar Tree).
You can even get items at thrift stores, yard sales, & estate sales for very little money. We've found vintage (they're still good) paints, drafters ink in bottles (various colours), & oil pastels before. Sometimes canvases too (you can paint over used canvas).
Just find something to paint on (it can even be your wall), find something to paint with, some type of brush, & find bottled inks or any type of paint, & just create. Without artist lessons, you're never going to paint that realistic photographic master painting. It's fine. Don't worry about creating that! Just don't judge yourself and just try and paint that tree or flower or scene or whatever it is you want. Just let it happen, let the mood take you where it wants, go with the flow. Above all, have fun. You can discover your painting style, the more you paint, but you'll never even know, if you don't start somewhere.
*Something to paint on
*Something to paint with
*Some type of colour medium
Directions:
It doesn't have to be stretched canvas, or even canvas paper. You can use scrap paper, stone paper, rice paper, brown paper, a paper grocery bag, printer paper, a block of wood, etc.
You'll need some type of brush, but it doesn't have to be fancy artists brushes. It can be a Chinese calligraphy brush or children's paint brushes, house/room painting brushes, etc.
And the paints, again, don't have to be any set kind or certain level of official. You can get cheap versions of acrylic paint, you can use poster board paint, watercolours, coloured inks, craft paint, finger paints, even room/house paint.
You can even use fingernail polish, as is the case with the painting on the right. It's nothing but my various fingernail polishes (they even have their own brush) on printer paper.
Notes:
The Sister is a painter, so has various different paints. I used her acrylics & textured sand paint (the edges) to paint the piece on the left.
I'm just saying that if you really want to try painting, don't stop at try. You might have exactly what you need just lying around the house. You could even go to a place like Dollar Tree (where everything's a dollar!) & get paint brushes, paint, & a pad of paper in the kids section. You could get sand & glitter and mix it with some paint too (& if you don't already have those, you can get them at Dollar Tree).
You can even get items at thrift stores, yard sales, & estate sales for very little money. We've found vintage (they're still good) paints, drafters ink in bottles (various colours), & oil pastels before. Sometimes canvases too (you can paint over used canvas).
Just find something to paint on (it can even be your wall), find something to paint with, some type of brush, & find bottled inks or any type of paint, & just create. Without artist lessons, you're never going to paint that realistic photographic master painting. It's fine. Don't worry about creating that! Just don't judge yourself and just try and paint that tree or flower or scene or whatever it is you want. Just let it happen, let the mood take you where it wants, go with the flow. Above all, have fun. You can discover your painting style, the more you paint, but you'll never even know, if you don't start somewhere.