Artist

Draw With Me | A sketchbook page of oyster shells – Part 3

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to view the video tutorial for drawing the fourth oyster shell on YouTube

I’m about halfway through filling this slightly smaller than A5 sketchbook page with different kinds of oyster shells. Today’s even has a pearl in it!

I’m using the same peachy-pink and warm grey alcohol markers, but with the addition of a pale dusky kind of mauve colour for the shadow inside the shell.

I never claim to be an expert at colouring. However, using a very limited colour palette works in my favour, that’s for sure! The end result is good enough, which is what I always aim toward these days. Perfection is something that is unattainable. So good enough is just great!

I’ve been wintering on, both in speech and typing, about the purpose of my YouTube channel. Synchronicity struck today as two quotes about art appeared on my Facebook newsfeed today:

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”

Kurt Vonnegut

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So, write and draw and build and play and dance and live only as you can.”

Neil Gaiman

These two quotes eloquently sum up what I think I want to bring to YouTube, my social media, and to you.

Confidence to create art just for the pleasure of it and in your own way too.

Building self-confidence is the first step, and sometimes that needs help, instruction, step by step methods, and suggestions for variations and making it your own.

We all can draw. We just have to unlearn that drawing isn’t always about photographic representations. It’s about self-expression, and each of us expresses ourselves differently. Maybe in a similar way to others, but uniquely our own.

To have a bit of confidence to do this, in a sketchbook, where no one else has to see until you’re ready to share in a supportive environment, is all that is needed. I wasn’t lucky enough to have a supportive environment for creating art until I was in my 40s. If I can provide a supportive environment here, around social media, on YouTube, and perhaps in a closed Facebook group or some such place, then I will.

It’s nice to find a purpose, don’t you think? I do, and I’m glad I’ve found that purpose for YouTube at the very least.

Draw With Me | A sketchbook page full of oyster shells, part 2

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to watch the step by step drawing video for the second and third oyster shells.

Two more oyster shells have been drawn and added to this sketchbook page. I used two different methods of adding shadow.

For the middle drawing, I used a 6B graphite pencil along with a paper stump or tortillon. Then I added some soft, peachy alcohol markers.

In the right-hand drawing, I added a base layer of a pale peachy alcohol marker. Then, I used red, orange and pink Colorsoft pencils to add shadow and variation in colour.

Then, it was time to add pattern /texture! To do this, I used an 01 Sakura Micron pen. Also, I alternated how intense the patterns were in the layers.

Finally, I added some white highlights with an 08 Sakura Gelly Roll pen. And a bit more graphite here and there to bring out the layers.

Which is your favourite so far?

This sketchbook page isn’t finished. I want to fill it with variations of oyster shells. I do intend to keep to the same kind of colours for the drawings.

Draw With Me | Starfish, Sea Urchins and Mussel Shells

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Click on this link to view the tutorial video that goes with this sketchbook page.

Carrying on with the sea-life theme, I filled a sketchbook page with simple drawings of stylised, whimsical starfish, sea urchins and mussel shells. I recorded my process as a tutorial video, showing and explaining my step by step process of drawing. I start with simple shapes and gradually add more and more complexity.

There is something very intriguing and curiosity-provoking about exploring variations based on the same simple shapes and steps. The possibilities are endless and it certainly gives creativity a bit of a workout!

These kinds of exercises are what sketchbooks are perfect for. A sketchbook is a safe place to experiment and explore, and the end result is a valuable resource of ideas as well as a visual record of your development of artistic skills. They’re a place to practice fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and for trying out new media or techniques.

Sketchbooks chart the development of our skills, our pattern and motif preferences, and show how we develop and evolve our artistic style.

This revelation about sketchbooks is exciting to me. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to work this out. I think the Inktober Tangle Pattern Challenge back in 2021, the Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge earlier this year (both challenges hosted by the 7F5R Challenge Facebook group) as well as the Lettering Sketchbook course on Domestika have definitely been significant activities that have helped me reach this realisation.

The other major realisation I’m having at this time is that I think I’ve finally found what kind of YouTube content I like to make!

I was a science teacher for 28 years. Teaching is part of who I am. My focus as a teacher was always to inspire and encourage my students, to help them to believe they could do science, and to have better self-esteem and self-confidence. I loved to see them grow and develop and gain skills and knowledge they never thought they could, and that was a wonderful thing to be a part of.

If I can do the same thing for others, who have no confidence in drawing. If I can use my love of whimsical and stylised art/motifs, the function of a sketchbook to encourage others to take up pen and paper and draw, then that is a good thing!

I also think it’s important that I show my process, warts and all. Variations that are lovely, and others that are not so. It’s all part of the process of developing as an artist. I think my work with traditional coloured media is a testament to my ability to make a total mess of a fairly nice drawing! I am better with digital colours, but not much!

It all takes time to work these things out, and I can be really dense and stubborn at times! But I do get there … eventually. ‘There’ being a point of understanding myself and accepting something or a sudden revelation, you know the kinds of things. But ‘there’ isn’t the final destination. The journey of exploration and development never ends, and a sketchbook is now, for me, a vital companion going forward.

Template Thursyay!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Here’s this week’s template, full of whimsy and smiles. I’ve combined some of my favourite things to draw – flowers, foliage, fish and fungi! This time, I have sky-fish swimming in a sky filled with happy bubbles above a garden. And why not? This is my world of whimsy after all.

Sky-fish. Who would’ve thought it? Well, apparently I did, and no doubt many, many others too.

Draw With Me … Whimsical Floral Motifs

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to view the YouTube video that shows, step by step, how I draw and add pattern to these motifs.

On Wednesdays, I draw the weekly colouring page (or template) for members of Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. As this week’s template (and next weeks too) has a fair few floral motifs in it, I thought I’d make them the focus of today’s video over on YouTube.

The flowers are all rather whimsical and stylised, but that’s no bad thing. I’ll never stop thinking that we need some more whimsy in this turbulent world (and that’s putting it mildly!). If I can create a little world of beauty and whimsy with pen on paper, then I think that’s a good thing. And it’s even better if others can use colour to bring the worlds to vibrant life, or can learn how to draw their own whimsical worlds too.

I was a science teacher for 28 years, until I left to focus on my mental and emotional well being as well as art. My desire to help others gain confidence and inspire them to learn new skills, to find enjoyment in this process, then that’s a good thing too.

Draw With Me … Monogram A and Tangle Pattern A-Frame

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to view the tutorial video that accompanies this image.

Today, I woke with the idea to create an ATC (Artist Trading Card) using a monogram from one of the hand lettered alphabets I’ve been drawing in my lettering sketchbook.

The monogram is a simple one, with some of the spaces filled with tangle patterns. The background is formed from the tangle pattern A-Frame by Angie Gittles CZT. When I chose it, I wasn’t fully aware it was based on the letter A; I really can be a bit dense at times!

Some indigo chalk pastel and a tortillon to add shadows and some gold watercolour paint to frame the monogram and all was done!

I enjoyed the process of drawing. I’m fairly happy with the end result. However, I think a more organic background may have worked better with such a strongly geometric shape. It’s all a experimenting, exploring, experiencing and learning.

I may end up doing a series of monograms. It’s a good way to work with lettering and to get some practice in of figuring out how patterns and letters/words can work for me.

Today’s YouTube video is a step by step tutorial of how you too can create this ATC.

Draw With Me … Tangle Pattern Exploration of ‘Nova# by Beth Gaughan

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to view the video of the tangle pattern exploration on YouTube.

It’s a funny old day today. I think I’ve overextended myself in exploring/experimenting with art. I just felt I needed a bit of ‘comfort art’ today. It’s like comfort eating, but healthier! Something familiar, not too taxing, soothing to the senses and mind. So, some pattern exploration fitted the bill!

The pattern I chose to look at is Nova by Beth Gaughan. It’s a lovely pattern but not one that I would ordinarily choose. Just challenging enough to make things interesting, but not so challenging that I get more and more disheartened with artwork.

It turns out that Nova was a good choice. There are some interesting variations to be explored for sure.

I hope you’ll come and join me in drawing these variations over on YouTube. This kind of exercise is good for getting the creative juices working, coming up with ideas in my sketchbook, and continuing to work with and understand how to vary tangle patterns. In turn, these things have an effect on my other art.

Draw With Me – Part 2 – Adding texture, pattern and colour to circle motifs

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Click on this link to view the video that accompanies this image on YouTube.

I felt the need to spend some time adding more pattern and texture to some of these abstract, stylised circular (ish) motifs. First, however, I added some colour to most of them. I used Ecoline Brush Pens which contain Ecoline watercolour ink. The colours are very intense and vibrant and so I use a water brush to add them to my drawings. I listened to Andy Serkis’ reading of Lord of the Rings while colouring before starting to video.

Water-based media do vex me somewhat. However, I’m beginning to see how the textures that can be achieved with them make interesting backgrounds behind the patterns/textures drawn in pen.

It was fun to experiment with dropping colours and/or water into the first layer of watercolour ink and watch them spread and mix. It’s a kind of magic and is totally mesmerising. The paper I’m using, Canson Imagine mixed media paper, isn’t the best for this, but it’s adequate. Time to dig out the watercolour paper again for sketchbook exercises like this I think.

It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours this Saturday morning. I don’t know when I’ll add more pattern/texture with pens, or possibly metallic inks or paints with fine brushes, to the remaining motifs. What I do know is it will be both explorative and intriguing and mesmerising and magical, and I’ll work out my relationship with all these mediums a little bit more.

And, perhaps, have a better relationship with colour!

This is one of the important functions of sketchbooks. Yes, I often do complete, polished, finished drawings in them. But finally working out that I can also practice, experiment and ‘art’ just for enjoyment in them is a bit of a revelation. One that I’m enthusiastic to share!

It’s also lovely that, through the medium of YouTube, I can ‘teach’ and encourage others to do the same. Hopefully, I make things clear and simple. And increasing someone’s confidence, the willingness to give it a go and see what happens without judgement, just learning from the experience. Sometimes the lesson to be learned is that it’s a relaxing process, a break from the outer world that can bear down on us. Other times it is trying out media or colour schemes or just practising.

I’m sure I’ve not given a comprehensive list! One of the most important things is that, just like a diary, no one ever has to look inside your sketchbook, unless you choose to share.

Creativity is part of being human. Working out the ways to express that creativity, what expresses a part of the inner self, is part of who we are. Art is one way to do that, and the only person we need to compare ourselves to is ourselves! As we journey and try things out we find out who we are by discovering who we are not. And it’s a journey that never ceases!

Draw With Me … Adding texture, pattern and colour to circle motifs

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Today felt like the right day to start jazzing up these simple circle motifs with some texture and pattern before adding colour.

I kept the methods of adding pattern/texture really simple – just lines and circles combined in different ways. It’s amazing how just small, simple patterns can make a difference to the motifs, making them look a lot more intricate than they are.

It’s sketchbook work, so this is a pretty messy page, but that’s fine. I’m learning that getting ideas down quickly as a reference/resource for future work is a good thing. And if they’re messy, then that’s fine! Even with the messy bits, the ideas are clearly seen.

Colour is still the thing that vexes me, and the sketchbook is where I can explore colours and, perhaps, find my confidence in them.

Of course, there’s a video tutorial to go with this sketchbook page, which is only partly done. You can view the tutorial by clicking on this link.

Template Thursyay!

Angela PorterLeave a comment

This week’s colouring page for Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group is one of whimsical wonder and fun! From fishy totem poles to a mini invasion by Doodleworlds characters, magical mushrooms, beautiful butterflies, lovely hearts, shining stars and frolicking florals, there’s plenty here to make my heart smile. And that is something we all need to do.

As these worlds only exist in my imagination, and now on paper, anything goes. Colours can be whatever you like them to be. And today I wanted bright, happy, cheery colours to lift my heart and soul.

It’s lovely to create something that is happy and bright, peaceful and innocent. It’s a great way to escape from the news that so easily finds its way into daily life. Art is how I take a break from this, whether it’s drawing whimsical scenes like this one, practising my lettering skills, doing zentangle-ish kinds of explorations, or abstractly intuitive art.

I know that not everyone has the skills or confidence to draw these whimsical worlds, so it’s lovely I can create line art for others to bring to life with colour. In so doing I give others that chance to escape to my silly inner worlds for a while. And that is no bad thing, is it?