video tutorial

Draw With Me | A Sketchbook Page of Oyster Shells – Part 1

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Click on this link to watch the video tutorial showing how to draw this motif over on YouTube.

I’ve been having a lot of fun filling sketchbook pages with variations on a basic motif/pattern. It’s time, I think, to fill a sketchbook page (A5-ish) with variations of just one motif. Variations that include filler patterns, colours, shading and media used. I’m not sure that makes sense, but sometimes it’s easier to show rather than tell. Or perhaps tell while showing what I’m doing/thinking.

The video is much shorter than usual, at less than 30 minutes. I think that looking at drawing just one motif is a bite-sized activity, whereas a whole sketchbook page in one go can be a bit overwhelming.

There, I’ve got to a clear explanation of my intention behind this video!

So, I’ve decided to start with a page of variations of oyster shells. I start with line art in an Oysteroid style. Oysteroid is a tangle pattern by Eni Oken. I make sure that I use thicker lines to give the illusion of depth.

Next, add colour. I used two pale warm grey marker pens to add shadows. (Ohuhu WG1 and WG3). Then I used two peachy pinks to add colour (Ohuhu R18 and R21).

Using an 01 fineliner, I added the textural patterns. I decided to use a different one in each layer of the motif. Perhaps a bit too much pattern.

Finally, I added dots of white gel pen for the highlights.

I completely forgot to add a drop shadow beneath the motif to lift it off the paper a little. I’ll add that at a later point in time I’m sure.

The patterns added complexity to the simple colour/shadow. They also masked where my impatience meant the black pen hadn’t dried fully and the ink smudged a bit with the alcohol marker.

I do hope you’ll take a look at the video, get out pen, paper and some coloring medium and draw along with me.

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

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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.

Draw With Me … Sketchbook Page of Whimsical Flowers and more…

Angela Porter1 Comment

Click on this link to watch the accompanying video tutorial on YouTube.

This was fun! A page full of flowery, shelly, poddy motifs all starting with a circle! I’ve actually already filled nearly six pages in my A5 sketchbook with such explorations. And I’ve not finished!

A simple exercise like this really gets your creative juices flowing. There are so many, many ways to fill a circle with patterns to create a new motif. And as it’s in a sketchbook, there’s absolutely no pressure to make everything perfectly polished. The point is to get an idea down quickly and then move on to the next.

After the page (or pages) are full, there’s time to go back and add finishing details, patterns, textures, colours and/or shadows. There’s no requirement to do this to every single motif on the page. Nor is it essential that each space on a motif is filled identically. This is a space to just try things out, whether they work or not at this time. Be that drawing, patterns, textures, colours or different media.

Eventually, the sketchbook will be full of ideas and inspiration. It will be a place to dip into when at a loss. it will be full of exercises that can be done again and again or varied quite simply.

Exercises that get you drawing and being creative just for the sheer fun of it!

This is exactly what a sketchbook is for! There can be some more polished drawings in there, of course. There can be notes and ephemera and colour palettes and swatches and more too. But the fun of just drawing to see how many variations on a theme, starting with one simple shape or motif. Well, you’ll surprise yourself!

Give it a go! No one ever has to see what’s in your sketchbook. It can be a place where you play with watercolours just to watch the magic of that medium. To lose yourself in a pleasurable activity for a while and take a break from the busyness of modern life and all the stuff going on in the world around.

Drawing in a whimsical, stylised or doodly way takes the pressure off the belief that art has to look like a photograph (it doesn’t!). It allows you to just enjoy the process.

Draw With Me … Mushrooms!

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Yesterday, I was working in my lettering sketchbook and came up with some letters embellished with mushrooms. That led to me having the idea to show you, step by step, how I draw some of my favourite mushroom motifs!

I absolutely love mushrooms. They’re fun and funky and the whimsical, fanciful, stylised versions here are simple to draw, one little pen stroke at a time. Why not have a go? Take a look at today’s ‘Draw With Me’ video tutorial on YouTube.

Zentangle Pattern “Huggins” Variations … Part 1?

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Click on this link to view today’s video.

One of my YouTube subscribers wondered what I could do with the Zentangle pattern Huggins. I think Linda’s exact words were ‘I’d like to see you take on Huggins’.

So I did. This page is as far as I’ve got for now, which is further than I got in the video. But what else is there to do while a video is uploading and processing?

Huggins is one of my favourite tangle patterns (there are many). It’s always fun to play around with varying the pattern, and it’s a very good one to add variations to!

Not my neatest drawing, but it is in a sketchbook. Sketchbooks are, sometimes, the place to get ideas down quickly as they come to you. And that’s exactly what I did in today’s video.

A flowery tangle pattern – Blomkoal by Maaike Terpstra CZT

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Blomkoal, by Maaike Terpstra, is a tangle pattern totally new to me. It’s flowery and unusual, so I just had to do some pattern exploration!

A lovely hour was spent drawing, adding colour and trying out Distress Microglaze to bring out the colours.

If you’d like to draw along with me, find out more about the variations and so on, then here’s the link to today’s video on YouTube.

“Bilt” variations and a sketchbook page border.

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Please click on the ‘Watch on YouTube’ option.

Bilt, a tangle pattern deconstructed by Lisa Skeen, is one I’ve not used that I remember. It is, however, great fun to explore variations of!

In this video, I go through how to draw Bilt, one step at a time, and then look at some variations.

A bit of a change from flowers, but sometimes change is as good as a rest!

Draw With Me… Flower Variations

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Today is one of them days when I really needed some flowers in my life. So, I decided to create a bunch of them in my sketchbook!

I started with the one in the top left and just worked on variations as I went. I’m absolutely positive that I’ve not created all the possible variations, but these will do for now. Any number of them are starting points for more variations at another time.

There is a simple contentment in drawing simply. Focusing on the essential lines. Adding stylised and simple details, one by one. Using colour to add shadow and volume brings the line art to life.

I invite you to join me, drawing your own versions of these flowers by watching today’s YouTube video tutorial.

Draw With Me … Doodleworlds Critters (Part 1)

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Yesterday, my YouTube video tutorial was about drawing the botanical, zentangle patterns and other motifs in this week’s colouring page.

In today’s video, I focus on the cute, if somewhat unruly, Doodleworlds critters. There’s so many of them that this is the first part! Then, there’s adding colour to the design.

I had a lot of fun filming this tutorial. There is a kind of narrative with the Doodleworlds characters. I’m definitely looking forward to part 2!