Draw Little Birds

Pay attention to basic shapes as you draw little birds.

Drawing little birds can be challenging, but with a little practice it's a skill that's easy to master. Practice drawing birds every day to improve your technique. Carrying a notebook with you is a good way to get in extra practice while you're waiting for appointments or have a few extra minutes during your day. Pay attention to size and how each body part relates to the other. This will help you to keep proper perspective and make your birds look more realistic.

Instructions

Head, Body & Tail

1. Lightly sketch an oval for the body of the bird. The body will be twice the size of the head. Depending on the species of bird in your picture, this could vary slightly so leave enough room on the page for the head, tail and any foliage you will want in your picture.

2. Sketch a round circle over the oval. To have the bird turned slightly to the side, place the head a 1/4 inch to the side of the body. Study the picture you have of the bird and measure how big the head is in comparison to the body. You can use a ruler or just judge it by using your pencil to site the ratio of the size between the body and head. Baby birds usually have larger heads than adults in proportion to their body.

3. Draw a triangle for the tail. Check your picture to see how far the tail fans out. Some birds have tails that are fairly straight off the body and others angle out in a full triangle shape.

4. Sketch the wings of the bird with light feathery strokes. Take care to use soft lines to replicate the feathers.

5. Once you have your three basic shapes, lightly sketch lines to connect the head and tail of the bird to it's body. Note the neck curves in slightly and then flares out down to the shoulder, body and down to the tail of the bird. Once you have the lines correct, use the kneaded eraser to take out any lines not consistent with the bird in the picture.

6. Add in the beak, eyes and legs. The beak is a slight triangle shape coming from the center of the head. Eyes of the bird are round. Draw circles on either side of the beak and darken them in with the pencil. Draw legs from the middle of the bottom half of the body oval. They should come down on a slight outward angle. Depending on what your bird is standing on, sketch in the small claws of the bird so they round over the object they are standing on.

7. Finish your drawing by using the side of the pencil to soften the edges of the birds body. Following the picture you are copying, shade in the darker areas around the body to give your drawing depth.

Draw Like A True Artist

Some artists prefer to draw live subjects and scenery.

Some artists are lucky enough to be paid for producing art, but many "true" artists are not professionals. A true artist is simply someone who loves to make art and who practices it a lot. Skill and quality is in the eye of the beholder. This means that everyone and anyone has the ability to draw, paint or sculpt like a true artist. The more you practice drawing like a true artist, the more you will be a true artist.

Instructions

1. Select a subject and set up your drawing materials. You may draw from a photograph or from a live subject. Relatively inexperienced artists should choose subjects that have simple shapes, like a vase of flowers or an empty coffee mug. Once you've mastered simple subjects, then you may advance to more complex organic subjects like people and animals.

2. Study the picture or subject. Draw a few studies, or quick drawings, to familiarize yourself with the subject. Practice breaking down the subject into its most basic shapes. For example, if your subject is a vase of flowers, draw the basic shape of the vase, lines for the stems of the flowers and the outline of the leaves and petals. Learn to ignore the details and areas of highlights and shadows.

3. Draw an outline of your subject. Whenever possible, the lines should be long and sinuous, not sketchy. If you must use sketchy lines, use a pencil with a harder lead and draw a light under-drawing. Once the under-drawing has established the sketchy outline of the subject on the paper, you may draw a darker, less sketchy and more confident outline of the subject on top. Leave out details.

4. Add details. Allow your eyes to move back and forth rapidly between the subject and the drawing. Compare the subject to the drawing and make adjustments as necessary.

5. Add shadows. Start with light shadows at first and deepen them as you grow confident in the placement of the shadows. Do not make very dark marks on the drawing unless you are certain you want it to be there, as dark marks may not fully erase. Continue to move your eyes back and forth between the subject and the drawing, always comparing the two.

The Definition Of Collage Art

The term "collage" comes from the french verb for "to glue." The "Oxford English Dictionary" defines "collage" as a form of art in which various materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric are arranged and stuck to a backing. Here are some facts about collage and its history.

History

Cubist George Braques may have coined the term "collage" in the early part of the twentieth century to describe the technique he applied to his cubist works. But some also argue that collage art began as far back as ancient Japan, when calligraphers glued letters to paper.

Types

Collage has become a staple of modern art, with different off-shoots of practice. Besides the original collage form, there is also assemblage, photomontage, and digital, architectural, musical and literary collage forms.

Assemblage

Assemblage is a form of collage that relies on found objects. Famous assemblage artists like Kurt Schwitters and Robert Rauschenberg used garbage and other discarded items to create sculptures and installations.

Photomontage/Digital Montage

Photomontage is simply a collage made from photographs. Similarly, digital montage is a collage of digital images made with a design program like Photoshop.

Architectural Collage

Architectural collage is about creating visual disruptions in the uniformity of a building. Architects like Bernhard Hoesli, as well as famous modernists like Le Courbusier, employed this technique.

Musical and Literary Collage

In music, collage is now more commonly referred to as "sampling," where a piece of music is taken from one source and applied to a new piece. In literature, collage can be an effect in the text of layering imagery or of inserting text from a different source.

Draw Landscaping

The landscape for your home can start with a simple drawing.

An overhaul of the landscaping on your property can be a very large and costly project. You could also be starting a landscaping project from scratch on a new piece of property that you have just purchased or for a home that is in the process of being built. No matter what your situation, you should consider the various landscaping elements carefully before committing to them. One way to accomplish this is by drawing the layout for your landscaping project before you start purchasing supplies.

Instructions

1. Get your land surveyed by a builder or developer. You can also get the same information from your local county records office. Surveying your land gives you accurate measurements for the property.

2. Transfer the actual measurements for your property to graphing paper at a ratio of one inch on the paper equals 10 feet of property.

3. Add the permanent structures to the graphing paper using your scale. Your home and garage are the main permanent structures. Trees, sheds, barns, driveway, concrete paths and swimming pools should also be added. Basically anything that will interfere with the landscaping.

4. Make a few copies of your graphing paper plan so far. This way, you can try out different landscaping options and don't have to worry about making mistakes.

5. Add the landscaping elements to the graphing paper. Trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, gardens, paths, mulch, stones, boulders and other landscaping elements can be added all around your home. Try out a few different options until you find the combination that's right for you and your property.

Draw Landscape Designs

One of the easiest ways to draw a landscape scene is to work from front to back after determining the horizon line. Then the detail may be added. For instance, if creating a mountain scene with a lake and a road leading to the water, drawing the foreground first will help put the illustration into the proper scale and perspective.

Instructions

Drawing Your Landscape

1. Determine the horizon line. Measure down 1/3 of the page from the top and use a ruler to draw a light horizontal line across the width of the paper.

2. Draw closest objects next, within the lower third of the page. In the case of a mountain and lake scene, draw a wide road that narrows and comes together as it moves closer to the middle third of the page.

3. Draw the lake into the middle third of the page, with the farthest shore against the horizon line and the closest shore down toward the narrowing of the road.

4. Fill in the horizon line with the mountains using a series of inverted "V" lines in various heights and widths. Make the highest points the farthest away.

5. Fill in the details. This is where all the extra aspects of the drawing will be added. The detail is drawn with better precision for those objects that are closest and more vague strokes as you move into the distance. Make jagged lines toward the mountain peaks. Add trees along the shoreline closest to the mountains. Add rippling water lines to the lake. Draw in grasses and flowers along the closer shoreline. Add boulders, grasses and perhaps a large bush or a fence line alongside the road.

6. Once you are happy with your landscape, darken the lines and add shadowing to give it definition. You can use ink to darken only the lines you want to appear. To shadow your drawing, imagine that the sun is shining in a certain direction or upon an object within your scene, then determine where to add light shadowing.

Draw Landscapes Stepbystep

Using subtle techniques to create depth in a landscape.

Drawing a landscape is about creating depth. Although a canvass will never go beyond two dimensions, the illusion of a third, through various techniques, can create a rich landscape. Landscape paintings provided a valuable historical record before the days of photography. You can continue this tradition by following these simple steps.

Instructions

1. Gather your materials in a well-lit area and prepare the canvas or paper. Place your reference images in sight, and use images with a variety of perspectives. Mix colors on your palette, or in cups, and match them with the reference photos.

2. Draw a rough grid on your reference photos. Begin the drawing or painting with the most distant features and work your way forward. For example, draw mountains first, then valleys, rivers, trees, grass, butterflies, etc. Overlap elements in your sketch to create depth. Cross-reference with the reference photos to ensure that the proportions are correct.

3. Add texture to the sketch. Use more textural detail as you move forward in the drawing. The further away an object is, the less detail and texture it will have. Picture how atmospheric haze mutes objects at a distance. Enhance the illusion by adding a high level of detail to an object in the foreground.

4. Use warm colors -- reds, oranges and yellows -- for objects in the foreground and shift to cool colors -- blues, greens and violets -- for distant objects. Ensure that highlights and the direction of shadows match the light source in the reference photos. Take a step back from the drawing to see how much depth you can perceive as the work progresses.

5. Add fine detail to objects in the foreground to maximize the illusion of depth

Draw Human Faces With Wrinkles

Drawing wrinkles on a human face isn't simply a matter of drawing lines. Instead, as with any other form of drawing, you must learn to recognize and draw areas of light and shadow. Many lines will appear as a line; however, it's still important to learn to determine what type of line you're dealing with. It is a thick line? Fine line? A line in shadow or a line in light? Is the line stark and solid, or surrounded by a mound of flesh? When you learn to make these determinations, your ability to draw wrinkles on human faces will be strong.

Instructions

1. Set up your picture to get the basic outline. You want to try to reproduce the absolute outside of the shape of the face, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the hair, the ears, and the most prominent wrinkles with accuracy. If necessary, use an art projector or light box to do your initial set-up. This will increase the accuracy of your drawing and decrease errors and the amount of time it takes to complete your drawing.

2. Fill in the darkest areas of the drawing, starting with the eyes. After all, the eyes are the windows of the soul. Getting the eyes done first will help you to stay in touch with the personality of your subject, and will increase the likelihood that you will reproduce him faithfully. It's usually best to do the nose and lips before you do peripheral elements such as hair, ears and clothing. Begin to fill in the darkest and thickest lines, which represent the wrinkles, on your subject's face. As mentioned above, examine the lines on your subject and determine their quality. Don't bear down too hard for dark or thick lines. Instead, work your line several times until it attains the quality you see on your subject. When filling in areas of shadow, use a cross hatch line. First make cross hatch lines going diagonally in both directions. Then make cross hatch lines going from side to side and up and down. Don't use any smoothing techniques on this drawing, as the cross-hatch lines will help to contribute to the appearance of craggy, heavily lined and sagging skin, and will give your final drawing more texture.

3. Fill in the mid tones. You're looking for the parts of the face that are in shadow. These can be difficult to find when you're new to art. You must learn to see in order to tell the darkest parts of the face from the lightest parts. Examine your subject's wrinkles carefully. Where do you see gradual shading? Where do you see areas of highlight? Look at each area relative to the other areas near it. One area may be in shadow, for example, but is still very light in relation to the skin directly below. It's important to get these relative values right. Once you begin to fill in the shadow faithfully according to what you see, your drawing will come to life. Use the same cross hatching method stated above, but use a much lighter touch. Go back and cross hatch again if you need to darken an area, rather than increasing the pressure on your pencil.

4. Fill in the lightest areas and the details. Use a very light touch with your pencil. Look carefully at your subject, as these are the shadows which are hardest to see and to distinguish from the rest of the subject. Fill in the fine gradation of shading around the wrinkles and, if any highlights near the wrinkles seem too light, go over them with a very light touch. Add in any fine wrinkles you may have missed when you set up your picture. Look for areas of shadow that are between the wrinkles, because these are essential for making your subject look realistic. This will give a sense of the contour and texture of the subject's skin, and can also be important for representing the subject's emotion and thought.

5. Put the finishing touches on your drawing. Check it against your model to see if there are any areas which look too light or too dark, and correct them. Finish your portrait with a spray fixative to protect it.

Make Your Own Cd Packaging

It's never been easier for musicians to record, package, and sell their music than it is today. The Internet has opened up avenues for self promotion that were not available to musicians in the past. Packaging a product to sell is an important part of this process. An attractive, creative package can help attract attention and boost the sales of your music. Learn how you can make your own CD packaging to give your music the extra push it needs to make it in today's music market.

Instructions

1. Design your packaging. Decide what type of artwork you will include. If you can't draw the artwork yourself and don't have a talented friend who might be willing to help out, you'll have to commission someone to do the artwork for you. You can take your pick of artists who do CD covers. Advertise on Craigs List or in your local paper. You can consult a freelance artist directory and get bids on your job as well (see resources). If you know of an artist whose work you enjoy, e-mail them and ask for a quote. You can either give the artist a rough idea about what you're looking for or allow them the freedom to design a CD cover concept for you.

2. Determine what you want to include inside the CD packaging. You'll most likely want to include a history of your band and maybe even a short bio of the band members. Decide if you're going to include photos of the band as well, and whether or not you want to include lyrics to the songs.

3. Use CD packaging software to put the package together (see resources). CD packaging software makes it easy to create front and back covers as well as insert material for your CDs. The software comes with templates that let you simply type the text or add graphics where you want. You can produce your CD packaging entirely by using CD layout and packaging software.

4. Print your CD covers and inserts directly from the packaging software. Most of the software comes with several sheets of CD cover and label paper. You run the labels right through your printer, peel them, and stick them onto your CDs. Run a test before you do a full print job to ensure the alignment on your printer is correct. If not, adjust the alignment through the print properties in your control panel.

Paint House Portraits

An artist stops to admire his work.

Painting house portraits is a good way for a young artist to gain experience using business sense and artistic skills. You will make a little money, but the satisfaction will come from the look in the homeowner's eye as he sees it for the first time. Commissions are a big deal for artists. Most of your income will come from commissioned works. It is a bit different working on someone else's project instead of your own. You need a clear idea of what they want to avoid misunderstanding. When it comes down to it, the painting may be the easiest part.

Instructions

1. Negotiate the commission. This is the nitty-gritty and should always be done before you begin any commissioned art project. Talk to the homeowner to settle on the price, size and scope. Find out what he or she has in mind and try to get on the same (visual) page. Ask her about what she is looking for. You may need to show the homeowner examples of your work to solidify the commission. Inflate the turnaround time to cover your time to get materials and to allow for other things in your life. Painting is a good stress-reliever unless you are up against a firm deadline.

2. Photograph the house. Capture the best angle. Most homeowners would decline a front-on street view. He may prefer an intimate, more personal view of the home or have a personal spin. Your painting may last longer than the house. It may be relocated to another home. Feel comfortable living with the picture. Your customer may live with the image forever. Like any type of portrait, it needs to embody the spirit of the house, its emotion, feeling, security, fragility and, most importantly, time. Homeowners who commission house portraits want to look at the painting and reminisce on happy memories in and around the home. Take the picture during the "magic hour" for the best lighting effects. The magic hour is the time just after sunrise and before sunset. Develop the picture. Enlarge to a size that allows you to see details clearly.

3. Prepare to paint. Sharpen your pencils, clean your brushes, and get your paints set up. Get your work space ready. A messy studio is reflected in the work.

Center the house in the picture frame. Make it aesthetically pleasing. Mark out your areas of shadow and lightly sketch in the house. With your pencil, mark out landmarks such as the driveway or a prominent garden or landscape features including old trees. The landscape is just as important as the house itself.

4. Mix your colors. Test them on a piece of scrap paper. Feel comfortable in using your style. The homeowner commissioned you. So do it your way, and mentally prepare to make a good painting. Block out any stresses in your life and give yourself to the painting. Play music to get in the mood. Give yourself clear tasks or benchmarks to paint.

5. Paint large areas in solid colors first. Then add details. Double check the house color to match it exactly. You may be adept at colors, but the homeowner may see your stroke of genius as a mistake. Try to see it from her point of view. Add details such as the family pet or treasured vehicles to personalize the painting.

6. Finish up by showing the painting to the homeowner. If there is not a "wow" reaction, you may want to rework it. That's ok. It's the prerogative of the commissioner. You should be satisfied with the finished painting as well.

Make A Beaded Bottle

Two of the simplest ways to make a decorative beaded bottle include attaching beads to the bottle with glue or wrapping the bottle in beaded wire. Both of these techniques are suitable for beginning crafters; as long as you have the right type of beads and adhesive. Create a beaded bottle centerpiece for your dining table with tapered candles or hang these colorful beauties from tree limbs in your garden. No matter how you choose to use beaded bottles, making them is a crafty way to recycle shapely glass containers.

Instructions

1. Place the bottle on its side on a flat work surface. Brace both sides of the bottle with a book or some other object to keep it from rolling.

2. Dry fit flat-back beads onto the surface of the bottle that is facing up. This step is not necessary if you plan to cover the surface of the bottle with beads.

3. Apply a dot of viscous jeweler's glue to the face-up section of the bottle wherever you plan to place a bead. It's easier to apply small parts of viscous jeweler's glue from a tube if you use a toothpick.

4. Press a flat-back bead onto the glue. Hold the bead in place for 30 seconds. A small section of painter's tape will hold the bead in place if it starts to slide. Repeat this process to add all of the desired beads to this section of the bottle. Allow the glue to dry overnight.

5. Reposition the bottle so that another section of glass is facing up. Brace the bottle. Follow the process to add beads to this section. Continue to add beads until the bottled is beaded all the way around.

Wire Beaded Bottle

6. Cut a 2- to 4-foot long strand of 22-gauge craft wire. Longer wire works for tall or fat bottles, as well as to create spiral wraps that are close together on smaller bottles.

7. Wrap one end of the wire two times around the top of the bottle. The wire should overlap. Press the wire against the bottle so that it conforms to the shape of the bottle neck.

8. Thread center-drilled beads onto the opposite end of the wire strand. Fill the wire strand with beads, up to 4 inches from the end.

9. Wrap the beaded wire around the bottle, pressing the wire against the bottle to make it conform to the shape as you go.

10. Twist the end of the wire into a spiral and glue it to the bottom of the bottle with viscous jeweler's glue.

Polish The Aluminum On Sportster Rocker Covers

Most of the motorcycle rocker covers made for the Harley-Davidson Sportster are unpainted with an aluminum finish. While these rocker covers look great and shine like glass when they're well polished, they can really detract from the appearance of your bike when they're smudged and pitted. Polishing them is a relatively simple process, but it's also a long process with lots of steps and required materials. Budget a couple of hours for this project and get ready for stunning results.

Instructions

1. Wash all of the exposed aluminum on the rocker covers using car or motorcycle wash and water mixed in a bucket. Use a car wash mitt to scrub, but have an old toothbrush ready to get into all the tight spots. Rinse away the suds and dry the rocker covers with old towels.

2. Put on rubber gloves and select a piece of sandpaper somewhere between 200 and 400 grit. Stick to the lower end of this spectrum if you have lots of gunk and scrapes on your rocker covers, and if they look pretty good already, stick to the higher end.

3. Dip the sandpaper in a bowl of water and sand the rocker covers. Work in small sections and sand back and forth, not in a circular pattern. Sand in the same direction across the entire surface of the rocker covers. Dip the sandpaper back into the water every 20 seconds or so to keep it wet.

4. Switch to a finer grit sandpaper in the 400 to 800 grit range. Sand the rocker covers using the same method as before, only this time sand against the grain you established in the previous step. For example, if you sanded side to side in Step 3, sand up and down.

5. Sand the rocker covers again, only this time move up to a paper in the 800 to 1200 grit range. Sand at a 90 degree angle to the sanding pattern from the previous one.

6. Sand the rocker covers up to three more times, using a higher grit paper each time and always switching directions each time you sand. Use the wet sanding method each time.

7. Wipe down the rocker covers completely with a damp cloth and buff them dry with clean microfiber cloths. Examine them closely to make sure that there are no abrasive particles left on the aluminum surfaces, but avoid touching the metal.

8. Push the polishing disc or ball attachment onto the bit clamp of your electric drill and tighten it down. Put on your safety goggles and dust mask.

9. Apply the aluminum polish according to the manufacturer's instructions. Some polishes work better if they're applied to the metal first, while others are better suited for application to the polishing disc.

10. Polish the entire surface of the rocker covers. When using the drill, apply some pressure to push the attachment against the metal, but do not use so much pressure that the motor in the drill slows down. Work in small sections, shining each section before moving on to the next. You should aim for a uniform shine across the entire section of rocker cover.

Draw Interior Walls On Architectural Plans

Designing your dream home ensures you have all the features you want.

Designing your dream home can be an exciting process. It enables you to include all the features you want in the style you want. While an architect or draftsman will most likely end up adjusting your drawings at least a little to fit architectural needs or building codes, you can give her a good idea of what you want. And you can even go back and forth a couple of times to get it exactly how you want the final product to look.

Instructions

1. Choose the 1/4-inch rule on your triangle ruler (this is 1/4 inch for every foot.) Using your T-square to line up the horizontal walls, measure the wall's length with your triangle ruler and draw it. Using a 90º triangle, draw the two vertical walls of your room. Finish off with the other horizontal wall.

2. After you make the four walls, measure out the doors and windows and fireplace and anything else that interrupts the smooth wall lines. Erase the openings. Draw the windows and doors in. The window sections are drawn as rectangles, sticking out just a little bit from the wall lines on either side of them. Doorways should be left blank. If there's a door, find a circle template that fits by lining up the top and the side notches of the circle with the two sides of the door opening. Draw an arc, then a straight line for the door itself.

3. Now, on the inside walls, make another line around the outside of your shape. Ordinarily, the actual thickness of each interior wall with studs and drywall would be about 4 1/2 inches, so to be reasonably accurate in your drawing you would make the second line approximately 1/12 inch away from the first--equal to four inches for the finished walls (if 1/4 inch equals 1 foot in your plan). The door openings can now have a short line drawn at the either side to indicate the door frame.

4. Follow these guidelines for the rest of the house.

Draw The Head Of A Cow

Use a simple square technique to help in drawing a cow's head.

A cow has a simple shape, but sometimes drawing one is more difficult than it looks. So rather than draw the whole cow right away, start with the head. The best way to draw a cow's head is to imagine you are drawing the cow inside of a box. Make the cow have exaggerated features for a more cartoon appearance, or make them smaller for a more realistic drawing. After drawing you can color the cow or paint over it.

Instructions

1. Draw a square about the same size that you want for the cow's head. Draw a faint X shape inside the box from corner to corner.

2. Draw the cow's eye near the center of the X, along the top right tier. Make the eye about one-tenth the total face size. Draw a line dividing the top and left X pieces in half diagonally. This is the cow's nose.

3. Bring the line in rounded near the bottom of the square and back to the bottom right corner of the X. Make a rounded jaw line around the right side of the X and extend an ear about 3 or 4 inches beyond the right side of the square, depending on how large the square is.

4. Erase the square guidelines. Add in details, such as fur, nostrils, shading, highlighting and patterns. Draw two diagonal lines coming down from the cow's head on the right side to make a neck. Build the rest of the body from there, or simply leave the drawing of the head only.

5. Add in additional shading and details as necessary. Give the cow a pair of horns if you like, to make it look more realistic, or to change the breed of cow.

Draw Indian Symbols For Kids

Indian symbols tell a story.

Traditional Native American language used symbols instead of letters to tell stories. Indian tribes designed sets of symbols for different situations, such as going on a hunt or heading to war. There were a few tribes that had written languages. The Cherokee, for example, was one tribe with its own written language. Most, however, used symbols as their main nonverbal form of communication.

Instructions

1. Find images of Native American symbols on the Internet and print them out. Gather other materials for making symbols, such as markers and drawing paper.

2. Draw a simple Indian symbol, which is a lightening rod. According to Native American Market, a lightening rod is the symbol for "spirit." You can make a lightening rod by drawing a jagged line.

3. Create the symbol for "constant life" by making lines that resemble rolling water waves of the ocean. Use a marker and draw a curved line that goes forwards and up and then rolls back, just like a wave.

4. Make a triangle to represent "temporary home" in Indian symbolism. You can add straight lines moving horizontally through the triangle if desired.

5. Draw the Sun of Happiness symbol, which, according to AAA Native Arts, inspires blue skies, by drawing a circle with several short straight lines around the edges, just like a sun.

6. Make the Native American symbol for "swiftness" by drawing an arrow. Make a short straight line with a point at one end. At the other end of the arrow, add two short lines on one side and paralleled on the other to resemble the feathers at the end of an arrow.

7. Create a story by putting all the symbols on one piece of paper. Arrange the symbols along with a drawing, using markers and drawing paper, to show how the Indian symbols work together.

Draw Human Faces & Eyes

Get the proportions of the human face right by first sketching a base.

Drawing the human face and eyes might seem like a challenge for the novice artist. The eyes are often referred to as "the windows to the soul," giving the person you draw a distinct personality. Proportions are important when drawing the human face and eyes. Overly large eyes or other features tend to make the human face look more like a cartoon or caricature. To draw the human face in proportion and accurately, it is important to first sketch a base for the drawing.

Instructions

Sketching a Base

1. Draw a large oval outline onto a piece of sketch paper. Divide the oval in half with a horizontal line. This represents the eye line.

2. Cut the bottom section of the oval in half with a horizontal line. This is the nose line. Draw a horizontal line in the center between the bottom of the oval and the nose line. This is the mouth line.

3. Divide the oval in half with a vertical line. The cross point is the center of the face.

4. Separate the eye line into five equal sections with tick marks. In the second section, draw a curved line above the eye line with the ends touching the tick marks of that section. Draw another curved line below the eye line in the same manner. This is the first eye. Repeat this for the fourth section of the eye line to make the second eye. The shape of the eyes should resemble almonds.

5. Use the ruler to draw straight, dotted lines from the inside corners of the eyes to the nose line. This is the width of the nose.

6. Draw dotted lines from the center of the eye to the mouth line to represent the width of the mouth.

7. Place a piece of tracing paper over the base sketch and tape it in place with artist's tape. This is the surface on which you will draw.

Drawing the Eyes

8. The eyes give the drawn person character.

Begin drawing an oval. At the nose line, curve the line slightly and draw inwards to create a jaw line. Do the same for the other side. Let the lines meet to create a slightly rounded chin.

9. Draw two almond-shaped eyes in the second and fourth sections of the base sketch, which are seen through the tracing paper. At the outside of the inside corner of each eye, draw a small shape that looks like a tear with an open end to make a tear duct. Each end of the tear-duct shape will touch the outline of the eye.

10. Sketch a partial circle, or iris, in the center of each eyeball so the top of the iris is partially cut off by the top outline of the eye. The eyes will have an unnatural look with full circles in the center of the eye, as this is rarely what irises look like.

11. Draw a small circle in the center of each iris. These are the pupils.

12. Make a curved line just above the top of each eyeball. This represents the eyelid. Draw eyelashes that curve up and toward the outside along the top of the eyeball line. Sketch lower eyelashes along the bottom of the eyeball going down and toward the outside. Draw two curved lines slightly above above the eyelid. Make the lines thicker to represent eyebrows.

Finishing the Face

13. Finish the face using the base and your own creativity.

Sketch a concave line at the nose line, in between the dotted lines that represent the nose width. The ends of the concave line should not touch the dotted lines. This line represents the main part of the nose.

14. Draw two curved lines along the sides of the nose so one end touches the nose and the other goes up to touch the dotted line. These are the nostrils.

15. Make a slightly concave line below the mouth line, ensuring the ends touch the dotted lines that represent the width of the mouth. This is the lower lip.

16. Look at the peaks of the upper lip as a reference.

Sketch a small, concave line slightly above the mouth line, centered and below the bottom of the nose. This is the center of the peaks of the upper lip.

17.Round out two peaks on each end of the peak center. Draw a slightly curved line from each peak to the mouth corners.

Draw Landscapes

Setting out to draw a general landscape poses one particular dilemma. What do you want to draw? Possibilities include cities, villages, mountains, woodlands, waterfalls, spectacular cliffs or even the moon. Perhaps you want to draw a view from another planet. These represent just a small selection of possibilities. Any time you draw a landscape, though, there are just a few basic things you need to do. Following these steps, any kind of landscape, real or imagined, can be put onto paper.

Instructions

1. Determine what type of landscape you want to draw, and how the main objects in the scene will be oriented.

2. Draw an outline of the main features. If your landscape’s main features are mountains, buildings or a road, start with an outline of those first. Don’t forget to draw in lines for the bottom, whether it’s ground or water. Make sure lines that need to be straight are so by using a ruler. Use horizon lines and vanishing points if the picture is going to have objects that extend into the distance.

3. Start drawing in details of objects in the foreground. Draw elements that give them depth, and add detail to components drawn in Step 2.

4. Draw additional things that would block the view of stuff in the distance, such as trees. Add outlines of features in the background.

5. Start filling in shading and contour details of foreground elements. Draw details of objects in the distance.

6. Complete shading and surface detail of all elements in the drawing. Erase any guidelines, if you’ve drawn any, which may still be visible and not supposed to be part of the scene.

Draw A Desert Tortoise

The desert tortoise is the official reptile of California and Nevada.

The desert tortoise is characterized by its high domed, greenish to dark brown colored shell and heavy, claw-like limbs suitable for digging. The protective shell allows the tortoise to live between 50 to 80 years without harm. Before drawing the tortoise, find a picture to decide upon its position and image. To create a realistic drawing, dedicated concentration, patience, and a steady hand are helpful.

Instructions

1. Draw a large oval in the middle of a page to represent the shape of the body and shell. Draw a much smaller oval on one side of the larger oval to act as the head of this particular animal. Sketch out three medium-sized ovals on the bottom of the body, as these guidelines will help to define each of the legs.

2. Take note of how the shell separates the upper part of the tortoise's body from the bottom part. Sketch a curved line lightly, then darken it to divide these two sections.

3. Draw rigid lines to reflect the wrinkled texture of each individual leg of the desert tortoise. Sketch out half oval-like shapes at the bottom of the legs to represent each of the toes. Draw small, wrinkled lines inside each of the legs to show the joints.

4. Use the same wrinkled line technique to connect the chest and neck to the tortoise's head. This particular feature moves up between both of the front legs, draping down to create the effect of slacking skin. Draw small lines inside the skin to create a three-dimensional, wrinkled look.

5. Split the head of the tortoise in the middle with a horizontal line to represent the mouth of this animal. Draw two very small ovals just above the mouth for nostrils. Draw two small ovals, parallel to each other above the nostrils for eyes. Sketch a small circle inside each oval for pupils.

6. Divide the upper part of the tortoise's body or shell into evenly spaced, pentagon shapes. This textured pattern gives the tortoise its hardened defense. Start with light pencil strokes and then darken them to define the lines.

7. Trace all intended lines with an ink pen. Do not outline any of the guidelines used to create this image. Let all ink marks dry on the piece of paper, then completely erase any remaining lines on the page.

Draw Hip Hop Graffiti

Every Piece Begins With A Sketch.

Hip-hop graffiti is a truly American art form. The key to this type of graffiti is developing your own recognizable style. Every artist has a unique tag and style to their work. The more you sketch, the more you'll develop your own personal style.

Instructions

Pick A Name

1. In the hip-hop graffiti world, your name is your identity. While consideration should be given to how the name sounds, the most important thing is how the name looks in writing. It's common practice to take your own name and drop a few letters, depending on how it looks on paper. The tag is the second half of your name; it's your signature, and it's always going to be consistent. Tags can be broken down to four basic elements: letter text, arrows (promote a sense of direction), flourishes (swirls or appendages built off of the letter structure) and symbols (separate marks and expressions).

2. Sketching is the key to nailing the style. Grab a marker and your sketch book. Start your first letter slowly, then follow through with fluid movement. Finally, add flourishes such as symbols and extra marks to wrap it up. Many letters might occur in your head, but you must work on your visualization skills to create them on paper. Colors should also be considered, and primary colors are a good place to start because your first purpose should be to create a distinctive style that will energize your work.

3. Pick your wall carefully---and check with the owners first; remember, this is illegal in many places. You can practice your artwork at home, using safe methods and the same quality of materials. The best type of surface is a primered cinderblock or brick wall. Primer is especially important if painting on wood. A common mistake is picking a wall that is too slick, causing the paint to drip. A slightly rough surface prevents dripping because the paint can settle in the nooks and crannies. Once you begin to paint, you don't stop until complete, so any exposed plumbing or open-air vents end up being painted over.

4. Start practicing with the spray can. There are two important points in can control: wrist motion and index finger pressure. Practice is mandatory. Always begin by shaking the can. Never press the spray can continuously, work on short bursts and strokes. Hold the can 6 to 8 inches from the wall and work in a steady direction. Practice using your thumb for fill-in spaces, to save your index for outlines.

Creating Your Piece

5. Lay down three grid lines by walking with your arms outstretched---at shoulder height and then with your arms outstretched at their highest and then lowest.

6. Once the grid lines are in place, trace your sketch to capture the space and zero in the areas of the letters. In your next layer, fill in the letters completely using three distinct colors. Correct errors and add details.

7. Next, add 3-D details in a simple color, such as white. This will make the piece "pop."

8. The final layer is the outline. Begin with the upper right area and keep interior lines a single stroke thickness. The outline is the most important part of the piece; it is crucial to the artist's style. It's not uncommon for the graffiti artist to take a break before outlining.

Draw Heavy Metal Art

Skull and crossbones are represented often in heavy metal art.

Heavy metal art is fun for anyone enthusiastic about that genre. It often contains elaborate design and detail, featuring specific scenes or objects. With a good imagination, anyone with some artistic talent can create drawings appropriate for heavy metal.

Instructions

1. Search the Internet for heavy metal themes (make sure you specify heavy metal music). You also can study album art from your heavy metal CDs, to get some ideas.

2. Open to a clean page in a sketch pad. Using a No. 2 pencil, start your sketch with your vision of a heavy metal scheme. Draw whatever you want, whether it be a skull, a person or animal, etc.

3. Think about what types of themes heavy metal bands typically use and incorporate those details into your sketch. Include a background or backdrop if you want, such as a cemetery or dark and brooding colors, for example.

4. Create a band logo or a phrase, using an elaborate style for which heavy metal is famous. Add in details the genre tends to use, such as a pentagram or cross; electric guitars; musicians in tight jeans, sporting long hair and bad attitudes, if you like.

Make Christmas Posters

Make your own Christmas posters.

Whether you are advertising your Christmas pageant, creating decorations for your home or recruiting volunteers to collect gifts for the needy, capture attention with a poster. There is no need to buy expensive, generic posters from the store when you can customize your own Christmas posters on the computer, using one of a number of different software programs. With just a couple of quick clicks, you will be making your own Yuletide posters for a festive holiday season.

Instructions

Using Paint

1. Open Paint, pull down the "Image" menu and click "Attributes." Set your poster dimensions; for a standard paper size, type 8.5 by 11 inches. For traditional poster sizes, try 18 by 24 inches, or 24 by 36 inches, and click the "OK" button.

2. Click the "Paintbrush" tool, select the medium round brush head and choose a green color from the "Color Picker" at the bottom of the screen. Draw the outline of a Christmas tree in the center of the poster. Click the "Paint Bucket" tool, then click inside the tree to fill it with color.

3. Click the "Pencil" tool, choose a red paint color and draw ball ornaments on the tree. Switch paint colors to add more ornaments, a tree trunk, strings of tinsel and a tree topper. Add other accents such as presents under the tree, doves and angels flying in the air and colored crosses around the top of the poster.

4. Click the "Text" tool, which looks like an "A" and click your cursor under the tree drawing. Type the poster’s message, such as "Church Christmas Mass." Add additional information such as event date, what to bring and location.

5. Pull down the "File" menu, click "Save As," name the poster and set a destination to save it to on your computer. Click the "Save" button.

Using Publisher

6. Open Publisher and click "Blank Publications." Click the "Poster" option, which opens an 18-by-24-inch page on the screen. To change the page size, pull down the "File" menu, click "Page Setup," scroll the "Publication type" option to "Custom" and type your new dimensions, then click "OK."

7. Click the "Text Box" tool, which looks like an "A" on an index card on the left side of the screen. Draw a text box at the top of the poster, then type the poster headline, such as "Holiday Adopt-A-Family Recruiting Now." Highlight the words, then use the text toolbar at the top of the screen to change and increase the font and recolor the letters, perhaps in red and green.

8. Add another text box towards the bottom of the poster with additional information, such as "Drop off holiday gifts and clothing for your chosen family at the parish by December 15" or "Volunteers needed to deliver gifts Christmas Eve."

9. Pull down the "Insert" menu, click "Picture" and select "Clip Art." Type a word or phrase, such as "Christmas," "Santa," "gifts" or "church" into the "Search for" box and click "Go." Scroll through the results and double-click a graphic, which appears on the poster. Grab a corner and increase or shrink the image to fit. Add additional images as desired.

10. Click the "File" menu and select "Save As." Name the poster and choose a destination for it on your computer, then click the "Save" button.

Using Word

11. Open Word, pull down the "File" menu and click "Page Setup." Set your preferred page size for the poster and click "OK." The Word workspace automatically adjusts.

12. Click your cursor at the top of the poster page and type the poster message, such as "Nativity Performance Sunday, 5pm" or "Ornament Craft Show and Sale!" Highlight the words and use the text toolbar at the top of the page to change their appearance.

13. Pull down the "Insert" menu, click "Picture" and choose "Clip Art." Search for Christmas-related images, such as "reindeer," "nativity," "Christmas tree" or "elf," and add the images to the poster.

14. Press the "Enter" key to move your cursor down to the bottom of the poster. Add more information, such as directions to the church, who to contact to volunteer or sign up for an event, or what to bring or donate.

15. Click the "File" menu and select "Save As." Give the poster a name, choose a location for it on your computer and click the "Save" button.

Teach The Design Thinking Process

The design process is the process of planning a project.

The design process can really be called a planning process. According to the Web Design Depot, the most important part of the process of design is the preliminaries--a series of rough sketches, notes and mind mapping exercises. These are akin to the outline and rough draft in a piece of writing. They get the ideas down on paper and show you which possibilities work and which do not. If you are trying to teach your students how the design process works, it's best to walk them through each step so they know how each one fits into the whole.

Instructions

1. Define the parameters of the project, including the s deadline. For example, if you have given your students an assignment to design a brochure for a local company, ask them to determine the features that make this company different from others. Tell them to write down their findings.

2. Hit the books and the Internet or pick up the phone to conduct research. In the case of the mock assignment, the students might look at the brochures produced by other companies. They should also look at past brochures and talk to people from the client company. They need to make any visual connections they can between past brochures and determine what makes their company's visual materials unique to them. In real world settings, the students would meet with the client at this stage.

3. Look through design books and other visual materials for inspiration. This will change the pace and might result in improvements in your thinking.

4. Figure out based on the research what the design concept is going to be. This includes determining what form the final product will take. Certain materials have what Donald A. Norman in the "Design of Everyday Things" calls affordances. These are the things that these materials allow you to do or don't do. For example, designing a brochure from canvas board will provide different possibilities than one designed on paper.

5. Begin the preliminary sketches of the concept. The students should use all of the information they have collected thus far to create these.

6. Create some digital mock ups based on these sketches.

7. Get feedback from the client. The client will tell the students which preliminary designs they like or they may take elements from several. It is not unusual for the final design to be a mix of different elements featured in the various drawings. The client will likely talk about photos, illustrations or lettering choices at this time and make some final decisions about each of these elements.

8. Ask the students to create several final samples for the client. Usually, you want three to five designs for the client to consider.

Draw Halloween Characters

Witches typically wear long dresses and pointy hats.

Halloween involves dressing up to portray a character. Classic Halloween characters include ghosts, witches, vampires and monsters. Though most costumes feature human-like characters, non-human characters like monsters and ghosts, often seem scarier or more ferocious than human characters due to their supernatural appearance. To draw a more realistic Halloween character, use pictures of people dressed in Halloween characters as a reference.

Instructions

Witch

1. Draw a long oval to create the outline of the head. Draw a line down the horizontal and vertical middle of the head.

2. Attach the head to a body. Draw a wide, short neck that extends outward from the chin. From the neck, draw a short diagonal line that represents the shoulder. There should be one line on each side. Draw a curved chest that extends from the shoulders. At the end of the chest, draw a short, wide waist. Curve the waist outward creating a wide semi-circle hip. The witch's hips should be wide and her body should be short. Add short, stubby legs by drawing a rectangle that extends from his hip to the floor.

3. Add arms. The arms should be thin rectangles that extend from the shoulder to the hips. At the end of the arm, draw a rectangular hand with long, thin fingers and long finger nails. Draw one arm on the left side and one arm on the right side.

4. Add facial features. Draw small, almond shaped eyes at the horizontal half-way point of the face. The eyes should rest at the 1/4 and 3/4-points of the horizontal line that dissects the face. Draw a curved line that extends from just below the eyes. This line should curve to the right then hook under, creating a hook-shaped witch nose. Draw a short, flat line under the nose to create a mouth.

5. Draw a long, tall triangle over the top of the head. The base of the triangle should hit the mid-forehead. At the end of the triangle, add a rounded line. This creates the base of the hat.

6. Add the witch's dress. Draw a scoop neckline that extends from the middle of the right shoulder to the middle of the left shoulder. Draw the right sleeve by drawing a line from the right shoulder to the end of the arm. Draw another line that extends from the inside of the arm to the armpit. Connect the two lines of the sleeve with a wavy line to finish the sleeve. Draw another line on the left side. Extend the sleeves into a dress by drawing a line from the armpit to the ankles. Connect the ends of the dress with a waxy line.

Monster

7. Draw a rounded shape for the body. Many monsters have an egg shaped body with no head. Other monsters have a rectangular or cylindrical body. Draw only the outline of the body.

8. Add a rounded shape over the head. The rounded bottom of the head should intersect with the rounded top of the body.

9. Add legs that extend from the bottom of the body. An average monster has thick legs that end in clawed feet. You may wish to draw legs that are very short and thick or very long and thin. Draw arms of similar proportions near the top of the body. You may wish to draw more than two arms or legs, giving the monster anywhere from two to twenty appendages.

10. Add facial features to the monster. Draw anywhere from one to several dozen eyes by drawing a series of rounded circles with dots in the middle. Draw a flat oval for a mouth. Add spaced triangles for teeth.

11. Draw features unique to monsters. Draw a tail by drawing a long, curved line from the bottom of the back. Extend the tail towards the right or left, ending it in an oval or triangle shape. Draw a horn above each eye or add bat-like wings to each side of the monster.

Ghost

12. Draw a large, round circle.

13. Place your pencil on the right-side of the circle, in the center of the circle. Draw a curvy line that extends downwards. Move the pencil to the middle-left side of the circle and draw a curvy line that extends downwards. Connect the vertical lines with a wavy horizontal line.

14. Place you pencil on the center-right point of the circle. Draw a curved line that moves upwards and outwards. Curve the top of the line around and down, creating a circular shape. Connect the edge of this circle to the body of the ghost with a diagonal line to create the arm. Draw a similar arm on the other side.

15. Draw two circular eyes near the top of the circle. Draw an oval nose slightly below the eyes, near the center of the face. Draw a half-moon mouth that faces downwards. The half-moon should sit below the nose.

16. Outline the shape of the ghost and erase any stray markings or lines.

Manually Add Album Artwork

Occasionally music software fails to automatically find album artwork.

Many modern music playback programs automatically connect to the Internet to gather basic information for music added to your computer, including album artwork. While the system works most of the time, occasionally the software can't identify the music, or is otherwise unable to locate artwork. In such cases, you'll have to use the fallback of adding the artwork manually. The process will use artwork saved on your computer. You can usually find album artwork image files on the website of the album's distributor.

Instructions

iTunes

1. Open iTunes and click "Music" in the Library list. Choose the "As Grid" mode from the "View" menu.

2. Right-click the album to which you want to add artwork and select "Get Info." If the album contains more than one track, you may need to confirm your choice.

3. In the Info tab, double click in the blank "Artwork" box. Navigate to the image file on your computer and click "Open." Click "OK" to apply the artwork. The art will save in your iTunes library, as well as on any devices that synchronize with the library. If you are editing only a single song, use the "Artwork" tab instead.

Windows Media Player

4. Navigate to the album art file on your hard drive. Right-click the file and choose "Copy."

5. Open Windows Media Player and select the Album view from the Library drop-down menu.

6. Right click the default CD album image for the album you wish to change and select "Paste Album Art."

Media Go

7. Open Media Go and select "Albums" from the drop-down menu under the playback controls.

8. Right-click the desired album and choose "Properties" or press "Alt + Enter."

9. In the "Artwork" tab click the "Add" button. Navigate to the image file on your hard drive and click "Open." Click "OK" to confirm and apply the album art.

Draw Grassy Hills In Photoshop

Whether you're dreaming of a tranquil getaway or need a rustic background image for a website or other design, Adobe Photoshop offers a way to create Mother Nature's bounty on screen. Use Photoshop's included graphic design tools to draw items like grassy hills, where you have full control over the colors and even the blades of grass. Create your own hillside without any seeds, rowing or ground shifting required using Adobe Photoshop.

Instructions

1. Open Adobe Photoshop. Click the "File" menu. Click "New" and type "GrassyHills" into the Name box. Type the preferred dimensions, such as "6" into the Width box and "8" into the Height box. Pull down the "Dimensions" menus and click "Inches" for each. Pull down the "Background Contents" menu and click "White." Click the "OK" button.

2. Double-click the top-left box of the Color Picker at the bottom of the Tools column. Choose a dark brown color. Click the "OK" button.

3. Click the Brush tool, which looks like a paintbrush, in the middle of the Tools column. Draw a zigzag or gently angled hill line from the left side of the white workspace to the right side of the workspace. Don't worry if your line extends into the gray Photoshop canvas.

4. Click the Paint Bucket tool, also in the middle of the Tools column. Click anywhere below the zigzag line to fill in the hills with brown color.

5. Double-click the Color Picker again and choose a green color, then click "OK."

6. Click the Brush tool again. Pull down the brush head, which is unlabeled but is the second from the left option on the toolbar at the top of the screen.

7. Scroll to the Grass brush head, which is #134 in the latest version of Photoshop CS5 as of this writing. If you do not see the Grass brush head, click the small triangle in a circle icon at the top of the Brush Head box. Click "Natural Brushes," click "Append" and scroll through the list again.

8. Hover the cursor over the tops of the hills and notice that the cursor now looks like grass. Press and hold down the left mouse button. Drag the mouse along the tops of the hills to deposit the grass brush strokes. Continue clicking and dragging to cover as much of the hillside as desired.

9. Click the "File" menu. Select "Save As," determine where to save the grassy hillside image and click the "Save" button.

Draw Graphic Novel Characters

Drawing graphic novel characters is fun and increasing in popularity.

Graphic novels have been steadily gaining in popularity since the '90s. Although the term graphic novel can sometimes be synonymous with comic book, the former designates something that can potentially be more expansive and story-based like a traditional novel. Artists such as Daniel Clowes and Adrian Tomine use the medium to create characters and tell stories that toe the line between cartoon and reality. Graphic novel characters come in many shapes and sizes, but like most artistic endeavors, form should follow function. If you're portraying a realistic story, then you probably would want your art to reflect that.

Instructions

1. Plan a story and do a storyboard. Sketch out comic panels and do a rough draft of what you want to happen with the plot and characters. This will help you determine the look, feel and attributes of each character.

2. Start with a main character. Do a sketch of him or her both from the front and the side. Plan the character's clothing and what his or appearance appearance says. Since graphic novels typically work more within the forms of realism, you'll want the characters to look as realistic as possible while still emphasizing physical features.

3. Make a list of character attributes for your protagonist. You might include particular mannerisms, goals and important background information. According to "Creating Characters with Personality," by Tom Bancroft, "Once you have the personalities of the characters in your head, you will know the direction to take when you sit down to draw them." (See Reference 1).

4. Develop at least two to three other characters in the same manner. Do individual sketches of each one with lists describing them.

5. Use all of the material you've done thus far to start a final and complete draft of the character. Sketch an outline, and focus on facial features and clothing. The posture, stance and movements of a character all influence how they're read.

6. Shade in the character's features to add definition. Highlight physical features that may be a clue into the character's behavior or personality. For example, a large, tan character may be more confident than a skinny, pale one. Make sure the character's final appearance falls in line with his or her personality and purpose in your story.

Draw Fashion Clothes For Plussize Models

Draw Fashion Clothes for Plus-size Models

Plus-size clothing is made for today's real-sized women. With magazine ads changing what regular women want to wear, there is a need for designers to develop bold collections in plus sizes. Learning drawing techniques for body movement, form and shape will help you adjust silhouettes for the plus-size figure. By restructuring chest, waist and hip size, you can produce silhouettes that focus on brilliant color choices, textured fabric selections and bold prints.

Instructions

1. Draw your initial anatomical sketch with the figure in an upright position. Body illustration begins by drawing eight separate units of the body, the rough framework. The units are feet, calves, knees, thighs, abdomen, waist, chest and chin. The head is a separate unit and is multiplied eight times to form the dimension of the figure. Don't sketch an increased chest, waist and hip yet.

Use a hard H pencil or soft B pencil for this stage. The H pencil is for illustrations with fine details such as stitch, ribbing and prints and the B pencil is for loose drawings.

2. Modify your initial sketch. Lay tracing paper over your body form and using your B pencil, draw your plus-size figure by slightly increasing your shoulder, bust, waist, hip, thigh and calves. It is best to study larger women or models in movement and note their shape when walking or sitting. This will help you draw realistic line work, delineating the plus-size silhouette and garment styles.

Use your modified body silhouette as your body template. You can make several copies to draw different styles.

3. Draw a series of rough, freehand sketches of garment styles without the body template. Select the season and category, such as tops, bottoms, skirts or dresses. Narrow down your choices prior to drawing your initial silhouettes. Sketch your initial styles with colored pencils, charcoal, pastels, watercolors or markers. Add color and print placements while sketching. This will influence your silhouettes and your seam direction.

4. Resketch your rough garment styles with your body template. Your styles and seamwork will need to be modified and altered for the plus-size body. For example, the baby-doll inspired swing a-line knit top with neckline embellishment can translate into a plus-size silhouette by decreasing an exaggerated sweep. This will streamline the overall shape and pattern.

Keep your fabric in mind when resketching. For instance, a Lycra/spandex blend--such as a stretch poplin or denim--will allow you to create softer seamwork and add comfort to your silhouettes.

5. Determine your size ranges, such as 12 through 18 and 20 through 24. This will help translate styles for drawing and construction. Divide the styles into two size ranges. Draw separate plus-size body templates to reflect the separate ranges.

Supplies For Painting On A Grain Of Rice

Painting on rice requires precision.

Painting or writing on a single grain of rice originated in Turkey and also has deep roots in India and Asia. Today artists spend significant amounts of time, and precision, painting pictures on rice. These tiny pieces of art are often sold at artisan fairs and specialty shops. If you want to try painting on your own grain of rice, you'll need a number of precise tools.

Magnifier

When working with anything as small as a grain of rice, it's important to use a magnifier to ensure you can see your work. A desk-mounted magnifier with a fluorescent light built into it is ideal. This style of magnifier has a flexible arm that allows you to position the lens precisely where you need it.

Hobby knife

A sharp razor blade-style hobby knife, such as an X-Acto knife, is important to use prior to applying the paint to the grain of rice. Because the sides of the grain of rice are slightly rounded, the knife is used to carefully scrape the rice to create a flat side for painting. If you make a mistake during the painting process, the knife can be used to precisely scrape the paint away.

Clay

Modeling Clay is used to hold the grain of rice while it's being painted. You simply make a small ball of clay, stick it to a table under your magnifier and lightly press the grain of rice into the clay. The clay will hold the rice steady while you work on it.

Technical pen

Technical pens can be bought at art supply stores and are used by technical artists, such as architects, who require a thin-tipped writing instrument. Technical pens are sold in a variety of tip sizes, and for use on a grain of rice, you'll need a .18 mm or .13 mm size. The technical pen may be sold with ink or you may have to purchase ink separately. The technical pen is used to draw the outline of the painting.

Paint

Acrylic paint can be used to paint on a grain of rice because it is easy to clean up. Depending on what image you plan to paint, you'll need a variety of colors -- but not very much of each one.

Fine-tipped paintbrushes

To effectively paint on a grain of rice, you'll need the finest-tipped paintbrushes you can find. Art supply stores often sell brushes with tips so fine that they have 10 or fewer bristles. The finer the brush you can find, the better success you'll have during the painting process.

Pencil Sketch Clothing

Before clothes are made and sold, they start off as drawings.

The idea behind fashion sketches is to transfer an idea that is in your mind onto paper before actually making a garment. The sketch should reflect the end result you wish to achieve with your look. Start with a figure drawing that is proportionally correct, so you get an accurate overall image. You want the proportions to be correct, so when you actually start making patterns you can figure out how the clothes will translate on a real person.

Instructions

1. Find a picture in a book or a magazine of a model or figure. You want it to be big enough to fit on the page of your sketchbook, but not so big that you can't take notes or add other sketches around the page.

2. Trace the figure with tracing paper. Make sure you can see the arms, legs and torso. An underwear ad would be good to use, because the figure will not be dressed, and this way the clothing will not distract from the original design. Just trace the basic outline, and do not worry too much about specific features, like hair or eyes. The most important parts are the head and the body.

3. Place the traced sketch under a fresh page in your sketchbook. You should be able to see the figure under your piece of paper. If not, outline your figure in pen or marker and slip it under your page again; you should be able to see it a little better. Transfer the image by drawing over the lines from your traced sketch. Once you are finished drawing your figure, you can start designing.

4. Make notes on your paper to describe the type of fabric you want to use. Lightly sketch your garment, starting at the top and then working your pencil down the figure. Keep the silhouette in mind as you sketch. Make sure you capture the shapes; this is the most important part of the fashion design process. Determine the sleeve length and how the sleeve design relates to the collar, if there is one.

5. Address the midsection of the body and the dress design. Are you adding a belt? Is your design one piece, like a dress, or is it an outfit that has separate pieces worn together to make one cohesive look? Next, determine the length of the pant or skirt. Where do you want it to stop? Will the knees be visible or will the garment stop at the foot? Outline the overall shape of the clothes.

6. Use your colored pencils to show the weight of the fabric and where pleats will go. Use heavy, dark marks for thicker fabric. Use light marks for floaty and light fabrics. Use pen to mark small details you may not be able to see with pencil, such as buttons and cuff details. Play with color in your design to get a feel of what color pallet will look best with your design.

Draw Ginger Cookies

Draw Ginger Cookies

Ginger cookies are a staple holiday treats. In fact, the gingerbread man has become such an integral part of the holidays that gingerbread men are used as decorations on Christmas trees, holiday coloring books and even animated movies. Drawing a gingerbread man cookie can be done with a few basic shapes. Once this image is drawn you can color it with markers and use colored pencils for highlights to give your illustration extra pizazz.

Instructions

1. Draw the head of the ginger cookie man with a circle in the upper middle of the page. Add a vertical line under the head. Attach two diagonal lines, one pointing to the upper right corner of the page the other pointing to the upper left corner of the page for the arms. Add two diagonal lines to the bottom of the vertical line. One of these should point to the bottom left corner and the other should point toward the bottom right corner.

2. Draw the eyes with two small circles on the face. Add the smile with a line that curves up on the left and right sides. Draw a bell shaped rectangle attached to the bottom of the head for the body. Attach curved lines around each arm and leg.

3. Draw the buttons with three small circles on the vertical line of the ginger cookie man. Draw the bow tie with two triangles under the chin. These triangles should point together. Add a small circle in the middle of the the two triangles.

4. Erase the guidelines and ink the picture of the gingerbread man. Let the ink dry and erase the pencil lines.

5. Color the body of the gingerbread man brown. Color the buttons orange and the bow tie blue. Color the icing eyes and mouth beige. Let the ink dry and add highlights to the cookie, using colored pencils. Use beige to lightly highlight the cookie body. Add yellow highlights to the orange buttons with small circles inside the orange buttons. Add white highlights to the bow tie.

Make Faux Pendant Using Polymer Clay

You can create dramatic pendants with polymer clay.

Polymer clay is available in a wide variety of colors, including metallic tones that can be used to create attractive faux gold or silver pendants. Mixing two contrasting colors of clay to create a marbleized effect will enhance the faux metallic effect. Creating these pendants would be a great jewelry-making craft project for a sleepover birthday party or summer camp session. The finished pendants can be strung from fine metal chains, cording or thin satin ribbon.

Instructions

1. Roll pencil-sized snakes of the gold and black polymer clay with your hands. Place the snakes next to each other on a flat surface and fold the snakes in half.

2. Roll the snakes to a 1/4-inch flat sheet with the rolling pin. Fold the sheet in half and roll again. Repeat, creating a marbleized effect in the clay.

3. Roll the marbleized clay into a marble sized ball. Flatten the ball slightly with your hand to make the pendant. Pierce the pendant all the way through the center with the toothpick.

4. Place the pendant on a cookie sheet and bake it in a 175 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes. Let the pendant cool for 10 minutes and remove it from the cookie sheet.

5. Push the gold headpin through the hole in the pendant. Cut the headpin with the wire cutters 1/2-inch from the top of the pendant.

6. Twist the protruding 1/2-inch of the headpin into a circle with the tip of the needle nose pliers. The wire circle will be used to string the pendant on a cord, chain or ribbon.

Make Art Projects

Colored Chalk

Art projects are enriching activities that will help you grow creatively and give you the satisfaction of having created something. They can be visual art, such as painting and drawing, ceramic projects or even jewelry art. Art projects may be done as part of a class project or for personal development.

Instructions

1. Choose a craft and the medium you wish to use to express your artistic talent. Consider defining a craft to develop, so you can focus on a certain platform. You can then create a trajectory for your personal artistic development and track your progress as you evolve from dabbling in art projects as a beginner in the craft to creating more sophisticated art.

2. Buy art materials. Michaels and Jo-Ann stores sell a variety of supplies for many different kinds of art projects. You may also be able to order materials online from specialized art shops.

3. Develop a concept. Before starting your art project, you'll need to establish the purpose and motive for the art that you will be creating. Determine who the target audience is and the impact that you want your art to have.

4. Set a regular time to work on your project. Making an art project involves dedicating the time and effort to develop the project and translate your vision into a tangible creation. It may also benefit you to set a deadline to complete the project to give you a push and help you finish.

5. Get feedback from art coaches. Teachers and artists you know may be able to provide comments and suggestions. You may gain inspiration from other artists, as well.

Draw Fruits And Vegetables With Children

An orange has a simple, spherical shape.

Both children and professional artists tend to enjoy drawing and painting fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables occur naturally in a wide variety of shapes, colors and textures. As a parent or educator, you can encourage creativity, fine motor skills and healthy eating by participating in fruit and vegetable art projects with children. Specific activities may depend on the ages, skill levels and fine-motor dexterity of the children participating in the project.

Instructions

1. Demonstrate to children that some fruits and vegetables have simple shapes when viewed in profile. For example, a slice of watermelon is semicircular, an orange is circular, strawberries are triangular and bananas are crescent-shaped. You can also use this as an opportunity to introduce geometry-related vocabulary, which as "sphere" to describe an orange and "cone" to describe a carrot. Your choice of terminology may depend on the developmental levels of the children in your care.

2. Encourage children to draw the basic shapes of geometrically simple fruits and vegetables. Concentrating on one fruit or vegetable at a time, ask the children to draw, "an orange shape, which is a circle." For now, focus only on fruits and vegetables with simple shapes. Tell children that they will have an opportunity to add details and color their drawings later.

3. Demonstrate that some fruits and vegetables have relatively complex shapes. An open pod of peas, for example, looks like a crescent filled with semicircles. A pear is a symmetrical shape that is wider at the base and more narrow at the top. A bunch of grapes looks like a cluster of circles overlapping one another. Instruct the children to draw these shapes, using the fresh or plastic fruits and vegetables as examples.

4. Instruct the children to add details to their fruit and vegetable drawings. They can draw leaves, stems, seeds and other fine details appropriate for the type or species of fruit. Allow the children to color their fruit drawings, noting that many fruits and vegetables are available in a variety of colors.

Draw Fruit

Fruit is a perfect subject to help you learn draw objects and to practice contour drawing and shading to make items look three-dimensional. Once you can perfect drawing realistic fruit, you can move on to harder subjects like faces and machinery.

Instructions

1. Draw the outline of the fruit. Allow your eyes to follow the outline. Transfer that shape to your paper. You will end up with a cartoonish drawing of the fruit.

2. Draw lines to show the curves of the fruit. Make lines crosswise to indicate how the fruit curves.

3. Begin shading using your art pencils. Start with the darkest area of the drawing. This may not necessarily be on the fruit but outside of the fruit where the shadow hits. Gradually lighten your shading where the shadows on the item are lighter. Where there is no shadow, leave that area white.

4. Build up the form of the fruit by continuing to build up the shading. Shade your drawing using short lines following the direction of the curved lines you have previously drawn.

5. Finish the drawing by using your dark pencils to darken areas of your drawing and using your eraser to lighten the highlighted area. Also use your fingers to smudge the shading to blend it in better. Draw in any markings on your fruit that you observe on the object. Use creative license and leave some of these markings off or add more if you wish.

Draw Frangipani Flowers

Comprised of only five overlapping flower petals, Frangipani flowers are beautiful in their simplicity. They are indigenous to tropical regions like the Caribbean and Pacific Islands. Although they are often used in bouquets, Frangipani blossoms (which grow on short shrubs) are poisonous.

Instructions

1. Place a dot in the center of the flower.

2. Draw five equally spaced straight lines only 1/4-inch long, protruding from the dot. These lines represent the beginning of the left edge of the petals.

3. Extend the five lines you drew in Step 2, curving them out and then in, stopping at the tip of each petal. The curve should be wide enough that the petals will be too large to fit all the way around the flower without touching. The petals should overlap slightly when complete.

4. Draw the right side of each petal, starting at the top of the petal. Curve the petal out and then inward, mirroring the curve on the left side of the petal. Stop when you reach the left side of the petal to the right of the petal you're drawing.

5. Shade each petal slightly, starting near the center and shading down to the dot.

Draw For Interior Decorators

Draw for Interior Decorators

If you're an interior decorator who doesn't have architectural drawing skills, you're missing out an opportunity to increase the value of your business. Being able to draw helps with furniture arrangement, space planning and remodeling. Scale drawings are often what sells the client on your ideas. Only 5 percent of people can imagine a finished room; for the other 95 percent, a picture is worth a thousand words. Being able to not only draw an overhead view but also elevations can clinch a sale.

Instructions

1. Take your T-square and place it on top of the drawing board with the handle lined up with the left side of the board so the T-square can slide up and down the side; place a sheet of paper on the board and line its bottom up with the T-square. Hold the paper in place with one hand and place a piece of tape on each corner of the paper.

2. Choose your ratio. Most commonly used ratios are 1/4 and 1/2. For a normal room size, 1/4 will fit on the page no problem, even with the side elevations. A 1/2 ratio is easier to see and read, but you'll probably have to add on pieces of paper to the main page for the elevations. Take your architect's scale and select the ratio on the scale; the numbers each represent 1 foot. Lining the scale up with the T-square, measure out and then draw the bottom line of the room shape, using the edge of the T-square, not the scale.

3. Finish the rest of the room shape. When creating the side lines, use your triangle to draw the lines instead of the T-square. Line the triangle up by resting it on the top of the square to create a true angle. After you make the four walls, make another line around the outside of your shape, 1/4 inch away, which represents the actual size of the wall with studs.

4. Measure the spaces out for the windows and doors. Erase the wall where they fit in. The window sections are drawn as rectangles, sticking out just a little bit from the wall lines on either side of them. Doorways should be left blank. If there's a door, find a circle template that fits by lining up the top and the side notches of the circle with the two sides of the door opening. Draw an arc, then a straight line for the door itself. Be sure the arc is going in the right direction for how the door actually opens. Draw in the fireplace, showing the mantle protrusion and the hearth flooring. Also add any other protrusions or architectural features like columns.

5. Draw the side elevations. Draw a wall "box" 1/4 inch from each of the edges of the overhead view of the room. Using the same ratio, make the side walls the right height of the room. Fill in the windows, doors and other architectural details.

Velatura Vs Sfumato Painting Techniques

Velatura and sfumato are two painting techniques first explored during the Renaissance; they are most often associated with oil painting. Both techniques are methods used to manipulate underlying layers of paint at any point in the painting process; they differ in the way they are applied and which artists explored them.

Sfumato Origin

One of the four painting methods credited as originating during the Italian Renaissance, sfumato comes from the Italian word "fumo," which translates to "smoke." This technique is used primarily in oil painting to subtly blend colors, but it is not a glaze over the entire image. The use of sfumato led to works without hard lines or edges between objects, unlike the style of paintings prior to the Renaissance.

Velatura Origin

Like sfumato, velatura refers to a subtle method of adjusting colors. Velatura is unique however, in that it is an application of a glaze, specifically one that is applied with the artist's fingers. This technique is usually employed with translucent glazes over a layer of paint that is already dry. To properly create the velatura style, glazes must be diluted with a medium such as oil. Velatura was a technique used in previous artistic movements and is considered somewhat out-of-style.

Sfumato Masters

Sfumato is perhaps best known as one of Leonardo da Vinci's favorite techniques. Two of his works -- The Virgin of the Rocks and the Mona Lisa -- employ sfumato extensively; the gentle shading in the Mona Lisa's face is an example of this. Other artists known for their mastery of the sfumato technique are Giorgione and Correggio, both active during the Renaissance.

Velatura Masters

The velatura technique was most famously used by both Titan and Velazquez. In the portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez, however, the glazes are notoriously difficult to photograph; thin paint in a velatura technique oftentimes appears to be thick in photographs, which makes observing this technique most effective in person.