One of my favorite ways to make art is by using pen, ink and watercolor. I learned about this method from Claudia Nice, who holds workshops at her studio in Oregon. Claudia has a lot of animals at her place, and workshop participants are able to see exactly how a horse’s fur should be drawn by looking right at the horse!
The art pencil drawing is the first step to creating your art piece. You will want to choose a simple subject if you are new, such as a flower. A regular pencil or art pencils can be used to work up a pencil drawing sketch that is the start of your drawing or painting.
If you are saying to yourself, “I can’t draw so I’m not going to try this,” please read on. Everyone can draw. You can put a piece of paper on top of a picture or photo and trace it; you can look at a photo or picture in a book and sketch it while you’re looking at it; or you can create abstract art by making shapes on your paper using whatever comes to mind.
Some supplies that you will need are:
A pencil Watercolor paints, watercolor sticks, or watercolor pencils A small paint brush and some water Ink pens — the ink must be waterproof, smudge proof and archival Watercolor paper – 130 lb is a good choice A picture or an idea of what you’d like to draw
Once the pencils drawing is complete, the ink work is added next. This is simple to do by just tracing over the pencil lines you’ve just drawn with the ink pen. Adding depth and dimension using extra ink in areas to darken can be done by looking at your original photo or picture and adding shading where needed. If you’re drawing an animal, you can add lines or strokes of ink to darken the fur around the eyes and ears.
Watercolor is the next step in the drawing and you will be adding it by choosing the areas that you want to have color. Using the watercolor sticks, paint with brush or watercolor pencils, you’ll also need a little cup of water. Taking care not to overdo it with the water, lay down some color with your medium (the pencils or paint) and then dip your brush in water. I like to run the paint brush across a paper towel or my art shirt that I’m wearing, to get excess water off — just brush it across lightly. Then, apply the water to the color gently and watch the colors just explode on the page! You’re the artist so experiment and have fun with it! There is no such thing as bad art and you never have to show your work to anyone if you don’t want to. Be free and paint like the wind.
Creating art is a great way to relieve stress and have some fun. You can find informative, straight forward ways to create art by visiting http://www.centerforspiritualarts.com. Have confidence that you can create artwork — the inner expression of the self.