February 28, 2012

Month of a Tulip: 5 tutorials in one month

Hi all!

It's the end of the month and it's time to conclude the Month of the tulip.

Out of many tutorials I've found online I've used only four, since many of them are pretty much alike. Also I've created one of my own - for myself and you guys.

Here they are:
1. Method 1 - taken from How to draw cartoons, a really great and simple one to start with.
2. Method 2 - a nice one take from the DragonArt.com
3. Method 3 - taken from Flower Painting Tutorials.
4. Method 4 - a beautiful taken from Easy drawings and sketches.
5. Method 5 - my own original tutorial.

While working with these I constantly reminded myself that there was no need to rush. That sometimes I need to take a second look at the object that is in front of me. To understand it's flow, the direction of its details. Otherwise all I'll be doing is creating and erasing unnecessary lines.

The second thing was to learn and separate longer lines from shorter strokes. Tulip is a very long flowing flower and requires long lines. I realized that in order to do so I must hold my pencil lighter and farther from its graphite. If I wanted to make shorter strokes - I should hold it a bit firmer and closer to the base. It's logical because lighter and farther grip allows me to see the path I'm creating. A closer one gives me a closeup on every single part of the previously created line (Philosophy degree, here I come!).

From time to time I found myself making the first line in the air, as if I wanted to make this first contact with the object in front of me.

Each session I tried to do at least 10 images, singles and bouquets together.
Most of the time I did an A4 scale sketches, some of them were single flowers and some were bouquets.
I also did some flowers placed in vases and bowls. Doing that I've realized that I need to work on some perspectives too. That means drawing objects, streets, buildings... And that means that I have loads and loads of sketching to do. Hm...

There are some additional links that I found but didn't use. You might find them useful.
1. How to draw cartoons online - simple, schematic, for beginners.
2. Drawing Now shows how to draw a tulip in a bowl - cartoon style.
3. Dragon Art - nice and simple, based on an oval.
4. From TLC family site - a really, really nice one, includes some shade work.

If you found other useful tutorials on How to draw a Tulip, I would love you to post a comment with a link so I could add it to my list

I hope you enjoyed sketching tulips with me.
Next month we'll be working on an Iris.

Have a great day,
D.

February 27, 2012

Celebrating Purim: The Jewish Carnival



It is the end of February and it means that Purim is on its way.

Since Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar one, the dates of the holidays change from one year to another. This year Purim falls on March the 7th, just a day before an international Women's Day (which means that I should try and illustrate twice as much as I did previously).

But for now - back to Purim. 
Purim is an ancient holiday that celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from nation's destruction in Ancient Persia. These days people wear carnival costumes, eat tasty Hamentasches and make lots and lots of noise with Purim Gragger, which is a traditional Purim Noisemaker. Kids usually don't go to school that day but do get loads of candies, there are parties and carnival processions everywhere.
In short - happy-tasty-fun! 

For some reason it's cloudy and rainy on Purim so there's always a chance to get wet. 
But I guess that's ok, we could live with that :)

At the moment I am working on some new Illustration while the one above was created last year and is a big hit on ShutterStock right now, although without the text.

See you next time,
D. 

February 26, 2012

How to draw Tulips: Method 5

Hello!

It's been almost a week since my last post. I've started preparing one from an old art book I have but then I've lost interest. Why, you ask me? Because it taught me nothing new. It was just another "how to draw a closed tulip" tutorial. It took me several days to realize that all the methods I've found so far were almost the same. Draw a shape of an egg. Draw stem and a base for the cup. Draw something else. And all of them related to a closed bud!! Even the position of the flower was almost the same everywhere. None of them were dealing with a fully opened flower facing the viewer. So I got bored.
I started browsing the net and...... I found nothing new. Absolutely nothing (and I've searched using several languages).

So that's when I've decided to create a new, original tutorial of my own. I'm still using the online images I've found online to practice, it's makes it easier for some reason.
I used this Tulip I found online for the purpose of demonstration.

That's said, let us begin.



1. In most of the existing art books the first step is almost the same.  You look carefully at the object and draw very lightly its basic shape and a flow. This will be your starting point.


















2. Now create another form in the upper part of the future bud - it will become the open center of the tulip. You don't need to be super accurate, just mark it's location for now; you will erase it anyway when creating the petals.














3. Recognize the placement of each petal and start building them inside and around the two circle shapes. When done, erase the unnecessary lines and leave the clean flower.
















5. Draw the steam and a leaf.



That's it for the tutorial itself.












And now for the practice part. Even though I've created this tut it doesn't mean I shouldn't practice it myself. So here it is.

















Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and found it helpful.

Have a great day,
D.

February 21, 2012

Spring holidays: Whats next?















Valentine's Day is behind us and the Spring holiday season is about to begin.

I went over the calendar and realized that there are at least 11 major holidays ahead of us - and I'm sure I've left some out.
The next stop for me is Purim, a traditional Jewish holiday. There is an International Women's Day on March the 8th. There's April the 1st, Easter, Passover, St. Patrick's, Shavuot, the Mother's Day and others.
It feels like it's time for me to get busy again.

Illustrations - here I come!!!

How about you? What holiday are you getting ready to in Spring?

Have a great season,
D.

February 19, 2012

How to draw a Tulip: Method 4

This is Session 4 in the How to draw a Tulips series.

Among those online I found this  Easy Drawings and Sketches tutorial. It's really nice but it has a slight problem: its sketches are super bright. At times almost invisible. The only comfort is that the outcome is beautiful, so one can manage, if one really wants to.
I am not sure if you can call this one a new method. But lets just say that for the sake of the exerciser that will do.

These are the "by the book" sketches, two this time. 15 minutes each, since the are a bit more complicated than those before. The base is simple: you draw a steam, then the bulb, then the leaves.




















These sketches based on online references.





















While sketching I've decided to make the process a bit more interesting and chose images with some additional objects, like vases, cans, glasses.This is the result.




















And the process was interesting. With so many huge leaves there I got lost several times. Does this mean that I should start using a larger scale paper? Maybe an A3 or even A2 size? Or that I just should practice more? Or maybe it's both?




















Many conclusions have been made during this session, like what is the right way to hold a pencil, what to draw and where to head next. So I guess it was a very, very good one.

I hope you've concluded something for yourself.

Have a great and conclusive day.
Best regards,
D.

February 16, 2012

How to draw any flower: Dividing to groups and understanding the structure

A while ago I shared another method on drawing a Tulip but there was something special about this specific tutorial that made me get back to it and write about for the second time.


The thing was that beside sharing another drawing method it's author, a British artist Theresa Evans shared some great ideas on drawing flowers in general. She basically divided all - or at least most - of the existing flowers into 5 groups basing on their structure.


Unfortunately since Ms. Evans didn't give any examples to these groups, I'll take the liberty to do so myself. 



1. There is the BELL group and I imagine that these would Beflowers, the Campanula family; the Paris Coral, the Cluster Bellfowers, the Creeping bellflower and others among them. 
2. The STAR group will probably include DaisiesFrangipani flower Anemones.  
3. The TRUMPET group - would be CallasBrugmansia - aka Angel's Trumpets.
4. In the TUBE group you might find a Siningia, maybe a closed Tulip.
5. The SAUCER group are definitely the Tulips, Garden Roses, Poppies and others.


I definitely will use this division in the future. It is so easy to relate to familiar structure while working on an unfamiliar one!
For me personally this division would be very useful in my future work.
So thanks Theresa for the insight! I am grateful.

I could be mistaken in sorting the flowers to their groups, so if you have any other suggestions - I would be more than happy to add and to fix. 



Hopefully this post and Teresa Evans' method were as useful for you as it was for me.


Have a great and productive day.
D.

February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines Day


Hey there!!!

It's February the 14th and its a St. Valentines day. 

I hope all of you received the well deserved amount of romance and love, flowers and chocolates. 

Happy Valentines day!!!

February 13, 2012

How to draw a Tulip: Method 3

This is a third part in a How to draw a Tulip series.

In this one the author shows how to draw this gorgeous flower with some simple - and freehand - guidelines.
The really great thing about this tutorial is the explanations about the general structure of - any - flower.

So what you do is you draw a tulip steam first and then add some petals.
That's my "by the book" result.







It took me about 10 minutes to sketch and 15 minutes to complete - cleaning and adding details.












These sketches were done using online references. I've allowed myself to change the method a bit, creating a base for the petals before I actually drew them. It helps the flower look more proportional.






















As usual, I am trying to create as many sketches as possible to practice more... Not all of them are presented here.

I hope you enjoyed this tut and found it useful.

Have a great day,
D.

February 10, 2012

Valentine's Day illustrations

Valentine's day is on it's way and I'm on the move again :)


It's been weeks since my Starting with a Frame Finishing with an image post where I promised to create 20 more illustrations by the end of the month.

Failed here. I did create 8 more illustrations, and most of them are variations one of the other, but you know, 8 are not 20.

All of them went to Graphiking giftshop and ShutterStock gallery, one of them will be posted on Facebook and some added to my Flickr gallery.


But still. 8 are not 20.

I wish you a productive week,
D.

February 08, 2012

How to draw a Tulip: Method 2

This is a second part of How to draw a Tulip and this time I'll be using a tut I found on DragoArt.com.
I'll tell you the truth; I was a little bit confused by this tutorial.
You know how they say about the situation when you don't even have time to get scared - and that's it? You're done?
That was exactly it. I started the sketch and in no time I was done. I mean come on!! Can it be THAT easy?
Well, I guess it can. Because this tutorial is as short as blinking! Do try it, it's amazing









This is the result. You draw an egg shape and then you add some petals.











And these are the sketches of the online references.


While I'm sketching I'm trying to keep in mind that there are at least 10 sketches to be made. Which, I'm happy to tell, I did this time.

Have a great day,
D.

February 06, 2012

Purple Iris blooms right now!!!

I've just realized something... It is February and its a Purple Iris season!!!






There is a beautiful Iris Reserve located nearby and I've decided it was time to pay it a visit and do some outdoors photographing and sketching!












I didn't actually do any sketching but I did shoot some pictures - above and below - and really had a wonderful time there. The weather was great, the sky was clear and sunny and I had a great time with my family there.

Anyway, I think I'll go there again really soon - for some sketching this time.





















If you're in the area sometimes this time of the year - it's a must tour.

Have a great day,
D.

February 04, 2012

How to draw a Tulip: Method 1

Hi all,

This is the first post of the How to draw a Tulip series and you are all welcome to join me on this journey.

Similar to the last month posts, when we learned How to draw a Rose, these posts will evolve from the easiest method to those more complicated ones. I'll be using both on and off line references for this purpose.




The first method is taken from How to draw cartoons, and it is, as it comes from the site's name, a cartoon tulip.

That's the result. No colors, no shadows. It took me 2 minutes to complete. A bit schematic, as usual, but still resembles the flower itself.












These sketches are from online references.








Well, obviously, this is a really simplified method, but even the simplest one can be useful in the beginning. Because Tulips don't really have three petals, they have six. But on the other hand, it all depends on the perspective. I have found some Tulips shots online that there are only three petals visible. And here they are.

I deliberately tried to find and sketch only those that have only three visible petals ignoring - for time being - others.
Of course, more sketches will follow these.

Hope you enjoyed this method and found it helpful.

Have a great day,
D.

February 02, 2012

Drawing a Rose from real life flower

The month of the Rose is over and a month of a Tulip has began, but as I promised before, I continue to work on the Rose sketches.




I bought a bouquet of 5 small peach roses and started with a single one. The idea was to present the same rose form different angles as it blooms - they were completely closed when I bought them.


Very carefully I drew my way through the paper. While sketching these I tried to understand what method would work the best here, and I chose methods 2 and 4, where you are looking for the general shape of the flower and outlining the larger outside petals.





These are the two sketches of the same rose.


I really took my time with these sketches, trying to recreate almost every curve and direction.


While sketching I've realized how much this month worked helped me. Not only with learning how to sketch a rose itself but also - and his is way more significant - with learning to see the shape of the object I sketch. With planning and measuring the size and the shape of the flower. So I guess, for me at least, the series was very helpful.




Keep on sketching!!!

D.

February 01, 2012

February: Month of the Tulip

It's February now and Tulip is the flower of this month.


So what can I say about a Tulip that hasn't been said before?


Only that this is my favorite flower of all.
For me it is the ultimate symbol of the Spring. Although its considered to be winter in our warm country and Tulips came early this year so for me it's already a Springtime.


I must admit, I'm not a fan of a special ones: I don't like those with Fringed or Parrot bi colored kind, I also don't really like those Liy flowered ones with pointed petals.


But I adore Triumph tulips, those huge, heavy cupped flowers of a single color. Preferably White or Yellow ones. And, of course, the so rare in our region Dark Purple tulips.
The bouquet doesnt have to be large, 5-7 flowers are enough. Because the glow these flower give, the way they brighten up the room is just amazing. They usually hold on up to two weeks before wilting, and in full opening they are absolutely huge!


These are the Tulipa agenensis, a mountain tulip and Tulipa systola, a desert tulip , both of them are native to Israel.

Well, enough said - let the journey begin!!!