Student artwork commented upon using Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen

If you’re new to Drawpj.com you may be wondering how our instructors are able to sketch and comment upon the electronic images of your artworks. Our instructors use a Wacom Bamboo Fun Pen and Touch along with a photo-editing software program such as Photoshop Elements.

The Fun Pen works just like an ordinary pencil which enables the transition from eye to mind then hand to flow naturally and intuitively. This process enables our instructors to concentrate on what they do best; providing you with valuable one-to-one advice and helping you to dramatically improve your drawing and painting skills.

Wacom have kindly agreed to become our major sponsor of the Drawpj.com Annual Online Art Competition 2011 and have donated a wonderful brand new Bamboo Fun Pen and Touch to  the  first prize winner of the beginner level. Thankyou so much Wacom!

For more details about prizes and rules of the competition please download the PDF file.

We look forward to hearing from you and wish you all the best for a happy and safe  Easter holiday break.

Best wishes from the Drawpj.com team
In sunny Queensland Australia!

So if you want to get an insight into Moniques progress pop over and visit her blog.

Well done Monique!

“How do I know when my drawing/painting is finished?”

This is a good question!

Coming to the end of an artwork can almost be as scary as starting at the beginning. There’s always the fear that you could spoil or overwork the drawing or painting, and have to start all over again, or that you’ll never be able to figure out what’s not right.

Thankfully, as you become more and more experienced as an artist with well honed skills in your kit bag, that ‘knowing when to stop’ feeling gets easier.

Of course, when something isn’t quite right about an artwork sometimes its hard to put a finger on exactly how it needs to be corrected. Chances are that you’ve been working on your artwork for many hours, days or even months. At this point its time to take a rest, and look at other things for a while. Leave your artwork aside for a couple of days and then come back to it with fresh eyes.

When I get to this stage here is how I personally figure out the bits that are not quite right and in need of correction…

I just get that feeling…

To bring an artwork to completion I have to get to a stage where I have a calm feeling about it (or, if the artwork is intended to induce some kind of tension, that I feel that tension when I look at it).

Generally as I come towards completion of the artwork I figure out what needs some extra attention by standing back from the artwork and holding my hand up to block certain sections of the artwork from my view. I put my hand up to cover the bit that I think might have a problem. If I get the calm feeling (or correct tension feeling) once its coverered up, then I generally know that the bit I just covered might need some extra work. If its just a single line I’m having a problem with I might just use a single finger to cover it up and check it. When I get the right calm or tension that I intended then I’m done.

Of course the trick is to not overwork the artwork when making corrections, and thats where the craft of art comes in, and using the techniques you have learned to get to the result more directly so you minimise chances of overworking an artwork right at the end.

In relation to this course Cindy thinks about it this way…
(transcribed from the DrawPj.com forum)

If you feel uneasy about the image think about which stage of the drawing process it is that is bothering you. Break it down into smaller skills, is it the outline drawing? is it the levels of tone or is it the position of the object on the page; you learn more about that one in unit six.)

While you are in the beginner level of this course, you aren’t expected to complete your exercises with your first attempt so you are better off to leave it unfinished than to overwork the image. Once you have completed all six units of the course you will have a much better idea of where ‘finished is’. Our decisions about completing an artwork involve a lot of analysis and much of that includes compositional elements such as; balance of light and shade, texture and position and placement of parts of the object or objects within the format (shape) of our page.

The best way that this course works for you is like this; you draw the exercise from the notes until you feel that you have done your best, but always leave a tiny bit of space (in your thoughts and within the drawing) ready to accept advice for further improvement. Then when you submit your work you will be taken to the next level of drawing skill development by receiving some structured advice.

This is much different than if you were to struggle away at home all on your own; it can take us years and years to get drawing techniques right if we are left to our own resources. With assistance to fine tune your drawing skills you can instantly improve your technique. Daniel Coyle in his book ‘The Talent Code’ calls this ‘Deep Practice’ and that is what we are nurturing in the talent hotbed at drawpj.com.

In time as you move through this course you will develop a better understanding of where finished is; you will be better equipped to assess your own drawings, it takes time and a full rounded knowledge of the basic fundamentals of art. By completing your beginner level you will be provided with the very beginning of all those skills; its an all-encompasing course and it only really all comes together once the full six units are completed and then after that you need to practice and apply what you have learned .Suddenly one day it will all fall into place and you will get those gut feelings of when to or when not to finish. In the meantime, we are all here to help you.

Thanks to Bob B. for inspiring me to write this post and transcribe Cindy’s DrawPj.com forum comments.

The exciting thing about learning to draw is that you already possess natural gifts that you can combine to form the whole skill needed for drawing. You probably haven’t even thought of them as gifts before, but they are at the foundation of your ability to draw.

The most wonderful thing is that you don’t have to learn anything new, you just have to be shown how to combine these natural gifts in the unique way necessary for drawing, and, by using some drawing methods handed down to us from the great master artists the whole process becomes easier to learn in a shorter period of time.

Drawing with your four natural gifts

When I first realised I could draw at the age of 23 years, I became fascinated to discover where this ability came from. I thought a miracle had happened; that I’d suddenly stumbled upon a wonderful big secret. It took years of curiosity, investigation and study to fully understand that drawing skills stem from four natural comparison gifts that everyone has. Through patience, determination and perseverance, I managed to refine and combine these four comparison skills some traditional art methods and techniques to form the whole skill of drawing.

The more I helped others learn to draw, the more it became evident to me that everyone has these four natural gifts. I found that my students, who previously believed they couldn’t draw, were easily able to access each natural gift separately. However they needed help to learn how to combine them with traditional art skills, to form the whole skill of drawing. They too were soon able to draw with an incredible resemblance to the subject in a relatively short period of time.

In the following series of posts you can take a quick and fun quiz to discover your four natural gifts and the areas you need to work on to be able to learn to draw.

Relax… This is for fun and there are no incorrect answers! Click on the links below to get started.

• Introduction: Your Natural Gifts for Drawing Revealed
• Horizontal and Vertical Comparison
• Size Comparison
• Arranging Objects
• Light and Dark Comparison
• Conquering Artability Phobia
• Where to From Here? Refine Your Gifts for Drawing

You walk into your living room and there is a painting hanging on the wall. The painting is hanging crookedly. What would you do next?

(a) Get a strong urge to straighten it, and then adjust the painting until it is straight.

(b) You’d notice it, but would be perfectly happy to leave it crooked.

(c) You wouldn’t notice.

The above question illustrates what I call your natural gift of horizontal and vertical comparison.

When you notice a painting hanging crooked on a wall, you are actually noticing that the edges of the painting are not aligned with the horizontal of the floor, or the vertical edge of a wall. Most people have this ability to see something that’s not lined up with something else, but how does it apply to drawing?

When you draw, in order to place a line or mark on a piece of paper you unconsciously keep a track of the orientation of the horizontal and vertical edges of the paper so you can draw in the right place. You even do this when you are writing on a sheet of paper so that all the words stay lined up with the margin.

Knowing what’s up, what’s down, what’s level and what’s at an angle are all skills used in drawing and you already use them in your everyday life for day to day tasks, without even realising it.

If in the above question you answered (a) then you probably are quite used to using this natural gift in your everyday life, and just need to refine it in relation to the skill of drawing.

If you answered (b) or (c) I’d suggest that you simply take a real interest in looking around you for things that feel as if they need straightening, or levelling in relation to something else. As you become conscious of this ‘feeling’ you will soon see that you actually do possess this natural gift and simply need some exercises to refine it further in relation to drawing.

Now lets find out about your next natural gift…

• Introduction: Your Natural Gifts for Drawing Revealed
• Horizontal and Vertical Comparison
• Size Comparison
• Arranging Objects
• Light and Dark Comparison
• Conquering Artability Phobia
• Where to From Here? Refine Your Gifts for Drawing

You go to the kitchen and there’s a tasty looking chocolate cake on the table. You have eight(!) hungry kids who all want a piece. What would you do next?

(a) Cut the cake so there are eight evenly size pieces.

(b) Just chop out slices randomly until everyone has a bit.

(c) Give the whole cake to the kids and let them just dive in.

This question is related to your natural gift of size comparison.

When you cut a cake in half you are using your gift of size comparison. You are also using it when you pour a glass of cordial and get the same ratio of cordial to water every time, or when you cut up vegetables so that they are the correct size for cooking.

In drawing you often need to know how big something is in relation to something else. For example, if you were drawing a picture of an apple, an apricot and a cherry then you would need to know how big each of the fruit were in relation to each other in order to draw them realistically.

If you answered (a) to the above question, you are probably already quite adept at size comparison in your everyday life. If you answered (b) or (c) look for opportunities to compare sizes in your day-to-day activities, such as cutting up sandwiches, cakes, vegetables or when filling up drinking glasses. You’ll soon see as you consciously practice this skill, that you do indeed have the natural gift of size comparison. Whatever your answer, you will be able to refine this gift by using a few well-designed drawing exercises.

Lets move onto your next natural gift for drawing and painting

• Introduction: Your Natural Gifts for Drawing Revealed
• Horizontal and Vertical Comparison
• Size Comparison
• Arranging Objects
• Light and Dark Comparison
• Conquering Artability Phobia
• Where to From Here? Refine Your Gifts for Drawing

You have just moved house and even though the removalists unpacked and arranged all your furniture, cushions and decorative objects in the living room, it’s not organised quite how you would like. What would you do?

(a) Move the furniture around the room again as soon as the removalists leave so that the room feels more organised and comfortable.

(b) Leave the furniture where it is, and think about possibly moving it later.

(c) Just leave it as it is and it wouldn’t bother you at all.

This question illustrates your natural gift of arranging objects.

When you choose to arrange your furniture around your home you are using your natural gift of arranging objects. So how does this relate to drawing?

Often when an artist creates an artwork they compose it, so that it ‘feels’ right. By composing we mean that the elements within the artwork are arranged to create a pleasing effect or evoke a certain mood.

Just the same as arranging your furniture so that the room feels right an artist knows when a drawing looks too cluttered or doesn’t work, and so adjusts the placement of the elements until it feels pleasing to the eye.

If you answered (a) to the above question you are probably already in the habit of using your natural gift of arranging objects quite often in your everyday life. If you answered (b) or (c) take a fresh look at your room and see if you can improve how it feels by re-arranging the furniture, or maybe try arranging food on your plate to make it more pleasing to the eye before you eat it.

You’ll soon see that you do have this natural gift and you just need to be conscious of it, then do specific exercises that relate it back to the skill of drawing.

Lets move onto your next drawing gift

• Introduction: Your Natural Gifts for Drawing Revealed
• Horizontal and Vertical Comparison
• Size Comparison
• Arranging Objects
• Light and Dark Comparison
• Conquering Artability Phobia
• Where to From Here? Refine Your Gifts for Drawing

How accurately do you think you would be able to guess the time?

(a) Within an hour

(b) Within 3 hours

(c) I wouldn’t have a clue

The above question illustrates your natural gift of light and dark comparison.

You can guess what time of the morning or afternoon it is just by how light or dark it is outside. You can do this because you have the natural gift to be able to compare different levels of light and dark. In drawing of course this relates to the light and dark within an artwork, known as tonal contrast.

When you look outside as it starts to get darker in the afternoon you automatically judge the levels of light and shade in the environment and make a judgement about the time.

If you answered (a) for this question you might find that you are quite confident when it comes time to studying light and shade as you develop your drawing skills.

If you answered (b) or (c) then have a go at actually turning off the television & radio, hiding your clocks and mobile phones for a weekend, so you don’t know what the exact time is.

Try and guess the time during the day by the watching the quality of the daylight outside. It’s a refreshing experience and you’ll notice subtle tonal contrasts that you probably haven’t noticed before. You will soon find that you are more accurate than you think and that you do indeed have the natural gift of light and dark comparison.

Again, with practice you can develop this natural skill for the purposes of drawing with the right exercises. Before you know it you will be noticing light and shade like a pro!

Next… Don’t let your phobias hold you back – Read more…

• Introduction: Your Natural Gifts for Drawing Revealed
• Horizontal and Vertical Comparison
• Size Comparison
• Arranging Objects
• Light and Dark Comparison
• Conquering Artability Phobia
• Where to From Here? Refine Your Gifts for Drawing

Which of these statements do you feel apply to you?

(a) I know I can become really good at drawing with practice.

(b) I’m not sure if I can draw but I’ll give it a go.

(c) There isn’t a creative bone in my body. I can’t even draw a stick figure.

If you answered (c) then don’t worry, the majority of adults feel exactly the same way you do.

If you answered (a) or (b) then that’s great, you should be able to move confidently ahead with any drawing course that you embark on.

For the rest of us who aren’t so confident of our abilities, you probably have a case of what I call ‘Artability Phobia’, but the really good news is that it can be cured and there is no need to fear, because if you have the ability to hold a pencil to write then you can also draw and paint.

Conquering Artability Phobia

In my years as an art instructor I have found that just about everybody I teach has the natural gifts to be able to draw and then paint.

Invariably it has been a student’s artability phobia that has to be conquered and overcome in order for them to be successful.

All you need to conquer your artability phobia once and for all is to do the following;

• Understand where your ‘Artability Phobia’ came from in the first place.
• Learn how to counter the negative messages that your logical mind tells you when you start to learn to draw.
• Learn a few basic art techniques that utilise skills you already use in your everyday life.
• Practice your new skills as often as you can and draw to your heart’s content.

During the Draw and Paint In Your Pyjamas course we understand that some people may have a case of artability phobia. If this is you, don’t worry, we’ll help overcome it and move forward with confidence on your journey of self-discovery through art.

Lets wrap things up and get started… where to from here?

• Introduction: Your Natural Gifts for Drawing Revealed
• Horizontal and Vertical Comparison
• Size Comparison
• Arranging Objects
• Light and Dark Comparison
• Conquering Artability Phobia
• Where to From Here? Refine Your Gifts for Drawing