Drawing pens

To do this class, or to do any sort of drawing, you don't really need that many pencils.

They come in different hardness, from H to B.

H is the hardest, which means that you run the pen across the page and it hardly leaves a mark. B6 or 8 is the softest, like molted graphite, and gets you really dark shading.

To start, get a middle of the road pencil. HB. It will do pretty much everything we need at the start.

Another thing you want is a good eraser.
Well two erasers actually.

The first one is either the little rectangle one, white or, pink, or whatever, good quality eraser. I personally use the one in a pen, because I have a background in business, and those are good for erasing numbers out of financial statements and budgets. And because they're a pen, they don't disappear quite as easily.





The next type of eraser you want is the kneaded eraser. Those are so fabulous. They allow you to make tiny corrections, work on your shades and gradings, and because you can change the shape, it can get into tiny areas that the other ones can't.

Drawing on the right side of the brain - Intro

I was reading the 83' version last night. She states herself that she's changed the order of the chapters, and developed the last ones on shadows.

But I'm sure we can figure it out, the exercises are still the same, even if she now has some new pictures, and in the end , she goes into color. We can decide about that part when we get to it.

Since we're still waiting on some books to arrive, maybe we can prepare for it.

If everyone else agrees, I'll come up with some ways to make it fun for all of us (6 so far) to do together.

To prepare, even before you get your book, here's what you could do:

Dedicate one drawing pad for the course. 8.5 x11, or similar format is best. Not too heavy paper, and not watercolor with the deep grooves. You want smooth paper.
In the book, she gives pre-start exercises, to serve as markers of how far you've moved. They are really a prerequisite, and I think they make a lot of sense.

Make sure you can be uninterrupted for about 20 minutes: no phone, no kids, no TV, no dinner on the stove, no art calling to be finished...

The first exercise is to draw a picture of your hand. Huhhh, the one you're not drawing with, that is... Whatever way it's resting on the table or your lap and that is most comfortable for you. It will take 15 minutes or so, so make sure you can stay in that position for that long. You can amend it, erase, but do it in pencil. She recommends 2B as a gentle middle-range. There is no critique or grading on your drawing. Well, not from this class anyway, I don't vouch for your inner critic, but we'll show him/her!!!!

When you're finished, make sure you date your drawing.

I'll start a folder on the site for you to post your drawings, but you really don't have to post these first ones. They will be more as a reference, to see how far you travel.

Do let me know when you receive your book.