Issue 08
June 27, 2006
Hi, and welcome to Learning2draw.com's newsletter. This issue includes:
1) Our Q&A Answer Session, where you will learn exciting secrets
of the artworld exposed through answers to your questions.
2) Video Game Artist Description for 2D texture artists
3) Send us Your Success STories- Congrats to Kelly Walters
4) Life Sketch of John Singer Sargent- Master Portraitist
The times best? A definite Yes!
5) Never Give Up- applicable to all artists who want to be great!
6) Tip of the Month- Part 2 Drawing Eyes
7) This month's quotes by:
Van Gogh and Renoir, inspiration pieces to help.
You will not want to miss this!
8) Learning2draw.com Announcements, upcoming changes to site!
Natalie Portman, super bonus, back issues of newsletters,
additional articles and more!
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Feel Free to Pass This Newsletter On to Anyone Interested!
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1) Question and Answer Session with Todd
QUESTION: from Amy D.
So I just finished another figure drawing and it was for a friend
as an engagement present. I'm having a problem because it is
showing all of my black on top with streaks and smudges. My
hatching seems to have a problem. Do you have any suggestions?
ANSWER: from Todd
Hi, thanks for your question. I would suggest that you read
an article on shading found at www.learning2draw.com/how.htm.
I think this may help as it goes through the specifics of how to
use blending and deals with smudges, highlights, blending, etc.
We also have an article on there about hatching and cross-
hatching that may be of interest to you. It explains in
very simple terms ways artists can make their hatches and
cross-hatches better.
I know this is a very brief answer but if you also look on that
same page you will see an article about getting started. It
talks about different materials that I prefer and that
helps me with shading, etc. It addresses the very concerns
you are talking about with the smudging etc.
(Okay so I leave this in every Q&A, but it's so worth it.)
Let me finish by saying the old addage, Practice, Practice,
Practice. Oh yeah, did I say Practice? That sounds really
cliche' but there isn't anything that is going to give you a
better understanding to your art than practicing.
Thanks for your question, please let me know if you need any
other questions answered.
Please, if you have a question you would like answered by Todd,
email him at info@learning2draw.com.
Also, if you know of any art topics that you would like to see
addressed on our article page, please email us at
info@learning2draw.com with the subject art article. We would
love to hear your ideas and write about them.
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2) Video Game Artist- How do I get Started?
2D Texture Artist
I see the 2D texture artist as one who needs highly developed
technical skills, and builds the team through his contributions.
Being a 2D texture artist your job is to design the visible
surfaces that cover the architecture, environments, creatures and
objects in a 3D game. From walls, to the faces of the characters,
to the monsters skin, all putting a heavy responsibility on you to
make it realistic and come alive. Most texture artists use the tools
Photoshop and a 3D program, and you'll work closely with the 3D
background artist. You'll need to use methods such as:
photo manipulation, hand painting, bump mapping, and others.
You'll need to work with the 3D modelers to devise ways to increase
the speed of the game by reducing polygon count, this is a major
responsiblity, with clever texturing.
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3) Send Us Your Success Stories!
Congratulations to Kelly Walters, who received our starter kit
full of strathmore paper, pencils, charcoal and kneaded erasers.
We would love to hear from you on how our site and ebook have
helped your art! So much so, that we will enter your name in a
quarterly drawing for an art supply starter kit. Just email us
your story to info@learning2draw.com with the subject line
Success in Art Stories, and we will enter your name for a chance
to win pencils, paper, kneaded erasers, and more. Please email
your story by Aug 5th for our second drawing.
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4) Life Sketch of John Singer Sargent- from John Singer Sargent
Gallery Site
***Note by Todd
I wanted to do a sketch on Sargent to show his deter-
mination and passion. Also, Sargent is one of my favorite
painters of all times.
John Singer Sargent was an American painter by birth-right.
He loved his country yet he spent most of his life in Europe.
He was the most celebrated portraitist of his time but left it at
the very height of his fame to devote full time to landscape painting,
water colors and public art.
He was born in Florence, to American parents and traveled
extensively throughout Europe. His parents never settled back in
America, not stepping foot in the States himself until right before
his 21st birthday to retain his citizenship.
He was schooled as a French artist, heavily influenced by the I
mpressionist movement, the Spanish Master Velazquez,
the Dutch Master Frans Hals, and his teacher Carolus-Duran .
He was the darling of Paris until the scandal of his Madame X painting
at the 1884 Salon.
Discouraged at the rejection, even considered leaving art at the
age of 28, he left Paris and settled (if that word could ever be
used for him) in England where he reached the height of his fame.
To be painted by Sargent was to be painted by the best.
Although England would be his home, he never stopped traveling and
he never stopped painting. To describe Sargent is to say that he painted.
It was his life and yet he had a deep appreciation for music and all art
forms and went out of his way to promote other artists -- for this
selflessness he was greatly loved.
Extremely bright, extremely gifted, an intense hard worker, he was
the last great generalist. It is hard to put a label on him for he
could master so many different painting styles. He was an Impressionist,
a Classical Portraitist, a Landscape Artist, a Water Colorist,
a Muralist of public art, and even started sculpting at the last of
his life. He was all of these things and yet he was none of them in total.
He once said that the knowledge of a technique for an artist,
such as Impressionism, "does not make a man an Artist any more than
the knowledge of perspective does -- it is mearly a refining of one's
means towards representing things and one step further away from
the hieroglyph".
He is often passed by, not studied, or dismissed because he was never
a radical artist or trend-setter. He always worked within the wide,
rich textured pallet of known and established styles. Yet his brilliance
was in fusing these elements together and for this he has never fully
gotten credit.
His output was prodigious. Working dawn til dusk in some cases --
even on vacations, and sometimes seven days a week. Between 1877
(when his work really started taking off) and 1925, he did over 9
00 oils and more than 2,000 watercolors along with countless charcoal
sketch-portraits and endless pencil drawings.
He painted two United States presidents, the aristocracy of Europe,
the new and emerging tycoons and barons of business -- Rockefeller,
Sears, Vanderbilt; and he painted gypsies, tramps, and street children
with the same gusto and passion. He hiked through the Rocky Mountains
with a canvas tent under pouring rain to paint the beauty of waterfalls,
and painted near the front lines during World War I to capture the
horrors of war. He painted the back alleys of Venice, sleeping
gondoliers, fishing boats and the dusty side streets of Spain. H
e painted opulent interiors and vacant Moorish Ruins. He painted
the artists of his time -- performers, poets, dancers, musicians,
and writers -- Robert Louis Stevenson, and Henry James. He painted
the great generals of the Great War, and the Bedouin nomads in their camps.
He painted grand allegorical murals, and his friends as they slept.
And he painted . . . .
Where others kept journals, John Singer Sargent painted his, and his life
can easily be chronicled by these records in color and canvas. He loved
people, yet was intensely private. And he loved his family deeply and
devotedly, though he never had a family himself (was childless and never
married). He was simply, a great man and a great Artist.
****Note on Sketch by Todd
I just wanted to mention that art is about devotion and passion and
that Sargent is a prime example of this. To rise so quickly
in the study of the human form takes hard work, dedication, and
great teachers but can be done! He was able to master many
different genres of art. He did art in place of sleep.Don't give up!
You can always check out our page
at www.learning2draw.com for more info on how to draw faces and
the human form.
Also, on www.learning2draw.com/how.htm we have an article that
simplifies proportions and measuring. Check it out and let us
know what you think!
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5) Why Success Means Never Ever Giving Up
By: Zamri Nanyan
Do you want to be successful? Three words: Never give up.
There have been too many times when troubles began to occur, people
tend to give up so easily. They feel that they could not withstand
the challenge the problems pose upon us.
How many times did we hear people giving up when problems start?
How about the guy who did not finish his college because his family
had run out of money to support his studies? What about this American
of Asian descent who, despite his immense potential, immediately
left a company because he was discriminated for his roots? Giving up
is the easiest solution for many people. It’s the easiest way out.
But giving up amid trials and crises do not make you a better person.
Instead giving up hinders you to face your worst fears and life’s
biggest problems. For those who give up easily, success is hard to
come by. Achieving your goals in life becomes more difficult, if not
downright impossible.
To give up means sacrificing your personal success. By giving up, you
lose nothing. But in the end, you lose everything.
Of course, everybody knows the Father of the Theory of Relativity:
the great Albert Einstein. He was one of the greatest scientists in
the history of mankind. His theories and discoveries have been praised
and widely accepted by the scientific community. But do you know that
when he was only 16 years old, he failed a university exam allowing
him to study electrical engineering in Zurich, Switzerland?
Had he given up then, he would not have become one of the most
illuminating and brightest men of all time.
Or how about Michael Jordan, the basketball legend? One of our basketball
icons of all time, Jordan is among the most successful athletes the
sports history. But do you know that he suffered an early disappointment
when the young Jordan did not initially make his high school basketball
team when he tried out as a sophomore? What could have happened if Jordan
easily gave up his basketball dreams? Instead of giving up, he practiced
and exerted his efforts more. The next year, he was admitted in the team,
and that was the start of his great basketball career.
Failure on something does not mean the road leads to nowhere. That you
should turn around and go back. To achieve success, you must not give up.
Instead, persevere, and in the end, your efforts will be rewarded.
Here are some tips that you could bear in mind when a problem arises.
1. Seize the opportunity.
When opportunities come and you see that it would pave your way to success,
grab them! Take the chance at opportunities before chances get lost.
2. Use criticisms as challenge.
If somebody tells you, You can’t do it!or that There is no way you could
accomplish that, do not take it as a failure. Take criticisms,
constructive or otherwise, as a challenge for you to overcome obstacles
in your life. Don’t let anyone intimidate you. In that way, you will be
motivated to face your problems. Instead of giving up, why don’t you show
the person that you could actually do it?
3. Strive harder. Push harder.
If you think a problem cannot be solved quickly, you should ask
yourself: Why not? Don’t let problems overtake you: You overtake them.
Think of the reasons why a problem cannot be solved as easily as you
wanted to. And address them by exerting more efforts in solving it.
4. Improve yourself more.
Can’t swim? Why not take up swimming classes? Having a hard time answering
problems in geometry? Why not ask somebody to help you or look for more
resources in the Internet?
Don’t let problems stop you in the outset. Remember: Do not give up!
If there are ways to solve the problem, why not use them? At the end,
you’ll learn more, you become more experienced. You become a better person.
5. Set Deadlines.
And that means setting tough deadlines. Try to put a timeline on
everything you do to avoid procrastination. Set actual deadlines and
check how proficient you can be. Whether it’s finishing an article or
studying for a big university exam, deadlines will help you move and exert
effort in actually finishing your tasks.
6. Challenge yourself.
Try to see whether you can improve your proficiency on a task. For example,
this week, you were able to master your lessons in chemistry. How about
mastering your lessons in chemistry and music the next week comes? Improving
oneself is a sure way to achieve success.
7. Focus.
When you want to achieve something, you must focus. Do not let something
or anybody persuade you form not doing what you have targeted to do.
In the end, it all boils down to one thing: Do not ever give up.
You will only achieve success if and only if you realize that failures
should not make you easily give up.
Article Source: http://www.artsymmetry.com
********Note by Todd*********
I thought this article was a bit cheerleady but I think as artists
we sometimes need this. If we aren't creating good art, who is?
We need to push through the hard times and never give up!
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6) Tip of the Month
Meet a Drawing Challenge -- Drawing the Eyes Part 2
More Than Meets the Eye
The eyes can be the most critical part of a convincing portrait,
so take the time to get them right and watch your subjects come
to life.
By Butch Krieger
Before the shading begins, however, I recommend starting by
outlining your shapes. My favorite strategy is to start with
the eyebrows and work my way down, so I begin by defining the
outline of the brow, then the area between the brow and the
eyelid, then the upper eyelid, the visible part of the pupil
and the rest of the eyeball, and finally the shadowed area
beneath the eye. Some of these shapes will share the same
outline, and the lighting may be such that two adjoining
shapes have the same tonal value and appear to be one large
shape. If this is the case, then draw them that way.
Then go back and shade in each of the outlines you’ve drawn,
looking carefully for the variations in tonal value that make
each one appear distinct. Observe the iris in particular, which
should be darker around its outer rim but is often drawn by
inexperienced artists as one flatly shaded area. Remember not
to presume anything, and draw only what you observe.
Capture the Contours
When drawing a face in profile, don't forget to account for
the thickness of the eyelids. The eyeball is set back from each lid,
and note that the lower lid isn't directly beneath the upper one but
is set farther back in the head.
Look for the Gleam
Here’s an important tip for making your eyes look lively: As you
draw each eye, look for its “catch light.” Catch lights are
little spots of light that reflect off the moist, round surface
of the eyeball. Sometimes they’re quite bright and sometimes
more subdued, but either way these small details can make or
break an otherwise excellent portrait.
The best way to add a catch light is to leave a gap of the white
paper in your shading, and catch lights will typically straddle
the upper edge between the pupil and the iris of the eye. You may
see one totally within the pupil, but this usually creates a
bizarre appearance in a portrait and it’s often an indication of
improper lighting, such as that of a flashbulb. In this case,
it’s best to cheat a little bit by moving the light slightly to
the side that appears to receive the most illumination. If the
eye you’re rendering is in the shadows, however, then you may not
find a catch light, and it probably would look unnatural to put
one in. If in doubt, try adding the light and shading it out later
if it looks inappropriate.
The Mind’s Eye
All this discussion refers to drawing from a model, but at some
point you may want to be able to draw realistic eyes from nothing
but an image conceived in your mind. This is called the constructive
approach, and it can be wonderful as a training exercise because it
reveals a lot about your own perceptions, but in my experience those
who can best draw constructively are those who have drawn extensively
from life.
Finally, if you really want to get proficient, spend some time
drawing nothing but eyes. When the eye is independent of the
entire face, you won’t have to worry about proportion and
placement within the face, which is crucial to good portraiture
but can be studied separately. Any way you look at it, the only
way to master the drawing of the human eye is to draw as many
as you can. Train yourself to see them accurately, and you’re
on your way to drawing them well.
For more info on drawing eyes and avoiding common mistakes
see www.learning2draw.com/drawingeyes.htm.
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7) Inspirational Quotes
Inspirational Quotes by
It is not the language of painters but the language of nature
which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves,
for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures.
-Vincent Van Gogh
When I've painted a woman's bottom so that I want to touch it,
then the painting is finished.
-Pierre Auguste Renoir
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8) Upcoming changes to site!
New changes coming up include, more articles added to our how-to
section. We will be adding new images to the site as well. We've
added a huge bonus to our site as well. Also, we are going to have
an art challenge coming up, we'll keep you posted. Check it out!
Also, if you would like back issues of any of our newsletters
or our series on DaVinci's Proportions, please email us at
info@learning2draw.com with the subject title newsletters followed
by which issue you would like or have not received.
Thank you everyone for your comments on our e-book and for your
support of our site. We've extended our promotion based on your
comments.
Also***Special Announcement Coming Soon!
Peace and Have a Great Weekend!
Todd Harris Learning2draw.com
If you like this newsletter and would like to share it with
a friend, have them send an email to newsletter@learning2draw.com
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Copyright 2006 Learning2draw.com. All rights reserverd.
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