Ah, if only it were as simple to get the image out of my head and onto the paper as it is for my young Elven illusionist at the top of the page here. Just wave your hands, say the magic words and the image appears. It's a little more complicated for most of us, so here are some ideas on how to make it less annoying and more fun. The PDFs, and links to other pages, below will, I hope, show you how I did some of the pieces here, and how you can have fun with watercolor, wildlife sketching and other illustration.
 click on the raven guy to the right...
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Scribblings
Stuff from the sketchbook. Dolphins, martial artists, ravens, wolves, sled dogs, horses, grackles fishing, baby burrfish, mystery blobs found in the swamp, and other fodder for the imagination. A sketchbook is a necessary tool for any artist; recording what you see for later use in creating a finished piece, practicing anatomy. It's also a great tool for putting you wholy in the moment; focusing on what's in front of you.
click on the horse...
click on the horse...
Horses
I grew up in the day of Sam Savitt, Wesley Dennis, and other professional artists who knew what a horse looked like. I also grew up with horses. Today... ugh. No one's ever seen a horse. Here's some help for artists, whether beginners or pros. Click on the horse sketch above.
For more, check out my many Pinterest boards on horses: great artists, artists who screwed up, colors, breeds, gear etc.
https://www.pinterest.com/swordwhale/
For more, check out my many Pinterest boards on horses: great artists, artists who screwed up, colors, breeds, gear etc.
https://www.pinterest.com/swordwhale/
Dogs and Wolves
Reference and how-tos for drawing canines. Click the pic above.
Crayons, Colored Pencils, and Other High Tech Tools
Although watercolor and tradigital are my favorite media, I sometimes use other media; Prismacolor pencils, pastels, crayons, even squashed rocks. Here's a few examples.
Art Classes
I have done classes for Nixon County Park, Jacobus PA, and Manheim Twp Rec Dept and others.
If you are near York PA, I can come do a class for your group.
Specialties are animals, wildlife, watercolor (it's easy, really!), acrylic. Email me swordwhale@yahoo.com.
If you are near York PA, I can come do a class for your group.
Specialties are animals, wildlife, watercolor (it's easy, really!), acrylic. Email me swordwhale@yahoo.com.
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Idea Page for Little Kids
A few ideas to spark the creative side of your pre-schooler; for parents, babysitters and others. Messy, not so messy, using recycled wonders, jello, soap, finger paint, salt and flour and other stuff. Click on Gabriel's Fish!
The Complete Landlubber's Guide to Watercolor
(it's easy, really... stuff you need, stuff you need to know, all on this page:
click on the medicine wheel and check out the PDFs below...
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crayons and colored pencils
(and other high tech art tools)
click to go to the page
So go ahead, draw a pirate ship...
A step by step look at how I did these watercolor/acrylic/Photoshop illustrations of the Pride of Baltimore II, a reproduction of a privateer of the War of 1812. Click on Pride to go to the secret page.
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Mural Class
So your realtor painted all the walls of your new house one of the forty-two shades between hospital white and curdled cream. Or little Kristen has outgrown the Painfully Pink Princess Decor. Oh, what to do with those walls!
Polar Bears. Lifesized Killer Whales (my personal favorite). Some Fruit Bats. Perhaps Kaa (the thirty foot python) from The Jungle Books (Kipling, where he was a teacher, not Disney, where he was a villain). The York County Park System has allowed me to smear paint on a few of their walls, for educational purposes. Cramming a lifesized (100 foot) blue whale into a 20 foot room is a challenge (perspective is my friend), but lifesized whales, or a whole rainforest in your bedroom, can create a kind of connection that is very different from a small picture in a book, or a DVD on a TV sized screen.
You too can create landscapes, seascapes, jungles, prairies, faerie tales and (for that horse-crazy 12 year old) a whole stable of her very own equines. It's not as hard at it looks. Click on the pics below to take you to further pages that show you how it can be done.
Polar Bears. Lifesized Killer Whales (my personal favorite). Some Fruit Bats. Perhaps Kaa (the thirty foot python) from The Jungle Books (Kipling, where he was a teacher, not Disney, where he was a villain). The York County Park System has allowed me to smear paint on a few of their walls, for educational purposes. Cramming a lifesized (100 foot) blue whale into a 20 foot room is a challenge (perspective is my friend), but lifesized whales, or a whole rainforest in your bedroom, can create a kind of connection that is very different from a small picture in a book, or a DVD on a TV sized screen.
You too can create landscapes, seascapes, jungles, prairies, faerie tales and (for that horse-crazy 12 year old) a whole stable of her very own equines. It's not as hard at it looks. Click on the pics below to take you to further pages that show you how it can be done.
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...one more career for that 12" fashion doll...
