The art of sharpening pencils

The Art of Sharpening Pencils

[via paper and pencil]

Figure Drawing

The author of the blog "Diary of a Process Junkie" has a fantastic post, including links to downloadable versions, of his choices for "The Best Figure Drawing Books Ever". Real classics - hey, bodies still have the same parts in the same places. Good stuff!

I found it!

Paranthropus aethiopicus !!!

Sculpted clouds

Diane Wright on creating clouds in pencil - beautiful!

Art instruction

Daniel Smith Art Supply has updated the online instruction section of their website. Quite a few tutorials, organized by medium.

"The Authority on Paper"

Walden Paper catalog's Glossary of Paper Terms

Reference Photos

ArtMorgue.com - "...1,000s of reference photos for many popular subjects artists paint & draw."

MorgueFile.com - "...photographs freely contributed by many artists to be used in creative projects..."

I like working from photos for a number of reasons. Positions don't change, the light doesn't change, and - given my subject matter over the past year - I don't need to fill our living room shelves with items that might make my wife uneasy. Working from photos also allows me to indulge in "stolen moments" of drawing, because they tend to be "mobile." Most days, I arrive for work 5 or 6 minutes early. But two, sometimes three days a week, traffic flows slightly differently, depositing me there a full 15 minutes early. I have been taking those few extra minutes to work - from static images - with graphite and paper. It feels almost selfish, but it puts me in a good frame of mind to start work. (Besides, since I no longer do any caffeine, grabbing a cup of motor oil from the office kitchen is no longer part of my routine.)

I'm stumped

Drawing Techniques in Detail - a brief, but interesting glossary of techniques that includes historical examples.

Free is good

Artgraphica offers, along drawing and wildlife art video guides, beautiful photos of Kostnice Ossuary (the Church of Bones) in Prague, and more, a couple of free art lessons.

Words & Pictures offers a "compendium of free art lessons."

However, FreeArtLessons.com, despite an inspired name, is rather disappointing.

Figure Drawing

Figure Drawing LAB

Portrait Tutorials

I don't draw portraits anymore, but I did many years ago. I did them in pencil, in acrylic, in oil. I always preferred to work from photos of people I did not know, people who would never see the final work and say "I don't look anything like that!" Yup, born coward.

While I am still not ready to even go back to working from photos, Portrait Art Tutorials looks to be a fantastic resource. And it's not just "how to draw a face" either; the "Attitudes & Inspiration" section has some really good articles. Personal favourite so far: Accept the fact...

Artcyclopedia

Artcyclopedia claims to be "the guide to great art on the Internet."

I don't know about that, but it's still a great site, with over 8000 artists listed, over 2000 art sites, and access to an estimated 180,000 works of art. I especially like the search feature, which allows you to search artists by their name, artworks by their title, and museums by name or location. The "movement" pages are also good, including artists and example works along with the definitions.

I only dream in infrared

The History of Colour Systems

Art dictionary

ArtLex art dictionary is “for artists, collectors, students and educators in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education.” Ambitious, and pretty thorough, too.

Art material Wiki

Did you ever wonder what “Vitreous enamel” was?
I did. Frequently.

Handy Wikipedia list of art materials

Pencil hardness reference

Pencils ranging from a very hard, light-marking pencil to a very soft, black-marking pencil usually ranges from hardest to softest as follows:

The American system, using numbers only, developed simultaneously with the following approximate equivalents to the European system.

* Also seen as 2 4/8, 2.5, 2 5/10

Coloured pencil tutorial

Creating Shiny Metal with Colored Pencils