Brenda at Drawspace.com

Baby Wes

2011-08-20T06:44:00.000-07:00

A new drawing using classical contouring and shading techniques. :o)

Amazing what a bunch of acrylic paints can do!

2010-12-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

With graphite, I'm limited when it comes to color (graphite really is a color).

However, with a few tubes of paint, I just go nuts! (And yes, if I really want, I can mix a graphite "color".)

Yet another beginner workshop to be in Drawspace classrooms in 2011.

Final section of Eden's "foliage"!

2010-12-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

The far right section of my "Eden, Dawn of Feminism" painting. Needless to say, I had a ton of fun signing my name. :o)

The Values of Colors!

2010-11-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

One of the primary focuses of my series of sequential painting workshops is color theory, most importantly the values of colors. Without a full range of values, a painting can look flat and uninteresting. Here's another section of my Eden painting, shown in color and grayscale. When you compare the two, you note that the colors I chose, contrast nicely in both color and grayscale.

I only have the first two workshops completed and on the website, but eight more are in the works: http://www.drawspace.com/classrooms

The Garden of Eden: Post Feminism

2010-10-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is one section of a fun painting created from my mind (and no, I’ve never tripped)! (But, I once walked face-first into a parking meter.)

In my mind, flowers have faces!

2010-10-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

The skills needed to render this fun painting fall in between beginner and intermediate. Next week, I'll add one of my older paintings that was not created as a "how to paint" lesson.

Painting the origin of the term "cowlick"

2010-10-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

A Sunday smile! Yup, I'm guilty of taking artistic licence! :o)

A simple painting, but a fun break from simple beginner skills.

Three seahorses lined up to play leap-horse!

2010-09-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

In Chapter 9, of my new book, Drawspace Guide to Drawing Animals for Beginners (to be published in 2011), you sketch, outline, and add shading to three drawings of seahorses.

Getting a little "out there"!

2010-09-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

Coming up with painting subjects that use a very limited palette, as well as simple beginner techniques is becoming easier. A little fun with bright colors in an abstract this time; I used only Raw Umber, Cadmium Yellow, and Titanium White. The challenge for beginners is to create a smooth graduation of values in two sections, and of course, render lots of smooth curved edges with a scriptliner brush.

Enough with the beginner projects for a while! My next painting project is intermediate and takes me back to my typical, crazy subject matter (from my imagination) as I paint the origin of the term “cowlick”!

Learning how to use a script liner

2010-09-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

Another beginner level, super-simple painting also uses only Titanium White and Raw Umber. The student challenge is in the mastering of the script liner brush for hard edges.

Painting Simple Values

2010-09-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

I've decided to take my painting skills back to their origin - back when I knew nothing. I hope to complete a simple painting each week (I miss painting!).

I'm not sure what I'll do with these paintings yet; but I will scan the step-by-step progress of each, in case I decide to include them in a book or as curriculum for teaching online, interactive workshops on Drawspace. For now, I'm having fun!

This monochromatic painting is rendered with only Titanium White and Raw Umber. Skills include creating several different values with paint (painting a traditional value scale is boring!), as well as creating the illusion of atmospheric perspective.

Another new free lesson on Drawspace

2010-09-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

How to Draw Curly Hair by Cindy Wider.

The step-by-step process can be easily modified for various hair styles.
http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/p16/how-to-draw-curly-hair

Drawing Wesley: Completed drawing!

2010-09-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Drawing Wesley: Part 7

2010-08-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Finally! Back to working on Wesley's face! I've lightened some areas and darkened others.

Drawing Wesley: Part 6

2010-08-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

More fun with the background! I added a few sections of darker values and used a kneaded eraser to create a few lighter values. The background now looks like out-of-focus foliage.

Drawing Wesley: Part 5

2010-08-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

Squirkles work magic for shading dog noses! I still have quite a bit of touching up to do on the face; but for now, on with the fur (and there’s lots of it).

Drawing Wesley: Part 4

2010-08-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

Finally - the drawing is beginning to look like Wesley!

Drawing Wesley: Part 3

2010-08-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

More shading (with crosshatching) in the upper section of the background helps his white fur stand out from the white paper.

Drawing Wesley: Part 2

2010-08-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

Now that I know the shading in the background will work, I begin shading Wesley’s face (I used hatching and squirkling with HB, 2B, and 4B pencils).

Drawing Wesley: Part 1

2010-08-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

A future project on Drawspace shows you how a softly rendered background can successfully separate a white subject from white paper. This is Wesley, the proud owner of my daughter Renée, and her husband Dave. The reference photo is not very clear, so I may have to do a little research on Maltese dogs.

First of all, I lightly sketch him on a 9 by 12 inch sheet of Arches, hot-pressed, 140 lb. watercolor paper. I then add a little light shading to the negative space on the right.

2010-08-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

Another new drawing of a moth (by Brenda) is in progress - about 6 hours to get this far. Should take another 10-12 more hours to finish.

A warm fuzzie!

2010-08-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes in the chaos of life, a complete stranger reaches out and takes the time to touch your heart. Brenda received the following e-mail a couple of days ago and felt so happy that she decided to share it (with Breck’s permission of course):

Hi
Quick note, by taking your online classes I've gone from the first picture to the last. Thank you for your tips and teachings.
Breck

2010-08-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

Another new drawing by Brenda Hoddinott - soon to be a free lesson on Drawspace.

2010-08-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

Another FREE lesson by Cindy Wider (J08: How to Draw with Charcoal) is added to Drawspace. Learn four popular techniques for drawing with charcoal.

http://www.drawspace.com/

Back to Blogging!

2009-01-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

I finished my drawing of Madison before the holidays, but have been busy ever since.

Last week, CTV television did a short piece on their evening news about our amazing Timber. Luckily, Kat Horne (a friend) recorded and placed the piece on YouTube so we can share it with friends who missed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ch-7qwGHUY

Drawing and Painting Courses

2008-12-01T09:01:00.000-08:00

Registration begins on December 2, 2008, and courses begin January 9, 2009. For more information, go to: http://www.drawspace.com/courses/

Drawspace.com is thrilled to announce our very first online interactive painting and drawing courses. We are honoured to introduce Cindy Wider from Queensland, Australia, as the instructor of both courses. Cindy is an award winning and internationally renowned artist, art educator, art curricula designer, author of Paint in Your Pyjamas and six of Drawspace's most popular drawing lessons (Hoddinott Publishing, Nova Scotia, Canada).

“Cindy is a wonderfully dedicated teacher and both the quality of the teaching material and the level of support for my learning have exceeded all my expectations. Paint in your Pyjamas has been about more than just successful learning, it has been a life enhancing and deeply affecting experience. My whole life seems richer for it and I can tell you it's the best thing I have done in years.”
Carol Cassell, Marcoola, Australia (student of Cindy Wider)

Draw in Your Pyjamas: This unique ten week course, the first of six, offers the fundamental principles of drawing for the beginner. A delicate blend of traditional methods handed down from the great masters is combined with contemporary knowledge. Through a series of simple, fun drawing exercises, you are encouraged to refine the first of four major skills, horizontal and vertical comparison (most people use this skill on a daily basis). This course is ideal for absolute beginners, who want to learn rudimentary drawing skills, and is also suitable for more experienced artists who wish to refine their skills. You need to devote a minimum of four to six hours per week.

Paint and Mix Colours in Your Pyjamas: This exciting ten-week beginner course, the second of six, is loaded with professional techniques that quickly immerse you into painting with acrylic paints. You are shown how to mix a huge array of colours, using just three primary colours plus black and white. I then take you through the process of learning six traditional brush strokes. From there, I guide you through a series of enjoyable, step-by-step projects to paint several objects using a smooth, hard-edge style, as well as traditional realism. You need to devote a minimum of six to eight hours per week.

Madison 3

2008-11-30T13:35:00.001-08:00

I found a couple of hours today to work on my drawing of Madison. The directionality of her hair is now lightly sketched, and I’ve added a few very subtle modifications to the face.

The next step is to lightly outline the blouse so I can better judge where I need to add middle and dark values.

Madison 2

2008-11-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

Lots of new things are coming to Drawspace early in December, including our very first online painting and drawing classes.

My lesson for the first of December is finished, I’m starting Chapter 7 of my new book, and I’ve made a little progress on this drawing of Madison.

Only the light values are added at this point; the next step is to begin drawing her curly hair and the ruffled collar of her blouse. Then on to middle values!

Madison 1

2008-11-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

Here’s a sneak peek at my most recent work in progress. I figure that I have about two more days of shading to finish the drawing. The style of shading will be based on the beautifully intricate crosshatching of Michelangelo. When finished, I plan to use all the scanned images of the various stages to put together a new lesson for Drawspace.

No doubt, the drawing will also find its way into my new book. A quote from the introduction:

“This book is designed to take you step-by-step through the learning processes of drawing the various types of lines used in classical drawing. When you learn the technical skills and styles of the great masters, you can easily transfer these abilities into drawing anything and everything you can see or imagine.”

Bud the bud

2008-11-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

One more page of text and two more drawings and Chapter 6 of my new book is ready to go to my editor. This little contour drawing is based on a work by Leonardo.

A short quote from the beginning of this chapter:

“Naturally, you, as the artist, influence how a drawing looks with factors such as personal preferences and individual style. However, having a repertoire of several completely different drawing techniques enables you to have choices when you want to create more powerful artworks.”

Study for the Head of a Girl

2008-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

I recently completed this graphite sketch as an illustration for my new book. My sketch is copied from Leonardo’s Study for the Head of a Girl, which he rendered in silverpoint on prepared paper in 1482.

"The artist ought first to exercise his hand by copying drawings from the hand of a good master."

>Leonardo da Vinci<

Getting Started as a Forensic Artist

2008-11-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

I receive several emails a year through my website from artists wanting to become forensic artists and not knowing how to break into this exciting career. Hence, I thought a great addition to my blog would be a few ideas to help aspiring forensic artists get started.

First of all, a caveat: The world has changed significantly during the thirty years since I taught myself forensic art. Today, the field is very competitive and you need specific education. I'm not in touch with the latest info; I retired in 2002 after a 25 year career. However, I can point you in a few directions.

The best way into a career in forensic art is to become a police person first. I was a civilian forensic artist and spent way too many years learning the skills necessary to be considered an expert in my field. Knowing how to draw is not the only part of the career. You also need very strong skills in cognitive interviewing techniques. Do not take any courses online unless you research them thoroughly. Through the years, I've discovered more than a few crackpots.

An absolute must is a very strong knowledge in human facial anatomy. My suggestion is to study and draw everything possible on the forms of human facial anatomy from various angles. Plan to spend at least two years doing thousands of drawings. Ask friends to serve as witnesses and describe someone based on a photo, so you can then see how close you have come.

From there, you need to know computers inside out, specifically imaging programs.

A very well known and successful forensic artist is Jeanne Boylan (worked mostly with the FBI), a remarkably intelligent, intuitive, and personable lady. We've talked through e-mail a couple of times and we were both on the same international rosters of forensic artists a few years back.

Here’s her website:
http://www.wma.com/jeanne_boylan/summary/

She has written a fabulous book, which I highly recommend:

Portraits of Guilt by Jeanne Boylan
http://books.google.com/books?id=RsAEAAAACAAJ&dq=Jeanne+Boylan&ei=3DUjSY22E4XAMpi4zL0O

Karen Taylor and I were also on international forensic art rosters together may years ago - and she is the ultimate expert in the field. Her book is an absolute must:

Forensic Art and Illustration by Karen T. Taylor http://books.google.com/books?id=5QQwAsJkBiEC

Many universities offer wonderful courses in forensic criminology. The very best school (in my humble opinion) is Scottsdale Artists’ School in Scottsdale, Arizona. If you have the financial means, you'll find some amazing courses.

For example:

Comprehensive Composite Drawing, May 4 - 8, 2009 Taught by Karen T. Taylor http://www.theiai.org/education/vendor.php#ccd_20090504

A few other websites to get you started are as follows:
http://www.forensicartist.com/article.html
http://www.ocsoartist.com/forensic_artist_Article.htm
http://www.forensicart.org/forensicartlinks.html

Good luck!

The cover of my latest book

2008-11-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

Today, I’m back to working on my third book; almost done chapter 6 – four (or maybe 5) more chapters to go! From an author’s perspective, this book is an absolute joy. Here’s a sneak peek of the draft of the front cover.

When I wrote my first book (Drawing for Dummies), my learning curve was extremely steep. So many new terms and acronyms to learn! In addition, I needed to work with templates and within very specific guidelines.

As I look back, I gratefully acknowledge the dedication and patience of the wonderful Wiley publishing team with whom I worked.

Welcome to my Drawspace blog!

2008-11-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

As the owner, administrator, and resident artist of http://www.drawspace.com, I look forward to sharing information about my site, upcoming lessons, new books in progress, and my favorite artworks - new and old.

My version (2008) of the famous Mona Lisa is rendered with various grades of graphite on Arches hot pressed smooth watercolor paper. Shading is rendered with hatching.

Today I completed a new lesson for my site: J06 Intermediate: How to Use a Value Map. Three days before my (self imposed) deadline!