Three seahorses lined up to play leap-horse!

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"!

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

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

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

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!