Buying Art Suppies? Here's Some Info!

Physical Stores/Online Stores

Hobby Lobby:
Has a large mixture of diffrent things. (Just about everything you could want!)
Best customer service. (They deserve a metal for customer service. I will write a post on this later)
Quality material. 
They do a good job with matting. Again, awesome customer service.
Prices aren't overpriced.
Coupons are available here, usually it's 40% off.
Clearance is awesome!

Michael's: 
Has a large selection, not as diverse as Hobby Lobby. (from my observations)
Have amazing Black Friday Sales! (Usually have a %50 off the weekend off as well)
Good customer service
Coupons available here, usually pretty good ones.
Has a different feel/decor than Hobby Lobby, which I rather like (can't pinpoint the feeling, sorry)
Pricing is fair

Joans: 
Custom framing/matting is gorgeous. Expensive. But gorgeous.
Everything is a bit pricier. (coupons and sales are lovely things)
Coupons avalible here.
Customer service isn't as good as Hobby Lobby.
If it's not on the shelves they don't have XXX item.
They have a huge sewing selection!
Clearance is awesome!

Online Stores

Dick Blick
Decently priced items
Wide variety of items
High quality items
Only had positive experiences thus far with them.
They have sales on occasion, check around.

Amazon
Variety is wide - you can get almost anything on Amazon.
Cost is sometimes pricier than Hobby Lobby/other stores, you have to do your research.
Shipping can be free if you have Prime
You can look up reviews right there.
You don't have to leave your art studio/home. :D

Feature on Old School House Website

Follow this link to visit the webpage.   ---> http://schoolhouseteachers.com/category/teachers/student-art-gallery/

It has a short bio on me and a few choice pieces of art. I feel so accomplished! ;P

Introductory to Art: Part Three - Technique

 Techniques -

Below I’ve listed various techniques that I’ve picked up over the years.

Smudge technique -
The smudge technique is when an artist smudges the drawing with his finger to create a smoother appearance. However I found, when working with graphic pencil it's best to gently smudge with a napkin or a Kleenex. That way I'm not getting oils on my drawing. I also think smudging is a technique that should be used less rather than more. Paper has a texture to it that the pencil doesn't completely fill in, leaving small white spaces that we can't see. When we smudge we loose the white spots, which make the drawing less sharp.

I drew this with the Smudge technique on her skin, hair, and jacket. (2011)

Paper hand rest -
One of the most irritating things, is when working on my drawing my hand would unintentionally smudge my picture. Someone taught me to rest my drawing hand on a sheet of paper. So I wouldn't get graphite over my hand that would then smudge my drawing. The paper dramatically reduces the amount of smudging that occurs.

Sketch the whole think first -
I often want to jump right into a drawing before I sketch the whole picture. I'll start on the the eyes and then jump down to the nose, only to realize the eyes are too far away or the nose is out of proportion. If I draw the entire drawing, then I avoid such issues.

Here's a sketch at it's very beginning stages

Tracing -
I know some people view tracing as cheating, but I view it as an important tool to learning. Depending on the skill of the artist I would suggest progressing from these stages.

Step 1)I would trace the drawing, every part of it. Then I would look at the original picture and fill in details, shade, color, and texture. I knew the proportions were all correct so I could concentrate on the details.

Step 2) As I improved my drawing skills I traced less, more like guidelines. I'd trace the outside of the horses head, and then freehand the eyes, markings and muscles.

Step 3) The next step was to sketch the general from but no real hard fast lines.

Freehand -
Just as tracing is important, so it freehand. We want to use tracing as a tool to learn, and learning also mean pushing outside of our comfort zones and skill levels. Freehand can be hard to master, I still have a few drawings now and then that I have to take a second shot at because my proportions weren't spot on. As an artist works with tracing s/he should also do an equal amount of freehand.

 

That concludes my introductory lesson plan. Nothing fancy, but I hope you got something out of it. :) Have a request for a future post? Let me know bellow! 

Introductory Art Lesson: Part Two - General Tips

Alright, now that we’ve got the practice is important point across, (See Yesterday's Post) I’ll share various tips that I’ve gathered over the years.

Work on your own individual art -
I did a lot of copying when I began. It was very helpful to me, but I wish I had done as much original art as I had done copying. It took me longer to develop my own style.

Learn from other artist’s work -
On the flip side, don’t just draw original work. Studying someone else's art can help anyone learn a lot. It doesn't have to be old, 18th century paintings, it can be as recent or as old as you like. The more I enjoy the picture the more motivated I am to learn and copy from it.

Try different things -
Try different styles, mediums, and subject matter. Most artists benefit from variety, and you may discover something new about your artistic preferences. I’ve also found that a lot of creative people thrive on variety. This last year I’ve done a lot of shoe art, it’s new to me and I enjoy it immensely.

Again, on the flip side, don’t try so many new things you never master a particular medium. I started with drawing, as it’s a great foundation for most every other medium.

Have determination and hold onto it –

You know how I said drawing is two parts practice, one part head knowledge, and one part creativity? I should add determination to that list, though I suppose it could be housed under creativity.

Determination is very important. When I was fifteen, I decided I didn’t want to draw decent art, I wanted to draw great art. I drew constantly, I drew from photographs, I drew from other artists, I drew pretty much every day for several months. I began to improve with every drawing.

Now don’t make the assumption that I improved by drawing almost every day. Yes, it was a contributing factor but there was more to it. With every drawing I set my mind that I was going to improve in at least one area. I was going to make the eyes deeper, learn how to do better texture with the skin, etc.

Determination to improve with every drawing, separates a good artist from a great one. Don't ever think you've reached your best, there is always room to improve.

I drew these about seven months apart. (2010 - 2011)

Research –

Yes I was mostly self-taught, but I also did my research. I read books on technique, and looked up drawing tips on the internet. There are artists who put up tutorials on eyes, skin texture, how to draw stubble, blond hair, etc. Learn from others.

Talk to other artists –

I’ve talked to countless far more able artists than myself, some have given me help others havn’t. However it’s always worth it to talk to these artists. I’ve had a few that have really taken their time to share tips, and suggestions with me. One wrote an entire page of online resources and personal suggestions for me.

Tomorrow I will cover some art techniques. :) See you then!

Order a $18.00 Custom Drawing From Your Photo

Yay! I just put up a new listing on Etsy. --->  Click Me!

It's for a $18.00 Drawing from a Photo. Here are the examples I provided. If you interested in more details or ordering a drawing yourself, follow the link above. My mom doesn't know (shhh...) but I'm doing a picture like one of these for her Mother's Day gift.

Yes, sorry for the massive amount of posts today! I've been busy of late, so I'm making up for the lack of activeness. :)

Crayola Watercolor Review

First of all I don't usually do watercolor with Crayola watercolors. However, my first ever "serious" watercolor was done with Crayola, simply because it was the paint I had. It seemed to work really well. I mean as far as kids art supplies, Crayola is one of the best. (Roseart Yuck!)

See look at that pretty watercolor owl. :D

Everything seemed fine, I got the owl framed and he sat against the wall, waiting for a wall to open up so he could be hung. He wasn't in direct sunlight. However one day (about 1-2 years later) when I went to move some of my pictures I stopped in horror as I got a look at my owl. His overall color was faded and worst of all, his grey shading turned pink.

Now Crayola was never intended for fine art use. But I highly, highly recommend you use a different watercolor if you want it to last any period of time. I still keep my crayola watercolors for when I'm watching kids, it work great for their master pieces.

There are places to scrimp and use cheaper materials, but watercolor paint is not one of those areas. There are two things I recommend you get that's at least decent quality: watercolors and paper. Poor watercolors fade and change colors, and lesser quality paper yellows, curls and become frail over time.

(If anyone's interested I currently use Prang Watercolors, I'll review them when I've had them around longer.)

Rainy Day

Assignment: Do a picture from this reference. I decided to do more of an impressionistic approach, and I had a lot of fun with the cool color scheme. It's actually a bit more cheerful than the reference picture in my mind.

Materials: Prang Watercolors on Strathmore Watercolor Paper.

Time: 2 Hours.

Date: 4/13/13

Copyright 2013 Rachel Fetting.


Tip of the Day:
Make sure you use high quality watercolor paper; doesn't matter how experienced you are. Horrible watercolor paper is horrible. I'm in love with Strathmore watercolor paper simply because I can slop on a ton of wet and it doesn't get super wrinkly and ruin the piece. It is also very mixed media friendly.

Introductory Art Lesson: Part One - Practice

My name is Rachel Fetting; I’m seventeen, a Christian, and a homeschooler. I’m like everyone else; I wasn’t born with a pencil in my hand. I’ve learned to draw and paint the hard way: with determination and practice. I know that anyone who wants to, can be an artist, it’s not restricted to people who are “born artistic”. Even the few who are born artistic have to develop their talents. 

For majority of my life I have been a self-taught artist. I've heard people say that some people are born artists and others just learn it, but I would disagree. Anyone who has a love of creating art is an artist. Any artist, regardless of their skill level, can always improve and learn new things. Anyone can create art if they want to. Anyone who has the desire can be an artist.

I’ve been mentoring younger artists since I was fifteen. I have had contact with several older artists who would share their insights and that was a valuable experience. I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned, as well as some tips I’ve collected.

First of all, as cliché as it may sound, art is practice. I'd say art is two parts practice, one part head knowledge and one part creativity. 

Left Hand VS Right Hand

I illustrate this by taking out a sheet of paper and drawing a line down the middle, on one side I write left and on the other side I write right. I then quickly sketch a picture on one side with my right hand, and then sketch the same picture on the other side with my left hand. When I finish we laugh about the differences between my two drawings. My right hand (favored hand) always draws a much smoother and cleaner drawing, the lines are neater, better controlled and more accurate. However, my left hand tends to draw imperfect circles, squiggly lines, and sporadic shading. Both drawings were done by me, I put the same time and effort into each drawing, I had the same knowledge of how to shade, the same perspective, the same ability. The only difference is my hand.

I practice with my right hand. I have control over it better. I just know my right hand better than my left. My left hand reminds me of learning to write letters in kindergarten, I'm trying to make my hand do what my brain wants, but I'm trying to make it do something it hasn't practiced.

This is what practice does with drawing. Practice does more than help us understand perspective and techniques, it helps us learn to control our hands, how to make them respond the way we want.

I've heard references to fencers feeling as though the sword is an extension of their arm. With drawing the pencil becomes an extension of our hand. We learn to twist and angle the pencil to make just the strokes we want.

Come back tomorrow for part two! Have you seen improvement in your art from practice?

Mini Black Poodle Mixed Media

Materials used: Watercolors, ink, pencils, watercolor pencils, Prismacolor colored pencils, and chalk pastels on Strathmore watercolor paper.

Time spent: Roughly twenty hours.

Copyright 2013 Rachel Fetting.

Abstract African Shoe Commission

I was commissioned to do my African Designs (See bottom picture) on a pair of custom ordered Converse Hightops. I finished them in a week and a half. The bottom picture shoes what the shoe looks like outlined, before I start adding any color. Shipped them off to Canada Friday.