Artistic Waves is on Google+

Artistic Waves is now on Google+. 

To get the latest updates, add us to your circles. You can also save a search for #artisticwaves (click on the link to view posts with this hashtag).

To share your work with other Artistic Wave members, use the hashtag #artisticwaves or plus this page (for example, +Artistic Waves) in a post or a comment.

Join us for Everyday in May

Everyday in May is right around the corner and this time we'll be sketching EDM 101 to 131.

It's simple to join in - Start on 1st May with number 101 and draw one item on the list every day in May until you finish on 31st May with number 131. Don’t stress if you miss a day - just go on to the next one and catch up if you can. It is ok to combine a few,  or to jump around if it suits... but the ideal is to do the right one on the day like everyone else....but most importantly have fun!

Any media will do - pick up your favorite art supplies and start sketching. In addition to posting your sketches on  your blog/website/photo, join this Flickr group to share your Everyday in May sketches and to check out everyone else's work.

P.S. Here are my EDM Sketches so far.

Upside Down Drawing

Drawing upside down is a common exercise wannabe-artists are asked to work on in order to improve observational skills and help switch from the logical mode (left-brain) to the creative mode (right brain).

In the Betty Edwards book 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain,' the exercise is to sketch Picasso's 'Portrait of Igor Stravinsky' upside down. Here's my attempt: 

The point of the exercise is to draw what we see and stop us from seeing recognizable shapes drawing our interpretation/stored concept of that shape. But it's difficult to switch off your logical mode completely so here are some tips to help you complete this exercise:

• Focus on the lines and how they relate to each other rather than look at the whole shape
• Look at negative space around the lines to get a more accurate placement of the lines
• If you cannot stop seeing recognizable shapes, focus on one part of the sketch and place a piece of paper over your original to cover parts that you aren't sketching. Once you are done with that section, move the paper to uncover the next section

Those are the tips that worked for me. Share your tips and techniques in the ArtisticWaves Group.

Tutorials for Realistic Pencil Portraits

If you have been following my blog, you'll notice that I had a sudden urge to dabble in portraits. I've been trying to draw portraits and caricatures for a while but they usually look a little too flat. So I decided to look for resources to learn to draw more realistic portraits. I love sketching with pencils and I was really amazed by some of the realistic looking portraits one could create using just pencils so I decided that was the medium I was going to go after.

After wading through different links/videos/resources and searching for a variety of portrait classes, I finally found one that "clicked." Check out the links below for the beginners and advanced version of the course:

Portrait Drawing for Beginners

Portrait Drawing - Advanced

The beginner's version is great for those who haven't tried portraits before. If you have already sketches a few portraits before and want to improve your technique, go for the advanced version. Both versions include step by step instructions with photos and exercises to practice the skills you've learnt. 

Getting the Right Perspective!

I was looking for some tutorials to explain perspective for a beginner level sketching class and I found these awesome videos on YouTube. Couldn't help sharing with the rest of you. :-)

If you can't view the embedded wave, use this link to access Getting the Right Perspective!.

New Site for Everyday Matters

I've redesigned the Everyday Matters site to make it easier to find and post challenges. If you haven't heard of EDM before, Everyday Matters (EDM) is a series of weekly drawing/sketching challenges that grew out of Danny Gregory's blog and books - Everyday Matters, The Creative License and An Illustrated Life - in 2004. 


There are currently 6 years worth of weekly challenges that you can access here: http://edm.poojasrinivas.com

To find challenges you are interested in, use the search box at the top of the EDM site to search for challenges. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Use a keyword or phrase to locate the challenge. For example, "portrait" or "pet" or "father's day" will show you challenges with these words/phrases in the title of the challenge
• Use the challenge number. For example, typing in "301" in the search box will show you Challenge 301: Draw something cute
• Use the keyword "Latest" to find the most recent challenge

You can share your sketches by posting them on the challenge pages or creating a new topic in the EDM group (click on New Topic in the group or send an email to everydaymatters@googlegroups.com).

Looking forward to seeing a lot more sketches in the EDM group :-)