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Pencil Shading Exercises

Shading Exercise 1

Graduated Tone

Graduated tone can be used to create the illusion of space and form in a drawing. It is a very useful skill to develop.

Use a B, 2B, or darher grade of pencil for your shading. Lighter grades (H, 2H etc.) will not give enough depth to your darkest tones.

Just start by shading the area you wish to be dark and slowly build up the tone. As you work towards the light, gradually ease the pressure on your pencil until you can no longer see it. You then patiently repeat this process, building a depth to the shading and trying to keep the tonal changes as smooth as possible until you achieve the intensity of tone that you desire.

Below are some more exercises of increasing difficulty which will test your shading skills to the limit.

Shading Exercise 2

Shading Exercise 3
Shading Exercise 4
Shading Exercise 5
Shading Exercise 6
Shading Exercise 7
Practice these exercises to help improve your drawing skills.
Article Source - Pencil Shading Exercise

Principles of Design in Art

The Principles Of Design refer to the organization of a work of art. Each Principle interprets how an artist uses the Elements of Art, composition and design to express their feelings and ideas. By studying these, your own work will become more sophisticated as you will begin to apply this new knowledge to your own works of art. Let’s take a look at each one.

Rhythm & Movement

The words Rhythm and Movement are often associated with music, dance and sports. We think of steady marching rhythms, drum beats and the pulsing sound of the bass on the radio as types of rhythms. The darting of soccer players, the graceful flow of ballet dancers and the artful dodging of basketball players emphasize Movement. Art also has rhythm and movement, a visual rhythm, a rhythmic movement.

Balance

As humans we experience the need for Balance in our everyday life. We use it as we walk or run and to carry things. Balance is also necessary in other ways. We need to balance our awake and sleeping periods, our food intake and energy exports, and relaxation and stress. Balance is also important to a work of art. A balanced artwork leaves the viewer feeling “visually comfortable”. On the other hand, a work that is not balanced creates a sense of visual stress.

Proportion

The word “Proportion” means one part in relation to another. All people have a sense of proportion concerning themselves as compared to others. “My nose is too long for my face”. “She has long legs”. “His eyes are wide set.” All of these comments reinforce the idea that we see and have opinions about the relationships between one thing compared to another. Artists use their sense of Proportion to make statements or express a particular feeling about a subject in a work of art.

Variety keeps life interesting. Imagine if everything in your life was the same, day in and day out. Imagine the monotony! Artists also understand the importance of Emphasis in their work. Usually one part or area is given more detail to enhance that section.

Harmony & Unity

“Harmony” in music results in pleasing tones to the ears. “Harmony” in art results from a combination of related Elements of Art creating a pleasing work for the eye. “Unity” infers that the work of art is presented as a ” whole”. When a work of art has “Unity”, the viewer sees the work as a whole, not in separate sections.

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Article Source - The Elements of Art

More Top Google Key Phrase SEO Results

GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE QUERY RESULTS

Top search queries (www.portrait-paintings-from-photo.com)

The top 8 queries in which your site appeared, and the percentage of the top 20 queries represented by each search.

# % Query Position

1 1% anne elisabeth stengl 1

2 56% anne elisabeth 3

3 4% “anne elisabeth” 4

4 2% elisabeth stengl 4

5 1% artist of portait photography 9

6 2% picture your portrait 12

7 1% portrait paintings from photo 76

8 1% portrait paintings from photo nc 2

As noted in my previous post, search result positions will vary from day to day, but they represent a snap shot of what google sees, and where you are ranked for the noted important key phrases, as of this week. Congratulations! ~ Bob

P.S. - You can always come back to this post, click on each phrase to see how you’re doing from week to week.

Key Phrase SEO Results - Google wk of 7-21-08

GOOGLE SEARCH ENGINE QUERY RESULTS

Top clicked queries for the domain (www.portrait-paintings-from-photo.com)

The top 20 queries from which users reached your site, and the percentage of the top 20 queries represented by each click.

# % Query Position

1 10% portrait artist apex 3

2 10% portrait painter raleigh 12

3 7% portrait painter raleigh nc 13

4 7% portrait painter cary 16

5 7% portrait painter nc 27

6 7% portrait artist raleigh 29

7 5% artist photo portrait painter nc 1

8 5% portrait painting artist raleigh 1

9 5% portrait painting artist raleigh nc 1

10 5% portrait painter apex 2

11 5% portrait painting artist apex 2

12 5% make portait from a photo 6

13 5% portrait painting artist cary 6

14 5% portrait artist apex nc 13

15 5% portrait artist raleigh nc 18

16 5% portrait artist cary 27

17 5% portrait painter cary nc 29

Elements of Art

The Elements Of Art are the building blocks of art creation. They can be analyzed, organized, and manipulated by artists. They are the VISUAL LANGUAGE of art. Each of the Elements is important. When looking at a work of art, see if you can identify which Elements of Art the artist stressed, organized or used to express a message or to create a mood.


LINE

How many types of lines can you make? How important are lines to our environment? The artist recognizes the power of the “Line” when he or she creates a work of art. Let’s take a more detailed look at “Line” and its impact on our world and the world of art.


COLOR

Many people would argue that the Element of “Color” has the most effect on a work of art. Consider what our world would look like if everything was black, white and shades of gray? The effects of “Color” on humans has been studied many times. Artists have known that “Color” has a powerful effect on their works and on the impressions of the viewers. Let’s see what “Color” is and just how it is used in the visual arts.


TEXTURE

An element of art which refers to the surface quality or “feel” of an object, its smoothness, roughness, softness, etc. Textures may be actual or simulated. Actual textures can be felt with the fingers, while simulated textures are suggested by the way the artist has painted certain areas of a picture.


SHAPES

Shapes are everywhere. More common ones are given names such as circle or square. There are an infinite amount of shape possibilities and combinations. Let’s see what role “Shape” plays in works of art and just how an artist uses the Element “Shape”.


FORMS

Forms are often called the “three-dimensional shapes”. Unlike flat, two-dimensional areas, Forms are represented as “three-dimensional”. The great illustrators and sculptors of the world of art have mastered the Element Form. Let’s see how they did it!


SPACE

Often we do not consider Space when we create a work of art. It often just seems to happen. Let’s take a look at how Space effects a work of art and just how artists use Space to create interest in their works.


VALUE

Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. It also refers to how artists use other Elements Of Art to create a sense of light or dark.

Portrait Drawing By The Grid Method

Many art students enjoy drawing, but many of them say, “I can’t draw!” Discovering ways to instill in them, and give confidence, that they can draw can be a difficult task.

Chuck Close is a gifted artist with a dissability. Students were curious about his way of painting when they learned that Chuck paints with a paintbrush strapped to his hand, and that he is wheelchair bound. So when students think if he could paint like that, they could try to draw too.

By showing them examples of Chucks work and presenting them with the grid system, students begin to feel more comfortable… focusing on one inch at a time. Looking at 1-inch sections at a time, and not the whole portrait, helps students not to be overwhelmed by the thought of drawing the whole portrait.

Portrait Drawing By Grid Method

The most difficult part then was ruler skills. Many students were having difficulty with the exact grid dimensions on their photocopied portrait picture and their drawing paper. I found them to be losing patience and getting frustrated, so making a grid on drawing paper myself 1 inch by 1 inch squares on a 8 ½” X 11″ sheet and putting in the photocopier with transparencies to have them be the same, simplified things tremendously.

All the students had to do was to tape the grid transparency to the portrait photocopy. They found this to be helpful and less frustrating. This then gave them the confidence they needed to look at the portrait and assess the shapes and values more closely.

Drawing the human figure is one of the most difficult things and my students always are intimidated by it, these modifications relived some of that tension and gave them the confidence that they need to believe in themselves that they can do it. It also got them quickly into the drawing part of the assignment.

Many times there are just too many preparation steps in a project and students lose interest and then are not motivated to complete the assignment. It is our job as teachers to keep students motivated and these simple project modifications are an example of that.

Article Source: Drawing By The Grid Method

Painting From Photo Process

Way before the camera and video camera were invented, portraits were painted by artists. As photographic technology developed, portraits were captured in any setting with just one click of a finger; unlike before where subjects sat and waited for hours until portraits are finished. While printed photos have an advantage in that they can be easily edited and printed. The computer world just doesn’t capture the magic of a created original painting. But you can take advantage of both worlds by commissioning Anne Elisabeth to create a painting from your photo.

Going from photo to painting is a multi-step process, which involves the following:

1) The Photo.

It all starts with an image, which can be any kind of photo. Photos can be presented as hard copy or digital images.

Although digital photos make the best choice for a photo, companies who do photo to painting understand that many clients have photos from the past that were taken when digital technology wasn’t available, so it is still possible to do so using old photos.

2) Painting Size.
Once you have selected the photo you would like turned into a painting, you will need to select the painting size.

Most companies who do photo to painting offer different painting sizes. The most common sizes are:
8.5”x11”, 14″x17″, 16″x20″, 18″x24″.

3) Painting Medium.

Next, you choose the style; pencil, acrylic, gouache, oil, pen & ink, watercolor.

4) Customizing Your Painting.

One of the many benefits of turning a photo to a painting is the possibility to do a custom painting. This means that the artist can make any types of modification to your painting. Here is a list of things which can be customized:

i) The background - If you do not like the background of the photo you have selected, or would like a plain studio background, then you can request the artist to paint it .
ii) The clothes - If the photo consists of multiple subjects, and has them looking perfect for an oil painting, maybe their clothes color or style do not match for a single oil painting. You can request from the artist to change their clothes so that they match in style and color.
iii) Combining photos - Let’s say you would like to have a family portrait done. However, you do not have a single photo of all the family members together. You could round up the best photo of each family member, and ask the artist to combine all the photos into one custom oil painting.

5) Choosing The Right Photo To Painting Artist.

Here at Portrait Paintings From Photo we offer uniqueness (a stylized and individual approach to recreating your special portrait). Anne Elisabeth imparts her spirituality to all her paintings; not an assembly-line approach.

Digital photos fade and the physical reminder of the happy event is gone. We, at Portrait Paintings From Photo would like to preserve your most cherished occasion, along with its physical memoir, thus we offer you portraits from photo. You choose the memory, we create the heirloom masterpiece.

Cat With Fish - “A Closer Study”

Cat with Fish, A Closer Study

Cat With Fish - “A Study”

Cat with Fish, A Study

Stormy Night In London

Stormy Night In London

Rain at night in London town.

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