January 20, 2017 |

2016 Workshop Videos on YouTube!

If you missed our 2016 Online Workshops, you can catch up and see all the video lessons on our YouTube Channel!

Strathmore’s Online Workshops feature free video lessons created by experienced artists. Follow along as instructors guide you through various topics and demonstrate useful tips, techniques, ideas, and inspirations to get you creating and learning even more about art.

Follow along to these 3 topics:

WORKSHOP 1: SKETCHBOOK FURY, THE ART NINJA'S GUIDEBOOK

Instructor: Graham Smith

Your sketchbook is your training ground where you practice your moves - your idea garden. Come along with us as Graham Smith shows you how to plant your ideas in your idea garden and let them grow. He'll show you how to experiment, practice, record ideas and develop them. It's your rules & your ideas. You don't need to show anyone.

LESSON 1 of 4 - BUILD YOUR DOJO:

Graham will show you supplies and materials he uses to build his sketchbooks (prepare the soil for a good harvest). You don't have to do it his way, but you sure can!

1. First Graham customizes the cover to make it his own.
2. He uses recycled materials to add pockets to the inside and a pen holder.
3. Prepare the paper - blank pages can be intimidating. To overcome the fear of the blank page, Graham adds an acrylic wash as a background to many of his pages. This will help just to get started and have something on the page as a background. He uses mid-tone colors so light and dark media will show up on the wash.
4. Make things that will help you make things - create templates for yourself, cut out squares, paint circles as backdrops for different subjects, draw squares on the page for small sketches (like a comic strip).

Check out the rest of Graham's video lessons:

LESSON 2: OVERCOME FEAR
LESSON 3: BASIC SKILLS
LESSON 4: SKETCHBOOK STRONGMAN

WORKSHOP 2: THE MIND OF WATERCOLOR

Instructor: Steve Mitchell

Watercolor can be one of the simplest mediums to use, but it does seem to have a mind of its own at times, giving it the reputation of being fussy and unforgiving to work with.

In this 4 part workshop we get into the mind of watercolor and see what makes it tick. Success with watercolor depends greatly on discovering and anticipating how it reacts in real painting situations.

LESSON 1 - LANDSCAPE PART 1

PAPER USED:
Strathmore 500 Series Gemini Watercolor

In lesson 1 of 4, Steve Mitchell covers the basics of getting started with watercolor: how to choose the proper materials and get set up.

Then he'll begin a beautiful landscape piece and show his steps and tips along the way for having success with a watercolor painting.

Follow along with Steve, then check out the next 3 videos in this series.

LANDSCAPE PART 2
BOTANICAL ROSE PART 1
BOTANICAL ROSE PART 2

WORKSHOP 3: COLORFUL CREATIONS WITH MARKER

Instructor: Will Terrell

Will Terrell is a Professional Character and Prop Designer for Warner Bros. Animation. Follow along with Will in his 4 part series as he shows you cartooning and using markers. The most important thing he will be demonstrating throughout this workshop is trying to have fun while keeping a sketchbook, because that’s the idea!

LESSON 1 of 4: KEEPING A SKETCHBOOK

Starting with Rough Sketches

REFERENCES
Will prefers sketching from life in public because it forces you to have a critical eye and capture the main aspects of a subject since usually they keep moving.

If you’d rather not sketch in public the website http://iamchicago.net/ has a collection of photos of characters and people who live in Chicago. There are many unique and interesting people on the site that are great to use as references.

SKETCHING PEOPLE
• Focus on observation
• Look at who you’re drawing more than you look at the paper
• Sketch the big shapes first, then break it down smaller shapes
• Keep it light – especially when using colored pencils as it’s more difficult to erase lines than when using graphite
• Many people struggle with drawing because they are focusing on what they think they see versus what they’re actually seeing. The brain tells you something should look a certain way, but truly observing and drawing real life versus imagined images will help.
• The best way to overcome this obstacle is just to draw A LOT – challenge yourself to fill up a sketchbook every single month
• The best way to get better at drawing from real life is to draw fast
• Keep your pencil moving and don’t get caught up on drawing details
• You’re not just training your hands to draw, you’re also training your eyes to see
• Draw through objects – for example – in the image below I am drawing the brim of the hat all the way around the head so the shape comes out right.
• Make a goal to sketch every day and do 10-20 very loose sketches at a time. Don’t get caught up in details and keep it loose. You’ll learn so much from that and remember HAVE FUN WITH IT!

See lessons 2, 3 and 4 from Will here:

LESSON 2: PEOPLE SKETCHING
LESSON 3: COLORING WITH MARKERS
LESSON 4: MARKER PAPER ILLUSTRATION