Simple drawing exercises to spark creativity
How to make your own mini sketchbook and some new card ideas...
Make a sketchbook from a single piece of paper
Last Wednesday I attended the Teacher’s Art Forum at Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham where we viewed their latest exhibitions then, local artist, Rachel Labovitch ran a short observational drawing workshop with us.
These exercises were simple, freeing and relaxing and I thought I would share with you as it might be something you’d like to try yourself, or with your loved little ones!
Fold the piece of paper in half, half again, and again! Next unfold it all out again, and fold in half with the open end facing you. Cut from the middle of the folded edge to the middle of the piece of paper (see the faint dotted line on image 7). Next, fold along the lengthways edge and push together to form the book.
In your sketchbook, warm up and begin by
Drawing a small spiral: start small and tight and gradually start to get bigger, until you are moving your whole arm.
Think about how you hold your pencil. Experiment with the marks made when held if different places. (For example, start with your usual writing grip, then move further along to the end of the pencil to eventually hold it and move it like a wand!)
What’s in a pencil?
In the workshop we looked at the different types of pencils and experimented with the different marks made by soft and hard pencils. Did you know that pencils are made from a mix of graphite and clay? The harder the pencil (9H for example) the more clay in the mix, whilst 9B pencils have less clay and more graphite.
With your different pencils, explore different ways to make marks and what happens as you push with different pressure and different pencil weights.
Free your drawing with a pinecone (or anything else you have to hand!)
This time of year you should be able to source a pinecone fairly easily, but any interesting object you can find will do.
To begin, hold the pinecone (or object) in your usual writing hand, but the pencil in your non dominant hand and spend 1 minute drawing the pinecone.
Next, put the pencil back in your dominant hand, except this time, you’re not allowed to look at the piece of paper as you draw - only the pinecone!
Finally, hold the pinecone behind your back and spend a minute feeling it, choose three adjectives, write them down and try to draw those adjectives!
As someone who is a bit of a perfectionist when they draw, these simple and exploratory exercises were fun and liberating and helped me get into the feeling and fun of drawing rather than worrying about the end result. I plan to try them with my student classes soon and think anyone of any age would enjoy. Please let me know if you have a go and would like more tips/ideas like this. Additionally, please reach out if you have any questions or would like me to send you an audio of the exercises.
Coming soon..!
I have been exploring creating some new greeting card designs and Christmas ideas and have some others in mind. Making card for friends and family is something I have always done and is really my way of showing someone I care about them.
Let me know what you think with a short comment here!
I think receiving a card with meaningful words, in person or in the post, is one of the nicest things and reminds you of the most important thing in this world - real care and relationships.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter. As always, please let me know if there’s something particular that you’d like to see created or if you have any requests.
Much creative love,
Yasmin @penwithpaint